Medicine 2023 Entry - Part 4

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

Thanks so much everyone, and I'm sorry for those DC who are also fretting. It's horrible. I am so distracted and worried for her. Thanks for your perspective too as a tutor @NoNotHimTheOtherOne .

In DD's case, parts of the exams have been multiple choice where she has to choose the "best" answer - she says in a few cases, she's picked her answer then gone back at the end, second guessed herself, changed it and it was wrong - her original answer was right.
Yes exactly this, @Africa2go , this is what DD says she is now doing.

I am just trying to reassure too and say she can't do better than her best. Agree, @Felixinthefactory , it must be unnerving to have fairly confidently achieved AAA and then be worried about "just" passing the next exam.

Thanks again everyone. Best of luck to everyone's DC.

But @BungledBundle it doesn't matter if they "just" pass, or they pass with flying colours (I mean I know they all want to do very well but actually it makes no real difference whether they get 40% or 80%). I think it takes a while for these high achievers to process that.

Yes @Africa2go , I completely agree. I think DD would be delighted to 'just' pass! I think she genuinely thinks she's going to fail.

I think it's just what @Felixinthefactory says, it seems a lot for 1/3 of students who all got AAA to fail their first exams.

Medical school is hard. Many will fail one, if not more, exams along the way. It's a lot to learn and remember. BUT most will make it.

Every year my DD thought she'd failed. Never actually did. A pass is a pass. Move on to next year. It's hard for students who are used to high grades to realise that it's ok to just pass !!

DS is similar. Exams in Jan went well. Good mark but not his 'usual' 90%s he is used to.
Exams in May on twice as much content at least. He would settle for the 50% passmark in these. He is learning quickly that those marks in A level exams/ tests are not going to happen and not even needed at med school. Having said that he has revised solidly since the week after Easter week with a few more to go.
The content level is crazy high.

I think though it is important to consider 'the opposition'. Some students will be less invested in their studies and will not be putting the hours of study in. I find that most people have their limits on how far they can get through sheer intelligence and at what point the hard work has to kick in. Some students will have found that at GCSE, others at A levels and others not until university. Dd used to get frustrated with those who seemed to just sail through without working in her grammar school. She learnt early on that she has to work to get results. I think some have found the temptations of university and being away from parents monitoring work, plus the extent of the workload has meant they are hitting their limit now. Perhaps some have not fully realised that they have hit that limit and need to work.

DS1 was one of those who used to float through without much work. The one good thing for him starting in 2020, when Covid restrictions were so severe, was that there was nothing to do but work! No clubs, societies, choirs, social opportunities. It got him into good habits and he got a First for the three years at St Andrews, not that it affects his career path at all.

For people stressed by exams, maybe it helps to plan the resit, whilst hoping to pass first time (which most will). I find the worst thing for revision is when fear of failure is actually the cause of failure because your brain freezes with the worry. So I would say it is fine if you need to do the re-sit, preparing for it will consolidate your knowledge and set you up for success next year, but a bonus if you pass first time. Either way, it will not impact on anything in the future.

Good luck all for the upcoming exams. My 2 definitely found their first year exams the most stressful because they are an unknown and just so different from A levels. No set 'syllabus', no marking schemes to check against past papers, no answer to do we have to learn this? and simply no way to cram in everything that could possibly come up. The best rule of thumb for revision seems to be to spend most time focusing on the commonest 'stuff' that a junior doc might come across on the job and making a strategic decision on what bits not to spend so much time on, and risk dropping a point here or there on the obscure random facts.

Remember, the exams are designed so that most students can and will pass first time and most of the first time failures will go on to comfortably pass at retakes. Both my ds have said that of their friends who've failed exams along the way there have usually been identifiable reasons that revision took a back seat (family issues, illness or just a heavy party lifestyle). The only ones who dropped out completely were clearly not that sure they wanted to be there in the first place.

Good luck!

Thanks again everyone for all your kind help. It really has been reassuring and helpful. Yes DD has always been a worker unlike her younger brother who cruises but luckily is not remotely interested in medicine. Just hope it comes together for her in the end. Good luck again to everyone's DC.

So DD has now passed her end of year exams. Difficult first term - for us learning how to let go and for her learning to be independent.
She appears to have made a great group of friends so it's all looking good.
thank you to this supportive thread.
Hope everyone else's DC are well.

Always remember, a pass is a pass. Congratulations to those who have made it through first year.

@mumsneedwine I have shared that at regular intervals with my daughter :-)

Nottingham say results don't come out to mid July (exams finished last week) which seems a really long time to wait. Fingers crossed. She's home tonight though, only for a week or so before she's off travelling. The year has flown by!

Hope everyone has a lovely summer!

Dd also finished but enjoying the apres exam medic partying. Don't know results yet but hopefully no resits.

Well done to them all for getting through the year.

DD has also finished and passed with D1. D makes doctors she told me as @mumsneedwine says. I hadn't heard of this scale before either - we reckon A for anthropologists and E for engineers for our family. Mercifully my subject doesn't come into this scale! She is relieved as she did a LOT of rowing this year and was worried the balance might turn out wrong. She is on her way home via grandparents - keeping her out of the way until her sister is almost finished A levels for minimal disturbance.

Ds has passed his y2 exams, results were issued this week.

Dd has had a wonderful first year at UEA. Norwich is a lovely little city. Results due mid July

Both are off for well deserved holidays with friends

DS finished year 1 on Tues. Passed his first semester exams, passed his 2 essays, second semester exam results due 20th June.

Hi all, hope the DC are thriving and happy to be starting year 2.

Just wondering if anyone with DC at Newcastle has experience of them getting Sunderland for Year 3. DD had thought she would want to live in Sunderland next year but just found out it will be 3 days in Sunderland and 2 at the Med school in Newcastle and is now saying she would probably stay in Newcastle but have to commute by car/train 3 days. I’m imagining living near a train station that works for both would be preferable as presumably traffic, car costs, winter weather and parking would make having a car complicated. I said she should ask around as there must be Year 3 and 4 students who have been in same situation, but she says she has no contacts in the years above and Mentors are not responsive to her.

Anyway just thought someone here might have experience from older DC - maybe PM me if you have any advice as it’s probably not relevant to the wider thread. DD is a forward planner so of course wants to figure it all out asap, and it’s causing her stress even though they’ve only just started Year 2!

Thanks a million xx

@Peachy2005 some of my DS's Newcastle 4th year friends had Sunderland placements in year 3. Most stayed in Jesmond and drove out each day. Some shared lifts. They generally wanted to be back in Newcastle for weekends and had their teaching there so logistically it made more sense. I don't know of any who commuted by train but I can ask him and PM you.

My son is at Newcastle and has just started in year 3 and on a Sunderland placement this year.

He lives in NE2 but car shares with other students or gets the metro from West Jesmond to Sunderland ( ten min walk to hospital). Lots get the metro

Hi all, having great trouble posting due to page 40 skipping back to page 1 (or to another thread) but fingers crossed that the thread hasn’t run out quite yet 😏

re: NCL med, if anyone knows someone who had their Year 4 placement in Middlesbrough, DD has a query but can’t find a Yr 4 who had that placement to ask: Is James Cook hospital the only hospital site you’re based at in Year 4? I’ve heard about a possible 4 week block at Friarage hospital for some students, but are there any other times apart from that where students are based there (or at any other hospitals)?

Hoping someone might have some info, feel free to DM me if thread runs out.

Much appreciated xx

My son is going into y4 Middlesborough in September. Drop me a PM

Would anyone be interested in a new thread to just potter along as they (hopefully) continue their studies if we have any questions?

If my DD gets offered a place then yes, I’d be up for following their journeys on a thread.

2 interviews done and 2 more this month. Think I’m finding the waiting harder than she is!

I would be - it was a hard slog for her to get here, she does appear to be thriving but I think one always worries if they will succeed and stick it out.
Exam time is always anxious.
My sister has just been diagnosed with metastatic disease and is in the same city as DD so could be a difficult few years as they are close - having this thread has helped in the past so yes if possible to keeping it going.

Sorry to hear about your sister @coffeeandbiscuittime. I remember you saying she was ill when they were all going for their interviews.

@justjuggling ustjuggling wishing your DD all the best with the rest of her interviews and really hope she gets an offer soon.

@ScissorsPaperStone another thread would be great. It's great to hear how they are all doing.