Welcome to the SuperHub! We've categorised it into five different sections to make things simple. In each tab, we have a list of hand-picked resources, tools, videos and courses that will provide you with everything you need. Go through the relevant section when the time comes.
Our aim is not to be a directory (i.e. we won't put everything that exists into our hub) ... there would be far too much for you to go through. Instead, we've gone through the mountain of stuff out there and filtered it down to only the best resources, tools and articles. We feel confident that if you utilise the SuperHub you'll be extremely well prepared for every part of the application process.
If it's your first time here, we highly recommend you START HERE so you can make the most out of the SuperHub!
Our aim is not to be a directory (i.e. we won't put everything that exists into our hub) ... there would be far too much for you to go through. Instead, we've gone through the mountain of stuff out there and filtered it down to only the best resources, tools and articles. We feel confident that if you utilise the SuperHub you'll be extremely well prepared for every part of the application process.
If it's your first time here, we highly recommend you START HERE so you can make the most out of the SuperHub!
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Key Resources - starred resources help you quickly navigate the most important resources. Vital when time is short.
Top Tips - find helpful information about the relevant section (e.g. UCAT) by clicking this button whenever you open a tab.
Strategic Advice - get the best strategic and time-planning advice by clicking this button. Strategic approaches can significantly help boost your chances of getting into medical school!
Pre-Year 12
Last Updated: JUNE 2023
✨ Explore life as a medical student & doctor
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Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ It may sound very early to be making big life decisions, but it's so important to take some time during GCSE to seriously consider whether you want to pursue Medicine as a career. This is when you'll be making your A-level choices which will impact your ability to apply to Medicine or not! By thinking things through during GCSEs, this will help you make the best choices in preparation for medical school application.
💡 Medical schools generally divide their courses into two parts, pre-clinics (science-focused) and clinics. These can be intermingled slightly in what are called integrated courses, or taught in completely separate years (traditional courses). It all depends on the medical school.
Below are a selection of (mostly) videos giving you an insight into both pre-clinical and clinical years at a variety of medical schools. Since when you apply to medical school you're essentially applying to become a doctor, it's also important to understand what that entails day-to-day. Therefore, our selection also covers the entire period from a foundation year doctor (i.e. doctors who've recently graduated) to more senior doctors (registrars - i.e. the step before becoming a consultant)!
We hope the selection below and this advice will allow you to make more informed choices about medicine and even the course-types (e.g. whether you want to do an intercalated BSc or a traditional course or not). Although we believe our selection of videos gives a relatively balanced reflection of the field, it's so important to speak to both medical students and doctors and ask for their honest opinions about studying Medicine to ensure you get a realistic view on life as a medic!
NOTE: This resource is also relevant for those in Year 12 who are unsure about applying to Medicine. We also realise this list is rather long but the objective was to give you a wide variety of perspectives to help you on your decision-making process. We wouldn't necessarily expect you to 'cover' this entire section.
Below are a selection of (mostly) videos giving you an insight into both pre-clinical and clinical years at a variety of medical schools. Since when you apply to medical school you're essentially applying to become a doctor, it's also important to understand what that entails day-to-day. Therefore, our selection also covers the entire period from a foundation year doctor (i.e. doctors who've recently graduated) to more senior doctors (registrars - i.e. the step before becoming a consultant)!
We hope the selection below and this advice will allow you to make more informed choices about medicine and even the course-types (e.g. whether you want to do an intercalated BSc or a traditional course or not). Although we believe our selection of videos gives a relatively balanced reflection of the field, it's so important to speak to both medical students and doctors and ask for their honest opinions about studying Medicine to ensure you get a realistic view on life as a medic!
NOTE: This resource is also relevant for those in Year 12 who are unsure about applying to Medicine. We also realise this list is rather long but the objective was to give you a wide variety of perspectives to help you on your decision-making process. We wouldn't necessarily expect you to 'cover' this entire section.
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Deciding on Medicine [ARTICLE]
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Thinking about a career in Medicine? This short article walks you through your other options and how to go about seeing if Medicine is the one for you. By thinking through your options this should help you make an informed choice. It also runs through the different qualities expected in medical students and doctors and gives you a short description of life as a doctor.
PROS
- We like the step-by-step guide to help you 'decide on Medicine'. Too often students get involved in the medical school application process without giving it due thought. Taking the time to consider these steps and think deeply about a career in Medicine will help you avoid future regrets. We're sure your future self will thank you a lot!
CONSIDER
- Although work experience is absolutely essential and key for your medical school application, it's not necessarily the best or only way to find out about life as a medic. One important action we think anyone exploring Medicine should think about is talking to medical students and doctors (and other types of healthcare workers) about their thoughts on Medicine. These individuals have the benefit of hindsight and have had plenty of time to reflect on their decisions wisely. Importantly, their answers are likely to be given in the context of their lives (i.e. time outside Medicine and family life etc.). If not, ask them! It's really important to think about Medicine as part of your life and not as your entire life. This will help that a lot!
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What to do when you're undecided about your career [SHORT ARTICLE]
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Feeling really unsure about your next steps? This is a situation that is much more common than you think. However, a large number of students end up going into a degree they're not completely convinved about which can often make you feel left-out. This is despite the fact that many of them make changes down the line or end up simply regretting taking on a degree they were unsure about!
PROS
- This short article will hopefully help you put things into perspectives and think about your options. It also gives you realistic action points that you can do to help you figure things out. Uncertainty is scary sometimes but it can also be an opportunity to explore.
CONSIDER
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Reasons to Not Go to Medical School [ARTICLE]
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Following on from the earlier video, this article goes into some more important reasons why you should reconsider a career in Medicine.
PROS
- Just like the previous video, we think articles like this are extremely important to make sure that medicine is the right choice for you. Thinking things through now will save you a lot of hassle down the line.
CONSIDER
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Reasons Why You Should Not Do Medicine [VIDEO]
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Lots of people are quick to give you reasons why becoming a doctor is a great idea. However, not everyone takes the time to try and think through their intentions as to why they want to be a doctor. Although it may not seem important, choosing to do Medicine for the wrong reasons can be harmful for yourself and future patients. It's important to think through life decisions and ensure you remain honest with yourself at all times.
PROS
- We think videos like this are extremely important. It's far too often that people pick medicine for the wrong reasons (e.g. parents want them to do it). We've seen students who've grown to regret these decisions later on and although you can always make adjustments in the future, thinking about this early on can help you avoid stress and save time. This is particularly important if you already have a passion for something else! If you're not sure about your choice of degree, we highly recommend you speak to people who work in different industries and try to secure work experience or internships in them too. A gap year is also a great opportunity to take a year out, do some exciting things and consider your options more carefully. In the grand scheme of things, one year will mean almost nothing, especially if it helps you make a better decision for yourself.
CONSIDER
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Typical Day in Pre-Clinics [VIDEO]
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A nice relatively short video of a pre-clinical student (Kharma Medic) going about his daily medical school life. Pre-clinical students tend to study around one central campus (unlike clinical students who are often spread across various hospitals). Pre-clinical years are usually the first couple of years of medical school and focus on the more academic aspects of the course (leaving clinical studies till later). This of course can vary depending on the medical school curriculum.
PROS
- We like that this video is representative of the variety of life at medical school (e.g. table tennis, art exhibition & basketball). Often, 'day in the life' videos can go over-board with the study aspect but we think this shows a nice mix which more accurately represents most pre-clinical year student lives. Medical school isn't just about revision ... it can be fun!
CONSIDER
- Just bear in mind that this is showing the daily life of a KCL pre-clinical student. Although this is quite similar in other medical schools, it can vary significantly day-to-day and at unis with more integrative course (where for example each Thursday morning you might be at placements).. Often getting a week's view is a bit more helpful (check out below!).
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Typical Day in Clinics [VIDEO]
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Now for the clinical years! These are usually the latter years of medical school (e.g. 4th-6th year at UCL).
PROS
- Short and sweet video :) Unlike pre-clinical years, clinical days are usually more busy with most activities occurring after working hours (i.e. after 5pm) which is shown here. There is a notable transition in daily life when moving from pre-clinical years (which are usually more flexible) to clinical years.
CONSIDER
- Check out www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xabBhRJ8_U to see an entire week in Alphie's medical school life in clinics.
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Night Shifts as a Medical Student [VIDEO]
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Nightshifts are an exciting and eye-opening part of medical school. They're also a big part of life as a foundation year doctor (i.e. your first two years after you graduate as a doctor).
PROS
- We like this video because of Annie's reflections of her experiences. Things you will see on placement will affect you and sometimes it's helpful to talk about it. It's worth noting that it's impossible for medical students to film what they're up to in a hospital but here Annie goes into depth about what she saw and how she felt!
CONSIDER
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Training pathway to become a consultant doctor [SHORT ARTICLE]
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A handy resource that breaks down the confusing training system that occurs after medical school. This is important to understand when preparing for medical interviews, but firstly, it's helpful to understand when you're considering Medicine in the first place! Education and training doesn't end after medical school. Depending on the type of doctor you want to be the time to become a fully trained doctor will vary from type-to-type.
PROS
- This relatively short article breaks down what is often quite a confusing aspect of the medical career.
CONSIDER
- Although this article aims to be brief, there are other resources for more in-depth breakdowns of the different training pathways for doctors.
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Intercalated BSc Year [VIDEO]
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The iBSc year is often given little thought during medical school application. However, more and more medical schools are offering an iBSc as part of their degree (optional or compulsory). Since you may potentially be spending an entire year doing your iBSc, we think it's important that you see what life as an iBSc student is like.
PROS
- Not many videos talking about the intercalated year available but Soony here has helped sort that out!
CONSIDER
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Preparing for Exams [VIDEOS]
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Medical school involves a lot of exams. This doesn't end once you've graduated either! Understanding the realities of Medicine is important when you're thinking about applying. Finals often involves weeks of consistent work where you'll need to put in 6-12 hours a day into studying.
PROS
- Alphie goes through the different methods that medical students use to learn and prepare for exams. We prefer this video over others because it provides a more detailed insight into what studying for clinical exams involve. Medical students will do a *lot* of this therefore we thought it be a good addition!
CONSIDER
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Medical School Stress [VIDEO]
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The competitiveness and high-stakes associated with medical school can put a lot of stress on individuals. However, when other significant life events take place (which they often do - remember you're at medical school for anything between 4-6 years), it can quite quickly become too much. In fact, due to regular stress burnout is quite common in the medical field in general.
PROS
- In this video Soony gives you a genuine look into the less aesthetic aspects of medical school life. Medical school is hard and life inevitably will also throw things into the mix. It's important to remember this when considering a career which involves a lot of responsibility and stress. This is a good chance to reflect on your ability to cope with stress and how you'd manage difficult situations in the future. They may not occur during medical school but they're bound to occur at some point and reflecting on this early on can help you make more informed choices.
CONSIDER
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Foundation Year Doctor [VIDEO]
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This video shows life as a foundation year doctor (i.e. a doctor who has been working for 2 or less years). This video shows a realistic mixture of jobs a foundation doctors may do including writing prescriptions and tending to patients.
PROS
- As always Ali's videos are well designed and very watchable.
CONSIDER
- We do sometimes feel YouTube videos can go overboard with the 'productivity' hype. Realistically, 'day in the life' videos like these are often unsustainable and can be scripted. Therefore, although we think this video nicely shows what a doctor gets up to, the reality is very few doctors (or medical students) will be this productive.
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Foundation Year Doctor - Gynaecology Rotation [VIDEO]
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This video shows life as an SHO (a doctor who has been working for at least one year).
PROS
- Unlike the last video this video shows a doctor on the day-shift showing what a regular foundation year doctor does on the ward round (for example). We like that Ali breaks down and explains the processes and why they go about them in that way.
CONSIDER
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Life a Junior Doctor during COVID-19 Peak [VIDEO]
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This is an honest account of a doctor working on the front-lines during the 2020 COVID crisis. He gives an reflective account of his experiences. He discusses the non-technical aspects of Medicine (i.e. the emotional and physical aspects of working in the NHS during extraordinary periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic) which is very important to be aware of and think about when applying to Medicine. Whilst we may think we are well prepared to manage difficult scenarios, it's important to realise that practically things are often much more different than in theory.
PROS
- We love the reflective aspect of the video. You'll be doing a lot of reflection throughout medical school too!
CONSIDER
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Registrar - Neurosurgery Night Shift - COVID Edition [VIDEO]
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This video follows a neurosurgery registrar on a night shift during the COVID pandemic. Once you complete medical school, you are considered a foundation year doctor for the first two years of your life as a doctor. Once you've competed these, doctors can apply for a speciality training pathway. This is where you begin to narrow down what aspect of Medicine you want to go into. Doctors on a training pathway are called registrars. Once you complete your training and are successful in applying to a consultancy job, you are then considered a consultant. Any doctors that isn't a consultant (i.e. all foundation year doctors and registrars) are considered junior doctors!
PROS
- We like the honest representation showing life as a doctor during a night-shift. We like how he goes into how doctors prepare and go about nightshifts. We also think his explanation of what doctors get up to on nightshifts is interesting and helpful! All these videos will help you gain a small insight into the different aspects of the medical school and doctor journey. You'll do a lot of nightshifts whilst you are a junior doctor and although this reduces it doesn't usually stop until you are a consultant.
CONSIDER
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Family Life as a Doctor (Married GP & Neurosurgeon) [VIDEO]
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This video features a married GP and neurosurgeon #powercouple. They compare life in primary care, life as a neurosurgeon and married life as two doctors. They delve deep into the challenges as well as the positives of life as a doctor.
PROS
- We liked this video for its honest and down-to-earth view of Medicine, particularly in the context of getting married and having children! These are important considerations when going into a vocation such as Medicine. This video also illustrates the challenges of going into hospital speciality training (i.e. the training you do to become a doctor in a hospital after you complete your two foundation years). This includes issues like night-shifts and rotas which can often dictate life and make planning in the medium and long-term particularly difficulty.
CONSIDER
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Understanding the NHS [SHORT ARTICLE + QUIZ]
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This resource aims to provide a simple summary of the NHS, it's origins and it's founding principles.
PROS
CONSIDER
- This is a summary document so it won't go into much detail. If you're really interested in going into the details of the NHS and really understanding how it works, we recommend The King's Fund course which is also linked in the SuperHub. However, this document should give you a decent amount of knowledge in preparation for your interviews. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
📕 Choosing your A-level subjects
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ Choosing your A-levels usually takes place during sixth form applications in Year 11. Therefore, it's worth considering your different A-level choices early on in Year 11.
💡 Unlike perhaps many other courses at university, medical schools are more demanding when it comes to the subjects you apply with. Medical schools can vary from place to place (check out our resources). However, there are certain subjects that are usually considered necessary (e.g. Chemistry) and others that are preferable. Usually the 3rd or 4th choice of A-levels are completely up to the student's interests. These choices may slightly improve a student's chances at entering a specific university though.
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Choosing your A-levels [GUIDE]
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This A-level guide includes a list of typical A-level offers by all the medical schools. It also provides helpful guidance when thinking about what subjects to choose and which to avoid! Lastly, there are some helpful A-level tips nearer to the bottom of the guide.
PROS
- Comprehensive guide which covers most aspects of the A-level when you're choosing your subjects and starting Year 12.
CONSIDER
- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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What A-levels do you need to be a doctor? [ARTICLE]
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The Medic Portal have put together a useful table of all the medical schools and the A-levels they require and the ones that are not acceptable.
PROS
- This will save you a *lot* of time having to visit the websites of different medical schools. Use the table to identify universities you're thinking about and make decisions based on them.
CONSIDER
- The page was last updated February 2019. This isn't very long ago at all however if you're making any big decisions based on the entry requirement of a specific university (such as choosing or avoiding specific subjects), we highly recommend you check the university's website directly and even consider contacting the admissions tutor. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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What A-levels do you need to become a doctor? [SHORT ARTICLE]
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This is a key article to look at during Year 11 when applying to Sixth Form. The article looks at the essential subjects as well as the useful subjects. It also gives some examples of university entry requirements. Of course, if you have a specific university or medical school in mind that you plan to apply to, it's a good idea to check their individual entry requirements on their website to make sure your choices match up preferably. However, it's important not to put all your eggs in one basket so do this with some caution.
PROS
- Clear relatively short article
CONSIDER
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Should I Take 3 or 4 A-levels? [ARTICLE]
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This is a question that a lot of students wonder about. Although this article is not solely focussed on medical applicants, it mentions medical applicants in the text. Most of the advice here is applicable to all medical school applicants anyway. The key thing to remember is that you should never drop an 'essential' subject. See the article above for more details on there.
PROS
- Balanced article.
CONSIDER
- The article does not focus on medical school applicants.
🔭 Application overview
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ We recommend you go through these resources during your summer before starting sixth form.
💡 This section includes resources that provide you with an overview of the medical school application process. Awareness of the entire application process early-on provides you with a significant and often under-estimated advantage. It allows you to begin preparation for your application in Year 13 early ensuring you avoid any disappointments (e.g. organising work experience too late).
The section also covers resources on the different routes into Medicine, the variety of medical schools that exist in the UK and some medical student application case-studies (stories) and tips.
The section also covers resources on the different routes into Medicine, the variety of medical schools that exist in the UK and some medical student application case-studies (stories) and tips.
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Application overview [WEBPAGE]
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The Medical Schools Council (MSC) offers a wide range of helpful resources for those applying to medical school. This page from their official site gives you a run-through the different aspects of the medical school application including entry requirements, work experience needed (also in the context of COVID), personal statement, admissions tests and deadline dates.
PROS
- Unlike other sites this is the official site which is regularly kept up-to-date when it comes to changing circumstances with guidance on how to approach each step (e.g. work experience during COVID). It's also quite brief giving you a snapshot of the important aspects of the application. This MSC page also features new medical schools which may have a slightly different application process. Check this out at the bottom of the site. It also provides you with a list of resources for work experience.
CONSIDER
- This page doesn't aim to go into detail but rather give you a brief overview and sign-post you to the relevant resources and websites. For more detail check out the sections and resources in the other parts of the SuperHub.
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Application Timeline & Overview [ARTICLE]
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A visual timeline and breakdown of the medical school application process. It may seem daunting at first but it also illustrates that the application process is simply a number of hoops which can be approached one at a time. Utilising summer holidays when you're not studying GCSEs/A-levels allow you to complete work experience, focus on writing an excellent personal statement and achieve a high score in the UCAT admission exam (the BMAT is during term one of Year 13).
PROS
- Consider printing off the graphic timeline and sticking it next to your desk at home. Tick things off as you go about your journey. Having a good understanding of the process early on can help you mentally prepare for the medical school application and avoid burnout.
CONSIDER
- Again, this resource does not aim to go into detail for any section. Please check the other categories and resources in the SuperHub for details on any section. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Applying to Medicine Overview [VIDEO]
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This video summarises the key points you need to think about regardless of what year you're in. The advice given here is applicable to Year 11, 12s and 13s. Although this video talks about the 2019-20 application process, the advice given can be applied for future application cycles.
PROS
CONSIDER
- In the video Sen gives some good advice on which courses to completely avoid. However, with the significant increase in resources and tools available, paying for courses has become almost redundant. The information given during courses are available freely online (all the key information you need for your application can be found here in the SuperHub!). Therefore, we don't advocate that you pay for any courses at all. Likewise, paying a lot of money for a one-off interactive day is not encouraged either. You are far far better off getting siblings, friends and medical friends and family to do practice interviews with you and help you improve over time. The improvement in technique comes from repeating these interactive experiences overtime and not from being told what to do or a one day interactive course. The only way you can do this is with regular practice with family and friends, even if they're not a medic (you can even use a camera to record yourself)!
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Medicine Application Overview [Web Page]
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Studying Healthcare provides information on how to apply for a degree in medicine to set yourself on the path to becoming a healthcare professional.
PROS
- The Applications section covers a variety of areas such as: Why Medicine?, Course Types, UCAS Applications, Entry Requirements, Work Experience, Personal Statement, Admission Tests, How COVID-19 Affected Applications, and the Differences between Medical Schools. So an array of resources to help you!
CONSIDER
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Course types - MSC [ARTICLE]
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This simple webpage breaks down the different routes into Medicine. It's important to understand that there is no single or 'best' way of getting into medical school. For example, many students study medicine after having completed a different degree (graduate-entry). Often these courses are accelerated too (i.e. a year shorter than usual). This can mean that there is little difference in time-scales between a post-graduate doctor and an undergraduate doctor. For example. if you study a BSc at UCL (3 years) and then complete a post-graduate accelerated course at Cambridge (4 years) you will complete both degrees in 7 years. This is only one year more than a normal under-graduate degree at UCL (with an iBSc) which takes 6 years. More information can be found on the MSC entry route info-sheet (https://www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2366/msc-infosheet-entry-routes.pdf)
PROS
CONSIDER
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Map of Medical Schools - MSC [TOOL]
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A simple map of the UK with all the medical schools placed on it. This is helpful to get an idea of the geographical locations when you are thinking about applying to medical school. The page also includes the addresses and phone numbers for each university.
PROS
CONSIDER
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Entry requirements [INFO-SHEET]
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A 2-page PDF giving you an insight on what medical schools want to see from you during the application cycle. Understanding this will help you prepare best and early on in time for your application in year 13.
PROS
- The info-sheet also discusses issues around schools that don't do AS-levels and how EPQ is used in the application.
CONSIDER
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Applying to Medicine - Case Study 0 [VIDEO + ARTICLE]
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This is a case-study (i.e. review) of a medical student at Keele University talking about their application journey and breaking down certain aspects of their application (e.g. Why did they choose medicine? What steps did they take when applying?)
PROS
- There are multiple case-studies that can be found here. This is great as it shows the range of reasons students have for applying to medical school (there isn't one right answer!). It also shows that each person's journey (i.e. the steps they take to obtain work experience and the type of work experience they obtain) is different. This is important to remember as it's easy to compare yourself with other applicants. However, the reality is that the experience itself doesn't much as much as what you got out of it (through reflection).
CONSIDER
- Be careful of bias when reading these case-studies. It's easy to fall into the trap of using other people's well thought out reasons in your application. It's important to think about your experiences and give your genuine perspective. This will make writing your personal statement and answering questions at interview much easier and importantly will show the examiners you aren't telling someone else's story! Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Applying to Medicine - Case Study 1 [VIDEO + ARTICLE]
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This is a case-study (i.e. review) of a medical student at Oxford University talking about their application journey and breaking down certain aspects of their application (e.g. Why did they choose medicine? What steps did they take when applying?). Katherine also contrasts her expectations with reality after starting medical school. This is helpful to know since it's easy to make certain assumptions during application.
PROS
- See Case Study 0.
CONSIDER
- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Applying to Medicine - Case Study 2 [VIDEO + ARTICLE]
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This is a case-study (i.e. review) of a medical student at Imperial College London talking about their application journey and breaking down certain aspects of their application (e.g. Why did they choose medicine? What steps did they take when applying?)
PROS
- See Case Study 0.
CONSIDER
- See Case Study 0. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Applying to Medicine - Case Study 3 [SHORT ARTICLE]
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This is a case-study (i.e. review) of a different medical student at Imperial College London talking about their application journey and breaking down certain aspects of their application (e.g. Why did they choose medicine? What steps did they take when applying?)
PROS
- See Case Study 0.
CONSIDER
- See Case Study 0. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Applying for Medicine: Advice for Year 12s [VIDEO]
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This video includes advice for Year 12s looking to apply to medical school. Interestingly, this comes from a Year 13 applicant (rather than a medical student or doctor) putting together and giving her advice to Year 12s thinking about applying. Manisha goes through all the things she wishes she knew the year before!
PROS
- There's a *lot* of emphasis on resources and tools in Year 13 for those applying to medical school. This may be because most of the 'action' happens during that year. However, when it comes to medical school application, those who write the best personal statements and those who have most to talk about during their interviews are those who have prepared early. Therefore, we like how this video focusses on the Year 12 student who shouldn't just be sitting back but rather preparing for their application *now* (by getting 'evidence' for their UCAS application as Manisha says)! She also talks over some of the concerns a year 12 student thinking of applying may have. We also like her candidness. For example, thinking reasonably about wanting to study Medicine. You don't have to make it seem like medicine is your life's destiny, and here Manisha comes across as very genuine when mentioning that wanting to do Medicine is more about seeing it as a net positive despite that more negative aspects (like long working hours).
CONSIDER
📚 Other helpful resources
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ Here are some more resources that you can look at before sixth form to make sure you're as prepared as possible for the application.
This is a list of helpful resources to help you understand more about Medicine and the application process.
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Infoshorts Admission Videos [VIDEO PLAYLIST]
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A series of short videos from the Medical School Council (MSC) aiming to bust some myths about the medical school application and reassure potential applicants. Titles of the videos include 'balancing life at medical school', 'choosing your fifth choice subject' and 'the differences between medical schools'.
PROS
- There's a lot of myths around the medical school application process. Therefore, this resource from an official source like the MSC is very helpful.
CONSIDER
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Atomic Habits [BOOK]
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Most productivity gurus swear by this book. This international best-seller has sold over 1 million copies. The aim of the book is to help you break bad habits and form good habits (even small atomic ones) that over-time will have incredible results. For example, if you improve *any* skill by just 1% everyday you will have have improved at that skill by 37x in just one year! It's incredible and we highly recommend it even if it's the only book you read going into and during sixth form.
PROS
- The language is simple and the book is well laid out. It's also a relatively quick read!
CONSIDER
- This is not essential of course!
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List of Podcasts [PODCASTS]
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This is more for general interest. Podcasts are becoming extremely popular for those on-the-go and therefore we've included this web-page with a list of podcasts for just that. The podcasts listed are not all to do with the medical school application but are all to do with medicine one way or another. Choose whatever podcast you think you'd enjoy!
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- Beware of advertising in podcasts, particularly for medical school application services.
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Contextual information [INFO-SHEET]
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The reality of medical school admissions is that not all applicants are given equal opportunities. Your family's background, your school and your socioeconomic status will affect your performance when applying to medical school. 80% of medical students come from only 20% of schools. Fortunately however, the MSC has put this resource to explain to you how many medical schools use this information to gauge your academic potential. In short, this means that medical schools don't always compare you like-for-like but will rather look at your performance in the context of your environment. For example, if you achieved 5 9s and 6 8s at GCSEs in a school that hardly ever achieves grades like that, you will be considered to have stronger academic potential than someone with similar grades at a high-performing private or grammar school.
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- This is a really important resource to help reassure students who may feel that they have an unfair disadvantage when it comes to getting into medical school. Of course, the playing field is not yet level and there's still a lot to do. However, we hope this resource will help answer some questions around how medical schools use this data to judge you.
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Outreach & Widening Participation [OPPORTUNITIES]
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This page includes a comprehensive list of outreach and widening participation programmes at a variety of London universities for those looking to apply to medical school.
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- Entrants to higher education and to medicine from the lower socioeconomic background classifications have remained static since 2007. In addition, there are 50% fewer entrants to medicine from lower socioeconomic backgrounds than entrants to higher education in general. These programmes aim to help level the playing field by providing those who are disadvantaged with opportunities that are often out of reach.
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- Unfortunately, this resource doesn't include programmes outside of London. This does not mean that there are much more across the country that can't be accessed
Year 12
👍 Preparing for your application in Year 12
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ This section is applicable for all those in Year 12 to read throughout the entirety of the year. However, we recommend skimming this section at the start of Year 12.
💡 Superficially, it may seem like Year 12 is just about your AS-levels or mocks. However, good medical school applications are made by students who begin their preparations early. Those preparations tend to begin at the start of Year 12.
When entering Year 12, you need to begin thinking about the 'evidences' (i.e. experiences) that you will include in your personal statement (and expand upon at interview). It's too late realising you need more experiences to talk about during the Summer after Year 12. It may significantly reduce your chances of getting a place.
Therefore, making preparations early at the start of Year 12 such as organising medical and non-medical work experience is key to a successful and importantly less stressful application!
We know this may seem quite stressful but we'd rather 'shock' you into action than leave you in a situation where you're regretting not thinking about these important aspects of the application much earlier on!
When entering Year 12, you need to begin thinking about the 'evidences' (i.e. experiences) that you will include in your personal statement (and expand upon at interview). It's too late realising you need more experiences to talk about during the Summer after Year 12. It may significantly reduce your chances of getting a place.
Therefore, making preparations early at the start of Year 12 such as organising medical and non-medical work experience is key to a successful and importantly less stressful application!
We know this may seem quite stressful but we'd rather 'shock' you into action than leave you in a situation where you're regretting not thinking about these important aspects of the application much earlier on!
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Preparing for Medical School Applications in Year 12
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Preparation for your application begins in Year 12 (or even earlier)! It's really important to be aware of the 'evidence' you need to collect during Year 12 so that when the application comes round in Year 13 you've got plenty to say in your personal statement and interview!
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- Everything you need to know to make sure you're ready to ace your medical school application!
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Applying for Medicine: Advice for Year 12s [VIDEO]
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This video includes advice for Year 12s looking to apply to medical school. Interestingly, this comes from a Year 13 applicant (rather than a medical student or doctor) putting together and giving her advice to Year 12s thinking about applying. Manisha goes through all the things she wishes she knew the year before!
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- There's a *lot* of emphasis on resources and tools in Year 13 for those applying to medical school. This may be because most of the 'action' happens during that year. However, when it comes to medical school application, those who write the best personal statements and those who have the most to talk about during their interviews are those who have prepared early. Therefore, we like how this video focusses on the Year 12 student who shouldn't just be sitting back but rather preparing for their application *now* (by getting 'evidence' for their UCAS application as Manisha says)! She also talk about some of the concerns a Year 12 student thinking of applying may have. We also like her candidness. For example, thinking reasonably and logically about wanting to Medicine. You don't have to be over the moon about Medicine and this reflected in the video. Manisha comes across as very genuine when mentioning that wanting to do Medicine is more about seeing it as a net positive despite that more negative aspects (like long working hours). In fact, we believe medical schools would much rather hear students with this logical mindset than those who may not seem to be in touch with the realities of medicine. An excellent video to watch in Year 12!
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Understanding Medicine [INFO-SHEET]
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In preparation for your application, you should be aware of what medical schools expect and what they want to see. This is a short 2-page PDF from the official Medical School Council (MSC) talking about the different factors you should be thinking about and doing. It also includes an important section on what medical schools want to see during the application. Reading and understanding this early on will give you an insight into the minds of medical schools and will help you think more proactively to pre-empt any issues later on (like the lack of experience for your personal statement and interview). The important think is to not leave it too late!
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- Short and sweet and gives you a quick overview on what you need to be thinking about at this stage. Must read for year 12s thinking about Medicine.
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Applying to medical school - BMA overview
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This guide produced by the British Medical Association (BMA) will help you to navigate the process of applying to medical school. If you are applying to medical school there will be a range of things to consider. From attending a university open day, submitting your application and attending an interview, BMA have produced a guide to help you get through the application process
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HOW TO GET INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL IN THE UK TIMELINE - theMSAG
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Getting into medical school in the UK can be stressful and involves a lot of work, but there is a lot that you can do to prepare beforehand and improve your chances. The Medical Schools Application Guide (theMSAG) has written this article as a guide to give you an overview of the steps required for the medical schools application.
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The Ultimate Guide to UK Medical School Applications - BeMo
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In this extensive article post by BeMo, it will help you understand the main components of the UK medical school application process, as well as important considerations to bear in mind prior to submitting your application. Though working toward a job in a universal healthcare system, the course of study in UK medical schools can vary considerably from institution to institution, so reflection on your own strengths and learning needs is necessary for the most competitive medical school application possible.
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Medicine Application Guide (Y11-12) - Higher Horizons
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If you’re interested in becoming a doctor and studying Medicine at university, your application process is a little different than other courses. As well as your UCAS application, you will need to take a medical admissions test, do some work experience, and go through an interview process. Higher Horizons have put together a guide to help you understand everything that is required on a medical school application, and some top tips for every stage to help you through the process.
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🏥 Work experience (medical)
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ Begin thinking about organising work experience from the end of Year 11 (if you know you want to do Medicine or even if you're not sure ... just to get a taste of what it's like!). The 'window' for finding and undertaking work experience continues until mid-Summer after Year 12 (where you'll be deep into the UCAS process and will need to be writing drafts for your personal statement).
Starting early will increase your chances of successfully organising placements. It's often not very easy to organise and can sometimes be a bit disheartening. Try to organise your work experience for the Summer after your GCSEs or at the end of Year 12 (aim for early-Summer to give you time to write your personal statement and prepare for the UCAT). You can also opt to do it during a half-term holiday in Year 11 or 12 (which is more preferably than the Summer after Year 12). Leaving it till Year 13 is too late as your UCAS application will have been sent at the start of Year 13.
Starting early will increase your chances of successfully organising placements. It's often not very easy to organise and can sometimes be a bit disheartening. Try to organise your work experience for the Summer after your GCSEs or at the end of Year 12 (aim for early-Summer to give you time to write your personal statement and prepare for the UCAT). You can also opt to do it during a half-term holiday in Year 11 or 12 (which is more preferably than the Summer after Year 12). Leaving it till Year 13 is too late as your UCAS application will have been sent at the start of Year 13.
💡 Work experience in a medical environment (commonly but not always in a hospital or GP setting) is often essential when applying to medical schools. We've included a list of requirements per medical school in our list below. The MSC resources outline the general requirements. Usually the work experience is completed over a few days or a week. However, it's the quality (i.e. what you get out of it) rather than quantity that matters. More is not necessarily better particularly if it's more of the same type of experience (e.g. 2 weeks with the same medical team repeating the same tasks).
Work experience provides you with an insight into Medicine, allowing you to learn more about your potential future career. It will also serve as a central point of discussion in both your personal statement and interview. Therefore, it's necessary that you are able to organise some sort of work experience before applying and this requires early organisation (as it can sometimes be difficult to secure).
Note: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual work experience opportunities (shown below) now serve as alternative options to in-person work experience. Remember, it doesn't matter if many people are doing the same virtual work experience, it's the unique reflections and take-away messages that you talk about in your personal statement and interview that will set you apart.
Work experience provides you with an insight into Medicine, allowing you to learn more about your potential future career. It will also serve as a central point of discussion in both your personal statement and interview. Therefore, it's necessary that you are able to organise some sort of work experience before applying and this requires early organisation (as it can sometimes be difficult to secure).
Note: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual work experience opportunities (shown below) now serve as alternative options to in-person work experience. Remember, it doesn't matter if many people are doing the same virtual work experience, it's the unique reflections and take-away messages that you talk about in your personal statement and interview that will set you apart.
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Work experience overview - MSC [SHORT PDF]
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A short guide that discusses what work experience is and what is 'required' by medical schools. Importantly, it discusses the different ways that a medical school may use work experience during the application process. This is important to understand when looking and undertaking work experience to ensure you're prepared for the later parts of the application process (for example, keeping notes from your experiences in hospital - excluding patient identifiable information of course - detailing your reflections and feelings). Remember to anonymise all information at all times.
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- The 'general principles' section is particularly helpful. We highly reccomend you look through it as it will give you a good idea of the type of work experience you should look for and what you should avoid. This will help you embark on 'high-yield' work experience that are most helpful for your application. It helps you think about work experience the way medical school wants you to!
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- For a shorter resource, check out the infosheet here (www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2654/work-experience-infosheet.pdf).
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Work experience map [TOOL]
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This is a helpful map listing all the different hospitals offering work experience placements. Although not every listed hospital has a special email for placements, many do and this can help you begin sorting out work experience early on.
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- A great starting point to help you make a list of local hospitals near you that you can contact early on to try and organise work experience.
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- Although this can help you identify different places with placements available, the difficulty is often the process of actually securing the work experience. We've got some more resources lined up for you below to help with this in the SuperHub.
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COVID-19 Vaccination E-learning
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For those of you who want to become vaccinators need to complete some e-learning. Steps:
1) Register to e-Learning for Healthcare website 2) Ask your employer/clinic lead what modules need to be completed
3) Search up the modules in the search-bar of the website 4) Complete the modules (typically these are the COVID-19 Vaccination, Anaphylaxis, Immunisation, Basic Life Support and Statutory and Mandatory modules)
5) Save and send the certificates to whoever is in charge of the vaccination clinic
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Life as an A&E Doctor during COVID [WEBINAR]
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This is an on-demand webinar delivered by an A&E doctor. The talk involves discussions around her experiences with COVID-19 as well as answers to some questions from the audience. There are also a collection of other webinars that you can watch at any time if you're interested.
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- This is a great opportunity to get a glimpse of the experiences of a doctor with COVID-19. Although this is a report (i.e. she's recalling her experiences), the webinar opens an opportunity for you to reflect on her experiences and discuss this in your personal statement or interview.
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- The talk is an hour long so just be aware of this before you start.
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MORE: Work Experience & Volunteering Opportunities 1 [LIST]
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Jess has organised a list of COVID-proof work experience and volunteering opportunities for aspiring medics. This covers a range of different experiences (some mentioned separately on this list for emphasis).
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- Quickly identify opportunities you may be interested and get started!
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- This is obviously specific to COVID. Therefore, if you are able to get in-person experiences organised then that should be your priority! However, do not worry at all if you can't as most students won't be able to. Medical schools are highly unlikely to distinguish between candidates as a result of this due to the unforeseen and massive impact of COVID.
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MORE: Work Experience & Volunteering Opportunities 2 [LIST]
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Similar to the resource above, this is a list of more opportunities (some do overlap with previous lists and resources) to help you on your quest for medical and non-medical work experience.
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- This resource includes some other experiences too such as conferences and writing competitions.
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MORE: Work Experience & Volunteering Opportunities 3 [LIST]
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Similar to the resource above, this is a list of more opportunities (some do overlap with previous lists and resources) to help you on your quest for medical and non-medical work experience.
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- This resource includes some other experiences too such as podcasts. blogs and books!
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How to Reflect on Your Work Experience [SHORT ARTICLE]
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Good personal statements do *not* simply list experiences, achievements and skills. They also don't brag about the longest work experiences. A good personal statement is one where the writer has shown insight and reflection into their experiences and demonstrated links between their skills and experiences in the past with the desired qualities of a medical student and doctor. This article will help you better understand what 'reflection' is and how to do it. Why have we included it here? Well this is going to be particularly important when you write your personal statement and prepare for your interviews. Therefore, it's key you are aware of this when embarking on the work experience to help you make the relevant notes you need and help you think of good points for your personal statement even during your work experience. We would recommend you think about this immediately after completing your work experience and jotting this down somewhere safe in preparation for your personal statement and interviews.
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- Reflection is a concept that's initially quite hard to get your head around. However, this handy article distills the essence of reflection in a few paragraphs.
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- Reflection is more of an art than a science. It's much more easily talked about than done. In reality, once you have a vague idea of what reflecting means, you should start to apply it and practice it. It's a skill you'll need to get familiar with in your career ... it's literally used every year for different purposes! Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Medicine Virtual Work Experience [V-EXPERIENCE]
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A virtual work experience programme by West London NHS Trust including activities, workshops, work and assignments. This will give you plenty to talk about in your interview and is potentially an excellent addition for your personal statement.
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- Flexible timing and plenty of activity included.
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- You need to apply to this programme. Therefore, unfortunately not everyone will get access to it. It's also only open to those within a specific list of local authorities. However, they've promised to release more virtual work experience opportunities in the future.
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How to get medical work experience during the COVID-19 pandemic [article]
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If there was ever a time to demonstrate the importance of doctors, it’s during a pandemic. Unfortunately for you, the added stress on healthcare services, together with strict isolation guidelines, means getting medical work experience is now more difficult than ever.
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- Provides some good ideas on how to get some work experience during these difficult times.
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- We do not endorse any paid features on the websites.
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Virtual Work Experience [WORK EXPERIENCE]
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This is a virtual course that looks at the NHS as a whole and then the skill sets of six different medical specialists. The aim of the course is to deliver the same key points you'd get from real-life work experience. This includes giving you an idea of the challenges and wider issues faced by doctors.
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- This course is accessible to everyone! This is great because work experience is very hard to secure (and currently more difficult due to COVID-19). Therefore, it's a great alternative and gives everyone the chance to talk about something in their application.
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- Ideally, COVID-19 didn't exist and you were able to learn these points in person and ask your own questions. Unfortunately, this is the reality of the current situation. However, this course does a great job in helping you understand the key points that you need for your application and for your own understanding. You will no doubt get lots of in-person experience during medical school.
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How I got into Medical School With No Hospital Work Experience [Article]
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It can be hard to find medical work experience. Any type of work you have had counts towards experience - you just need to mention what you have learned from it and how it will benefit you as a medical student and a doctor! Plenty of aspiring medics secure places at Medical School without hospital placements - here is the account of one student got in.
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Observe GP - Virtual Work Experience [WORK EXPERIENCE]
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This has been supported by the Medical School Council (MSC) as suitable material for when applying to medical school. Important to remember that 50% of doctors are GPs and that 90% of interactions with the NHS is within the GP setting.
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- This is ran by the Royal College of GPs themselves! Therefore, it's a very credible source.
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- The platform is still rolling out more scenarios and roles to the platform. There will be more material overtime. Watch this space!
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Medical school requirements for work experience [TABLE]
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Almost all medical schools require you to have some sort of work experience or exposure to the medical field. This has become almost a basic requirement. However, different medical schools have different preferences when it comes to the type of work experience. This useful table gives you a breakdown of medical schools and their preferences.
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- Work experience is not easy to obtain. Fortunately, medical schools recognise this. For these individuals, the table includes the various medical school opinions on alternatives and non-medical work experience. For example, Aston Medical School recognise that it is possible to get the same outlook, experience and qualities by doing work experience in a non-medical environment too (an example is given of working in a hospital shop where you would still be dealing with all kinds of patients). It's also worth considering that special considerations will be in place (perhaps not shown on this table) due to COVID-19. The safest thing to do is to email or call the medical school directly to see if they are implementing any changes.
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- Always remember to contact the medical schools you are about to apply to directly to confirm any information in this table. Medical schools change policies and it's important to take a few moments to make sure the information online is up-to-date. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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The NHS Explained [COURSE]
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Understanding the NHS is fundamental for any medic. Therefore, it's extremely important for those looking to get into the medical field! This course is also run by a very credible institution (The King's Fund).
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- Having a good understanding of the NHS can help you stand out in an interview. It's relatively complex and a lot of medical students still don't fully get it. Taking the proactiveness to do a course (if you have time of course) is a great way for anyone to sound well-informed. Fortunately, it's also free!
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- It is quite long and requires 2 hours of study a week (i.e. 8 hours in total). Although we think this is a worthwhile investment, it's important to prioritise these things when you're applying. If you have an entrance exam or deadline coming up, focus on that instead!
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How to get medical work experience? [VIDEO]
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This video discusses work experience, how to obtain it, the different types and why you need to do it! Remember, the key with work experience isn't getting as much of it as possible, but rather getting as much *out* of it as possible. This means thinking deeply about the things that took place and questioning them. Reflection is a really important tool you'll need to develop during your application and during your medical career!
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- We like the suggestion that if you're struggling with getting medical work experience (e.g. in hospitals), you may instead think about getting work experience in other settings which mimic the doctor-patient relationship. During your interview and personal statement you can draw parallels between these two scenarios (i.e. talk about similarities in handling customer complaints at a shop and doctors dealing with angry patients). Whilst those with medic family members may have an easier time organising work experience, That Medic did not have this privilege and therefore gives some great creative advice on how to get around it!
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Guidance on gaining relevant experience to study medicine in the time of Covid-19 - MSC [guide]
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It is a difficult time to try and gain relevant experience in healthcare. The NHS is focusing on dealing with the pandemic, outreach programs have been put on hold, and most paid employment opportunities have been stopped too. But this guide by the Medical Schools Council will provide some guidance on gaining work experience during these difficult times.
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🧑 Extra-curricular activities & experiences
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
💡 Non-medical work experience is also important to obtain in preparation for your UCAS medical school application. Why? It allows you to show perseverance and consistency (e.g. by volunteering at a local charity shop each week) and also allows you to develop very similar skills required by a medic. You will be able to draw parallels between your experiences and the activities you know doctors get up to (perhaps from reading online or via your virtual or in-person work experience). There are *many* non-medical experiences that have strong parallels with Medicine. For example, working in a team, handling difficult situations (for example, an angry patient or customer in a shop) and being organised (e.g. having a part-time job alongside other commitments including your A-level studies). There's almost no experience (medical or not) that you cannot use in your application.
They key is to think about the skills you are using and how doctors and/or medical students may need those skills too. The resources in this SuperHub are designed to help you find these experiences and help you 'frame' them in the best possible way.
They key is to think about the skills you are using and how doctors and/or medical students may need those skills too. The resources in this SuperHub are designed to help you find these experiences and help you 'frame' them in the best possible way.
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Medic Mentor
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Medic Mentor have partnered with the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund (the Doctor’s Charity) to set up a hardship fund to support working doctors through this time. You can become a campaigner and help fundraise, all from the comfort of your own home and you get a certificate at the end!
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Translators Without Borders
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Do you think you're up for being a translator? Translators without Borders depends on volunteers to translate millions of words, but also to help us run the organization. We work with volunteers who have all kinds of great skills – and many learn new skills that they can use in their jobs.
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Royal Voluntary Service
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In every corner of Britain, Royal Voluntary Service mobilises volunteers to support those in need, in hospital and in the community. Royal Voluntary Service inspires and enables people to give their time by volunteering to meet the needs of the day, in hospitals and in local communities. Check our their website to see what's available in your area!
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Volunteer Match
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VolunteerMatch is a great resource that allows you to find a number of virtual volunteering opportunities in the areas and industries you’re passionate about. Once you’ve filtered your interests on their website, they generate vacancies that match your needs from their broad range of opportunities. Check out their website to see if there are any healthcare or other vacancies in your area!
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Do-it For Good
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Their website lists hundreds of virtual volunteering opportunities to participate in with all achievable without leaving the house with their 'Do-it from home' search option. Check to see if there are any opportunities in your area for you to get involved in.
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What Extracurriculars Do You Need for a Competitive Application? [article]
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The main purpose of pursuing extracurricular activities for your medical school application is to show that you have all the other skills and qualities required of a potential doctor (besides the academic ability). This article will explain what attributes you should gain from whatever extra-curricular you pursue to help you in your med school application.
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Extracurricular Activities - You Can Be A Doctor [article]
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A common question which arises is based around what activities should you do to help with the application to medical school…The simple answer is to this is that you will need to demonstrate that you have the personal attributes to become a doctor. In this article, it provides some attributes which you should be able to demonstrate whenever you're doing your extracurricular.
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- This article includes the formal reflection process known as the Gibbs Reflective cycle, which is useful devise to help structure your reflection on extracurricular activities.
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Personal Statement: Extra-Curricular Activities [article]
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When thinking about extra-curricular activities it is sometimes difficult to decide what to include and what not to in your personal statement. There are many things you can talk about. Volunteering, Schemes and Hobbies. These are the three main categories that you want to include.
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- This article contains a 'good' and 'bad' example to show you how to reflect on your extracurricular.
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Extracurricular Activities: an overview [article]
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When an admissions tutor is faced with two candidates with equally good grades, they decide between the candidates based on the students’ commitment to medicine as well as their contribution to extra-curricular activities. This article explains why you should do extra-curricular activities, examples of types, and some of the pitfalls to be aware of.
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📓 AS-levels
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ This section is applicable for all students in Year 12.
:)
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Making The Jump From GCSEs to AS/A-levels [Article]
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You might find the transition from GCSEs to AS/A-levels a tricky one to adjust to – and you won't be the only one if you do! This article from TheUniGuide provides a brief overview on the transition and what you should be aware of.
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Making The Jump From AS-Levels to A2s [Article]
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You might find the transition from AS to A-levels a tricky one to adjust to – and you won't be the only one if you do! As you proceed with Year 13, you'll soon realise Year 12 was a stepping stone on the path to either university or employment. This article from TheUniGuide provides a brief overview on the transition and what you should be aware of during Year 12 to prepare you for Year 13.
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How Best To Choose Your AS/A-Level Subjects! [Video]
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This video by UnJaded Jade is about how to choose your A levels subjects, and things to consider when deciding what to take! This is NOT an easy decision and it's important to realise why you're taking the subjects that you want to.
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The 10 Things I Wish I'd Known from the Start of Year 12! [Video]
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This video is about the 10 things a 'StudyTuber' UnJaded Jade wish she'd known and done from the start of year 12 and ultimate sixth form advice and AS/A level revision advice for starting AS/A levels.
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The Best A-level Revision Methods: Backed by Evidence [blog post]
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There are two sides to studying, the first is about finding the motivation to study and the second is studying itself. This post will provide you some specific tips on how to study effectively.
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- The tips which are shared are all backed by evidence as well as my own personal experience.
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- The caveat to all this is that everyone is different and a learning style that works for some might not work for others
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8 A-level Study Techniques (blog)
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Knowing just a few principles when it comes to your study technique can be revolutionary. This article outlines 8 tips to help you become a more efficiency learner. Remember, revision (especially at medical school) depends on how smart you learn not how hard!
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Ultimate Guide to Anki for A-Levels + Decks [article]
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An excellent guide taking you through Anki (one of the best tools for memorisation that is highly utilised by medical students).
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- The worst thing about flashcards is the time it takes to make them. Therefore, the best thing about this article is that they've included lots of pre-made flashcards ready-to-go! Start memorising immediately.
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Complete Guide to Notion for Students [article]
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Notion is an extremely powerful tool to essentially manage your entire life. The cool thing about Notion is how nice it looks and how versatile it is. It's a tool for managing your projects, putting your ideas down on (virtual) paper, making notes and much more. This guide is therefore essential for anyone looking to take advantage. Having said that, if you truly feel you already have a good system going on, don't feel the need to change it! Tool fatigue is a thing!
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Year 13
🏫 Picking your medical schools
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ You should begin considering medical school options at the start of Summer after the end of Year 12. Your choices will (and should) be guided by your UCAT score. Therefore, you should avoid narrowing your list down too soon until you know this. Resources below will help you make the best choices.
💡 In your UCAS application, you will have the option to apply to up to four medical schools. Choosing these medical schools can be based on a whole host of factors. They can be broadly categorised into personal preferences (i.e. choosing the desired location, course-type and 'vibe') and application strengths.
Unless you application is extremely strong in every single regard, the worst thing you can do is to apply based purely on your personal preferences. You *must* apply strategically to ensure you increase your chances of getting to medical school as much as possible. Of course, you should also only apply to medical schools you would actually consider want to go to. However, it is a balancing act at the end of the day! We've seen students with below-average applications get 3 and sometimes 4 out of 4 offers due to highly strategic choices and others with almost perfect applications receive 1 or 0 out of 4 offers due to poor choices.
Do your research on the universities. In particular, try to speak to students at the university as they're often much more helpful than the official medical school speaking. Check out @wearemedics for 'honest reviews' from students at medical schools across the UK.
Below we've included resources to help you pick your medical school more strategically (mainly by optimising your choices based on your known UCAT score, your predicted grades, your personal statement content and your GCSEs).
Unless you application is extremely strong in every single regard, the worst thing you can do is to apply based purely on your personal preferences. You *must* apply strategically to ensure you increase your chances of getting to medical school as much as possible. Of course, you should also only apply to medical schools you would actually consider want to go to. However, it is a balancing act at the end of the day! We've seen students with below-average applications get 3 and sometimes 4 out of 4 offers due to highly strategic choices and others with almost perfect applications receive 1 or 0 out of 4 offers due to poor choices.
Do your research on the universities. In particular, try to speak to students at the university as they're often much more helpful than the official medical school speaking. Check out @wearemedics for 'honest reviews' from students at medical schools across the UK.
Below we've included resources to help you pick your medical school more strategically (mainly by optimising your choices based on your known UCAT score, your predicted grades, your personal statement content and your GCSEs).
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Choosing a medical school [BLOG]
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Choosing medicine is a big decision, but it's also important to think about where you'd like to spend the next 5 or 6 years of your life! There's a variety of things you should use to help you choose, most of which are explored by this article. One thing to note is that, wherever you go, the course has to be of a certain standard set by the General Medical Council (GMC), and once you've graduated it doesn't matter as much where you graduated from. You all end up back in the same place. Choose somewhere you see yourself for the next 5/6 years!
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- Explores how to be smart when choosing your 4 options to maximise your chances of getting an offer. Jess gives examples to explain her points and also shares her own experience.
CONSIDER
- This article doesn't give guidance about what to do with your 5th option. Don't forget to consider that too! It also requires some strategic and preference-related thinking.
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School-by-school descriptions [TOOL]
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Okay so this is another tool to help you get more information about each medical school. For some universities they've included detailed case studies about students currently at that university. Those are great but the rest of the tool isn't something you wouldn't find on the university website.
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- Case studies that let you know what it's actually like to study at that university.
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- The general descriptions given to each university seem to just be adapted from what's available on the university website, so they don't explore some of the potential negatives about each university. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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How to choose the medical school? [VIDEO]
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This is a good video that gives advice on how to make sure you're being smart and strategic when applying to medical schools in order to maximise your chances of getting an offer. Mohammad also speaks about choosing the place that you feel you'd enjoy most.
PROS
- Solid advice whilst also going through his own experiences to make it more interesting.
CONSIDER
- Beware: He's a bit of a King's College London fanboy 😉... so there may be a touch of bias!
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Considerations when picking your medical school choices [INFO-SHEET]
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This is a short resource about what to consider when choosing a medical school.
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- All the stuff they raise is very valid and are important considerations
CONSIDER
- They don't discuss how to choose medical schools according to the strengths of your application.
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Medical school comparison tool [TOOL] - The Medic Portal
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This is an absolutely fantastic resource made by The Medic Portal that allows you to see what the entry requirements are for each medical school and how they look at each part of your application when making decisions about applicants. For example, if you want to know what the interview method is like at Oxford University, or how King's College London use the personal statement.
PROS
- Comprehensive, with all the important information for both standard and graduate medical schools.
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- They don't go into detail about how much emphasis each university places on UCAT/BMAT.
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How UCAT universities use your UCAT score [TOOL]
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We're including this here because you should already have your UCAT score when submitting your application. Therefore, you should ensure you play to your strengths and check how each medical school uses the UCAT before you submit. If your UCAT is low consider applying to two BMAT universities instead of one (if you were going to apply for the BMAT in the first place). In addition, you should choose medical schools that place reduced weightings on the UCAT. On the opposite hand, if you have a very strong UCAT score then use that to your advantage by applying to medical schools that demand a high UCAT score. Don't reduce your chances of getting an offer before you've even submitted your application by selecting medical schools who will determine your success based on your weak points.
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How BMAT universities use your BMAT score
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This is a great resource when considering which BMAT universities to apply to. It shows you how much weighting each university gives to the BMAT which might help you make a more informed decision. For example, whether you feel confident you can meet the cut offs Imperial give or you want it to be used in a more holistic manner like UCL do. Of course, most students won't know their BMAT score before sending their application.
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- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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To Intercalate or Not to Intercalate? [LONGER VIDEO]
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These are two KCL students discussing whether you should take the option of intercalating. Other medical schools may not give you the option and others make it compulsory. Therefore, this is a great discussion to understand a bit more about the intercalated degree and whether you want to do it or not!
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Is a medical school intercalated degree worth it? [blog post]
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The purpose of this guide is to support you in deciding whether intercalating during medical school is right for you. Whether you’re an aspiring medical student unsure about what it is and why it’s important, or you’re a medical student in their pre-clinical years, this guide will explain a little more about the process and the advantages and disadvantages of intercalation so you can make the most informed decision.
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Freedom of Information (FOI) Navigator [TOOL]
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Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are legal requests that can be made to public institutions (e.g. medical schools). Usually, they involve requesting information from previous applications made to that medical school to find breakdowns of previous applications. The data of course is completely anonymous, however, the FOI will show information from REAL students (just without their names) who applied including their scores and grades ... it's a great way to see what a medical school REALLY wants to see and what a successful medical student at that uni actually looks like. It's the absolute KEY to ensuring you apply strategically.
PROS
- Wearemedics have brought together ALL FOI requests to ONE place. No more searching manually, they've done the hard work (just like we did with this SuperHub)! When considering a medical school, search the database on the website (click the link) and look at the information on the FOI requests. They've helpfully rated the best quality FOIs to save you time too. Look at the applications of previous applicants (e.g. what UCAT/BMAT scores were they getting?). Use this information to make sure you avoid universities you're unlikely to succeed at and pick one's where you'll have a strong chance!
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Where to apply with a low UCAT [SHORT ARTICLE]
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This is a short and sweet article that gives a good starting point for those of you who have maybe not received the UCAT score that you had hoped for. It's extremely important to think about and you almost certainly have to rule out medical schools that have high UCAT demands or have in the past only accepted students with high UCAT scores. Don't fall into the trap of tricking yourself that it *might* be different this time. Unfortunately, it will most likely be a wasted choice.
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🖥️ UCAT
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
Sponsored by:
⏰ Different people have different schedules when it comes to UCAT preparation. However, we found the following to be the most optimal method (this advice comes from our team and other medical students who achieved extremely high scores).
Spread UCAT preparation over 6 weeks beginning mid-July. Book your exam early for the end of August. This allows you to have a short holiday (going abroad) after Year 12 ends and before UCAT prep starts. If you follow this, you'll have enough time to revise for your UCAT at a consistent daily level that also allows you to live your life and enjoy the rest of your holidays. It also means you'll be able to go into Year 13 less stressed having already completed your UCAT. This will give you time to focus on submitting your UCAS application and preparing for BMAT (if you plan to apply to a BMAT-accepting medical school).
We recommend you buy a 1-month pass from Medify a month before your exam (read more about this below). Before then, get familiar with the UCAT using the free resources we've suggested below (alternatively the UCAT book has a great breakdown of each section + some harder questions for later in your UCAT revision).
In summary, begin revision in mid-July for 6 weeks and take the exam at the end of August.
Top tip for the exam: Remember, time is your biggest enemy in the UCAT and those who do best are usually those with the best strategy (e.g. those willing to sacrifice some questions in aim of a higher score).
Spread UCAT preparation over 6 weeks beginning mid-July. Book your exam early for the end of August. This allows you to have a short holiday (going abroad) after Year 12 ends and before UCAT prep starts. If you follow this, you'll have enough time to revise for your UCAT at a consistent daily level that also allows you to live your life and enjoy the rest of your holidays. It also means you'll be able to go into Year 13 less stressed having already completed your UCAT. This will give you time to focus on submitting your UCAS application and preparing for BMAT (if you plan to apply to a BMAT-accepting medical school).
We recommend you buy a 1-month pass from Medify a month before your exam (read more about this below). Before then, get familiar with the UCAT using the free resources we've suggested below (alternatively the UCAT book has a great breakdown of each section + some harder questions for later in your UCAT revision).
In summary, begin revision in mid-July for 6 weeks and take the exam at the end of August.
Top tip for the exam: Remember, time is your biggest enemy in the UCAT and those who do best are usually those with the best strategy (e.g. those willing to sacrifice some questions in aim of a higher score).
💡 The UCAT is one of the two main entrance exams required for UK under-graduate applications to medical schools.
The vast majority of medical schools in the UK use the UCAT as part of their entrance criteria. The BMAT is used by a small selection of universities. Therefore, almost every single applicant will complete the UCAT with a small proportion of them also completing the BMAT. The GAMSAT is only used for certain post-graduate applications (see 'Graduate-Entry Medicine' below).
The UCAT exam takes place on a computer (at the same place you do your theory test for your Driver's License!). It comprises of different types of aptitude tests. You are given your score immediately after completion. This fortunately means you are able to make decisions on your UCAS applications based on knowledge of your UCAT score, allowing you to choose medical schools strategically. For example, if you have a strong UCAT score you should apply to those medical schools that weigh the UCAT score highly. On the other hand, those with weaker scores can apply to universities that consider other aspects of their application more strongly.
Strategically applying in this way will significantly increase your chances at getting into medical school.
Please note: due to COVID-19 UCAT have given students the option to sit their UCAT exam at home. If you do opt for this, please make sure you are using a reliable computer or laptop. Otherwise, please opt to do the exam in a centre. We've had reports of students using devices such as a Microsoft Surface experiencing significant lag when sitting the test.
The vast majority of medical schools in the UK use the UCAT as part of their entrance criteria. The BMAT is used by a small selection of universities. Therefore, almost every single applicant will complete the UCAT with a small proportion of them also completing the BMAT. The GAMSAT is only used for certain post-graduate applications (see 'Graduate-Entry Medicine' below).
The UCAT exam takes place on a computer (at the same place you do your theory test for your Driver's License!). It comprises of different types of aptitude tests. You are given your score immediately after completion. This fortunately means you are able to make decisions on your UCAS applications based on knowledge of your UCAT score, allowing you to choose medical schools strategically. For example, if you have a strong UCAT score you should apply to those medical schools that weigh the UCAT score highly. On the other hand, those with weaker scores can apply to universities that consider other aspects of their application more strongly.
Strategically applying in this way will significantly increase your chances at getting into medical school.
Please note: due to COVID-19 UCAT have given students the option to sit their UCAT exam at home. If you do opt for this, please make sure you are using a reliable computer or laptop. Otherwise, please opt to do the exam in a centre. We've had reports of students using devices such as a Microsoft Surface experiencing significant lag when sitting the test.
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UCAT Breakdown [ARTICLE]
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This is another useful overview of the exam. What's nice about this is that they provide the average scores from previous years so you can start to get a sense of what you're aiming for. They also break down the timings for each section and go into more detail about the questions you can expect to come up in each section.
PROS
- Covers all you need to know about the format of the text in a succinct way.
CONSIDER
- Would've been great to also include example questions of each type.
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Tour of UCAT Website [TOUR]
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Now that you know what the test includes, it's a good idea to get used to how things will actually look like on the screen. Have a look at where all the buttons are and how things are laid out, but don't worry if you're not 100% used to it yet (this will come with practice and after doing the mock tests).
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Main changes to the UCAT for 2020 (COVID) [SHORT ARTICLE]
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The other resources have already mentioned these changes, but this is a short & sweet summary of the main changes to be aware of for the 2020 test cycle.
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- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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UCAT 101 - How to get into the top 1% of the UCAT cohort [VIDEO]
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This is a great video by Kharma Medic that outlines a good approach for each section of the UCAT. Obviously the title is a bit click-baity but if you follow his advice that should go a long way to making sure you get a great score in the exam.
PROS
- Great advice delivered in a straightforward manner.
CONSIDER
- This video is from 2018, so although it's still relevant, it doesn't include the Decision Making segment. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Comprehensive UCAT Guide [GUIDE]
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This is the UCAT from A-to-Z. It's a very well-written comprehensive guide with loads of useful tips and info BUT it may not be everyone's cup of tea.
PROS
- Having this as a reference guide for the UCAT will be useful in order to explain some of the patterns and question styles that you probably already became (subconciously) used to through practice questions.
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- A lot of you may just want to learn by practising, and that will definitely cause you to pick things up intuitively rather than reading all the theory behind different question types etc.
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UCAT Video Tutorials [VIDEO PLAYLIST]
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Although that previous video is great for an overview, its actually part of a much longer playlist that goes through the different sections of the UCAT in a lot of detail. Don't feel like you need to watch all of these (and certainly not all in one go) but throughout your revision and as you find yourself needing help in some areas its a great resource to be able to refer to. MORE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVdBI-qATfOtZBj4x0LkgZkP4G0Q_tMTu
PROS
- It's awesome to be able to sit and watch someone else go through questions and hear their thought process out loud. He's also added Decision Making videos in 2019.
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- This series is a bit on the longer side, but again, you can pick and choose the videos you think will be most beneficial to you personally.
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Medify - Online UCAT Question Bank [BEST Q-BANK OPTION]
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It's rare that we recommend a paid service on the SuperHub. However, almost everyone we spoke, including the highest achievers, acknowledges that Medify's question bank is far superior than the other available free question banks out there. For these reasons we feel it's important to include them! Subscription will give you access to a large number of questions, mini-mocks and full mocks; more than enough content to cover your revision period even with our reccomended schedule (see above). It's also laid out in a manner that is extremely similar to the real thing (e.g. features such as the scratch pad and calculator). *
PROS
- Our entire team used Medify when they were applying to medical school. Between us, we scored in the top 1% of the UCAT cohort. The main reasons high-acheivers prefer using it are a) the environment is almost identical to the real UCAT b) the difficulty of the questions closely reflect the difficulty of the actual UCAT exam (other books and question banks tend to be a bit too easy or far too difficult and some unfortunately have mistakes) c) it provides good feedback and opportunities to review your performance letting you focus on your weaknesses (which is absolutely KEY if you want a good overall score).
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Section breakdowns + More Difficult UCAT Questions [BOOK]
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So it's definitely not essential to buy this book to do well in the UCAT, but let's put it this way: if you do want to buy a book to help prepare, then it should probably be this one. It covers all the sections and the SJT, and might come in handy if you like something physical and don't want to be staring at your screen all day.
PROS
- A challenging and extensive set of questions that will help improve your ability at answering UCAT questions.
CONSIDER
- It's not so great when you want to do questions in timed conditions; a physical book doesn't compare to sitting the exam on a computer so make sure you're also getting plenty of practice with online questions too!
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Official UCAT Question Bank [TEST]
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This is a must-use resource to prepare for your test. The only real question is, when? Well since these are official questions from the UCAT Consortium themselves, you don't want to use all of them up at the start of your revision schedule. It's probably best to do some of them near the beginning (and use this as an opportunity to generally get used to the format and shortcuts) and then save the rest for later on in your revision schedule.
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List of Free UCAT Question Banks [TEST]
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A list of all the FREE UCAT question banks available.
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- Many of these free question banks are from websites that also offer paid question bank services. It's not necessary, but if you want to purchase a question bank then we recommend Medify!
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Comprehensive UCAT Question Bank [TEST]
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PassMedicine boasts a question bank of over 3000 to help you prepare for the UCAT...and it's free! They've also designed the website in a similar way to replicate the true experience of sitting the exam, and give you valuable information about how your scores compare to everyone else's.
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How UCAT universities use your UCAT score [TOOL]
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This is a useful tool to bear in mind around the time that you're sitting the UCAT exam. After all, the ultimate goal isn't to ace the UCAT, it's to get a medical school offer. So it's worth actually seeing how different medical schools will end up using your UCAT result. If you've smashed it then consider applying to the universities that place a lot of emphasis on a UCAT score. If not, then consider the universities that don't have cut offs or consider it only as one element of a holistic application.
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- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
📄 Personal statement & UCAS application
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ You should begin thinking about the first draft of your personal statement at the start of Summer following the end of Year 12. You should have your first draft written by the middle of Summer. Don't worry, you won't be spending hours everyday writing it up. However, starting early gives you the opportunity to allow for some space between drafts. This will help your personal statement mature over time and become the best possible version of itself. Aim to have your final copy ready for the start of September to show to your school (for internal deadlines) and get the final drafts looked over ready for submission.
💡 Personal statements are sent to your medical schools as part of your UCAS application. They accompany your predicted grades and are used in various ways and to different degrees by medical schools.
It's often difficult to know how to go about writing your personal statement. The key is to just start and don't stop writing! Almost every single first draft is rubbish. Your first priority should be to get everything you could possibly talk about down on paper (brain dump). The real magic comes later during the editing process. Below we've included a number of resources to help you write the best version of your personal statement.
TIP: If you have a lot of great experiences and have a superb personal statement ... use that to your advantage! Certain medical schools prioritise personal statements a lot more than others ... consider applying to one or two of them if you're not already considering them. This is equally true the other way round. If you feel your personal statement may be a weak point but have other strong points such as a high UCAT or good GCSEs, then apply to universities that consider these aspects more strongly. Use our resource below to see how different medical schools use the personal statement.
It's often difficult to know how to go about writing your personal statement. The key is to just start and don't stop writing! Almost every single first draft is rubbish. Your first priority should be to get everything you could possibly talk about down on paper (brain dump). The real magic comes later during the editing process. Below we've included a number of resources to help you write the best version of your personal statement.
TIP: If you have a lot of great experiences and have a superb personal statement ... use that to your advantage! Certain medical schools prioritise personal statements a lot more than others ... consider applying to one or two of them if you're not already considering them. This is equally true the other way round. If you feel your personal statement may be a weak point but have other strong points such as a high UCAT or good GCSEs, then apply to universities that consider these aspects more strongly. Use our resource below to see how different medical schools use the personal statement.
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Personal Statement Overview - MSC [INFO-SHEET]
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This is a short overview from the official Medical School Council (MSC). It provides an overview of the personal statement including a brief summary of how different medical schools use the personal statement and what they expect to see in it.
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- The 'test yourself' section at the bottom of the guide is a great way to start working on your personal statement if you're unsure what to do. Begin by making a list of everything and allocating them to the group. Then, start writing. Don't worry about word limits just write everything down. The real magic comes after the first draft (which is *always* bad) when you begin to edit it. It will start taking form as time goes by.
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The Anatomy of a Personal Statement [ARTICLE]
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In a similar format to the above resource, this is a breakdown of a personal statement for Oxford University. Have a read of it and then the verdict at the bottom.
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- The page includes comments from the medical school analysing the different part of the personal statement. It's really helpful to get into the medical school reviewer's mindset when writing a personal statement. This will help you standout among others.
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- Remember, personal statements for Oxbridge tend to be more academically-focussed than others (evident by the comment 'non-academic interests don't need to be particularly high-powered'). Keep that in mind if you're not applying to Oxbridge.
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Personal Statement Checklist [CHECKLIST]
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Another great resource to help you organise your thoughts when writing your personal statement. We recommend you use it as a checklist after you've written your first draft (which will be much longer than the final version). This will help you tick off the things you need to include and help you remove the less important sections.
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- You won't be able to talk about every single skill or attribute to the same depth. Pick your strong points and delve into them a bit more deeply. The others you may need to simply mention in passing. Don't worry, medical schools know you have constricted space and will pick up on the brief points at interview if they want.
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Core values needed to study Medicine - MSC [PDF]
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The medical school council (MSC) has outlines the core values required for someone to study Medicine. We think it's a great resource to give you an idea of important values you can talk about in both your personal statement and interview where you can link your medical and non-medical experiences. If you're stuck for ideas for your personal statement. Take a look at this document and try to see the core values you can link with previous experiences you've had.
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- Used in the right way, this document can help you supercharge your personal statement. Simply take a skill or attribute from the list (e.g. resilience and dealing with difficult situations) and combine this with an experience from your life (e.g. working in a shop and dealing with an angry customer). Finally, link this with something in Medicine (e.g. a doctor dealing with an angry patient). Even better, use your own (potentially online) work experiences to draw upon this point. Use this formula in different ways and you've got a super-charged personal statement!
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- If you want a shorter version of the document (perhaps to print and tick off) here is a short PDF from the MSC pretty much summarising the longer PDF document (www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2368/msc-infosheet-good-doctor.pdf)
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30 Personal Statement Examples
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This is a compilation of 30 different personal statements from students at a variety of medical schools. If you're stuck for inspiration or want to get an idea for how a personal statement can be written (and the different ways you can go about writing it) then this is the resource for you!
PROS
- The resource covers almost all the medical schools in the UK. Therefore, it's a good idea to locate the unis you're planning on applying to and looking at the style and content.
CONSIDER
- *Never* ever copy all of or parts of a personal statement. UCAS and universities use plagiarism technology which can flag you up if you have copied any sections of a personal statement. This could result in an automatic rejection. It's not worth it!
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MORE: Personal Statement Examples
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If 30 personal statements weren't enough, here are some more you can access. Again this includes a wide variety of different universities.
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- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Why did you decide to study medicine? [BLOG]
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This is usually the first topic you talk about in your personal statement and the first question you're asked at interview. It's the most important question to have thought about and absolutely nailed down (although avoid scripting any answers to questions as this sounds rehearsed and robotic which is not a good look at all)!
PROS
- In the last paragraph, Jess gives some helpful advice on how to start thinking about your answer to this question.
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- Your reason for studying Medicine doesn't have to be totally original. Almost everyone's reason includes their love of science and helping others on a personal level. However, the key to distinguishing yourself is by talking about the thing that sparked your journey (usually a personal story). Lastly, be truthful and realistic! No-one will take you seriously if you state that you've wanted to be a neurosurgeon since you were 10 years old.
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Key Points to Remember for your Personal Statement [SHORT ARTICLE]
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This article includes 5 key points that you should absolutely ensure your personal statement meets. The key is always to ensure you reflect and include links between your personal attributes and the qualities of a good doctor.
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- The points in this short article are absolutely key to keep in mind before, during and after you write your personal statement. Ensure you've ticked off all of the points before you submit.
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How to Reflect on Your Work Experience [SHORT ARTICLE]
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Reflection. This is the one thing your personal statement *must* have. Medical schools do not want to read a description of your experiences. They want to see what you gained out of it, what you thought about it, why you were interested by it? Why, why, why? Reflection is a skill that takes time to develop. This is yet another reason to start writing your personal statement early. It's also helpful to think about reflection when you're doing your work experience and immediately after.
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- Reading about reflection and how to go about it is only so helpful. The only way to get good at it and incorporate it well into your personal statement is to practice implementing it. Therefore, start writing early on! Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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How to build your personal statement during lockdown [ARTICLE]
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The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted Medicine, medical school curriculums and the application process. Unfortunately, hospital or GP work experience which is usually essential in a personal statement has become extremely difficult to obtain due to COVID-19. This article discusses the other ways you can build your personal statement to replace the lack of talking points.
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- The wide range of online work experience should also help you fill this space too. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Personal Statement: How to write about your work experience [ARTICLE]
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Medical schools don't want you to write a descriptive piece on your time in GPs or hospital. They want to hear about the moments that stuck with you and hear the reasons why it stuck with you. Understanding *how* to use your work experience as strong evidence for your application. This article also applies to online work experience.
PROS
- The article includes some helpful guidance on how to structure your personal statement.
CONSIDER
- Being able to write about your personal statement well is a super-power. You can turn an average work experience into an amazing piece of reflective writing in your statement. Likewise, you can turn three weeks of high quality work experience go to waste. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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How every medical school uses your personal statement [TABLE]
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Students who apply strategically tend to perform much better at the medical school application process than those who don't. This is no different when considering the personal statement. During the Summer going into Year 13, you'll be thinking about the different medical schools you want to apply to. During this time, you should also be looking at how medical schools use your personal statement and UCAT (once you have it) to be able to tailor yourself perfectly for those universities.
PROS
- If you know the medical school you're applying to uses a scoring system for personal statements (as indicated in the table), search for the table online (usually someone has submitted a 'Freedom of Information (FOI)' request. This will help you mark your personal statement against the scoring sheet giving you an opportunity to optimise your personal statement).
CONSIDER
- Remember not to optimise your personal statement too much for just one medical school, especially if your university choices have contrasting views. For example, Oxbridge tend to want you to focus on academic abilities only whereas universities such as UCL want to see more well-rounded applications. A balance is key in these situations. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Comprehensive Personal Statement Guide [GUIDE]
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This is a comprehensive A-to-Z guide created by a group of medical students (check out their instagram page @wearemedics). The guide aims to help you plan out your personal statement and developing your own suitable structure. Importantly, it helps you write about your work experience and incorporate reflection (key!).
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Personal Statement Tips / Guide [CHECKLIST]
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We recommend using the headings in this guide for a read-through and a good checklist at the end. Scroll down to the 'Personal StatementTips' section to find this.
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CONSIDER
- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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How to Write a Medicine Personal Statement [VIDEO]
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This video includes tips for your personal statement from six different medical students at Cambridge university. Tips include not worrying about being overly original, showing your personal statement to lots of people and ignoring the character limit initially.
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- We're skeptical about forcing your personal statement to be at least partly sciency. This may be more relevant if you're applying to Oxbridge but in fact we'd say avoid forcing anything like that unless you want to. Remember, anything you bring up in your personal statement can be fair game for the interview. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Full Breakdown of the Personal Statement [VIDEO]
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This video includes a detailed breakdown of a personal statement. In the video Arun discusses the reasons why the personal statement is so important and how the medical schools use it. Importantly, Arun goes through a breakdown of his own personal statement from top to bottom!
PROS
- This is particularly helpful to watch when you are first approaching the personal statement. Getting a feel for how a personal statement reads and what it includes is extremely helpful for when you begin editing your own.
CONSIDER
🖊️ BMAT
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ Assuming you've followed our earlier advice and completed your UCAT before Year 13 (i.e. by the end of August), you can dedicate the first half of September towards starting Year 13 and getting the final draft of your personal statement ready (plus the rest of your UCAS application).
Your draft UCAS application should be ready for submission by mid-September (school deadlines will differ). This will give you time to focus on the BMAT from mid-September until early November (again roughly 6-7 weeks). This may not be the case for everyone but we think this is the optimal time-frame.
KEY TIP: Note down the points you made in your BMAT essay *immediately* after the exam ends. The BMAT essay is a popular topic in interviews and having your points noted down can help you better prepare for questions that may come up to do with the BMAT Section 3.
Your draft UCAS application should be ready for submission by mid-September (school deadlines will differ). This will give you time to focus on the BMAT from mid-September until early November (again roughly 6-7 weeks). This may not be the case for everyone but we think this is the optimal time-frame.
KEY TIP: Note down the points you made in your BMAT essay *immediately* after the exam ends. The BMAT essay is a popular topic in interviews and having your points noted down can help you better prepare for questions that may come up to do with the BMAT Section 3.
💡 The BMAT exam is taken by a smaller proportion of students applying to a small selection of medical schools (including UCL, Imperial, Cambridge and Oxford). It includes an aptitude-based section, science-based section and essay-based section.
The BMAT is usually taken at your school and involves a written paper. You are only made aware of your BMAT score after your choices (unless you are sitting the early September paper). This means applying to so-called 'BMAT universities' is more risky (as a low score could see you rejected from both).
The BMAT is usually taken at your school and involves a written paper. You are only made aware of your BMAT score after your choices (unless you are sitting the early September paper). This means applying to so-called 'BMAT universities' is more risky (as a low score could see you rejected from both).
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BMAT Exam Specification [SPEC]
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This is a useful specification that you can use to guide your revision for Section 2. You'll probably find that many of the topics you remember and have covered recently at school, but work through the rest of the items listed and cover them before your test! When you have revised it (using the guide from the previous link), cross it out from the specification.
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BMAT High (& Low) Score Essay Examples [PDF]
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This resource uses Question 2 from the 2017 paper and provides a range of example essays that have been scored (from 5A to a 2C). Again, have a go answering the essay question yourself then compare it to the sample answers to see what score you think you would have got.
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BMAT Past Exam Practice Questions [QUESTIONS]
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This is a useful resource that has gone and taken every essay question from the 2010 past paper until the 2017 past paper. However, remember that the best revision is practice papers in timed conditions so even if you want to prepare using the 2010 - 2013 essay questions, leave most of the more recent ones for use under exam conditions.
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- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Official BMAT Past Papers [QUESTIONS]
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This is the ultimate resource for BMAT prep. Past papers, past papers, and more past papers. The BMAT has changed in format over time. Therefore, start with the oldest past papers and work towards the most recent paper over your revision period. Make sure you space them out and plan ahead to ensure you complete them all in time. This is by far the most important and best way to to prepare for the BMAT. Importantly, you should always go through your answers and attempt to fully understand why your answers were incorrect and even make sure you understand why your correct answer was correct too.
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BMAT Tip Series [VIDEO PLAYLIST]
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So we linked a video that featured Ali Abdaal earlier on, but in this series of videos he breaks down his advice for each part of the exam. If you read through all the advice and tips we've linked beforehand then some of this stuff you will have heard already. But you don't need to sit and watch the series from start to finish. Instead, after maybe having gone through a couple past papers, go through the videos that relate to your weaknesses and see if you can improve your score the next time.
PROS
- Packed full of useful tips and advice for all 3 sections of BMAT
CONSIDER
- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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How to Write a Great BMAT Essay [ARTICLE]
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This is a nice little article that will give you a good idea about how to write your BMAT essay. They also include an examples of good and bad paragraphs so that would be useful to read to see what kind of standard your writing should be to get a high score.
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- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Official Preparation Guide & Tips [PDF]
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This pdf is produced by the actual people who write the test, and it's a good & more comprehensive guide to how you should prepare for your BMAT.
PROS
- It has links that take you to all the resources it mentions straight away.
CONSIDER
- Be aware that although they say the scientific knowledge required for Section 2 is of a standard taught to 16 year olds, the way that you will have to apply the knowledge is challenging (so you need to be very comfortable with the science).
🤝 Interviews
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ At this point, you'll have completed your personal statement, UCAT and maybe t BMAT. Your UCAS has been submitted.
Once you've completed these aspects of the application you should immediately begin to turn your focus onto your A-levels again. Interviews offers are sent and conducted over a very long period of time. They begin as early October and can run until April. Therefore, unless you're expecting an early interview (e.g. perhaps you are a post-graduate, Oxbridge student or gap year student etc.) your first focus should be getting back up to speed with your A-levels. Soon after, you will begin wanting to conduct 'basal' levels of interview practice with friends who are also applying (even if an interview offer has not come through!!!). This is extremely helpful in the long-run.
Whilst you're still waiting for offers you can take it easy getting together to practice perhaps once every week or two weeks. Although each university has its own style there is a lot of overlap so it's best to practice the common questions during these periods (e.g. why did you choose Medicine? ethical questions. Examples of leadership or teamwork etc.). The ISC book below is great to go through with your peers during these periods of time.
Some offers will come through months, weeks or days before interview. Again, this will depend on the medical school (see resource below). Once you've got an offer, you will need to begin focussed practice. For example, if you have an interview at UCL, you should focus on the UCL interview style and layout and practicing common themes from UCL interviews.
Once you've completed these aspects of the application you should immediately begin to turn your focus onto your A-levels again. Interviews offers are sent and conducted over a very long period of time. They begin as early October and can run until April. Therefore, unless you're expecting an early interview (e.g. perhaps you are a post-graduate, Oxbridge student or gap year student etc.) your first focus should be getting back up to speed with your A-levels. Soon after, you will begin wanting to conduct 'basal' levels of interview practice with friends who are also applying (even if an interview offer has not come through!!!). This is extremely helpful in the long-run.
Whilst you're still waiting for offers you can take it easy getting together to practice perhaps once every week or two weeks. Although each university has its own style there is a lot of overlap so it's best to practice the common questions during these periods (e.g. why did you choose Medicine? ethical questions. Examples of leadership or teamwork etc.). The ISC book below is great to go through with your peers during these periods of time.
Some offers will come through months, weeks or days before interview. Again, this will depend on the medical school (see resource below). Once you've got an offer, you will need to begin focussed practice. For example, if you have an interview at UCL, you should focus on the UCL interview style and layout and practicing common themes from UCL interviews.
💡 Interviews must be conducted by medical schools as instructed by the General Medical Council (GMC). This is due to the unique nature of Medicine.
Although all the medical school interviews will have many similarities (particularly with regards to the common questions asked), the layout and preferred questions can significantly vary.
A good understanding of the general layout of the two types of interview (panel and MMI) and the specific layout of the medical school you wish to apply to can help you significantly improve your chances.
The best way to do this is to get advice from students at the medical schools you wish to apply to, particularly those who have just been accepted.
Although all the medical school interviews will have many similarities (particularly with regards to the common questions asked), the layout and preferred questions can significantly vary.
A good understanding of the general layout of the two types of interview (panel and MMI) and the specific layout of the medical school you wish to apply to can help you significantly improve your chances.
The best way to do this is to get advice from students at the medical schools you wish to apply to, particularly those who have just been accepted.
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Interview - MSC [WEBPAGE]
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A brief explanation of the different types of interviews: panel and multiple-mini interviews, also known as MMIs.
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- Make sure to research which type of interview your medical school will be conducting as they do vary in format and this will effect how to prepare for it. For example, MMI is more likely to be scenarios and shorter answers, whereas panel interviews gives you more time to flesh out your answers a bit more.
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Interview Overview - MSC [INFO-SHEET]
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A summary of the qualities which medical schools are looking out for in interview and a quixk easy summary on how to conduct yourself in this setting.
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- This is a very brief quick fact sheet so doesn't go into too much depth about what exactly to expect.
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Common Questions on Personality & Skills [ARTICLE]
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The main attributes that medical schools are looking for are clearly labelled in this article. There is also model answers to refer to.
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- We don't recommend pre-planning answers to common questions. A better approach is to have three main bullet points for each 'common' question so that it doesn't sound rehearsed in interview. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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ISC Interview Book [BOOK]
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This book is almost a 'staple' when it comes to medical school interview questions. It provides a great summary of pretty much everything you need to know in terms of background info and has a list of common interview questions with analysis that is great to go through with fellow applicants during group interview practice (absolutely essential)!
PROS
- The first half of the book provides an extremely well written and concise summary with regards to the background of Medicine, principles of medical ethics and significant ethical scandles that you should be aware of. It also provides a useful breakdown of the NHS structure as well as an overview of the different training pathways. It pretty much covers all the essential information you need to know for interviews.
CONSIDER
- Unfortunately, it's not the cheapest book. However, many students buy this book or get it passed down to them. Try to get one from someone you may know who has applied (good chance they'll have it) or visit the local library (once they re-open)!
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Practice Question Bank [WEBPAGE]
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This is a free interview question bank. Although it doesn't go into as much depth into each question (unlike the book), it's an equally great resource in terms of providing you and your partners/group material for your interview practice sessions.
PROS
- Aim to go through a selection of questions from the ISC book (above), this or other similar question banks each time you sit down with your group. The main benefit is not neccesarily going through every question and having an answer for everything. The reality is that there are far too many questions that could be asked. You should aim to cover the main questions which will almost certainly come up. The rest provides you with 'training' to help you get better at answering questions in general. In short, practicing questions will help you improve at answering any question rather than particular questions over time. Therefore, practice asking questions that have not been prepared for and learn to improvise.
CONSIDER
- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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More Practice Question Banks [WEBPAGE]
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More practice questions! We wanted to provide you with a breadth of question resources.
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- We don't expect you to go through all the questions. You should however definitely cover the common ones (Why Medicine? Why this university? etc.) and practice the other ones to improve your general interview skills. Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Ethics Questions & Model Answers [TOOL]
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This resource can be found as part of the 'Practice Question Bank' but we wanted to highlight it because ethics questions can be (but don't have to be) the slightly harder type of question you'll get in an interview. The key is to explore the different point of views in your response and to incorporate the 4 pillars of ethics into your answers as much as possible when exploring the different options. Remember, they're not looking to see if you've got the 'right' answer. There's usually never a right answer anyway. The aim of these questions is to explore your method of thinking.
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- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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What do medical schools want? (Head of Admissions & Director of UCLMS) [VIDEO]
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A collaborative video with UCL medical school on what medical interviews are really like. With a mixture of personal experience from different perspectives tackling the 'common questions' faced with in interviews.
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- This is mainly focussed on UCL Medical School interviews so some of the points may not apply to other interview styles
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Medical Ethics & Law [SHORT VIDEO]
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Ethical questions are considered to be one of the hardest questions you can get at interview. As a result, we've included another video to help you explore this complex field a bit more.
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- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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Interview Schedules [TABLE]
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Waiting for the interview results can be one of the most stressful periods in the application cycle. The table on this page gives a rough time frame for when each university replies with offers. However, be aware that this may change year on year depending ont he university's circumstances. Our advice is try not to stress too much during this time gap and focus on your A-levels or IB to ensure you get the best grades possible!
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Medicine Interview [VIDEO PLAYLIST]
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This video playlist includes a series of interview prep material. A lot of the videos focus on ethics (some of which have already been included here). However, the video also covers extremely common questions which you should be very familiar with such as 'talking about your work experience' and 'why Medicine?'.
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- Please note that some of these videos are focused on Oxbridge applicants (it's usually labelled). Their interview and personal statements tend to be much more academically focussed. Keep that in mind as other unis may prefer to see a more well-rounded candidate!
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Answering Difficult Interview Questions [VIDEO]
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Difficult questions are more common in some medical schools than others (for example, they're very common in Oxbridge). Similar to when answering ethical questions, the interviewers may not always be looking for a definitive answer but rather they're much more interested in hearing about your methodology to answering such a question (e.g. how many planes are there above London right now?). This video features a group of different medical students talking about the hardest questions they were asked during their application process.
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🌟
Comprehensive Interview Guide [GUIDE]
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A comprehensive A-to-Z guide created by a group of medical students (check out their instagram page @wearemedics). This guide aims to help you with your interview prep and goes through many different aspects of the interview which you need to be aware of .
PROS
- Very in-depth and a thorough comprehensive guide to medical school interviews. Goes over key topics such as: NHS, medical ethics and modern medical ethic issue scenarios, public health and Brexit. Loads of example questions and how to answer them. MMI and Oxbridge interviews are covered. Includes a preparation checklist. Helpful tips and tricks.
CONSIDER
- CAUTION: based on personal experience, and we cannot guarantee interview success based on it. However, as current medical students we believe it is high quality information.
📓 A-levels
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
⏰ You're at the final stretch! We know it's been a very very long journey but honestly it will be over in a few months and we promise it's worth it when it pays off! You should really be brinign your focus down on your A-levels (with regular 'basal levels' of interview practice) as soon as your UCAS is submitted and only really taking your foot off the steam during short periods of intense preparation for an interview (e.g. an interview in 1-2 weeks). Remember, a solid set of A-levels are important whether you have offers or not! Reapplying after a gap year with A-levels below AAA is often quite difficult without extra-ordinary circumstances. Of course, there are many other great routes into Medicine and this definitely it's not the end of the road if that's the case.
:)
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The Complete Guide to A Level Revision
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This PDF is in partnership with Student Hut and Gojimo Present. This is a concise information booklet which provides tips on how to revise and exam techniques.
PROS
- Concise resource and also identifies key areas to help improve your revision holistically.
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🌟
Adapt - Study Planner App
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Adapt is a study planner app. It makes your perfect plan in less than a minute, and automatically keeps track of your revision for you- so you always feel in control.
PROS
- Completely free to download on smartphone. Add your subject (and what board you do) Have it planned for you - Adapt has an algorithm instantly knows how many topics you have and how to plan them out. Get told what to study - Adapt calculates the perfect amount of revision for each day to you plan! Has over 800 Alevels, GCSEs BTECs, SQAs, iGCSEs and tons of other qualifications with entire topic lists for you to add to your plan.
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Learning Techniques - Youtube Playlist
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Youtube Playlist containing tips on revision and study techniques.
PROS
- A playlist which address different techniques which might help to make revision more effective.
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- We do not endorse any paid services which might be mentioned in these videos.
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How To Look After Your Mental Health During A-levels
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A brief blog post by The Medic Portal. There is a lot of pressure associated with A-Levels – especially when they can be the only thing standing in your way to getting a place in medical school. It’s not surprising that your mental wellbeing can take a bit of a hit during this time, so here are some tips on how to look after yourself mentally during this tough time.
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PhysicsAndMathsTutor - free revision resource website
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A website which contains an many past papers and revision resources entirely for free!
PROS
- Despite the title indicating only Physics and Maths, this website also includes loads of past papers from other subjects like: Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, Computer Science, Economics and Geography!
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The Best A-level Revision Methods: Backed by Evidence [blog post]
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There are two sides to studying, the first is about finding the motivation to study and the second is studying itself. This post will provide you some specific tips on how to study effectively.
PROS
- The tips which are shared are all backed by evidence as well as my own personal experience.
CONSIDER
- The caveat to all this is that everyone is different and a learning style that works for some might not work for others
Post-Year 13
🎓 Preparing for medical school (+ med school lifestyle)
Congratulations! You've made it 🎉. We've organised a super helpful list of links to get you prepared for the next chapter of your life, medical school! From financial advice to stethoscopes, we've got you covered 🙌
⏰ Congratulations! You've done it! It's time to sit back and enjoy a well-earned break 💃💃💃
💡 The application is extremely long and tiresome. We know how much work many of you will have put in to get to this position and we know how it feels! Truly ... well done!!!
Here's a list of various different things that will help you prepare for medical school and also hype you up a bit! We've included the important (but boring) stuff like student finances, items you may need (e.g. lab coat & stethoscope) and some more exciting videos of previous medical students talking about their accommodation, first year and how they made the most of it!
Here's a list of various different things that will help you prepare for medical school and also hype you up a bit! We've included the important (but boring) stuff like student finances, items you may need (e.g. lab coat & stethoscope) and some more exciting videos of previous medical students talking about their accommodation, first year and how they made the most of it!
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Preparing for Medical School - MSC [VIDEO]
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A short video from the MSC on preparing for medical school. In all honesty, you should just enjoy your Summer! But if you want to prepare here you go! Don't worry about buying books or resources until you've spoken to an older student at your soon-to-be medical school!
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Student finance overview [INFO-SHEET]
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Financing your time at university is a very important consideration. This short document from the MSC aims to give you some information and sign-posts regarding loans and university fees. It's important to sort out your finances as soon as you can to troubleshoot any issues that may arise later on.
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Medical student finance
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The British Medical Association is the union for doctors and medical students. They've kindly put together a helpful guide to break down finances for medical students! This covers all regions in the UK and they've even got some handy guides with each section!
PROS
- Download the guide for your country for more details!
CONSIDER
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What to do if you get an offer? - MSC [INFO-SHEET]
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A short info-sheet from the MSC on what you should do if you have received an offer.
PROS
- The 'test yourself' section at the bottom of the PDF allows you to make a decision on which university to put down as your firm if you are in the fortunate position of having more than one offer.
CONSIDER
🌟
Clinical Placements in Medical School [VIDEO]
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This is more clinical but we thought why not see what you're in for! Some universities do however give you the opportunity to get early clinical access so this may be more relevant for you! For the rest of you, buckle up because you have a few years to go!
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🌟
Get Your Free Medical Defence Union Membership (MDU)
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The MDU is a medical legal defence organisation that we recommend incoming and current medical students sign up to as soon as possible. It's absolutely free and provides you with access to important legal cover if you ever so need it. You can also call them up on their free line to get quick and easy advice at any time.
PROS
- Signing up to a medical legal defence organisation like the MDU is compulsory for every medical professional! You also get access to a lot of additional perks including discounts if you do. Importantly, it's all FREE whilst you're a medical student.
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Stethoscope
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Although some medical schools have their clinical years later on, if you're on an integrated course with lots of clinical exposure early on, it's sometimes helpful to get your stethoscope early on (since most people keep their stethoscope for life!). The Littmann Classic III are by far the most popular choice for medical students. Prices can fluctuate a lot over the year so we recommend you get yours as soon as possible if the price is below £100 (prices spike when surges in buying spike).
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🌟
Study Tips for First Year Medical Students [VIDEO]
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In this video Ali focuses more on the study aspects of being a first year medical student! First year is a great year to experiment with study techniques, meeting new people and doing new things. Take the opportunity to figure out how to study *smart* and *efficiently*. These are key skills that if you can nail down in your first year, you're future self will be forever grateful. Don't stress about getting the top grades! That comes later when it actually matters (usually first year doesn't count for much or anything at all!).
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- Please note: we do *not* endorse the paid services that may be advertised within this resource.
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How Do Top Medical Students Study [Article]
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A comprehensive break-down of studying at medical school. We don't believe your first priority should be getting top in the year. In fact, that's extremely difficult at medical school. Your first priority should be getting to grips with Medicine and university in general! However, we thought we'd share this article as many of you would be interested.
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How many hours a day do medical students study? [ARTICLE]
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Again, although we want to re-emphasise the importance of not stressing about the end result in first year but rather improving your 'process', we know many of you will be wondering how hard medical students study or how hard *should* you study. The key is to focus on working smart and not necessarily hard (although a balance of the two is needed). Here are some of the answers to those questions you may be wondering about.
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Stories from medical students [SHORT EXCERPTS]
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Excited to start medical school? Or perhaps you have Imposter's Syndrome? Here are some stories from medical students about their experiences crossing the bridge from being an applicant to finally studying at medical school and what that was like!
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First day of medical school [VIDEO]
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Manisha discusses her first ever day at Medical school at Bristol university! This video is for those at medical school and even those applying. She goes through the different things she got up to during her first couple of weeks at medical school!
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First week of medical school (FRESHERS) [VIDEO]
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A longer video from 2x ex-KCL students who are now foundation year doctors. They talk about the entire journey from getting offers for medical school on UCAS Track to the first day at uni to getting the most out of all your years at medical school. The whole package!
PROS
- We found there to be a lot of very relatable content :)
CONSIDER
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How to Survive First Year of Medical School [VIDEO]
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Here Kharma Medic discusses social life again but also goes into budgeting and studying at medical school. This is extremely helpful because studying at medical school is very different to studying for A-levels and requires a bit of a mindset change! Don't worry, you'll have a lot of fun along the way too.
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How to Make your £9,000 a Year Degree Worth It [VIDEO]
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It's important to remember that university is a big big investment in your future. Whilst you will hopefully coming out the other end with a degree, it's worth absorbing everything that medical school and university has to offer! Here recent graduates Dr Amz and Dr Rahyead discuss how they tried to make the most out of their £9k and share some advice on the topic!
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🔁 Reapplying to Medicine
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
💡 Unfortunately, things don't always go to plan. However, this isn't the end of the journey, it's just a small bump. We've organised a few helpful resources including the policies of different medical schools and the stories of previous applicants to help you with the process.
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Medical School Resit Policies [TOOL]
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Usually helpful to contact the medical school directly and speak to the admissions tutor about your situation if you're ever unsure. You can find a list of the medical school numbers here (https://www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/medical-schools).
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Dealing with rejection and how to get in [VIDEO / STORY]
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Follow through KharmaMedic's story of when he got rejected from medical school after reapplying twice.
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- Being rejected is not the end of your journey. Medicine is a long course and career. This is part of the journey not the end of it!
✈️ Gap year students
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
:)
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The Medic Portal - 5 Things to do on Your Medicine Gap Year
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This is a blog post by The Medic Portal which provides some ideas on what you could be doing on your Gap Year. These tips might be useful to strengthen your application if you want to (re)apply for Medicine!
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🌏 International students
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
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UCAS - International and EU Students [Overview]
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Page created by UCAS to provide guidance on how to study in the UK.
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- Up to date and impartial information which is widely recognised. Also provides information regarding finance and supporting organisations for international students.
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i-Student Global - How To Become A Doctor In The UK – 7 Tips For International Medical School Applicants
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Becoming a doctor is not an easy task. Studying abroad is not always easy either. i-StudentGlobal spoke to St. George's University of London and provided advice for international applications.
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Britannia StudyLink - The Complete Guide To Studying Medicine In The UK (2020)
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A very comprehensive and complete Guide is here to give you all the information that you need to know. This guide will cover every step of the entire admissions process for international students who want to study medicine in the UK.
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Medicine as an International Student in the UK [Video]
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In this interview Kharma Medic talks about what its like to study medicine in the UK (at King's College London University) as an international student. we talk about how to apply to a UK medical school as an international student, thoughts on the pro's and con's of studying abroad
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🎓 Graduate-entry Medicine
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
💡 Medicine is also open to those who already have a degree (post-graduates). Graduates have an option of applying to an under-graduate medical programme (navigate to the above tabs if you wish to do this) or an accelerated programme tailor-made for graduates (this section - Graduate-entry Medicine - GEM).
Although you'll still benefit from other tabs (e.g. UCAT tab) above, we've put together resources that are specialised for graduate entry applications in this tab.
Below are guides, resources and question banks for those applying as a Graduate.
Although you'll still benefit from other tabs (e.g. UCAT tab) above, we've put together resources that are specialised for graduate entry applications in this tab.
Below are guides, resources and question banks for those applying as a Graduate.
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Graduate Entry Medicine [Overview] - Medic Portal
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Graduate Entry Medicine is for degree-holders who want to pursue a career in Medicine. Graduate Entry Medicine degrees get more and more popular every year - but it's not the simplest of application processes. This guide contains everything you need to know about this pathway to Medicine.
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Deciding on Graduate entry medicine [article] - Medic portal
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If you have ever considered medicine as a career but worried that you may have missed the boat, then Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) may throw you a lifeline. But how do you decide on GEM in the first place? This blog gives you my perspective as a previous Law graduate and top tips on what you can do to improve your chances in securing an offer on a GEM course.
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Free GAMSAT Question Banks [QUESTIONS]
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Slightly different to the previous resource, this document provides you with a list of links directing you to an abundance of free GAMSAT practice resources!
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- Many of these resources may come from organisations that offer charged services.
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Truth about being a Graduate Medical Student (on under-graduate course) [VIDEO]
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This video aims to encourage other graduates or mature students to pursue medicine on the undergraduate course.
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- Kharma Medic dispels some myths about starting medical school and the benefits of being a grad on an under-graduate course!
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Getting into Medical School without the Best Grades [VIDEO]
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Lower grades can be a barrier into Medicine for those who wanted to apply from Sixth Form. However, there are often many work-arounds. Here's Kenji's story getting how he into Medicine via the post-graduate route.
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Picking graduate-entry medical schools strategically [ARTICLE]
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This resource is relatively similar to the [TABLE] above. However, it provides some more details regarding the application with information from almost all the different graduate-entry courses. It also provides some thoughts from the author including points on applying strategically.
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Guide for Non-Science Graduates [GUIDE]
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As indicated by the earlier [TABLE] in this section, many graduate-entry courses in the UK are open to non-science graduates. This resource by Julia (a music graduate) aims to breakdown the process and provide some guidance.
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- The guide covers everything from finances to the different ways you can pursue medicine after a humanities degree
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🛣️ Other routes into Medicine (+ studying abroad & clearance)
Press the icons (lightbulb &/or clock) for further guidance and scroll through the resources below!
:)
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Studying Medicine in Europe - A comprehensive guide [video]
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In this video Ali Abdaal discusses how apply to study Medicine in European countries like Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and others.
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- We do not endorse any of the companies which have been mentioned. This video is simply to demonstrate the process involved.
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Applying to Medicine in Eastern Europe [article]
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An excellent and comprehensive guide into studying Medicine abroad, in particular eastern Europe. The option of studying Medicine abroad is one of many routes to consider. Advantages include decreased competition and lower fees. However, whilst many of these courses are taught in English, the change in culture is a significant consideration. In addition, future training pathways may differ slightly which is well worth considering from the outset.
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