Any advice appreciated...

[rubyred]

I'm sorry to be yet another person to ask for opinions/advice, but hey, here goes...

I'm currently studying a Fine Art degree (yes, really!) but have finally decided that I want to train to be a doctor. My reasons are a mix of things - mother diagnosed with leukaemia, my best friend having brain surgery in my late teens and more recently disillusionment with my current life choices.

I don't have any science A Levels but have As and A*s at GCSE (6 years ago, however...) I have various doctor/healthcare contacts and can arrange shadowing experience. I'm about to begin helping to run and assist with art therapy sessions at a hospital and am hoping to also get a more regular work experience placement at a local hospice (in the pipeline...) Obviously, my choice of courses is very limited (Notts, St George's, Penninsula...?) without taking an A level in a year, which I would like to avoid if at all possible. GAMSAT is pretty much my only option.

Is it totally unrealistic to apply for 2006 entry? Is the work I need to do to prepare for GAMSAT just too much to do before Jan?

I'd really appreciate any advice/experiences anyone has!

[Spam]

Hi Rubyred,

I think you should definitely apply for 2006! It sounds like you can arrange some good work experience and have the drive to succeed in your ambition to study medicine. The medical schools will want firm evidence that you've done everything possible to ensure this is the right profession for you. Get as much shadowing experience as possible but perhaps more importantly, you will need to show commitment in a patient-focused role.

GAMSAT is pure evil but the sooner you start brushing up on your sciences, the better. It's all about practice. Also, don't forget, 2/3rds of the exam is essay / verbal reasoning based, so you stand an equal chance as most in succeeding. Practise essay writing, invest in the past papers, and if need be get extra tuition for Chemistry. Also, if you take the exam in London, don't be put off by the sheer number of people in the exam hall!

I came from a Modern Languages background and hadn't looked at a science book for almost 9 years and still managed to get a place on a graduate entry course for this coming September. I'd been working in Marketing and Events for almost 3 years, quit London, went home to live with my parents and worked as a carer at a care home for the elderly. It IS 100% possible and if this is your dream then you should go for it.

Best of luck!

Spam

[DH2005]

Hello Rubyred

Welcome to the scene. I hope your mother's getting better.

Think carefully about whether you're ready to apply for 2006 - unless you can get impressive work experience under your belt very soon, your application is going to look thin. It's useful to have links in healthcare, but don't take for granted that you'll get work experience in a snap. I know plenty of doctors, but it took two or three months to motivate hospital HR into organising a bloody placement... paperwork can really cool your heels if you're in a hurry.

I disagree that GAMSAT is your only option. If you get a 2.1 in your current degree you can apply for the Cambridge and GKT graduate courses by taking BMAT and MSAT respectively (I think that's right...) and if you manage to get a First you could apply for the Newcastle GEP (approach with caution, however - competition for this course is frickin' demented). If you do decide to plumb for GAMSAT, I'd advise against applying to Notts, Georges and PMS in the same year - if you screw-up the GAMSAT all three of those choices die in a single blow. The PMS cut-off score is normally a little lower than Notts/Georges', but typically by only a mark or two... have you not considered applying for undergraduate medicine?

Applying to med school as a graduate is a delicate balancing act... which is more important to you - qualifying sooner and saving money, or maximising your prospect of getting a place? Although I'm a graduate, I'm applying solely for undergraduate courses (I'm taking Access to Medicine in King's Lynn next year, first), because, although I'd rather qualify more quickly and cheaply, it's far more important to me to get into med school and qualify as a doctor.

Some graduates divide their four UCAS choices 50/50 between GEPs and undergrad courses... how you do it is up to you.

[cakelover]

Don't forget you can apply to the six-year courses as well. They don't require GAMSAT or any science background. Kings, Cardiff, Manchester, Bristol are the ones that spring to mind quickly. GOOD LUCK!

[brianfall]

There are other options too - the 6 year course at Sheffield, or have you considered the possibility of doing AS-levels rather than full A levels? I have a non-science degree and no science A levels. Saying that I was doing Bio and Chem AS levels (which I am of course!) was enough to get me three conditional offers (two 5 year courses, one 6 year course). I do have a (non science) PhD as well, which may have helped.

Brian

[LoohooZooher]

I was in a not dissimilar position this time last year rubyred, determined that I wanted to do med, but constrained by my background, had little/no relevant work experience at the time, and was basically limited to doing GAMSAT as the only way of proving my academic worth, given my shameful 2:2 degree.

As DH2005 says, if you get a 2.1 or above you do have more options. For heaven’s sake don’t do what I did and lose all motivation in your degree having decided it’s not for you. You’d be amazed how often the 2.1/2.2 thing pops up in life and it is unbelievably frustrating when you know you could easily have done better.

As regards GAMSAT, I did have chem A-Level –but 11 years ago, so I was effectively starting from scratch, or so it felt. I think chemistry is the area you should concentrate on initially as you do need to be comfortable with some of the concepts which are beyond GCSE level. Don’t worry too much about the physics and biology.

The GAMSAT science paper is primarily about handling data (lots of it) and just working quickly and consistently through tons of info, not getting overwhelmed, recognising what you can and can’t do, basically making sure you devote your time to the stuff you can do and not wasting time worrying about the stuff you can’t. There’s plenty of GAMSAT advice around on this site so I won’t prattle on (more than I already have!).

I think you’ve easily got enough time to prepare for GAMSAT before January if that's your chosen route. Personally I was working full time and hardly had any quality time to devote to revision until the two weeks prior to the exam which I took off work to prepare. I started really panicking at this point because it was around then that I discovered this forum, and all the other GAMSAT-takers seemed to have been revising full time for months, or had just graduated with firsts in Chemistry. I hadn’t done any revision courses and was relying totally on the Letts revise A-level books and the practice papers you get from the GAMSAT people.

Nevertheless I did fine in GAMSAT, and now I’ve got a place at PMS. So from a virtually standing start this time last year and a full time job all the while, I’m now getting ready for med school this September. Best of luck.

[DH2005]

Very well done on getting out of the 2.2 mire, LZ. All the best at Peninsula.

[rachelm]

I have a non-science degree and no science A levels. Saying that I was doing Bio and Chem AS levels (which I am of course!) was enough to get me three conditional offers (two 5 year courses, one 6 year course). I do have a (non science) PhD as well, which may have helped.

Brian

What work experience did you have, if you don't mind me asking? This seems to be the clincher...

(I'd like to ask others too, I've just read the extra posts in this thread )

[DH2005]

I've done one week in a hospital following an SHO, a week shadowing a GP, I've been a volunteer at a children's hospice for a couple of months and I should be spending a week with a PRHO during the summer... not lots and lots of experience, but I'm hoping it'll be enough for undergraduate courses.

I have a couple of years of voluntary work outside of medicine, also.

[princessk]

Hi Rubyred

I'd just like to add that I think any different or interesting work experience, such as your art therapy, seems to be well received, particularly if coupled with an interest or hobby that you already have.

From my own experience, they also seemed very keen on how committed you were to any voluntary work, rather than the odd day or week of different things. I have no hospital experience at all, but I think my more unusual background of working with offenders, drug users and homeless people as well as voluntary work in Romania got me in.

The main focus in all of my interviews (as is reiterated throughout this forum) was demonstrating what you had learned from w/e. In my own opinion, even a short period of quality w/e, discussed in a thoughtful and insightful way would get you a long way.
Good luck!