Medicine 2025 entry

[HGC2]

Inspired and slightly terrified reading the 2023 entry threads and how much prep has to go into a medicine application!

DC wants to do medicine, probably in Scotland as a Scottish student, doing well at school but this doesn't seem to be enough! School has little / no experience of applications for medicine as a not fantastic state school!

Can anyone advise what work experience / volunteering they will need (currently volunteering at sports club with hope of job)
what are the spreadsheets that people talk about?
How do you strategically apply?

I have one child at uni and they just applied and got a place, this seems like a whole other level!

They seemed to be saying that this might be a feature in Birmingham's interviews at the open day yesterday.

It's used at most Unis that run MMIs. And they'll see them again for OSCEs. It's always a bit weird but go with it and talk. They are watching how you interact as much as what you say.

Remember it's a job interview. They are looking for who they'd like to work with 😊

Don’t the ‘patients’ get a bit tired after the 876th candidate?

@pivoinerose thank you, that's good to know. All my info is nearly 3 decades old, so basically useless! I very much hope all the kitchen facilities are better than they were then!

@Sloejelly 😂 not sure they do every day. And there are usually 3-5 circuits going on at the same time. So they probably only see 20ish. My DD has done a few interview days pretending to be a variety of patients (they get paid as students 😂)

We did the Hull York Medical School open day today. After Sheffield yesterday, I am now exhausted! At HYMS you apply to the medical school and are allocated either Hull or York to be based in for years 1 and 2. In years 3-5 placements will be in quite a wide area, from Middlesbrough in the North to Grimsby in the South. A current student told us you keep your flat in Hull/York and the university pays for and allocates you accommodation in the placement town. You can choose a buddy to live with and do your placements with.
The scoring criteria at HYMS is a mix of UCAT (40%), GCSE (30%), contextual (15%), SJT (15%).
There was definitely a big focus on PBL at HYMS, as well as communication skills. We had quite a different experience to at Sheffield, where they talked a lot about you having hobbies and enjoying life - nobody mentioned anything beyond academic work. I know that could just be different speakers though.

Find the course that suits you 😊. They are all a bit different.

😂. Good little earner for medical students then.

Mine has done this too. Good little earner and he says far less stressful than being on the other side 😂

Oh yes. Open days, helping with OSCEs and interviews all good ways of earning a little extra.

You worry about nuance in interviews, but thinking of some job interviews I helped with recently there really wasn’t much nuance involved in some. It is amazing how some people who look great on paper are actually pretty clearly rubbish at various things you wouldn’t expect them to be. I imagine even a task as straightforward listening to patients would highlight some obvious rejections.

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we missed bristol open day , the next one is after ucas deadline. Can anyone tell me how they felt when they attended ?

we are planning to just go and look around Bristol in the summer. But wanted to see how people felt about the medical school .

We went to the Bristol Open day last autumn (they had one first week of Sept last year), so not especially fresh info.

It's a really likeable (if hilly!) city in my view. But neither DD or I loved the university/medical school and I can't quite put my finger on why. It's partly that it doesn't really feel like it has a centre. (For contrast, when we were in Leeds, both the union building and the medical school felt like real hubs, that you could imagine spending lots of time in and being part of, in a way that nothing did at Bristol.)

Their shortlisting process was super-clear (interview the top 800 UCAT scores that apply, subj. to minimum GCSE requirements). Placements are quite widespread - as far afield as Taunton/Swindon, I think.

I think it does have quite a different feel to lots of universities, and while that meant it wasn't for DD (she's already ruled it out, though obvs her UCAT may have ruled her out anyway!), I think that means it will really appeal to some people. Sorry, I guess that isn't at all helpful!

One other thing - the med students we spoke to said that Bristol accommodation situation hasn't been anything like as difficult/expensive as it's often reported and they'd all ended up in well-located, decent houseshares.

My DD is at Bristol, doing vet med, and accommodation near the Uni is not cheap but no one ends up homeless. Loads of new halls have been built too.
She's loved it there. The city has lots going on, the Downs are lovely for a run/picnic and the Uni looks after them well. V sociable, loads of sports and wacky clubs.
Can't comment too much on the medicine course but every student we've sent there has really enjoyed themselves.
Placements will be widespread at most places I'm afraid.

Ds1 is at Bristol (as a mature student second time round so different experience and requirements from first timers). He has found shared accommodation without big issues but it is v pricey relative to other uni cities we have experience of.
He loves the course and the city. It seems very well organised and very well taught with a great balance of teaching types and clinical experience. I've asked him about the lack of a dedicated medical school building as I wondered if not having a 'hub' would be a downside. DS feels not as the medics tend to have all their lectures in the same building which is the default med school. They do all get scattered out to the academies from yr 3 though so perhaps less of a medic community feel in central Bristol?
Ds2 was at Sheffield where the med school building was very much a hub, medics library, medics cafe etc and he enjoyed the community aspect of mixing with students and teaching staff from all years.

What is studying medicine in London like? DD said she's considering it if she gets the UCAT marks. We live in London so that is ok but I think she may miss out on the 'uni' experience? Plus going out with Uni friends must be super expensive here compared to other locations?

Thank you @maybemedmum @mumsneedwine @Haffdonga for the information.

I can’t speak about studying medicine in London specifically, but one of my DC is studying at London and would say your DD’s concerns are valid.

It is really expensive to go out, and a lot of the bars and nightclubs with student nights are generic, so not university specific, or in fact specific to actually being a university student at all. A lot of these nights can have a corporate feel and not a community one.

Friends are spread out across London, which makes things hard.

Many students are overseas students and can stick together with those from their country. They also tend to be wealthier on average. Rich students have a greater remit in terms of a social life and will go to restaurants that others just can’t afford to.

There are a lot of great things about being a student in London and a lot to do, but how much you can do is dependent on how much money you have to a greater degree than it is elsewhere. It won’t be the ‘uni experience’ in terms of going away somewhere else, living and studying cheek by jowl and having an identity as a student.

London university is still a university experience, just a different one from a campus experience, a small city experience, a tiny town (eg St Andrews) experience, a living at home university experience….I don’t think we should get too hung up on only a certain type of university experience being the correct one.

@Sloejelly I interpreted @Sloejelly@SoTiredNeedHoliday ‘s reference to “the ‘uni’ experience” as meaning the traditional experience of going away for university and living in a different place, rather than at home as it seems their DD would do in London.Thats why I spelt it out and put it in quote marks to boot.

It doesn’t mean London university isn’t still a university experience, of course it is as you’re literally experiencing university…

But it’s v wise for students to consider what they want and need from the entire experience holistically, and work out their non-negotiables.

Several London universities offer halls to 1st years but some would reasonably find that a pointless waste of money if their family home is nearby.

Oops sorry for the double-tag!

@SkillDuggery & @Sloejelly thank you both for the comments, they are very helpful. No experience is the right one or the better one, but I do want to explain what the difference may be to DD etc. Going away I am not bothered with and neither is she but making bonds and having students nearby may be really important to her. I do think the going out part may be an issue as London is expensive and we unfortunately are not in the position to fund her going for a drinks or dinner after lectures in Sloane Square or Central London a few times a week. All good things for DD to think about.

She likes a few of the London courses so that needs to be weighed up too.

I would be interested in hearing more about your experience at Leeds open day, Maybemedmum (sorry can't seem to tag you)