Medicine 2023 Entry - Part 2

[opoponax]

Anyone out there with DC applying or reapplying for Medicine 2023, please join a friendly thread for mutual support and useful advice.

There is a thread on the student room I discovered this evening containing some questions

@Thethingswedoforlove @GoldieRetrieversRule1 Thank you! Long way to go for everyone, but lovely to have support on here, so we can look out for each other!

@Pip4764 absolutely

Someone mentioned, on one of the many threads, to create a crib sheet for each medical school applied to, that way when your son or daughter (aka you?) are doing their research you can see what each specific school is looking for and as much as there will be cross over, it is a good starter for ten. What I is have they applied to? Google is your best friend.

@worksleeprepeatwork the thing I could not persuade DS1 to do first time round was to practice answering questions out loud, he thought through a lot of answers, but did not practice actually answering a person - try to get them to answer you or a friend out loud, it is different. It is also important to know "Good Medical Practice" really well and good to bring in the 4 pillars when looking at some situational questions and almost every medical school will ask "why this medical school" in some format. The thread on TSR can be interesting, but a lot of the stuff they raise is way more complex than you will encounter at interview. www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7269207

£14 an hour is shocking really. My 17yo is earning more per hour in her PT job than she will as a junior doctor after all those years of training and all that debt.

We are all lucky that there are people who want to do it in spite of all that. There are so much easier paths that they could choose!

Bristol interview came in for DD this morning. Early December. Yikes, it's feeling real now.

Well done to @opoponax DD.

DS got UEA interview this morning and the date has messed up his plans for Sheffield, as he was hoping for Sheffield 5/12 (to fit round social/gym life there) but has been given 9am at UEA on 5/12. We have lots of other stuff on that weekend, the timing could not really have been more inconvenient! I am glad all his others let you choose dates.

Have seen UEA, SGUL and Bristol on TSR. Any other unis starting inviting students yet? At least DC2 (non-med) was offered his 1st choice this morning so that's lowering the stress levels - slightly!

@Africa2go I think Exeter have started too, obviously Aberdeen (2 interviews on this thread)

Oh brilliant, good to hear that there will be at least some news soon hopefully.

@Monkey2001 congratulations to your DS on the UEA interview. Sorry he didn't get more flexibility re timing. I haven't seen DD yet, just a text volley, but I got the sense that she had to go for early December for Bristol, no later dates offered.

No Exeter here yet

My dd got interview invites from Bristol and Exeter today, both early December!

@buckleten , @opoponax , @Monkey2001 - glad to hear good news! Bring it on! I'd like to use the opportunity to thank Monkey2001 for tons of information and support! Greatly appreciated!
And yes, Exeter started handing out interviews today - confirmation from DD.

Hope you don’t mind me jumping on this thread - I can’t find one for Medicine 2024 - my DD is in Yr 12 and hoping to do medicine - she was sent by her school a link to a webinar for Medic Mentor - she did it on Sunday and they mentioned the summer school - it’s £2650 so not a decision to be taken lightly - does anyone have any experience with them? We live in rural Cumbria so no Universities near unfortunately. Thanks 😊

@Randomactofkindness hello! The universities don't like "paid for" work experience, it may be best to get any sort of volunteering role and a public facing job - waitressing is great for coming across a lot of situations with people who may be challenging. DS1 volunteered at Riding for Disabled and was able to use that effectively, but you must have care homes around. There are online work experience programmes Observe GP and BSMS - see www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/making-an-application/work-experience

Thank you Monkey - she has a job waitressing in our local hotel which she loves and has done some work experience in a local GP practice and hopes to do a week in a hospital in May 2023.
This summer course is to help with personal statements, UCAT prep and interview prep plus they do virtual work experience throughout the year too - would that kind of thing be frowned upon??
Really appreciate the advice. She’s a young Yr 12 - August born and we are just realising how hard it is to get in to medical school and just want to help her all we can.

Oh and she is helping with the local Brownie pack too - she tried the care home but they aren’t taking anyone right now

@mumsneedwine thats interesting about SF not being able to find you if you go abroad, I assumed they would! A friend of DD has openly said she will leave ASAP to avoid paying back the student loan, but I thought that wouldn't be possible. What does happen in the case of someone going off UK tax register and just disappearing?

Well that is clearly not in line with the integrity expected of a doctor, but a lot of the tax system operates on trust.

@Randomactofkindness - Please don't pay thousands of pounds for summer schools. First of all, look at all the information available on the Medical Schools Council web site (www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine), including the Studying Healthcare resources (studyinghealthcare.ac.uk/). There is online "work experience" available through Brighton & Sussex Medical School, the Royal College of General Practitioners and many local providers. You might ask your nearest medical schools (Newcastle and Lancaster) whether they know of any local initiatives. Imperial College is partnering with the University of Cumbria to open a medical school in Carlisle in 2025, but it will be graduate-entry and I don't know how much work they will do with school-age students.

@Monkey2001 not sure DD can afford that level of integrity with her loan ! It's more then our mortgage.
So glad to see so many interviews coming in. 😊😊

@mumsneedwine I think that people agreed to repay a loan and it would be dishonest to avoid paying it. I 100% support most of the public sector workers looking to restore pay to reasonable levels, particularly NHS and teachers, but I would not be impressed if my DC tried to avoid re-paying loans. I agree with Martin Lewis that it needs to be acknowledged that it is completely different from a mortgage and is effectively a graduate tax. Not saying that I think it was a good way to go, and I strongly believe that it should be a factor in considering what graduates in the public sector should be paid.

@Monkey2001 she has friends who have no debt because they have rich parents. So they'll be richer doctors than the poor idiots paying back their £100,000+ loans. At 6% interest. Working 100 hour weeks for £14 an hour. Morality is not coming into the saltation much here ! She has no choice but to take the loan to become a doctor.