why is oxbridge so special?

[Hughman]

Ah fair enough - I didn't know that your uni didn't show up on the application system (that explains why Oxbridge students kicked up such a fuss about the ranking/points system then)

[mirina]

If you want to be a GP or something like that, and want to make a proper difference, then Oxbridge is going to crush you like a worm because they don't believe in it (which is wrong to be fair).

I'd love to find out where you got that from!!! They don't believe in GPs??? The director of clinical medicine at St John's is the foundation professor of general practice for the university and specialises in research about the management of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in general practice.

As someone who is considering a career as a GP I am taking offence!!!! lol

[dsn]

I think what Hughman meant was that the proportion of graduates who become GPs from Oxbridge is probably lower than that from some other medical schools, say Birmingham or UEA.

[Hughman]

What dsn said. It is far far lower, I'd hazard a guess at below 40%. (average is 50% whilst Sheffield and Birmingham are above 60%)

[dsn]

Although of course there is no data for UEA yet.

[yazoo]

Going back to the original question, Oxford and Cambridge are pretty, steeped in history, have a world-wide reputation for excellence and facilities (including the faculties) to match. These latter points are very important when it comes to studying specific subjects. However, medicine as an undergrad degree is a muddle of a great many things. It's about covering a broad spectrum of knowledge, so subject-based excellence is less meaningful (one cannot become an expert in undergrad medicine!)

In relation to medicine, there is some (small amount of) evidence that Oxbridge grads perform better in post grad exams. Some would argue this is an indicator of producing better Drs. Others would disagree.

Pick the universities that appeals to you most. If it is to prove to yourself how great you are, maybe Oxbridge is a bad choice. It's a big pond full of lots of very clever people from around the world. Little fishies get eaten by the big ones if they are irritating, and there are lots of big fish (albeit mainly non-medics) at Oxford and Cambridge.

[Singh.Simran]

I'd love to find out where you got that from!!! They don't believe in GPs??? The director of clinical medicine at St John's is the foundation professor of general practice for the university and specialises in research about the management of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in general practice.

As someone who is considering a career as a GP I am taking offence!!!! lol

ah but then again i am informed noone likes St John's anyway :P

[Dr Noodle]

At the end of the day I just want to be an average doctor, and therefore would coming out of oxbridge give me an advantage compared to somewhere like Birmingham?

I thought I'd read this wrong at first and I'm hoping it's a typo. I'll wait to see whether it was or not before commenting on it...

[Dr Noodle]

Back to your original question though, sorry if I'm repeating what someone has already said, yes fair enough you should be looking at where you'll get the best teaching but, considering the fine reputation of all UK med schools, you should be looking at the best teaching for you.

If you're applying this year you don't have much time left and this is quite time consuming so better get cracking. You need to get a notebook, put one page per school and make out different headings for each ie

-Teaching/course style (PBL, lecture based, integrated, split into pre-clinical/clinical etc)
-Can you get the grades and do you have the subjects they're looking for
-Extra curricular/work experience etc, do you have what they're looking for
-Interview/no interview and interview style
-University, does it look like your kind of place
-Cost of living, can you afford it

You can find the answers for all of these on this forum, on UCAS, in the individual prospectuses and tourist info sites/wikipedia.

[Dr Noodle]

I'd love to find out where you got that from!!! They don't believe in GPs??? The director of clinical medicine at St John's is the foundation professor of general practice for the university and specialises in research about the management of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in general practice.

As someone who is considering a career as a GP I am taking offence!!!! lol

Of course you can't not believe in GPs, they're needed as they're (I once heard it put) the 'gate keepers of the NHS'. But from reading various blogs and autobiographies (doctors and paramedics), there seems to be a general ill feeling towards them.