Mature student desperatly seeking best route to medicine. Any advice please!

[physiomed]

Hi everyone,
first time posting so bear with me.

I'm a 28yr old physiotherapist, qualified in 2004 and have been working full time in the NHS since as well as a few hours private practice per week.

I'm determined to persue a career in medicine and have some decisions to make. So....

Qualifications :
1 module passed on a MSc in Trauma and Orthopaedics at Salford Uni (ongoing)
2:1 BSc Hons in Physio (2004),
BBB at A-Level - Biology, Phys Ed and Spanish,
11 GCSEs 7 A's 4 B's

I'm married, a child on the way and a mortgage to contend with and I live north of manchester so would ideally stay in the north west.

I've been researching my options over the past month or so.

-Graduate entry for liverpool seems out as i definitely need an A in A-level chemistry. (would have to go to night school for 2 years or get a personal tutor in and then potentially not get an A and will have wasted 2 years).

-Access to medicine at Manchester college - apply to start this september and apply for 5 year course at manchester (possibly liverpool and leeds too if they accept the A2M from Mcr - waiting for them to get back to me - does anyone know if they do?)

-Apply for the 6 year foundation courses starting in 2013 - i hear these are highly competitive and this would add an extra year to study (not that much of a problem - qualifying at 36yrs old instead of 35 isn't that bad )

Would ideally be working a few hours (locumming or on the bank for example) as a physio to keep bare minimum of cash coming in during the access course or in the first year of the foundation course. I then realise things get more intense and would have to rely on the wife's salary and the grants / loans from student finance.

So in a round about way, has anyone been in a simliar situation? Completed the A2M course recently? Is it possible to work a few hours a week during the access or foundation year? Any advice / views what so ever would be greatly appreciated. (and sorry for the length of the post).

Thanks

[Profanius]

Hi physio

Welcome to the forum. I don't mean to pee on the bonfire of your dreams at this early stage, but are you aware that, as a graduate, you will not be eligible for tution fee support for either a 5 or 6 year medicine degree? This means atleast £36k in tuition fees and no loan to cover it. You can only get tuition fee support for GEP medicine, and like you say the only place nearby that offers this option is Liverpool. Keele used to offer GEP but this is not the case after 2012.

The closest places to you which offer GEP are Nottingham Uni (happens in Derby), Leicester or Birmingham, but each one is still quite a trek. Not really sure what advice I can offer beyond that as only you know your domestic situation and what is feasible from moving/commuting point of view.

Good luck.

[physiomed]

Hi Profanius,
Thanks for the heads up.
I did contact the student finance people a few weeks ago, (and yesterday after you post) and they did say medicine was an exception to the rule. they sent me a link to the student finance website where I found this

Previous StudyIf the student has studied a higher-education course before and received funding they may not get any financial help for a second course. As a general rule, Tuition Fee Loans are available for the full length of the student's course, plus one extra year if needed.

Even if a student has previously studied in the UK, they may get a Maintenance Loan if they don't have an equivalent or higher level qualification or if they are studying a course which leads to a professional qualification such as doctor, dentist, vet or architect.

Some supplementary grants may also be available to those who have previously studied in the UK.You should bring these rules to the attention of any student who is thinking about leaving a course and transferring to a new one.[/I]

Does this sound right to you or anyone else? I hope so, otherwise it'll be back to the drawing board for sure!

Cheers

[Profanius]

Hi physio

Alas, you have to be very careful when dealing with SLC, especially over the phone as their advice is wrong far more often than it is right - even with regards to their own funding rules. There have been numerous threads on this issue, the latest is probably this one

How the hell are grads planning on funding the 5yr? People are still going for it!?

I suggest reading all the thread if you can, but pay particular attention to anything written by kiaravin1 - he (I'm guessing) is pretty much the expert on this kind of thing and has worked hard to get this information that the enlightened few now take for granted (big thanks to kiaravin1).

Alas, the information within won't be happy reading for you.

[physiomed]

Hi,
wow, thank you so much for the link. Big thanks to Kiaravin1 too.
I was finding it difficult to trawl through all the different posts to find the relevant info but this is great advice.

Shocking state of affairs.

I do have options fortunately with some savings and other from other areas but this is a real eye opener. beggars belief that this route excludes so many.

Thank you again, I've got further with this in the last 2 days than the last 2 months!

cheers

[Claff22]

Hi physiomed,

What route did you decide to take in the end? I'm looking at a few graduate entry courses and also researching the Manchester College and Carmel College options too, the problem with them is of course the financial side, Manchester more so as the fees for the foundation year are £9k, whereas at Liverpool the Access course is £4.5k.

[physiomed]

Hi Claff,
sorry for not getting back sooner.

After much soul searching I've decided to postpone applying for the moment.

Taking time out to do the access to medicine / chemistry would have been too much of a time and as such a financial burden for no guarantees of actually getting in! and then of course the funding issues for the 5 year course at manchester, although on completion of the access course the grad entry at liverpool will accept your application.

However, I'd narrrowed it down to the grad entry courses at Leicester and Newcastle or even the ones in London that don't require chemistry were the way forward for me.

It would have meant getting cheap accommodation near the Uni and commuting on a monday morning / sunday evening and returning on friday afternoons (to be able to spend time with the family). Big commitment and what swayed it for me to postpone.
Advanced train tickets to London or Newcastle and driving to Leicester seemed most cost effective and you can get accommodation for around £45 - 50 per week in Leicester and Newcastle but was going to stay with my brother in London - (commuting to london was the cheapest train ticket too)
Amazingly all of this would still be cheaper than funding 9,000 per year yourself...... don't get me started.

If I had the flexibility to relocate to near one of the grad entry Unis then I'd be going ahead and hopefully i'll get to that stage in the future.

Hope that helps

Good luck!

[Claff22]

Thanks Physiomed. Well good luck with it all! I think I'll apply to the access course and then three grad entry courses, probably Newcastle, Warwick and Kings I think and sit the UKCAT after the summer. Hopefully I'd get onto grad med, but if not I think I'd spend the year doing the access course (provided I get on which is no easy task!) and then hopefully get into Liverpool, although I'd probably apply for some grad entry courses second time round in hope! The course would come in useful either way as it'd give me some background knowledge. Saying that, if I didn't get into the access course, realistically that would probably be the end of the road for me ... can only take so much time out trying to make this happen. I think Leciester might be your best bet especially with all the relevant work experience you have.

[e_bruce]

Thanks Physiomed. Well good luck with it all! I think I'll apply to the access course and then three grad entry courses, probably Newcastle, Warwick and Kings I think and sit the UKCAT after the summer. Hopefully I'd get onto grad med, but if not I think I'd spend the year doing the access course (provided I get on which is no easy task!) and then hopefully get into Liverpool, although I'd probably apply for some grad entry courses second time round in hope! The course would come in useful either way as it'd give me some background knowledge. Saying that, if I didn't get into the access course, realistically that would probably be the end of the road for me ... can only take so much time out trying to make this happen. I think Leciester might be your best bet especially with all the relevant work experience you have.

Hi, I am a graduate (awaiting results, predicted a 2:1 in Psychology) and I've also been looking at the best route into Medicine for me. I didn't study Chemistry at A level and so without the GAMSAT I am starting to think that foundation Medicine courses are the way to go. I live in the north west so obviously Manchester is an option (I was interviewed there last year, put on hold and sadly did not get on) and I would love to go to Liverpool even. I saw that you were thinking of applying to an access course to get into Liverpool....if you get onto that, does this guarantee you a place on the Liverpool course as the Manchester foundation year does? I thought I'd read somewhere that they only take 7 from the access course which was quite disheartening...

[Claff22]

Hi Bruce!

I'm not sure about exact numbers but yes, the problem is that with the Carmel course your not guaranteed a place at Liverpool. You need 70% to pass and are then guaranteed an interview, but not necessarily a place. So in terms of security, Manchester is better. But in terms of price, Liverpool wins! Manchester fees for the foundation are 9K and Liverpool's are 4.5k with quite a few scholarships on offer. Other than that, I think Sheffield is the only other one that does a foundation year like Manchesters...