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

[iwannabe]

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

Well I would say work your hardest to get the best AS grades you can, as this will prove you academic ability. Good predicted grades wont make up for them! Also do your research well into what universities suit you the best (I have applied for the graduate course at leicester so I can't really quote for the UG). E.g. being blunt you wouldn't get into Birmingham medical school as they require something like 7 A* at GCSE. However other medical schools do not put so much weight on GCSEs so long as you have good grades in science, maths subjects. If you don't suceed first time round you could always choose to do another science related degree and apply for graduate entry medicine where only your degree classification and work experience will be taken into account. Good luck

[giella]

Give yourself the possible option of doing a gap year, as it may be that your teachers won't predict you AAB including Chemistry and you mayn't get an interview next year without Chemistry either.
There are some schools you can apply to which either only require AS chemistry, or there's UEA which requires only Biology. Newcastle might be an option too, but you'll need AAA for there.

[hamzahdabest]

ok fanks u guys.. but with my grades and experience il be getting.. will i have a chance of getting in to this medical school?

[hamzahdabest]

and.. how much PBL is involved in the course?

and when does patient contact start?

thanks

[shp1991]

It's impossible to tell at this stage. They're not hugely fussy about the experience you will gain, they just want to know what you learnt from your situation. You'll probably find you'll have the same amount of experience as the majority of applicants, so you want to ensure you have extra curricular activities and extra volunteering on top of that.
They mark you on your PS, not just your volunteering, and your reference. They also give you a mark out of 5 for your lowest UKCAT score. They say you can't prepare, but I would definitely recommend you buy a book. Then academic achievement is also out of 5. Your GCSE results would probably put you lower than many applicants, so you really want to work hard on your other sections and your AS results. If you don't certificate your ASs, you dont have to put them on your UCAS, so I wouldn't worry about chemistry, they won't know you're doing it late. So, out of a possible 20, you needed 16 this year to get an interview. (Most of this should be on the website)
I would say that chemistry is tougher than all of your AS subjects, so doing it in a year will be a huge amount of pressure, and you need to make sure you have plenty of extra points this year incase it gets too much. If I were you, I would avoid applying to a uni that specificed A in chem, such as Leicester, unless you're some sort of genius at chemistry.
It is a great uni though, in my opinion, Go and visit in the summer, talk to the course tutors and see if it's for you. There's no need to worry yet.

Also, they don't call it PBL but there is a small amount of group learning. Look on the website. They're also quite vague about patient contact, they say it is early but the students didn't give me that impression at the interview.

[piper_RK]

Have you considered any particular universities at the moment? If so, you may or not have looked at the course requirements. This is something that will really help, because a lot of univeristies such as Birmingham also look at the grades achieved at GCSE in determining potential candidates for the course. Also, are you doing medicine because it's something you want to do or is it something you've been guided towards?? The fact that you haven't had a long term commitment to the subject may make a difference....

[hamzahdabest]

no, im doing medicine because i want to.. i really want to.. and i am determined.. if i wasn't i wouldn't have done all the research.. sorted out placements.. and i wouldn't do AS & A2 chemistry in one year!

and shp1991.. thanks a lot for that.. really helpful.. .. good idea about applying to the unis which require B in chemistry.. fanks again

[Lizzie-Beth]

Hi Hamzah

I think the advice you've been given by the other posters is very good - although you won't have any chemistry results to put down, they will be looking for academic ability and if you can do well in the subjects you will have results in (plus good predictions!) you will be on your way. I didn't have any science when I applied and no results to put down (I'm a mature student and my first lot of A-levels were all non-science!) but I had a good academic record in the subjects I had done - which they were happy to use as a benchmark.

Work experience is so important - I think it's more valuable to do one or two things for a good length of time, rather than lots of short spells. As has been said, they're really looking for what you've learned whilst you were involved in your w/e - and the ability to reflect on your experiences. So when you're thinking about volunteer placements, keep a note of what you've gained from it on a personal level rather than a list of days spent in different places. This is especially true when you're observing other healthcare professionals - try to get an impression of their roles and how different HCPs communicate with eachother and work as a team. It might be worth keeping a short diary, so you are able to remember incidents and experiences to bring up at interview.

Medical schools appreciate that getting work experience isn't always easy, so another thing you could do to enhance your application is to think of other areas where you've gained the skills necessary to be a good doctor. I would read the 'Tomorrow's Doctors' document (if you haven't already!) and try to think of hobbies or things you've been involved with, which illustrate that you have these qualities.

You asked about the course at Leicester. There is no PBL. The pre-clinical course (the first two and a half years) is spent partly in lectures and partly in groupwork. The groupwork causes some confusion, because people assume this is like PBL - but it isn't. Each module (eg genetics, biochemistry, cardiovascular etc.) has a workbook, this contains all the learning objectives for the module and questions to work on connected to each day's teaching. The groupwork involves going through these questions within your group (usually about 8-10 people) and trying to answer them (with the help of roaming FY2s, who are on hand to help) The pre-clinical course is usually half days - you're expected to do alot of self-directed learning (so again, it's worth thinking about how you can demonstrate your ability to do this ... have you ever taught yourself a language or an instrument?! How can you show that you're good at time-management, self-determination etc.)

There isn't a huge amount of patient contact at the beginning of the course. Mid way through the second year, you begin going to the hospitals one day a week and being taught by clinicians. To be honest, I think this is the best way of preparing students for full-time clinical teaching - although it seems much more exciting and interesting to be involved with patients from the start, I definitely wouldn't have been prepared enough at the beginning - and by the time hospital teaching is introduced, you have a good knowledge base to work from ... and the problems of the patients you meet actually make some sense!

Researching the course at Leicester (and any other medical school you're thinking of applying to!) is really important. You can almost guarantee that somewhere along the line, someone is going to ask you why you've chosen that particular place - and if you can have a personal and well thought-out reason why, it will really make you stand out.

I can't help with the social questions ... I'm too old for that malarky! But I can tell you that Leicester is one of the friendliest and most welcoming places I have ever been to. The students and staff are incredibly supportive and I have enjoyed the course so much - I still have to pinch myself from time to time, to make sure it really all happened.

Good luck with your application!
x

[hamzahdabest]

woww lizzie-beth.. fantastic reply.. so helpful .. iv gota go college in 5 mins so im going to read it again when i come back lol.. buh thankss again (y).. people in this forum r sooo helpful

gud luck wiv med school! bet u havin a great time

hamzah

x