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.

It is great to hear that your young people are doing well and they have adjusted their new lives. Hope you are all well.
My DS who will start Bristol University this September is currently taking a Gap year. Some of you may remember. He is working and he is planning to go travelling after he saves a bit more money.
We will soon have to choose Bristol University accommodation. I was wondering if you might have some recommendations about what options might be more preferable for medical students ? Thank you

@Cratos DD is a vet at Bristol but knows many medics. They live everywhere ! Decide between catered or not. Town or Stoke Bishop. And cost. DD was at Orchard Heights and had friends all over the place. All happy with where they'd landed.

@Cratos I lived in Manor Hall 30 years ago. The old Clifton Village halls are great value, good location, easy to get to university, lots of cafes and shops in Clifton, not far from centre and at the cheaper end because they don't have en suite bathrooms and have the feel of ancient halls! Goldney a bit smarter than Manor and has beautiful gardens. CHH is catered. As @mumsneedwine says, they will probably be happy wherever they end up.

Cratos, your DS will have weekly GP placements. DD was in Stoke Bishop and had to get up really early to get the bus into the City Centre to get a once an hour bus so she could reach her placement before 9.00am. Unless he has a car he should consider a Clifton or City Centre hall. The other advantage of being central is if your flatmates are being noisy, and some first years will do very little studying, you can escape to the university library.

If he has a car Stoke Bishop is easier as you can park on the downs.

Dear @mumsneedwine @Monkey2001 @Needmoresleep ,

Thank you so much. This is amazing advice. My DS will get minimum maintenance loan so we have to use the money wisely.
We are trying to figure out if a catered option is a good option for him. Not if due to other commitments he misses the meal times I guess. He can cook some healthy meals but shopping and cooking take time. Plus maybe the kitchen will be a mess.
I think a sink in the room can be very useful but perhaps he should not spend his money for an en suite room. I believe en suite bathrooms don't get cleaned by the cleaners but shared bathrooms do as well.
He is not going to have a car there and he might have to work one or two shifts to be able to afford going out etc. so a location near the City sounds like a good plan.

Do students cycle much in Bristol ? I don't think I could 😂

I did! I was in Hiatt Baker in first year and cycled to swimming training at the SU, and sometimes to classes. Then cycled between home in Redland to campus in 2/3rd year, especially while doing 3rd year project lab work. Mind you I was pretty fit back then...

@Cratos electric scooters are everywhere and v useful for getting up St Michaels hill.

Great idea @mumsneedwine . I might get one for myself too. 😄

@RockyHorrorShow thank you very much for this info. Hope you can manage to work around these dates. It is so hard to manage the family diaries.

@FedUpOfThisDynamic

Great advice. He is pretty fit. He should take his bike with him.

How is the noise level like for City Centre Halls @RockyHorrorShow ? (Especially traffic)

@Cratos probably not worth having a bike in city centre or Clifton, but would be in Stoke Bishop. My sons and his friends cycled in Bristol, but it is hilly and bike theft is a big issue, so don't bring a valuable bike. DH has had 3 stolen.

Top tip if he needs to work - he can register with The Waiting Game which is where lots of the resident students get work. It is super flexible where you sign up for shifts which suit you. https://thewaitinggameltd.co.uk/

I guess we will need a 42 week accommodation contract. I noticed now there are shorter contracts. We will have to contact the medical school about term dates as advised since they are not online (unless term dates are the same as the other subjects' term dates.)

I will pass this to him. He worked in pubs and kitchens so this sounds amazing. Thank you🤗so much

As our DC are still students (apart from @mumsneedwine DD) and can't contribute to the fair pay restoration efforts by striking, you might like to support the case by donating to the BMA strike fund. https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/introducing-the-bma-strike-fund

@Monkey2001 😊 the strike fund is vital. Means they can strike and keep going until they get a fair and reasonable offer. DD had lost 16 days of F1 so far. Not great. But has fortunately picked up enough locum work (out of strike days) to pay her bills.

Hope everyone's DCs are having fun. If it's any consolation with all the bad news, DD absolutely loves her job !

Great to hear your DD is thriving @mumsneedwine . I re-watched This is Going to Hurt last week and spend too much time following the outrage on Twitter about pay, PAs, training bottlenecks, dismantling of NHS and general treatment of JDs, so it is a relief to hear of an actual F1 enjoying the job.

@Monkey2001 all that stuff is horrific. DD is worried about not having a job at the end of F2. But the actual day to day stuff, she loves. Fantastic staff, supported by seniors and actually loves her PA friends (who don't think they are doctors !). Got a great social life with all the other F1s and living in the most beautiful part of the country.

Hates striking, but goes surfing instead, so not all bad 😂.

This is a great idea. I will donate and I will distribute it to all my contacts. Even if they don't support it is important to raise awareness.
Thank you very much.

The training bottlenecks etc are obviously something that people don’t think about or are aware of when they are applying for medicine or at the early stage of their degree.

Dd is FY3 and in the midst of all this. Just got her scores today for the MSRA exam and fingers crossed they are high enough to get an interview. She studied a lot this time round & swopped shifts to have time off beforehand. She did try last year too but did not put as much effort in and probably did not have wide enough experience at that stage.

She does really love being a doctor in spite of the long, unsocial hours.

Fingers crossed @Decorhate . Glad she loves it, what does she want to do?