Medicine 2024 part 2

[mumsneedwine]

New thread. Hope the offers keep flowing in

also @opoponax did you daughter take Newcastle ? did she likes it

Yes both my DC chose Newcastle and no regrets at all. DS started two years ago. Really enjoying the course and good and accessible placements, supportive med school, great first year campus accommodation, lots of Uni sports options, beautiful, friendly and compact city and close to the Northumberland coast for trips out. Great Medsoc too. Finding follow-on accommodation from halls is relatively stress free and good value for money.They all tend to migrate to Jesmond after first year, which is a lovely area of the city and not far to travel to the medical school.

Thanks for this. My daughter is a SJA Cadet already, so I might ask them if they do any work experience stuff.

DS2 has had an email from Cambridge to say they will give him a decision next week on whether he has an interview.

If ok, could I ask what UCAT the SGUL interviewees have?

@UCASstuffiskillingme dS score was 2790

My daughter has just got an interview invite for HYMS at York in January - all her Uni’s have started to send out offers so she’s been nervously checking her emails all day - has gone out tonight and it’s just come though!

Do rejections come
out before interview offers?

Newcastle is a fantastic medical school and a good student city. Parking easy at Eldon Square Multistorey, and then walk through university to medical school. Alternatively there's quite a lot of street parking around leazes park and the medical school on meters.
For a decent location with parking for an overnight stay, consider Holiday Inn Jesmond, from where you can walk to the medical school in 15-20mins

@Tripadvice all their processes are different and some med schools have different processes from year to year. It's best to try not to second guess but really hard not to when you are waiting.

@Ib1234567 there was parking but you needed to pay for it at HYMS (assuming the interviews are in York) but it was limited availability so arrive with time to spare. They made the 'supporters' really welcome and had students on hand to chat with us about the course etc.

Is anyone helping their DCs with interview practice?
I am not a medic so other than checking he’s doing something I don’t think I’d be that helpful. He’s doing online practice with school friends and mock stuff at school.
Is this enough?

@Mumofboys2006 that sounds great! School have arranged mock interviews for my daughter and she has friends who are now in 1st year doing medicine who are going to help with some questions online.

Just dropping in as a veteran mum of 8 med school interviews (both ds are in the trade), to say informal interview practice practice practice at home really helped both my 2 feel ready for interviews. Applicants need to be able to talk comfortably around a number of quite predictable topics so the more your dc practice talking it through with mum (which is embarrassing anyway) the less awkward it becomes when doing it in front of a panel of interviewers.

Use the book as a base for prep ('Medical School Interviews' by Picard and Lee - if you haven't got it yet, do fork out it's well worth it). We didn't do formal practice at home, more just throwing them a random question from the book while washing up or whatever, or just talking through 'what would you say if they ask about XY or Z?' or doing the roleplay type scenarios e.g. tell a neighbour you've scratched their new car, help a confused person who has got lost.

As I said, it's lucky that the question areas in every med school tend to be fairly similar so although you shouldn't learn rote answers you can prepare roughly what you would answer if they ask:

• about you, your motivations to study medicine, what you're like as a person
• about the uni, med school, course and town - why this uni, this course, this city? Are you aware of any downsides of this course, place etc?
• an example of time you've experienced good (or bad) teamwork, leadership, care, giving support, teaching/ learning, dealt with stress, conflict, achievement/ failure etc
• make sure you know the basic 'knowledge' (all in the book) - e.g. the structure of NHS, the ethical pillars and how they apply to common ethical topics e.g. euthanasia, abortion,
• have something to say about important science/medicine developments in the past and future

And just practice smiling and making eye contact - smiling helps the interviewee feel more confident too 🙂

Good luck everyone!

Agree with @Haffdonga fab post. Also, practice talking to strangers. At the checkout, in shops, on the bus, wherever you can. Unless that have a customer facing job they have probably never had to converse with complete strangers. Being used to doing it makes you more relaxed.

Know why that Uni and that course (yes, everyone knows you chose there because of your UCAT, but knowing a bit about the course structure is important).

Agree great interview guidance from @Haffdonga. Just on a practical note, for MMI in person interviews, make sure they take a decent sized bottle of water in with them. It is really intense with a lot of talking and it helps if they can just keep hydrated.

Thanks so much! This is all so incredibly helpful!

Ds has his first interview this week, and I have suddenly realised that he/ we have put so much thought into the contents of the interview that we haven't really thought about what he's going to wear. Is a suit what is expected?

The interview this week is not as crucial as it's online, and I assume a shirt (and tie?) will do the job but we need to think ahead for the in person interviews.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

All DS's interviews were online three years ago and shirt and tie was fine for those. DD had in-person interviews last year and she said there were a lot of boys in suits. I don't think the interviewers care at all as long as they are smart. It's more a question of whether it makes them feel more confident to be in a suit. If so, I wouldn't break the bank for an expensive suit. Slaters suits are really reasonably priced.

I would either go for a full suit or a shirt, smart jumper and trousers. That way he could just wear school uniform trousers if they still fit and a shirt so he just needs a jumper. They may need something similar for some placements when not in scrubs.

Thank you both, that sounds sensible. He is not very keen on wearing a suit but I worry he will feel more uncomfortable if he gets there and everyone else is.

We have suitable shirt/ trousers/ jumper so will probably go with that, he may change his mind after the first in person interview I suppose.

My daughter has an interview in person this week. The website specifically says you won’t be judged on what you wear. So of course she won’t dress for a night clubbing, but she has decided to wear her jeans (regular, not skinny or super baggy,no rips) and a light knit top (not off the shoulder, not cropped). Simple jewellery. I suggested her pinstripe trousers but she said no. 🤷‍♀️ I didn’t push it. She needs to manage this part of the process herself.

Ds had asked my opinion as the university where he has his first in person interview has asked candidates to dress smartly and he wasn't sure what their idea of smart was! I was also unsure hence the question.

The university suggests that school uniform can be worn if they don't possess anything smart enough so we didn't feel jeans etc seemed right.

I imagine all universities may have slightly different expectations.

Hi, despite the med school saying that your daughter won't be judged on what they wear, I really do not recommend jeans - it is best to think along the lines of what, as a med student, they would wear on placement ie smart trousers & top (I know that the majority wear scrubs these days so this is probably an irrelevant view!) Whilst formal skirt suits are obviously not necessary, it is important to look professional and as a medical school interviewer, I would find it hard to look past someone dressed so casually. However, as you say, it is your daughter's choice and I wish her luck.

Both my ds wore tidy shirt and trousers combos (not suits) and reported most boys were dressed the same. Ds told us about one terrified-looking fellow interviewee who was clearly wearing his dad's suit as it was enormous on him and dragging on the floor. Don't do that!
I'd agree with PPs, best to dress like a junior doctor/med student would dress on a GP placement. ie tidy, clean and work smart but not over formal or glam.
The more you look like a doctor the more the interviewers will be able to imagine you being one even if they're not consciously marking you out of ten on appearance.You wouldn't expect a doctor in jeans so wearing them in an interview could put you at risk of subconscious bias that you somehow don't fit in.