Medicine 2023 Entry - Part 3

[opoponax]

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

@mumsneedwine thank you. I really value your perspective as you can always see what will come along next and give some hope. Your input really appreciated.

Sorry - I shouldn't have asked. My DC did his yesterday and we're away on a break he decided not to come on because of the Cardiff online test so I guess I was asking to get another perspective than a phonecall!

We're welsh so he has had his Welsh Bacc to complete and his school scheduled mocks before Christmas. With interview prep I think he let the mocks slide a little so he's looking forward to getting back to routine and catching up a bit on school work.

Hope the Cardiff interview went well for your DS @IGoWalkingAfterMidnight and that you have a good break. It's hard to focus on mocks with interviews running in parallel. I've told DD that they are called mocks for a reason but she only gets one go at interviews this year so not to worry about them. Thank you for the good wishes @Thethingswedoforlove and @Pip4764.

I think that is really sensible advice re the mocks. I’ve also negotiated with DD to drop nearly all her shifts at work this month. She finished the week with a sudden fever and headache and went to bed and slept for 14 hours . She is pretty much back to normal today- exhaustion I think.

I’m another one with a DD2 doing gcse, and she isn’t really getting enough attention at the moment.

Anyway DD1 is very much looking forward to the end of Feb and only having A levels to worry about - as am I! Good luck to everyone with interviews coming up

@Cathpot I think the physical work might end in Feb once interviews /mocks are done for most people (hopefully) but I think they'll all be using up emotional energy worrying about offers / refreshing UCAS pages, even thinking about a Plan B etc. Really tough on them for quite a while yet I imagine.

Too true @Africa2go , and then the worry about getting the grades if they manage to secure offers. Last year a lot of applicants did not hear until the deadline - 18th May this year, and some will only have waiting list places, so seven more uncertainty. It is a brutal process leading to a very tough course, lots of debt and an exhausting job where they are paid £14/hour for a 48 hour week!

@Monkey2001 to be a little bit positive, they'll have a v fun 5 years at medical school 😊. Work hard but play hard too - loads of opportunities to do things they'll never do again (wilderness medicine, play quidditch, take part in Medics varsity and be in a musical). It is a tough course but so many things are there for medics to beat the stress.
Just thought a little bit of nice stuff was needed as the news is so bleak for the NHS and staff. But in 6 years when yours will qualify we will hopefully have a new government who don't have private GPs (I had to turn BBC off this morning as nearly threw the tv out the window).

I also think that if they get on a course they will have achieved their initial goal and will be studying what they really really want to study. So that will help them be focused and work hard and get through. No one tells you in the parenting manual that it is harder to be the parent than the child sometimes!

Yes, DS1 is loving his course and his time at university, but if he had gone for another subject he would also have had a great time at university with a lighter timetable. It is difficult for parents to strike the right balance of positivity and realism! Ecolier on TSR used to say if you are considering medicine or "something else", do "something else"! I am, of course, encouraging my DSs to follow their hearts, just making sure they know that allthough they will always have a job, unless they want to be a GP, it may not be specialism they want or the location they want. DS1 wants to be a surgeon and has been told what he needs to line up to make that happen and it is truly daunting!

I know lots of young doctors are changing careers when they graduate. I have several doctor friends in their 50s who are retiring or changing careers at the moment - one wants to be an estate agent!

So it will be a varied and interesting career for most of our DC, but more poor management and more challenging to go down the specific path you really want than it used to be.

Happy New Year everyone! I have asked this before but DD still hasn't heard either way from QUB with a points score of 40 which should be safely above the cut-off, we think.

I am trying to get her to email them but she won't; she just says she hasn't got an interview. Is it worth her emailing the admissions team do you think?

@BungledBundle yes. Get her to email now. Every year there are interview invites that go astray.
@Monkey2001 I do agree. If not sure about medicine go elsewhere- it's not for the unsure (Adam Kay wasn't sure and look how that turned out for him)
DD, despite all that she now knows about the NHS, is still excited to get started. Roll on Black Wednesday 😊

Thanks very much @mumsneedwine 😊

I think one of the good things about medicine is that it can open lots of different doors, and possibly simultaneously. As well as the vast range of clinical careers, medics are also well placed for research and teaching. Plus of course careers in pharmaceuticals, healthcare management etc. or other grad posts. I think it will be right for dd, time will tell if she gets the opportunity.

And travel. They can work anywhere in the world - huge shortages everywhere.

And many other DC do non-vocational degrees that they don't really enjoy and/or have no clue where their degree might take them. The med students I know all love their courses and find medicine fascinating and they do have a lot more certainty than most of their non-med friends.

I tell dd that is why it is so hard now. It’s effectively a selection not just to study but almost for a job for a lifetime too.

That's so true @Thethingswedoforlove . It's a good perspective when they see their non-med friends get multiple offers within a week of applying and they are jumping through hoops and waiting for months.

Although I am guessing probably best not to say that in an interview!

Yes @Thethingswedoforlove other careers dd considered are also very competitive but more so after you have already invested 3 years in an undergraduate degree and probably a masters. Even if the NHS is ripped apart, people will still want doctors.

@Unexpecteddrivinginstructor 😂 yes, best not to mention leaving the NHS before even joining it.

An interesting point and something we were wondering. If they work in another country for a few years or they decide to live in another country what happens to their university loan payments ? Since they cannot be automatically deducted.

@Cratos you are supposed to own up and repay the loan while abroad. In reality, no one does !

Any more invites for Liverpool interviews in the last week ?
TIA

@HAMROGUE Not yet but fingers crossed for this week.

@Peachy2005
Thank you 🙏

@HAMROGUE Also waiting for Liverpool. I think they interview a notoriously large number of applicants so I imagine more interviews will be released soon.