Any nurses applying for grad med?

[GradNurse]

Hello everyone, any other nurses out there applying this/next year? doesn't seem to be too many in the threads so far.

[kjskathryn]

Three cheers for the nurses!

I'm a nurse turned GEP, currently first year in RCSI. If you've any questions just message me and i'd be glad to offer any help i can.

Good luck!

[louise colette]

Woo hoo, me too! I'm a first year accelerator at Newcastle and would be very pleased help anyone who needs it! You won't regret the career move - it's BRILLIANT x

[Dee41]

I'm a 2nd year student nurse who will be applying for GEP when I qualify. Unfortunately I qualify (lol) at the end of October 2009 so will have to apply in 2010.

I think there are a few of us around and would be very interested to know who those who have made the jump from nurse to med student are finding things.

Good luck to you all.
Dee41
x

[Christian1985]

Hi guys. I'm currently a 1st year nurse planning on medicine preferably GEP due to my v poor A Levels. I would love to go to Nottingham or SGUL. I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me of the sort of preparation you have done for GAMSAT.

I am interested in applying for the GEP at Leicester but it is a very tough course from what I've heard around. Could be worth a shot but personally I would rather attempt braving the GAMSAT and try for SGUL and Notts. I think the course at SGUL looks brilliant and also both these schools are very keen on people with substantial healthcare experience.

Good luck all present and future nurse-med applicants.

[louise colette]

Christian1985 - I sat GAMSAT and 'passed' i.e. got over the cut off. The only prep I did was a couple of past papers the week before the exam. I think most sensible people spend much more time on it, I just wanted you to know that it might not be as beastly as it sounds. It's definitely a test of endurance though, as it's a ridiculously long day!

[Christian1985]

It is a long exam. Did you get any interviews base don your score out of interest?

[louise colette]

I'd only applied to one Gamsat uni - Swansea - and they rejected me before the scores were even out!

[kjskathryn]

Hey Christian, I also did very little prep for Gamsat. I think the best thing you can do is get some past papers and learn the style of the questions rather than going mad about learning A level material all over again. I got 72 in section 1, 69 in section 2 and 59 in section 3, and got accepted to my first choice university based on my score (my uni doesn't interview EU students). Once you get over the sheer fear of how tough the questions appear to be, it's actually surprisingly straight-forward.

[weeds are plants too]

Hello Christian,
The GAMSAT is a tough exam but certainly not out-of-reach tough, if you see what I mean. I only revised by practising a couple of essays and having a go at learning 'Organic chemistry for dummies'. However, I didn't apply to schools with a cut-off because I'm a bit chicken like that, but I did ok. The good thing about applying to SGUL is that at least you know that you are aiming for a cut off (it only varies slightly from year to year) and work your arse off to get there and then you'll have an interview. Of course, there are no guarantees and you could try Swansea. However, if louise collette was rejected from there (as a nurse, I mean), perhaps you should contact Swansea before you send your UCAS form and ask whether they would consider you. Send a cv, for example. In fact, I think it's a good idea to contact all of your choices before you apply, just to check they will at least consider you. I did, and it took some time, but it was definately worth it.
All the best x