Confused mature (nearly 40) wannabe doctor

[JudeBl]

I will be 40 in June and am beginning to lose hope about applying to Med School for 2008 entry (worried about being too old). I am also an Art graduate and not sure that I will be good enough at Science to sit GAMSAT this September (may sit it next year instead when I'll be even older!). I am planning to do MSAT for Kings this year, but I am not sure where else I could apply to ( I realise that banking on Kings gives me a pretty slim chance). Any advice, especially from "oldies" like me, would be really welcome! Are any of the expensive study guides (e.g. Des O'Neill) worth it?

[megs]

as an arts graduate you do have the advantage of good essays and apparently it is the essay section which really trips most people up.

As for the preparation stuff, i did the gradmed intensive revision course (As a science grad that was the best one for me although you would probably need the full course which is much more effort and money) and it was incredibly well taught and really really valuable in terms of motivating you to study, giving you some more practice questions and on covering relevant material. I cant say that this was the best course or anything cos that was the only one that i did and i cant tell you how well i did yet either but i know i would have found it much much harder if i hadnt gone on this course so for me in terms of value for money it was def worth it.

Also dont loose hope on the age thing, if you dont try now you might regret it cos you will only ever get older! If you are really concerned then it might be worth ringing or emailing the admissions tutors after april ish to find out where they stand on your age - they are usually really really helpful.

[Leo2004]

Hey JudeBl,

I am a 28 yr old arts graduate on year 1 GEP medicine at St George's.

In my year there are a few people I know who are in their forties and don't have a science background and there are also quite a few people in their mid to late 30s - don't worry about the age, just getting the work experience and science background to pass GAMSAT, which is difficult...

Re. GAMSAT preparation, the Des ONeill notes are ace (have some to sell for cheap) and I would recommend glancing through a AS level chemistry, physics and bio text...

Familiarity with concepts and a bit of the mathematical treatment of AS level things like forces moles etc would be ace...

The key to remember is that GAMSAT is NOT really a knowledge test but rather a fast-paced reasoning test that requires you to understand the overall workings of top-level concepts to quickly give it a stab at the right answer...

Wish you the best of luck and any questions, drop me a PM!

Leo

[Platypus]

hi judebi
i am even older than you (!!) and have applied for the 4-yr courses at St George's, King's and Queen Mary's & Barts, so go for it! check out also the parents at med school forum on this website.

note that queen mary's also require MSAT (like Kings) but are apparently changing to the UKCAT in 2007. you need to check this out with the college itself.

i recommend the following books:
(1) "the insider's guide to uk medical schools" eds j burgess, s girgis & k hebert
(2) "how to get into graduate entry medicine" by d sellars & y knight.

i have a science background, but still needed to do a lot of revision for the gamsat. i have the des o'neill notes, which i found very useful. the promed are ok but have big gaps in the information. the gradmed tests and the ozimed tests are good practice for later on (check ebay). you must get a copy of the official acer test papers, though, if you are serious about the gamsat. you will also need good a-level biology, chemistry and physics books. for your final revision, the lett's revise in a week series are good. in theory if you start your science now you should be able to sit the exam in september, so don't loose hope!

pm if you need more info.

good luck!

[kt765]

Thanks for the information everyone. I am a 24 year old grad student wanting to get into the grad entry courses and wanting to pass GAMSAT well. It will be 5 years since I studied Chem/Biol and 6 for Physics. I am scared, but feel if I start now I might do ok. I managed them once before after all. Plus my BA and MA is in English so will hopefully manage the essays. If anybody has any information on how to up your chances of getting onto a GEP course, i'd really really appreciate it. My A,B,C at Level just seems to be dragging me down.