Medicine entry 2024

[Randomactofkindness]

Hello I’ve read the medicine entry 2023 thread which seemed so helpful so wanted to start one for 2024.
Anyone else with a child applying this October?
Any parents around who have been through the process and could give advice / info that helped them and their children?

Hello
My DS applied last year and will be off to Birmingham in September subject to getting the required grades.
Happy to chip in with some advice but I'm sure some of the super clued up people will be along to help soon.

I guess for anyone applying for 2024, UCAT is high priority right now. We (ha! - yes, I feel like I've gone through the whole flippin' process myself!) didn't do BMAT so I'm no help there!

If DS was doing this again, I think planning even further ahead so as to be able to attend more open days would be one thing we'd certainly do.
Applying strategically really matters and the advice on previous threads helped DS select well and get a positive outcome.

DS's school had a medic society and this helped with interview prep. Work experience is helpful, not necessarily medically based, a job in a shop or similar gives valuable customer facing skills.

I'll keep an eye on the thread incase I can help further in the future. Good luck to all DCs who are on this path for 2024.

Thank you so much for replying! Well done to you DS and good luck for the A levels!

My DD runs the school medical society and her school are very supportive.

We have been to 2 open days so far and have another 4 booked so it’s good to know that’s the right thing to do.

Her school have said once she has done the UCAT they will look at her results and then help her apply strategically - fingers crossed this helps!

It seems a minefield and I very much feel it is “us” applying………….

She has done a weeks work experience in a GP practice and another week in a hospital, she works in a hotel serving breakfast every week, volunteers with Brownies and is hoping to also do some work experience / regular volunteering at a local care home.

it all seems so much with school work too plus having a life!!!

it all seems so much with school work too plus having a life!!!

This is one of the reasons why some (not all) medical schools look for the ability to do it all. The ability to manage conflicting demands on your time, while still maintaining a personal life, is one of the most important characteristics of a medical student and future doctor. We genuinely wouldn't have any difficulty filling medical school places three times over with people who have the required academic ability. It's getting people who will cope with the demands of the course and then be able to work as a junior doctor for several years without giving up that's the real challenge. As more and more doctors drop out or emigrate early in their careers, it becomes more and more important to select students who understand what the career will involve and who have tested their ability to cope with it.

Despite everything we tell them before they apply, everything we ask them at interview and everything we tell them again when they start medical school, we still get students even at the end of year 1 expressing surprise at how hard it is. And year 1 is a whole lot easier than the subsequent years, and most years of medical school are easier than being a junior doctor.

There is already a thread for this...

@NoNotHimTheOtherOne Thank you - really good advice which I will pass on!

@Notagardener sorry………