Medicine 2025 entry - part 2

[HGC2]

Not sure how to link old thread, can anyone help me do this?

Onto UCAT and personal statements now - good luck everyone!

We've just bought the book too, nothing else planned

As far as I know, DD isn't doing anything much to prep for interviews yet. She has masses of coursework at the moment (does IB rather than A levels) so that is very much the focus.

I think she will get some support from college nearer the time (though the brilliant medics person who I imagine as our local mumsneedwine has sadly moved on this year 😥) and I'm sure she'll have a plan for preparing for them. (I'm trying very much not to hover over her too much about it, having been given a clear steer to trust in her process during the UCAT prep.) I don't think the plan will involve paying for any practice etc.

Don't over prep for interviews as otherwise it sounds rehearsed. Best practice is to talk to as many strangers as you can ! So check out staff, waiting in a q etc. Yes, you'll feel like weirdo, but being confident in conversing is so key to nailing interviews. You'll never guess what they might ask you (although have an answer for why medicine, why that Uni and city) so be prepared for anything.

Don't be afraid to ask for more info if stuck. The key is to talk ! Don't freeze. Reason your answers out loud so they can hear your thought process.

It's a job interview. They are looking for people they'd like to work with and who will be good with patients. They know you're clever already 😊

Best practice is to talk to as many strangers as you can ! So check out staff, waiting in a q etc.

I’d be brilliant then! 😂

DC’s school is doing a practice session but he has also been invited to a practice at our local university - I think run by medical students. Our
experience so far of medical student feedback is mixed (they tend to only have their own perception of their own application experience to guide them) but the questions will be real ones.

@KielderWater you and me both - I talk to everyone (whether they like it or not). Embarrasses my kids no end 😂.

Practice things like giving instructions - get them to tell you how to put a jacket on, and follow their instructions exactly !

Learn to listen. The station asking you to find out information or help a patient is about being able to listen carefully, not actually perform the task.

But the main thing is to smile and talk. If stuck and go completely blank then say so ! Ask for a few seconds to get your thoughts together. No one expects perfection, they want people who can deal with pressure and not crumble. There will be students in tears at interviews - hopefully none of yours.

when I saw activity on here, I got excited thinking some have got interview invites already 😂
I know it’s early days, but just goes to show how much this process takes over one’s life 😅

@Justlikingit UCAT results won't be with Unis for a few more weeks. If that helps 😂

We just got the book too.

DD has so far had one holding email from Lincoln stating they’ve had loads of applications and she might not hear anything until 31 March. Is this standard?

@islaoo I'm afraid so. Admissions depts are tiny and it takes ages for some of them to trawl through thousands of applications.

🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh, I know that, but it doesn’t stop my head from playing tricks with me 😇

DD applied to Sunderland, how long should it take for her to get the questionnaire to complete re work experience etc?

Practice all kinds of role plays. Display the emotional response that the situation calls for. And don’t forget to start with introducing yourself! Google YouTube videos for uk med school mmi iv’s. There are loads.

Actually DD received her letter late yesterday. To complete the interview selection tool and numeracy test

Numeracy test? Isn’t a combination of expected qualifications and UCAT quantitative reasoning enough to assess that?

@KielderWater not for Sunderland 😊

Numeracy test? Isn’t a combination of expected qualifications and UCAT quantitative reasoning enough to assess that?

Absolutely not. We have lots of students with good grades in GCSE maths and reasonable scores in UCAT QR who struggle with basic calculations to the extent that they are potentially dangerous. Although science A-Level specifications are supposed to contain a certain proportion of maths-based assessment, it is very evident that lots of students with A-grades can't do those parts of the A-Levels.

There has been quite a lot of research into standards of numeracy among medical students and junior doctors that suggests Sunderland's practice of pre-admission assessment of numeracy (and/or that of other medical schools such as Leicester, which have numeracy stations within their MMIs) should probably be more widespread. See, for example, Taylor A (2019).

Loads have numeracy stations for MMI. I'd really hope most students with a 7 or more in GCSE can do basic calculations. But it's the interpretation of the information that sometimes stumps them.

That does seem an indictment of the way numeracy is taught and examined in school. It is not just medicine that requires numeracy skills.

I think numeracy is taught fine in schools (but then I'm a teacher 😂). But applying knowledge can be tricky - it's why they train them to do drug calculations at Uni. I've never had a potential medical student who can't do basic calculations though.

That does seem an indictment of the way numeracy is taught and examined in school. It is not just medicine that requires numeracy skills.

I agree completely.

As @mumsneedwine has said, it's not performing the calculations that they struggle with. It's understanding what they're supposed to be calculating. In fact, the most common response when you ask a student to calculate something is "what's the formula?" They can put numbers into a formula but they don't understand what the numbers mean. If you just give them all the relevant numbers and ask them to work something out (e.g. someone weighs 65 kg; they have lost 10% of their body weight over the past month; what did they weigh a month ago?) they can't do it because they haven't seen the calculation before, or have seen it and deliberately forgotten (which medical students also do with chemistry). They're unable to reason it out, and they don't know - or don't remember - that if a = b x 0.9, then b = a ÷ 0.9.

The issue of not understanding what numbers mean probably also accounts for students' (and most doctors') being unable to give you a meaningful quantity including number and units.

I must teach different students. Ours are taught units from day 1 of year 7. No units, no mark.

It's on every mark scheme of every gcse science exam. I'm very surprised medical students are not numerate, especially as most of them will have at least a 7. There's a lot of maths in science A levels too

Hello can I join in please? DS has applied to Sheffield, Belfast, Birmingham and UEA. We are fairly confident he will get interviews based on a good UCAT score but the waiting is hard when friends applying for other courses have had offers by return of post….It’s going to be a long year.

@Miloarmadillo2 it's a long bumpy year. Stick with it, give hugs when needed and remember the mantra. You only need one offer 🤞

@mumsneedwine thank you! I think your username is very apt for this process.

@Miloarmadillo2 it's where my name came from 😂. She's an F2 now