2010 entry

[hamzahdabest]

heyyy,

right.. im currently in my first year of college doing AS in biology, psychology, economics and law. I decided on doing medicine quite a bit after i started college (was too late to change my subjects this year). So what i want to do is, drop economics and law next year, then do AS and A2 chemistry next year. So i would have A2 chemistry, biology, and psychology. and also AS economics and law.

Say i get, AAB, with the B in biology or psychology.. and i get 2 B's for AS economics and law.. would i have a chance of getting in, even though i did AS & A2 chemistry in my final year. Im a bit worried that i wont have a AS chemistry result to put in my UCAS application. Im just wondering if this will make any difference.

Also please note, i'v booked a weeks work experience at a hospital for this summer, and i'v got an interview on 9th march (this monday) to do minimum 6 months voluntory work at bolton hospice, helping at the wards, so i will have good experience of patient contact from that. and even nurses and doctor contact i guess. i will probably do about 4 hours per week.

My GCSE results are:
Maths - B
Core & Additional science - A, A
Extra Biology - A
Extra Chemistry - A*
English language & literature - A (lang), B (lit)
Statistics - C
BTEC first diploma in Business - Distinction* (equivilant to 4a*s apprntly)
Geography - C
French - C

Taking all of this in to consideration, could you please tell me if i have a chance of getting in to this medical school.

Oneee more thinggg (im soryy lol).. if anyone wants to answer.. can you please tell me a little bit about the course, in terms of like patient contact and clinical work.. because i would prefer a course which has this from the start.. and also can you tell me if this course has any PBL, and how much, because id prefer little or no PBL to be honest. And just a little bout student life there (taking in to consideration i dont drink but im stil up fr a gud laugh! lol), and accommodation.

Thankk youuu so much if anyone answers lol.. i know its a lot to answerrr.. but i would reallyy appreciate it. i realy realy want to do medicine!

Nice one broooos!

Hamzah

[~~loz~~]

Hi,
I applied this year so this is the best advice I can give at the moment.

Be careful with trying to do chemistry A level in one year, i got an A* at GCSE too but im only just scraping a B in chemistry at the moment. Its quite tough especially if you were to do it in one year whilst trying to get 2 more As in your other subjects.

The best way to learn about the med schools application process is the website and prospectus.

HYMS website says...
Please note the following HYMS requirements for applicants applying in 2009 (for entry in 2010 or deferred entry for 2011):

Academic requirements
GCSEs: All applicants must have: -
Grade A English Language (or grade A English Literature and grade B English Language for those for whom English is their first language).
Grade A Maths (Graduates with a B in GCSE Maths may contact us with evidence of subsequent use of mathematical skills at AS, A level, or within their degree).
Retakes of these GCSEs are accepted.

A levels: The typical offer will be AAB, including both Biology (at grade A) and Chemistry, and a third A2 (excluding General Studies and Critical Thinking). Candidates will also need a 4th subject to AS level at grade B (excluding General Studies).

HYMS course has strong PBL element. Clinical placements start in first year for one afternoon a week, increasing each year.

Hope this helps!

[markmitchell]

Hi. My advice would be to email the admissions team at HYMS with your query along with all your grades at GCSE, AS and predicted grades yet to be achieved. They were very helpful when I had a query regarding my qualifications. By the way I have a place starting 2010 so we might end up in the same class!

[hamzahdabest]

fanks for that folks

yeah ill email them and other universities to get feedback from them

fanks again

[andy-P]

Hehe, I would advise asking the Admissions team, as I would have no idea, sorry! It's always best to get an official confirmation

As for PBL? Sorry, you've lucked out, HYMS is a PBL course We still have lectures but, yep, it's a PBL course. We have clinical contact from week 2, and practice consultations with simulated patients, and practice examination skills pretty much every week
The nightlife is also pretty good, not sure about York, never been on a night out there but Hull is ace A bunch of good clubs and bars, and it's also very cheap!
Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!
Good luck in the application!
Andy

[hamzahdabest]

fanks andy

can i just ask what is the PBL teaching like?

And you say theres clinical contact from week 2.. that sounds wicked.. buh what is the clinical contact like and how many times a week is it?

thanks mate

[andy-P]

PBL teaching isn't for everyone but when it works, it works very well. Basically you have a facilitator (can be anyone, but it's a HYMS member of staff) who looks over the group to make sure we don't head too far off topic and is there for any help if we need.

You are usually in groups of about 8, one person is scribe, one person is chair. The chair directs the PBL, making sure everyone has a say and making sure that everything runs smoothly and making sure that problems are dealt with. The scribe is there to get thoughts onto the board and to draw diagrams e.t.c. where necessary to help with the learning process.

We meet twice a week, once on thursday (for year one) and once on monday. The thursday session is where we look at cases-patients with problems that need dealing with. We discuss the patients and decide the direction that we would go with in terms of learning and how we would deal with their problems. We decide on the learning outcomes such as anatomy, physiology, histology e.t.c. social aspects, drugs and their mechanisms (pharmacology) amongst other things. The facilitator will make sure that we get all of the correct outcomes although we usually do after discussing the patient. On the monday we meet again to discuss what we have found out and discuss any problems we have had. On the monday, we run through all of the learning outcomes and discuss them in detail, to see what everyone else has, and to see if there are any lacking areas. It works well if you are motivated, although sometimes it is hard to learn it all within a few days, depending on how much there is. Its not too bad though if you keep on top of it!

Clinical contact is brilliant. We alternate between Primary and secondary care settings every week, and have half a day a week there (although we usually have nothing before, if anything maybe a workshop or lecture, so it is pretty much a day you can devote to clinical contact-thinking about what you will be doing and preparing for it.) We have a lot of patient contact which really builds up confidence, and we always talk about the cases afterwards-they are usually relevant to what you are studying, so they tie in which helps, and gives interesting insight into pathology.

Hope that helps!
Anything else, don't hesitate to ask!
Andy

[hamzahdabest]

wow thanks andy.. that clears a lot up .. it does seem really exciting.. i guess im just gona have to look at different universites and their courses and see which ones suit me.. but what you described is appealing!

fanks again mate

[andy-P]

Hehe, no problem man If you need anything else, give a shout and Ill (or anyone else here, there are loads of us!) will try to lend a hand
Good luck!
Andrew

[Shahidredhot]

I have some queries of my own. What if you've already got your a-level results, AAB but you don't meet the GCSE requirements of Grade A in maths? Are you still likely to get an offer? How do they use the UKCAT? I'm expecting my final rejection very soon so there's a good chance I'll be reapplying next year. Just evaluating my options at the minute.