foundation courses vs access courses

[luca]

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on whether I should apply for access courses then 5 year courses, or 6 year courses off the bat?

I got a first class degree in Psychology a few years ago, and have some mental health related work experience, as well as first aiding with St John’s but no hospital experience. However, going from degree to degree was financially impossible for me so I’ve mainly been working in the corporate world saving up for the last few years.

Any advice greatly appreciated

Luca

[giella]

Say you apply this October. if you apply for 6 year courses, you have a year between your application date and your start date and then you're not starting medical school, you're doing the premed year. If you started an access course this September, you'd be applying for the 5 year course this year. So you would be doing something with that extra year.
The premed-years are more limited and more competitive as well. You're limiting your choices if you choose this route over an access course.
It depends what your application schedule is looking like. If you think you would want to start your access course this September, then it's a waste of time applying to 6 year courses. If, however, you want to start an access course in September 2010, it would be worth your while applying to the foundation programmes this October and using Access to Medicine as a backup. This is what I've done this year, although I actually got my place at A2M first, having deferred my entry for a year to work on my CV/save some money.

[Mamba]

I disagree, when u get on the 6 year u are in. All done. you are a full medical student, just have to do an extra year of basic sciences. Its a golden ticket into medicine. Ironically though, most 6yr courses require A levels or an Access Course. So give the uni a ring first. I did Access last year. Happy as Larry. Btw my 1st year of 'premed' has inclded ward placments and full human body dissection. Its 100% legit, just an extra year. I love it.

[giella]

I get that, definitely. It's why I applied. But there are fewer places to which you can apply and that is more limiting. Better to give yourself the full spectrum of places.
Plus, like I said, depending on the timetable the OP gives himself, applying to 6 year courses might actually be a waste of a year in which he could be doing an access course.
I would add that Cardiff only accepts access students onto its six year programme, which is a little silly as you're basically repeating a year. If you do A2M, don't apply to Cardiff.

[Mamba]

Are you joking ?
Do you have any idea how much people want to study medicine ?
Most A2M students dont get in. A tiny % get in. Cardiff took well over double the A2M students than any other uni. Better to do another year than just reapply. PLUS you have your place. Regarding repeating a year. I didnt do Ward placments, full body dissection, infection control, diseases of the world, physiology modules in A2M. Whereas they are all modules here. Alot of students are telling us we have a great advantage over the next year. Also we have far greater experience, we also know the systems and Doctors. (Tutors). Cardiff have a policy that if they like you , they will accept you. This year they took 18 medics on from A2M.

There must be some negatives though, right ? Well there are yes. The work load is VERY heavy. The pressure is VERY intense. They make use of this year to sort the wheat and the chaff. The weak and the strong. For example we did more exams than any other 1st yrs at uni, inc the medics. We had 6 exams, and weeks before this we had 4 midterms. This does not convey the workload, as every week we were given at least 2 coursework assignments. A maths tutorial and an essay every few weeks. It got...insane. Feels good to get through it tho. Now its semester 2 and it has all started over. Most unis dont let ppl on wards till 3rd year. Also 99% of unis dont do full body dissection. Cardiff and i believe 2 others are the only ones to do FB-Dissection. In 2 weeks time I have the privelage of dissecting the human thorax. Believe me, we didnt do that in A2M. If I met anyone wanting advice on getting into Medicine, my words would include A2M and Cardiff as your first choice.

[giella]

You went to MANCAT right? Not a very high success rate from there.

[Mamba]

We had about 12 ppl get offers, out of maybe 30 applying for med.
If you are comparing it to other A2M then the numbers look bad, but MANCAT take on alot more people. Mancat took 60 students my year. In all fairness to MANCAT, in my class of 25, only one person didnt go on to university. We had dentists, pharmacists, medical engineers and radiographers and 1 vetinary, as well as 7 people that got medicine offers. I was impressed with Mancats success rate. Just one person not going on to HE. They actually got an offer too but couldnt take it for personal reasons.

[giella]

I didn't mean to be bitchy. All I wanted to say was if you apply to a six year course this October, it puts 7 years between then and your graduation. If you start an A2M course this October and apply to 5/4 year courses, it only puts 6.
What I did was get a place at A2M, defer my entry for a year and then I applied to various 6 year med school programmes on the basis of my A level grades, my experience so far and the fact that I'm a graduate. This doesn't affect my timetable of application at all, and if I get a place on a 6 year course, I'll definitely take it. Once you're in, you're in, as you say. But if you apply for 6 year courses and then don't do anything in the meantime [ie. A2M courses], and then get 4 rejections, you're back to square one and you've got a wasted year behind you. Doing A2M is a bit more secure as it opens up more options and allows you to be doing something productive over the course of a UCAS cycle. That's all I'm saying.

[Mamba]

I couldnt agree more. And I wish you all the best in application. I just dont feel you are in the best place to judge decisions. Judge the success of A2M or make judgments on whether doing A2M then a 6yr is a waist of time. This forum is VERY influential to people's decisions in their life. Lets stick to being supportive and positive, realistic too obviously. I have no issue with your route, as I said.. all the best. Hope to see you here if you chose Cardiff. I think you will soon see just how hard it is to get into medicine. I think you may eat your own words, I would have happily repeated A2M 5 times to get a place. Some people apply for 4-5 years until they get in. Medicine is in the blood, and when u have a passion for it. Wild horses wont stop ya. Anyway, best of luck to you, pm me if anyone wants any advice on Personal Statments or interviews, I can only tell u what happened to me and my pals. Keep going. By the end of this , if you want medicine enough, u will walk on hot coals. Do it, cos its worth it.

[Alysha]

While instinctively I would say apply for the Foundation year course (6y)... I can't really say much for A2M, as I'm not so familiar with it and its success. I just like the idea of the security of knowing you've got your place. And, as I read it, that extra year that you're "wasting," I imagine you will continue to work, improving your financial situation, so you cal actually take up this 2nd degree.

What i'm more curious about however, - is there some reason you have not considered a GEP? Seeing as you already have a degree? And what seems like plenty of work experience?