Medicine 2023 Entry

[opoponax]

Hi all,

I don't think there is a Medicine 2023 Entry thread yet, so it might be an idea to get one started.

Anyone out there with DC applying or reapplying for Medicine 2023, please join a friendly thread for mutual support and useful advice from those who understand the UK Medical School application process.

I agree with @Needmoresleep that course structures can be very different. My DS (on paper) looked like the perfect fit for an Oxbridge more-academically focused course but in real life was much more drawn to a more integrated course structure with early clinical and patient contact. I think the work shadowing he did in clinical settings, although not critical to interview success, did help him reach that conclusion. It is true that they will all be doctors in the end but there are different ways to get there.

Choose the method you think will suit you. But academics can come from everywhere (Van Tam, Whitty etc all trained at different Unis). There is no better Unis for medicine - the GMC accredits all of them so they all contain the same information. Just taught in different ways.
And also look at type of Uni. Camus vs city. Big city vs smaller one. Coast or hills. Price of accommodation - they will be there for 5 years. Do Uni pay for placement travel or accommodation (thank you Nottingham !).

Nobody has mentioned virtual work experience yet! A golden lining of Covid has been on line open days (which mean you can attend loads without spending a fortune) and creation of virtual work experience which is accessible to all without contacts needed!

The medical schools council is a great resource, with a section on entry requirements www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2877/entry-requirements-document-2022-digital.pdf and one on work experience
www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/making-an-application/work-experience.

HOWEVER be careful because the entry requirements stated are minimum requirements, not the grades you will need to get an interview. I attach a PDF of the summary of the expected 2022 cut offs some of us created for The Student Room, I will update it as the actual cut offs become clearer. Our advice was to apply to ones where you were "very safe" for an interview.

Our process for DS1 was:

• Eliminate ones where his GCSEs weren't quite good enough;
• Eliminate ones which wanted both Chem and Bio as he wanted to drop Bio at the end of Y12 (our school had terrible Biology results)
• Eliminate London (he did not want to study there)
• Eliminate PBL
• Look at course structure of the ones left

.

@Monkey2001 best spreadsheet ever ! Mine is soooo long as has vets and dentists on too. Yours is so much prettier 😊

[quote mumsneedwine]@Monkey2001 best spreadsheet ever ! Mine is soooo long as has vets and dentists on too. Yours is so much prettier 😊[/quote]
Awww, thanks. I love traffic light coding, I have it for GCSEs too!

It is rather fetching Monkey! I printed it out this evening and DD ran off with it and stuck it on her wardrobe.

@opoponax just one tiny word of caution. Things change every year (Nottingham had a new points system this year). So get DD to check the ones she likes for 2023 entry - updated admissions stuff usually on websites around May/June time.

[quote mumsneedwine]@opoponax just one tiny word of caution. Things change every year (Nottingham had a new points system this year). So get DD to check the ones she likes for 2023 entry - updated admissions stuff usually on websites around May/June time.
[/quote]
Yes, and I would also quadruple check at the beginning of October that nothing has changed although sometimes they change things after 15th October - looking at you Oxford (no GCSE scoring this year) and Birmingham (weightings for SJT and calculation test changed).

Thank you both. It is such a moving feast isn't it! Still hugely helpful to have the current situation documented like that though @Monkey2001. Thank you for sharing.

I wouldn't be surprised if Oxford discount GCSEs again next year.

The circumstances that led to them discounting them this year applies for next year's cohort (no formal exams taken, disrupted teaching). So would be applicants need to excel at the BMAT. And Oxford contextualised BMAT scores so candidates from high performing schools need to do really well..

Does anyone have advice regarding doing an EPQ? College have just started talking about these but DD isn't sure how beneficial it will be. Is it true that some Uni's (and if so, which ones) will reduce their offer if you score highly?

@DTJ yes some Unis do give lower offers, usually AAB, if you have an A in your EPQ. I'm at work at moment so can't check my list but I know Sheffield do it.
It's also useful to have something to talk about at interview in depth. V often an MMI station is to talk about something new in medicine.
But not at the expense of grades. Getting those As is the most important thing 😊

Hi @DTJ just a note to say that as @mumsneedwine says, Sheffield allow for a dropped grade if you have an A or above.

My DD is in first hear at Sheffield and it was somewhat comforting to know this while waiting for A level results - she would have been fine as it turned out but still felt nice during the long wait!

What I would say though is that she has had to write an essay in the first term, I don’t know how many she will need to do overall, but if she had t done her EPQ she would have been quite out of the essay writing habit, having done Biology, Chemistry and Maths A level. It meant she already knew how to reference properly etc.

The main thing was though, she did her EPQ on something she found interesting and it was medicine related so she could bring it up at interview too.

Just had this pop up on Instagram for 2022/23 applicants.

Too late for my dd as she has just finished interviews for this cycle. Hope it might be helpful to some here.

On the EPQ front - DD used it in quite a lot of her interview prep to show organisation skills, interest in research and independent learning. She complained a lot at the time but I think she would say that it was a worthwhile exercise!!

My DS has dropped his EPQ. I think they are brilliant because they teach you project management skills which will be useful if they intercalate. DS1 is going to really struggle to plan and write his dissertation next year, EPQ skills are more valuable in real life than A level skills!

As @mumsneedwine said, you don't want the EPQ to have an impact on A level grades, but the work happens at a very different time. It is worth understanding that a great grade for an EPQ is about project management skills as much as it is about the content of the project.

Thanks for starting this discussion. My son is thinking of studying medicine.

Hi @Cratos. Welcome to the thread.

I agree with the comments on EPQ. Really useful project management skills and keeps them in the zone of essay writing when they are absorbed in science A Levels. Provided they are well on track with their A Level grades, managing the EPQ is fine. As Monkey says the peak workload is at a very different time before the A Level work really ramps up.

Another joiner here too. DD looking at '23 entry. Hoping to get some tips!

Timing on EPQ does vary by school/college. Some do it in year 12 and some in year 13. One of my DDs was supposed to finish it in Feb of her A level year. Needless to say she dropped it (had had all her vet interviews before then anyway). So if won't impact on A levels and it's an area of interest it can be a great thing to do. For some exam boards you don't have to produce an essay or dissertation, you can make a video or production instead. But as has been said, the end product is only a small part of the marks. It's more about planning, research and reflection.

I realised that nobody answered the bit about medical schools for which EPQ is a tangible benefit:

Sheffield, HYMS, Lancaster offer AAB with A/A* in EPQ.
Barts shortlist on UCAS points, so EPQ boosts that.
QUB requires A*AA in A levels or AAA + A in AS/EPQ
Cambridge don't score it, but they value "super curriculars" and EPQ is a tangible way of showing extended interest and can be a good thing to talk about at interview, particularly as 2023 cohort still won't have any "real" exam results.

Obviously same warning as usual, systems change, use this info as a "Heads Up" rather than definitive guidance for 2023.

Keele also reduce the offer grades if you have an EPQ grade A or A*

Can I join?

DD is also in Year 12 and has created a spreadsheet!

She wants to apply for Cambridge so will probably end up doing both BMAT and UCAT. She is trying to sort work experience at the moment and has joined her school's medsoc. She has a project lined up with the local hospice next week. She has also been doing the online work experience with Brighton & Sussex. She is planning an EPQ in a related area - not quite sure what yet.

There is so much to do, it's quite overwhelming for them!

I'm interested to hear that other non-medical work experience may count in their favour. Is that true? DD has been working in a cafe for the last 8 months and loves it. She has wondered if she should quit and work in a care home instead (she was offered a job) but she really loves her current job and doesn't want to give it up. It would be great if that would somehow be useful to her!