Best route into medicine? I'm feeling overwhelmed!

[Rach29]

Dear All,

I am so glad to have found this forum with all your positive and inspiring stories and it has made more determined than ever to become a doctor. I would greatly appreciate your experience in helping me determine the best route in.

My situation is this: I am a 29 year old Law graduate from Durham. I have been in my job as a senior manager at Deloitte (an accountancy firm) pretty much since I graduated in 1999.

I have always wanted to be a doctor but got all A's and 1 B (in Biology) for my GCSEs and as an immature 15 year old, I concluded that that meant I was useless at science and should change all my A- level selections and do law instead.

I always used to say that was my biggest regret, but actually, now that I know it is still possible for me to have a career in medicine, I don't regret the route I have gone down. I genuinely believe that the life experiences I have had outside a medical profession will make me a far better doctor now than I would ever have been back then.

Having met someone a couple of months ago who is going through the GET now (aged 32), I have decided that I need to stop making excuses (too old, can't afford it), and do something about it otherwise I will spend my life regreting it.

My issue is that I have no idea what path to take.

My first problem is that I got a 2:2 for my degree as I had no interest in my studies and have no science background. This seems to automatically preclude me from 90% of courses.

For it to be feasible to study, I really need to stay in London so my university choices are limited.

I worked in a nursing home for 7 years as a care assistant throughout school and university holidays and had a 3 month career break working with aids widows and orphans in Tanzania but have no other relevant work experience.

As far as I can see, the only London universities that seem to offer Graduate entry places are Kings and St Georges, but Kings require a 2:1 or above, which I don't have, and St Georges require you to sit GAMSAT, which terrifies me, having not looked at any science subject since I was 16.

I am fully committed to doing this and will do whatever it takes.

From your experience, given the competition for places, if a university asks for a 2:1 miminum, is that definitive or do other factors e.g UKCAT score, subsequent professional qualifications etc.. hold any weight to get past that hurdle?

Is it realistic to teach yourself the GAMSAT syllabus and how long should I allow? If not can anyone recommend good courses? Should I give up my job whilst preparing for this/ go down to 4 days a week?

In my determination to get the ball rolling I have applied to sit the UKCAT exam early next month, but even if I am successful at applying for a Graduate position, would it be better for me in your opinion to defer entry for a year and prepare by gaining a foundation in science and get more relevant work experience?

I really would be very greatful for any information or advice you may have, as I am feeling totally overwhelmed.


Many thanks.

[henyansk]

Tricky one Rach. In a sensible world your degree classification wouldn't matter but these guys have such an enormous amount of applications to trawl through, that the degree classification is a useful filtering tool. They get thousands of applications and the vast majority applying on the strength of their degrees will have 2:1 or firsts.

I think the best thing to do though is actually speak to the admissions departments themselves about your qualifications, and ask whether they'd consider you, and if not what they advise you to do that would give you a chance. I was amazed at how utterly different all the unis are in their preferences and policies.

I'm a languages grad and managament consultant, with arts a-levels so was in a similar position to you in terms of limited options. I applied to 2 GEPs and 2 5yr courses and quit my job to do 3 science A-levels in a year. That actually fell through when I arrived on the day to find the course was cancelled(!) but I phoned round plenty of unis and discovered a couple of 5yr coursed which would take me if I did just A-level chemistry, which is what I did.

Although my A-levels and degree weren't in relevant subjects I was lucky in that I had straight As and a first which gave me options for GEP at Newcastle and Southampton. However if I hadn't got a place this year I was going to do GAMSAT this year and apply to 4 GAMSAT GEPs in 2008.

The whole GAMSAT process is pretty horrible for a non-scientist because it's really hard to judge how possible (or otherwise) it is to learn the science stuff yourself - how the heck can you tell how much knowledge you need? Very frustrating! But don't be too despairing because now that I have A-level chem I've had another look at the GAMSAT and it really doesn't look too tough to me any more and I think it's do-able for us non-scientists with a bit of tuition. You can cover it off yourself but the main problem is that it's a horrible expensive business - the materials cost a bloody fortune - but as a professional with a good wage that doesn't prove the same kind of obstacle as to someone just out of uni. Maybe it would be worth buying some second hand stuff from someone on the forum who's already done it and seeing how you feel about it? (but listen carefully to others' advice about what (not) to get - eg the GAMSAT Guru is total crap)

ACER who run GAMSAT do a residential course - it's about 4 weeks I think and costs a whopping £3k or thereabouts - but if time's the issue and not money, then it might be worth looking into that. I think most people who do the course do decently well in GAMSAT and if you do well on GAMSAT you have a great chance of getting into a GEP.

You also need a great UCAS form, which means really good work experience, and your UCAS form needs to show how you've reflected on the experience - best to get that started as soon as possible as it can take quite a while to get going, especially volunteering work.

Anyway hope that helps Rach - it's far from impossible but will take some serious planning, so the sooner you start the better.

Anna

[auden]

Well, that doesn't look too different to me three years ago and I made it - onto the GEP at Georges which, with a 2:2, is your only London option.

You can definitely teach yourself for GAMSAT (I did). I was doing a level chem at the time but to be honest I'm not sure that helped more than a good textbook would have done. The trick in the science section is not masses of knowledge - it's a classic game of 'spotting the answer in the question' for most of them. Given a sound understanding of first principles, you can usually see at least 2/4 answers are obviously wrong and then choose between the other two based on a combination of gut feel and a bit of calculation.

that's not to say you don't need any study - because you really do need to understand principles (especially organic chem, and physics) but you don't need the vast array of specific 'facts' that A level will try to teach you. What colour sodium burns in oxygen will not help you here, nor will the reaction mechanism for your average halogen with a hydrocarbon!

you'll be pushing it to sit GAMSAT this year, now it's held in september, but take the next year to apply yourself and you can make it. Bear in mind though that for Georges you now need 12 months (minimum) of part time/voluntary work experience in a caring role - which can be done evenings and weekends but you need to plan it in.

enjoy, and feel free to pm me with any questions !

[exbanker]

Have you considered taking an Access course??

Some of the uni's will only consider graduates from health related topics for their GEP's. I took Access to medicine @ the College of West Anglia and there were many graduates from other specialities, it helps show that have a true interest in the subject. Quite a few got offers to study on GEP's and others received offers for 5 year programmes.

Its worth remembering that GEP's are far more competative than the 5yr courses, so its a very risky strategy only considering them alone! Especially as you will be up against people who have 1st's in health related subjects!

Just a thought......

[Arch_Angel]

I don't really know much about 5 year courses ( As I'm applying to all GEPs) but it sounds to me like the simplest option for you is to take the GAMSAT and apply at St george's. You can try the kings GEP, but they get 62 applicants per place (www.medschoolsonline.co.uk) so with your 2:2 that may be a problem even if you do really well in the UKCAT.

If you're willing to give up nights and weekends to work on the GAMSAT then it's totally do-able, you'll just have to start off on GCSE stuff then work upwards (realistically GCSE level knowledge can be attained very quickly). Move on to A level, then GAMSAT level, which appears to hover between A2 and 1st year of Uni degree level for bio and chem and A level physics should be fine. It's totally possible if you put the time in.

As for the "nor will the reaction mechanism for your average halogen with a hydrocarbon!" above, yes it will. This sort of stuff is essential for the GAMSAT. In fact, reaction mechanisms (I'm told) are almost sure to come up.

Just remember people : Alkene + acid halide ---> HaloAlkane

I'm sure you'll get to all this soon if you decide to go down this route

Good luck.

Nik

[auden]

As for the "nor will the reaction mechanism for your average halogen with a hydrocarbon!" above, yes it will. This sort of stuff is essential for the GAMSAT. In fact, reaction mechanisms (I'm told) are almost sure to come up.

Just remember people : Alkene + acid halide ---> HaloAlkane

as I said, learn principles rather than the detail. that's a principle (which can be stated in much broader terms than that but I can't after three glasses of wine). Equally, it didn't come up that I remember in my year and I didn't find that bit of knowledge remotely useful.

You can draw what you like from the fact that using that philosophy I got my best score in the science section and did plenty enough to get in.