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Some Advice Please
Mature and confused potential student
Manchester College Access to Medicine 2013-2014

Posted: 03 Apr 2013 01:47 PM PDT

I am in need of some advice from you all. I applied to Cambridge, Kings, Newcastle and Barts for graduate medicine this year and was unsuccessful in all my choices. I attained 707.5 in the UKCAT and have a excellent academic background AAA at A-Level in Maths, Chemistry and Physics. I am also on the boundary between a 2:1 and 1st in my Chemistry degree at York.

My problem at the moment is where to apply next year to give myself a competitive chance. A lot of places require Biology at A-Level or a Biological degree. What advice would you give to someone in my position to ensure I put the most competitive application in next year and where would I be best suited to apply? I understand that the UKCAT plays a big part in the decision making process, as I unfortunately found out this year, and my final decision will need to be made on how well I do in the UKCAT this year.

My current thoughts are to apply to Cambridge again as I received feedback from them and they said all my academics were fine but I was lacking experience, which I will gain more of over the next year. Barts and Warwick as I have an understanding of the selection centre. Then one other.

What do you think?

Thanks.

Mature and confused potential student

Posted: 03 Apr 2013 05:47 AM PDT

Hi all,

Apologies before I begin as I fear this might be a long and rambling stream of consciousness post.

As the title suggests, I'm considering medicine as a mature student but have found myself getting more and more confused about the best direction to take. Let me start with a brief history of my educational journey so far and relationship with medicine.

When I was about 14, I became very attracted to the idea of being a doctor. I was motivated by a desire to help other people, to use academic knowledge to be able to do this and, let's be honest, my then perception that it was a glamorous and prestigious profession. I chose science A-levels and all was going well until I had a week's work experience at my local hospital. Which I loved. I shadowed a young and enthusiastic junior doctor who was keen for me to experience as much as I could. I spent a wonderful evening on the night shift with her, on call, seeing a variety of patients. I loved how a doctor truly can help people. How they do have a level of expertise that can sometimes help people feel better, even if just temporarily. I would skip home from those days of giving bed baths and shadowing doctors full of increasing certainty about my career choice. However, in the dying days of this work experience, she organised a trip to the mortuary to see a post-mortem. As the day came, I put a brave face on it. The nurses stories of the incision between the ears at the back of the head and pulling the skin over the head and forehead did little to calm my nerves. I'd never even seen a dead body before. The staff carrying out the post-portem were lovely and introduced me to a few cadavers to try and make me feel more comfortable. However -when it came to it, I chickened out. The sudden realisation that this world was one far from the usual and far from my own comfort zone and that when I was asked to face that squarely I chickened out shook me deeply. My parents were embarrassed for me. I tried to cover it up with generalisations but I felt like a failure and it was in that week that I decided medicine wasn't for me. Fine. I went to university and studied biology, and enjoyed coasting through my A-levels with the pressure off (and with subsequently less good results).

Fast forward fifteen or so years. Medicine - what might have been - still lurks at the back of my mind. After my degree (a half suitable fit. It was easy but I went to few lectures and came out with a 2:2 after my question spotting went wrong in the final exams - my marks break down is a mixture of 90%s and 30%s depending on where I got lucky with my revision) I went on to work in a science lab which turned into a part-time PhD in biochemistry. Getting through my 20s at a pace and totting up major biology-related qualifications, debt and confusion all as a result of this decision to do medicine aged 14 which never quite died but never quite happened. Considered a post-doc but didn't feel I had the enthusiasm to get me beyond the level of a post-doc. Worked as a manager in the NHS writing research papers and working on clinical audit. Hated the office life. Went on to do a PGCE in primary teaching. Enjoyed the PGCE but have found the teaching aspect a little dull. Incredible workloads and stress but not particularly intellectually stimulating compared to say, the PhD/science phases of my life. And still, at the back of my mind, is medicine. In fact, it's dogged me with differing levels of intensity ever since I decided not to do it. For example, about 6 or so years ago, I even got as far as applying to medical school. With a few months of volunteering under my belt as a chaplaincy volunteer in a hospital and a half-finished PhD, I didn't get very far. That was also a bit of a knock to the confidence.

If anyone is still reading this - thank you! Here I get to the crux of it. I'm now in my earlyish thirties. I'm very aware that the door to medicine is close to closing. That the next year or two is going to be my final realistic chance of getting a place so if it's the right thing for me to do I need to know that now. I'm also aware that ANOTHER degree will present a serious financial challenge and not working again until into late my 30s, with no house and little savings behind me, will mean I'll be seriously behind my peers in the financial stakes (I am already). I'm also not much further on than that kid at 16. Is this really the career for me? My mother and other family members have recently had some medical problems and I feel so deeply within me in those moments a desire to be a doctor, being able to help others in need, that it's almost overwhelming. But am I just too squeamish to face the more gruesome aspects (I went to one of those Bodyworks exhibitions and that posed no problem). Do I have the energy left for another four year stint at university? Will I end up on the course after convincing the admissions panel and realise it's not for me after all? Do I stand a chance of even getting a place? What would YOU do in my situation??

Phew. That feels better. Apologies about the length of the post but I did warn you You're the first people I've ever told this to in full. Any advice, greatly appreciated.

Ginger.

Manchester College Access to Medicine 2013-2014

Posted: 03 Apr 2013 05:11 AM PDT

Hi everyone

Was just wondering if anyone out there has applied/is applying for the Manchester College Access to Medicine course starting in September 2013? I applied for the course last year and got a place but couldn't go due to financial reasons. I applied again this year and have an interview tomorrow :) Would be nice to talk to people going through the same thing!!