Question about wannabe doctors - medic mentor

[Ginandtonic4all]

My lovely Niece 16 wants to go to university to read medicine. She is taking part in online support via Medic Mentor.

They offer a one week support week in the summer for nearly £3k.

Has anyone's kids done it? Heard about it? I have a vague uneasy feeling about it but her parents want to help her in anyway as it's so competitive. This is their 20/21 holiday money so they want to be sure.

My dd is also aspiring to do medicine, and we have done quite a bit of research. It is extremely competitive, but I'm not convinced that these expensive courses are at all necessary - they just look like a money making scheme to me. More important to do relevant voluntary work, work experience etc, though I appreciate that this is challenging at the moment.

DD just started a medicine course at very competitive university.
There is no way we would have got value from a course like that. I think you'll find few of the MNers with kids who got into medical school tried such a course, or found that it was likely to be helpful.

If you lurk on the MN threads about applying for medicine you'll see the advice you need & lots of tips about free or cheap alternatives to a £3k course.

I’m assuming she’s in 6th form now. What do her teachers say ? Is she forecast excellent grades ?
Will her 6th form give her support for UKCAT? Private tutor companies do one it 2 day courses I think around £150 per day.
Will her 6th form support her in interview practice - again I think these companies do mock interview sessions, not sure how much they charge but it might be worth it if her school isn’t giving much help. However you might be able to get some second or third year medical students to do this more cheaply.
I have seen these companies offering virtual work experience . Given that this is going to be very difficult for any would be medic to gain this year I would be vary and it nay be worth contacting the medical school ls to see how this is going to be factored into the application process this year as not all aspiring medical students will have the means to pay for these.

Wary
May

Wow, I wouldn’t touch such a course with a Bargepole.

Our local hospital pre covid did an aspiring medics programme for local kids. Not sure if it’s restarted but worth asking local hospitals, ours doesn’t publicise it that I’ve ever seen.

Like others have said it’s the voluntary work which would make more of an impression. I don’t think people processing applications would be that impressed by it if put in the application......I’m not saying they’d be unimpressed but I just don’t think it would make a difference from that point of view. It just demonstrates the applicants parents have money to spend. Medical schools wouldn’t want to discriminate against people who couldn’t afford such a course so it wouldn’t be given any weighting.

The benefit I guess would be in helping to prepare for an interview but there must be free online info available.

Thanks all. Grades and work experience all covered. As she is a volunteer at the local hospital and has been for ages. She's got lots of other good extra curricular stuff.

We don't have any one in the family who has been to medical school and so it's the unknown I guess. I will pass on to my sister all you have said.

On what board would the medicine posts be. I did try and find them but no luck.

I am guessing from strict £3k budget for hols that family is not minted. It's possible neither parent went to Uni themselves.

That makes the niece perfect candidate for Widening Access scheme. That cost will be as good as free, and very handy if she lives within travel distance to a Uni that offers medicine course.

Some useful links at bottom of this page, other organisations and programmes that help prospective medics.

Higher education board is where you find threads about applying to study medicine.
Peruse the old threads from last few years too.

The student room has a lot of info for applicants, too.

What A-levels is your niece taking, OP? Sounds like she is yr12.

Please don't pay that. Total waste of money. Medicine threads on Higher Education will offer loads of help if you ask. Happy to help as a mum of a medic with no previous medics in the family. It takes a bit of detective work but all the info is out there for free. Medify fir UCAT practice. And interview MMI info is really good on TSR.

Thanks all. Will pass the info on.

@MedSchoolRat she's doing Chem, biology, physics, history and the EPQ (?) thing on huntingdons. She wants to go into the research side of medicine.