Medicine 2023 Entry - Part 4

[opoponax]

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

Thank you both. I think the Apple Mac might be out of our price range (we have twins) but will see . @CharlieSJ can I ask with the ipad, does he have another laptop / computer for assignments / essays etc or does he just use the ipad?

@Africa2go I have just asked him your questions, he says sometimes having both a laptop and an iPad is useful for 2 screens when he is revising but in lectures he only uses his iPad. When writing essays he says he uses his laptop. I asked him if he could only have either an iPad or a lap top what would he choose. He said definitely an iPad (with a keyboard).

Thank you, really appreciate all the advice

DS has MacBook and iPad with pencil. Uses iPad for lectures and annotation and uses MacBook for essays etc. and both for revision. He had MacBook before uni for A levels and it is still going strong. Could your DD maybe get by with her existing laptop for essays etc. and get an iPad and Pencil for day to day?

My DSs both have Surface Pros which can act as tablets or fully powered laptops. Both very happy with them, we didn't get the latest version to keep the cost down

Both my DSs also preferred a good laptop over a tablet. DS1 (Bristol) says that a tablet is fine for lectures but the laptop is a lot easier to use when you're having to write a few thousand word essay.

My dd is in 5th year. She has an apple laptop - still going strong from A levels. She hasn't needed an iPad in addition to that.

Has your son plumped for the zigs at UEA? Was reading an article re students being moved out due to RAAC

DD says that most of her Newcastle cohort have Surface Pros (and magic pencil) in lectures, but also have a cheap Chromebook as well if they need a second/bigger screen.

DS has touch screen stylus enabled laptop (not apple, we don't use apple products - DH, who is our IT consultant doesn't like them) that allows you to write on it with a pen. DS seems to be doing fine with it (I also think DH got it refurbished off ebay - we certainly never contemplated the kinds of prices that an Apple Mac or Surface Pro require). DD liked the pencil feature so much that we ended up buying one for her too, as she could do practice GCSE papers on it. I can try asking DH what it is if that would help. Because DH is in IT, he deals with this side of things, and I just say things like - with two DC absolutely dependent upon their laptops, I think we need a third so when things go wrong, we can swap one out while getting it fixed. This turned out to be a lifesaver when these things went wrong just before exams. The reality is that DC do drop/bash/lose pieces of IT equipment, and they are never 100% reliable, and yet they simply cannot manage today without them (all their notes are online), so my view is having three at a lower price, rather than two at a higher price with the third sitting at home and being simply there for a crisis makes sense. I just asked DH, and what our DC have is Lenovo Yoga 6 13ALC6 13.3" Touchscreen Laptop. He would recommend the ones with the metal case, as the plastic cases tend to break (at least under the not so tender treatment of our DC).

Thank you. I have a Yoga for work and love it. Thank you for all the input everyone x

Thanks from me too. DD's chromebook is slightly on its last legs so very helpful to have some ideas of what to replace it with. Took her up to Dundee yesterday. Good luck to everyone's DC starting soon.

DS has his PBL group details and Medsoc has set up Whatsapp groups. One of the people in his group has almost exactly the same name as him - first name and first 4 letters of surname match - somebody has a sense of humour!

Hope everyone settles in well to halls/courses. Dd has been there a week and is having a great time. Few wobbles along the way but it all seems really well set up with lots of medic activities to help them all settle in.

Good luck to them all. Start of a long, fun, hard working journey.

Dropped DS Sat at Birmingham. So far a lot of beer has been consumed! Starts with meeting his small group tomorrow and beginning some team building type work..

Good luck everyone and thank you again for all the advice and support! Appear to have survived Edinburgh's freshers week and today is day one of lectures....oh what a journey....and only 6 years to go until she gets let loose in the real world.

DD has survived Glasgow's freshers week too @Pip4764 and started today with PBL. She seems to have enjoyed last week and settling fine. Even with security waking her up at 4am one night to ask if she knew where the close fire extinguisher was (she didn't) and being a bit bemused at finding a flatmate watching tv in the kitchen at that time. The joys.

Dropped her off on Saturday - seems to be doing well. She has sent me photos of different mandatory training she has to do ( clinical governance and patient safety to name 2 ) mainly I think because she knows I am a stickler for both😂.
Work for me has been busy due to the Dr's strike - I fully support them, but it is affecting our morale so I hope the govt. make a realistic deal soon, for all our kids sakes as well.
Hope everyone else is settled.
@mumsneedwine how's your DD doing?

@coffeeandbiscuittime she's on strike. Hates it, doesn't want to do it and can't afford it. But sees no option, as otherwise she's off next year to a country that appreciates her. £14.0882 an hour will not pay her rent and bills. Can not believe Gov just won't negotiate with BMA. So idiotic.
Otherwise she seems to be on a lovely supportive ward with nice staff. Been on call a lot which sounds anything but junior to me.

I hope the current doctors' pain makes things better for the future 🤞

Best wishes to all of our young people starting medicine and good luck with the strike. I support it with all my heart. They deserve much better than this.

@mumsneedwine Good luck to her. My DD has Australian citizenship and has access to EU via an Irish grandparent- so I really do hope the Govt does the right thing.
The responsibility is high as a junior doctor - yes there is support around you but it's still stressful.
They deserve the pay rise.
I just wish Nurses had held out.
The F1's and med students that come to us love it as they are supported and get to make decisions in a safe environment.

Good luck to @mumsneedwine DD with the strike. It is extraordinary how the govt is burying it's head in the sand about it. They have already spent more converting the strikes than it would have cost to meet demands. I find it utterly bizarre that they say that a 35% pay rise is unaffordable without acknowledging that a 28% pay cut for doctors is unaffordable! Has she applied to the BMA strike support fund? I think they can get £50/strike day.

Can I encourage all medical student parents, whose DC will benefit from any pay award gained hy this action, make a donation to the strike fund.

@Monkey2001 we are helping her as much as we can. I know the strike fund is small so we are leaving it for others that need it more.
The upshot of it all is that out of 300 doctors attending a lecture on future career planning, 1 intends to apply for speciality training directly from F2. That's 1 that intends to stay in the NHS. And 299 who intend to leave
I really hope things change soon.

Wow @mumsneedwine !