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Original poster

To consider training to become a GP?

116 replies

Inpersuitofhappiness · 11/01/2021 20:56

I can't believe I'm posting this, I have pretty low confidence in myself, and this is something I've always thought was beyond me, but I have always had an interest in all things medical.

I've just turned 30, and a few times I've been told that I should consider getting into the medical profession. I've always shrugged it off, because I don't view myself as smart enough. One person who recommended it was a GP himself and said that its just hard work to get there.

Is it really doable for the fairly average person if they work hard?

Is it too late?

Is it a career even worth having? I know there are so many GPs leaving the profession with the way the NHS has been over the past several years atleast.

There's part of me that feels like I could really help people.

I already have a career that I don't mind, its genuinely the interest in helping people a bit more thats making me want the change.

I'm hoping I might be able to speak to people who have maybe done it, or know people who have. What do people do if they fail their training?

OP posts:
CakeQueen87 · 11/01/2021 23:07

You can't gain entry for medicine via an access course. There is no short cut and it's not just a matter of gaining A Levels, you need the top grades. I would say that this isn't achievable for most people tbh. With any health related/ medical degree you will also need a good amount of relevant experience

titchy · 11/01/2021 23:14

You can't gain entry for medicine via an access course

Actually you can - scroll down the link below. As I said it has to be the specific Access to Medicine course, not a more generic one.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/medicine-mbbs

misselphaba · 11/01/2021 23:19

@CakeQueen87 there are specialist access courses for students wanting to apply to medicine.

OP - Many medical programmes also have widening access programmes so it's worth looking at the admission requirements of the universities you would likely apply to. Some universities are better for non-traditional students than others. Some I would avoid completely. You have to be strategic when applying to medical school, especially as a non-trad student. Think about where you would be happy to move to. Firstly, to attend an access course as not all colleges offer access to medicine then possibly later when you go to university. Good luck!

Higgeldypiggeldy35 · 11/01/2021 23:19

Definitely didn't want to put you off OP. If your heart and head say medicine then go for it. I personally considered it but I don't handle high stress well and wanted more job flexibility and home/work balance so I went down the AHP route. But don't have regrets, if medicine is what you want then research it and go into it with your eyes open. Good luck

yuyubooboo · 11/01/2021 23:22

@Chillypenguin as a Manchester medic graduate I can assure you the year group is much larger than 68 places. There were >400 in my final few years but I think the initial entry is around 280.

Chillypenguin · 11/01/2021 23:29

@yuyubooboo I was being a tad lazy and those are the dentistry numbers - I assume the ratios of applicants to places are similar :)

BungleandGeorge · 11/01/2021 23:45

Universities often prefer mature students for their work ethic, commitment and life experience.

catnoir1 · 12/01/2021 00:00

Do an access to medical course. It's one year and while it doesn't guarantee entry to uni, it gives you all the highers you need.

CakeQueen87 · 12/01/2021 00:11

@misselphaba
There are a couple of places that offer these courses yes. I'd suggest looking at the statistics for how many people get on a medicine course from them. I have lots of experience of working with access students and in university admissions. I've heard of one person who managed to get on from an access course and they already had an unrelated degree plus years of experience in a medical setting.
You cannot replicate the 2 years of A Levels needed for medicine in a one year access course. Universities want applicants to have top grade A Levels. It's as simple as that really.

mumnowformerrockstar · 12/01/2021 06:06

@Inpersuitofhappiness

Thanks for the advice, its really appreciated. Its as id suspected to start with, not only is there training to become the sort of person on paper to be accepted to do the degree, it does seem that there's a huge, huge amount of competition for the opportunity to even train.

As much as I'd love the opportunity to go into an academic role, and actually do something that feels like its worthwhile maybe I'd be far better off just staying where I am. I was feeling like maybe I'd just bite the bullet and try, and I'm glad I asked here for some advice, because I'd be mortified if I tried to train and couldn't do it.

Thanks for the insights, and the really good advice. I might look into the other roles people have pointed out.
Thanks.

Op, don't bothering asking advice on mn as the majority of people will grind you down , as they have done here. Try and get some professional career advice instead .
mumnowformerrockstar · 12/01/2021 06:07

That should be bother not bothering .

Gothamgirl1970 · 12/01/2021 06:09

So amazing OP! I’d do it in a heartbeat if I wasn’t too old. Get stuck in you brave warrior woman!

hopefulhalf · 12/01/2021 06:30

In your junior doctor years you’ll be on a rota - you might have to work Xmas, new year, miss birthdays, weddings and be on call, all whilst still studying

You won't "might have to work Xmas" you will. Have a read of Adam Kay (sure he has some podcasts too) or talk to my DH or my DC about the THOUSANDS of weekends and night shifts I've worked.

However as your DC is 13, by the time you are on a junior doctor rota they'd be 18-19 so not too impacted. It does become your life though so although you can sustain a relationship or make a new one whilst at medical school it is impossible once you are working a junior doctor rota. I am a Consultant so did it for longer than you would have to as a GP. But it means for example you don't get to choose when you go on holiday and working 3X 13 hour shifts every other weekend is not unusual.

indiop · 12/01/2021 06:38

Don't do it! Agree RE allied health professional.

(From a very unhappy doctor, who thinks that GPs have it the worst of all of us)

yearnewwhatever · 12/01/2021 06:51

You sound bright, enthusiastic with a love of problem solving, science, a curious mind and caring on top. You'll be a great asset to the NHS.

There's loads of careers in the NHS. I'm an AHP and it's great. I'm frontline hospital work, I diagnose and treat which I love and I'm paid well but I go home on time and leave my work there. I've often wondered about being a doctor but I'm definitely a path of least resistance type.

Don't give up.

ohhellmytoe · 12/01/2021 07:01

Go for it! At least investigate it. I left school at 17, having flunked my AS levels. I later completed one A level part time and later still was accepted onto a law degree as a mature student with that one A level (intake requirements are different for mature students). I now have a first class LLB and it's opened up a world of opportunities for me (and a great salary).

DitherFlicker · 12/01/2021 07:19

Another option could be public health. You're not working directly with patients, but a lot of medical research and content...working with medical/NHS and local authority professionals to improve the health of the population and oversee the commissioning of services. There are also some specialist roles and placements. Lots of public health professionals on TV during the pandemic. Pay and conditions once qualified are similar to a hospital consultant, but training is only 5 years and hours more regular. Paid throughout....I think £40,000 to £50,000 while training and around £80,000 once qualified. They take people with a non-medical background and your management experience could be an asset. Tough exam and assessment to get in, it's common to try several times. But certainly worth considering and they also fund a masters for you and pay that salary throughout. Here's a link...www.drcath.net/hot-desk1/hot-desk. Link is to some sort of forum but has lots of background info and some more official links within it. Good luck with whatever you go for!

MilkMoon · 12/01/2021 07:19

@mumnowformerrockstar, the OP has had realistic advice about the difficulty of even being accepted onto a medicine degree course, from people who have completed medical training. That’s not ‘grinding someone down’, that’s useful advice about the reality of how competitive it is to get a place, far less qualify. What the OP does with the advice is up to her, but it’s certainly more valuable than contentless cries of ‘You go for it, hun!’

AwaAnBileYerHeid · 12/01/2021 07:21

then apply for say an ambulance service and work through ECA, technician, paramedic then applying for physician associate which can be done part time and paramedic qualification would gain access to this. Then you can do further training as a doctor whilst still working. Not a short route but all earning whilst learning, and no route to becoming a gp is ‘easy’

She'll be 95 by the time she qualifies if she goes down this route!

Ffsffsffsffsffs · 12/01/2021 07:30

Have you considered the financial cost of this op?

My baby(!) brother finished his f2 year last summer and the financial cost is staggering. He couldn't manage any part-time work during the first 5 years - the academic stuff is brutal and once he got onto placements his schedule was completely unreliable. A few bank shifts in the quieter, regular placements were all he could manage. He went to a top/expensive uni, so has course fees and living expenses loans to repay. For 5 years.

The drop-out/failure rate was around 40% for each year, that was fully expected and explained when they started on day 1. That's despite them all having shit-hot gcses and a levels and having passed the entry requirements.

Can you afford 5 years with zero income op? (I believe the foundation years are paid, no idea how gp training works)

CountessFrog · 12/01/2021 07:34

I think you’ve had some good, balanced advice, OP. Plenty to think about.

As for ‘grinding others down’ give your heads a wobble, posters who implied that. We seem to be living in a society where people think they can have whatever they want, just because they want it. It would be wrong to suggest that it’s easy to become a doctor, people are giving realistic advice.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 12/01/2021 07:40

Us nurses used to shudder at the thought of being a doctor, the stress, the being awake at all hours, the work involved, the very thick skin needed and the level of academia needed. No thanks, not unless you are prepared to stop your life 100% to do the training.

Jouuuuuuuuule · 12/01/2021 07:45

OP, have you thought of training as a physiotherapist or study occupational health? Both very rewarding.

lovelemoncurd · 12/01/2021 07:46

At first I thought you must have really good GCSEs and A levels when I read your initial post and that's why you were being encouraged to become a GP. Now I read you haven't even done GCSEs!

Why don't you just get those under your belt then see eh?!

You will no doubt change your mind once you realise it's 15 more years of study!

yearinyearout · 12/01/2021 07:50

Someone I know from school, who left school at 16 and did a series of dead end jobs and wasn't anything to shout about academically, did some access course in their late 20's, and a medicine degree at a uni in Romania. When I heard about this at a reunion I actually thought they were lying but I checked and he's registered with the GMC (not a GP which requires further training but is a hospital doctor)

Obviously you can't go to Romania but it shows it can be done.