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New Media Medicine Forums - Medical News

New Media Medicine Forums - Medical News

B's at A level?

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 04:24 AM PDT

I have 3B's and thinking of resitting some modules and reapplying to study medicine


Just wondering if anyones been in the same position before and still been successful


Thanks in advance:)

How do you guess?

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 10:38 AM PDT

When practicing under exam conditions, I'm finding that I can answer half of the questions correctly in the allocated time. The other half I have to guess. My current strategy is to try and get as many correct answers as possible and guess the rest. I have never had to guess answers in my uni/school exams, but when I had to it would be an educated guess, i.e. eliminating the least likely answer. So, what's the best strategy for guessing when you have absolutly no time to eliminate answers. Do you always go for a specific letter (e.g. "C") for all the unasnwered questions or do you choose letters randomly?Does a certain strategy affect your score?

Any new (or those on the course already) parent students at King's?

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 06:17 AM PDT

Hi there. I had a baby a little over a year ago and deferred my place to King's as I knew it would just be too much with a wee one who refused to sleep through the night and all the upheaval that goes with having a child. The moment is nigh though to begin the course, and I am having major doubts as the moment approaches. The usual fare that most are grappling with I think: how will it work? will I lose out on precious child time? will my son lose out?

Would be nice to touch base with a fellow parent entering on the course at King's or anywhere else for that matter. I have yet to sort anything really as I'm burying my head in the sand a bit. I think my biggest concern is not spending time with my son. Up until now, I've been a stay at home mom and loved it (every fatiguing moment, well, almost.) I'm starting to pose questions now like: why? why am I doing this at my age (40+)? will the reward be greater than raising a child?

Ho hum, anyone grappling with these concerns, feel free to share. I would really love to hear from you.

HShep

Another AS results question

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 05:43 AM PDT

Here we go, another person coming on to seek validation on his results. I apologise, but I know no one in my own life to annoy.

I just want to know how likely i am to get interviews for university.

In my AS results, I got:

Chemistry: B
Biology: A
Physics: A
Maths: A
Further Maths: A

As you can see, the chemistry is a problem. It was only coursework that pulled me down though, I got an A in both of the exams. I understand the importance of chemistry for the application, but will the A in Biology help me, and render the Chemistry result redundant. And, will the fact that I have taken five help me? As in, I have got 4 As at AS. Will the Chemistry be ignored?

My GCSE results were: 7A*s (Including Science (separate), English and Maths) and 5As.

I'm taking the UKCAT in a few days, and I'm not sure what I'll get, as exam stress can render me useless.
The universities that I hope to apply to are:

Keele
Durham
Birmingham
Cardiff
East Anglia, or Dundee

What do you think my chances are, people who have experience?

Thanks for reading,
Looking forward to response.

References for GEM

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 05:41 AM PDT

Hey guys,

I've done a fair bit of searching and can't seem to find any definitive answers. I am applying to graduate entry medicine this year and was wondering if you can send more than one reference with your UCAS application? There seems to be only one reference slot on the UCAS form but I was hoping to provide both an academic reference from my previous university tutor and a character reference from my current employer. If this is not possible I guess the academic reference would be more appropriate than one from my current NHS job?

Many Thanks :)

Some advice please - I want to know if I would be considered for Medicine

Posted: 19 Aug 2012 07:07 PM PDT

Hi everyone,

Well the Good Bit -

I am a Registered Nurse I obtained a Diploma of Higher Ed. Adult Nursing (distinction) and have worked in acute hospitals for 13 years (2 years as a qualified Nurse) - I have performed so well I was promoted to a Charge Nurse after 12 months - I have experience in Hepatology - gastroenterology - General Surgery -Haematology - Oncology - Cardiac surgery and General Medicine. I am also chemotherapy trained and administer cytotoxic medications via all routes (Central and peripheral IV) I can cannulate - take blood and read and aquire ECG's.

I got accepted to the DipHE course as I completed NVQ's Levels 2 and 3 in Direct Care

The Bad bit -

I messed up at school hardly any GCSE's (due to personal issues rather than ability) - I have no A- Levels as yet.


I really wish to study Medicine - I cannot stress enough how much I want this !

1. Would I be considered with this sort of Nursing Qualification and Experience ?

2. Should I undertake A level Chemistry and Human Biology ?

3. Would I also need to do GCSE Maths and English ?

4. Which medical schools are more likely to give me a chance ?

Thanks in advance for your responses I know there are loads of posts like this one.

Mark

Abstract Reasoning

Posted: 19 Aug 2012 01:47 PM PDT

Am I the only one who really struggles with this?

I've been going through all the 'Medify' questions and I just can't seem to consistantly get decent scores. I get 5/5, then 1/5, then 2/5, 2/5, then 5/5...

One of the patterns was ridiculous.

Pattern 'A' - Count the number of sides in the shaded shapes, and do the same for non-shaded shapes (but double these) - so 2 squares, 1 shaded, 1 non-shaded would equal 12 sides.... what the hell?

Any tips?

Medicine or other health profession?

Posted: 19 Aug 2012 12:13 PM PDT

Hi all - I was hoping to get a few opinions on a bit of a dilemma I have.

I'm a graduate from Liverpool uni and got a First in Biological Sciences after missing out on the A level grades required to study Medicine there. I really enjoyed my degree, during which I fostered other interests in the outdoors and have now found myself working as an Outdoor Education Instructor in Cumbria for the last 3 years (challenging and enjoyable work). I've always had Medicine in the back of my mind but the length of time it takes to qualify, plus the expense/upheaval of study has been somewhat putting me off. I'm also 25 and female so the fairly standard issue of the biological clock is there.

I've been questioning my motivations for studying Medicine and found that they are: to take part in a career that is interesting, hands on, involves working with people in a compassionate/understanding manner, includes further education or training, doesn't get monotonous and is one that I'm proud to say I do. I've also been considering whether I can get all of these things from other health professions. I did think about nursing but more recently I've thought about Midwifery.

The latter is a new idea and one that I've only recently started researching properly. I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on how hands on/independent Midwifery is as a career? Would I find it challenging enough? Would there be much potential for getting frustrated at the fact that it's not "being a doctor" or is there enough variety and background knowledge in being a midwife? I've read the possibility of getting involved in research as a midwife or climbing the ranks to become a consultant midwife, so there seems to be a proper career structure in place with the potential to provide proper time for other life events (family, enjoying own personal time in the outdoors etc.).

Any ideas/thoughts would be appreciated to help round my views off!

Applying for Medicine for the 8th time. Anyone out there as mad as me?

Posted: 19 Aug 2012 11:27 AM PDT

Hi guys,

New to the site and about to embark on an 8th UCAS application for Medicine (I really think that they shouldn't charge me an application fee this year as I am such a loyal customer).

Anyway, just trying to find out who is out there who has put in multiple efforts without success but still chasing their dream.

Work experience- caring for a relative

Posted: 19 Aug 2012 10:28 AM PDT

I am planning to apply for graduate medicine. I have quite a lot of volunteering so far as work experience but probably the experience that i learn most from was caring for my terminally ill aunt for the past 4 years. I wasn't her main carer but I shared her caring with my mum. I was just wondering how much about this I should write in my personal statement. I don't want to seem like I am asking for sympathy and also I don't know how much this experience is worth.

Thanks

Got my alevel results - medicine out of reach? Help?

Posted: 19 Aug 2012 09:53 AM PDT

To cut a long story short i had a bad year during my AS. I achieved BEEE (E's in biology and chemistry and english.. B in psychology)

A2 i dropped chemistry and took up geography in one year.
I achieved A*ABD (b in general studies and D in biology)

my passion to do medicine is ridiculous and my tutors have told me for two years its never going to happen but i cant accept that.

if i tell unis im resitting biology on my gap year will i be given a chance? An interview? Where should i go from here?

thank you!

IGCSE's

Posted: 19 Aug 2012 06:41 AM PDT

Hi all, ive been looking to do some retakes before i go to college to study A levels next year.Im thinking about distance learning so i can keep on working this next year, and i keep seeing these IGCSE's popping up. Seems to be that IGCSE's are deemed harder than regular ones, but does anybody know if medical schools accept these qualifications? Thanks all, enjoy your Sunday!

Prepgenie material harder than official ACER material? Which is more realistic?

Posted: 18 Aug 2012 04:51 PM PDT

Hi guys (and girls)

I am preparing for the GAMSAT and have now come to the point where I feel my revision is sufficient to start practicing timed exams. I bought the "comprehensive test series" from prepgenie and I have noticed something about the sample questions they give (not the free prognostic paper, I mean the actual materials you buy) in comparision to the Acer Practice materials

So far I have only gone through 3 of the 5 chemistry sample papers but I have noticed that they contain questions from sources which appear to be a higher level than those asked by the ACER practice papers and which also do not seem to be in the a level syllabus (eg: determining the products of Keto-enol transformation) . This has left me quite confused because I am also using the Griffiths GAMSAT guide and that points to revision material which does not seem to contain a good number of the topic which the prepgenie sample papers ask questions upon.

Additionally I also notice that the Prepgenie GAMSAT practice papers (at least the chemistry) ones have much more reading material to draw upon per question, i.e answering the question is more dependent on the actual stuff written on the question paper (as opposed to pre-revised material)

So I want to ask, has anyone noticed this significant difference between the prepgenie material and the ACER material? Any answers would be welcome but it would be particularly helpful if some who has bought and used the actual prepgenie materials (as opposed to the free test which is easier) could give me an answer on how they compare with the real test questions. Because from what I can tell the ACER sample questions seem simpler, requiring less detailed knowledge and requiring one to glean less knowledge from the paper itself to answer questions. Would appreciate any kind of comments no matter how brief

Thanks in Advance
Clibnarii

P.S: Sorry for the wall of text, I was trying to be detailed

Questions regarding application to Oxford for Medicine.

Posted: 18 Aug 2012 01:06 PM PDT

Hey, I'm going to go into year 13 in september, so I'll be applying to universities!
I have chosen my course; medicine.
I was considering oxford, but I would like to clear up a few queries.

Is there a tendency for oxford to choose candidates from a comprehensive school? (when i went to the open day, all the medics i talked to said they went to a state school). Will i be at a disadvantage if I got to an independent school?

Cambridge look at each candidates individual module marks, but oxford don't! so what's the catch with oxford? which part of the process is the most important for oxford (I have 9A*s at GCSE, and have recently achieved 4As at AS in all sciences and maths, and should be getting 4A*s next year)

Also do oxford prefer you to take a non-science? I've taken maths,chem,bio,physics- and C.thinking. Are my subject choices ok for oxford (I recently found out UCL don't take on students who don't have a non-science, so was wondering if that's the case with oxford).

I realise i could just email oxford and ask them, but i figured actual students/ teachers on this forum will give a better indication as the reply from oxbridge in the past have been quite vague.

If anyone could possibly clear up my questions, I'll be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Application - Extra Work

Posted: 18 Aug 2012 12:39 PM PDT

I was told by my teacher that doing extra work (i.e an essay) which isn't directly related to the curriculum would look good on my personal statement; how true is this?

And if I think this piece of work is good, would I be able to send it off to the Uni's I'm applying for.


Thanks.