Update on where everyone's at?

[snakefisch]

Hi all,

I've kinda lost track of everyone I read posts from on here, as I don't seem to be following as many threads on here as I was, before getting some rejections!

I thought this might be a nice time to 'catch up' and see where everyone's at in terms of their applications and interviews.
Mine is shown in my signature - still on the wait list for an interview at Warwick with the dates fast approaching! (And not heard a peep from Soton but I'm not confident about that)

Anyway it would be nice to hear where everyone is at and congratulate those who have since received offers

All the best!

[SeanXRT]

I am still at the pre-applicant stage at the moment and I won't be applying until October 2013.

I've spent the last two weeks on work experience for which I had to use the last of my annual leave It was extremely varied and very interesting and has only confirmed what I knew all along; that being a doctor is my dream job.

I spent the first week at the Liverpool Women's Hospital and was completely thrown in at the deep end on the Monday morning when I went straight in to a colposcopy clinic. The first three days I was with a gynaecology oncology surgeon, who I also found out was the medical director of the whole trust, which was slightly intimidating at first but he was actually really approachable and engaging. I shadowed him on his ward rounds and clinics, as well as an MDT and also observed some laparascopic surgery.

In one of his clinics I got to witness him breaking bad news in the form of a diagnosis of cancer to a number of patients. Although in my previous training I have spent time in clinics with the clinical oncologists who prescribe the radiotherapy that I deliver these have always been on treatment review or follow-up clinics so the nature of these consultations was quite different since the patients were a lot further along on their journey from diagnosis. I found this extremely useful as I have always wondered how I would deal with that side of being a doctor (especially because, given my current profession, I think that I may one day become a clinical oncologist) and now having witnessed it first hand I think it is something that I could actually deal with.

On the Thursday I spent the whole day in the fertility centre, which was of particular interest to me as my sister and her partner had treatment there and my niece who is a "test-tube baby" will celebrate her first birthday in a couple of weeks. I got to watch a number of ultrasound scans, egg collections and implantations and also spent time in the lab with the embryologists looking at eggs and sperm under the microscope as they did their quality assurance checks and inseminations. Not only did I find this extremely interesting and useful because it gave me a better understanding of what my sister and her partner had to go through, but unlike most other areas of medicine it is concerned with the creation of a new life as opposed to the preservation of an existing one which I found truly amazing and quite profound actually; words still fail me to be honest.

My last day at that hospital was spent in neo-natal in intensive care with babies who were primarily premature, some only 26-28 weeks old. Again, just like the fertility centre this was an extremely touching experience and I feel quite priveleged to have had it. Babies in general always amaze everyone anyway when you think that we once started off so small and dependant on other people, so spending time with premature babies, who without medical science wouldn't survive their first hour of life was an experience I will not be forgetting for a long time. I don't even like holding new born, full-term babies so when one of the doctors got me to palpate the abdomen of a 28 week old baby with hepatosplenomegaly I was quite anxious, but I managed to maintain my composure and a steady hand most importantly.

Last week I was at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital. I spent the first three days with a cardiologist and the last two with a thoracic surgeon. Most of this time was spent in theatre or catheter labs, which are basically like a theatre anyway. I watched pacemakers/defibrillators being fitted, angiograms and agioplasty, one of which was a primary, meaning that this particular patient had just had an MI and they aim to stent the narrowing in the coronary artery within an hour and a half to prevent any further damage to the myocardium. I also watched a cardiac ablation in which part of the heart is essentially burnt in order to destroy faulty electrical pathways which cause arrhythmias; in this particular case a ventricular fibrillation.

The two days with the thoracic surgeon were spent watching lobectomies and pnemonectomies performed via thoracotomy to remove tumours. Ribs cracked open, both hands inside the thoracic cavity, AMAZING. Watching someone's lungs inflate and deflate inside their chest is truly breath taking, mind the pun.

Whilst sitting in the WRVS cafe at the hospital I spotted an old lung patient of mine who I treated as a student a couple of years ago. I am guessing, since it was the Heart and Chest Hospital that he was probably there for a follow-up appointment for his lung cancer, although this may not have been the case and he may have even been there accompanying his wife who he was with at the time. It was just really nice seeing someone who I treated, alive and well a couple of years down the line, particularly because I treated him for lung cancer, which doesn't normally have the best prognosis. This is exactly what is missing from my current role, the complete lack of follow-up. I treat patients for several weeks, on a daily basis, Mon-Fri, so I build up a really good rapport with them, but then when they finish their treatment I never see them again and therefore have no idea how effective, or ineffective as the case may be, the treatments are that I deliver. This is one of the main reasons why I want to be a doctor so that I have the opportunity to see the long-term outcome of any treatment that is prescribed.

I have also recently volunteered to do some work with the Prostate Cancer Charity and so I am now a Clinical Expert Reviewer (I love the title, it makes me sound really important) which involves reviewing their patient information publications, which my name will actually appear on and suggesting and writing any new publications that I think may be useful for patients.

In a radiotherapy department, after breast cancer, prostate cancer is the next biggest disease group in terms of numbers, that we treat and so is a type of cancer that I have quite an in depth knowledge of. I initially volunteered for an awareness position, which involves giving presentations on prostate cancer to the general public. When I contacted them they told me that they have never had a qualified health professional volunteer for this role and so were unsure how best to utilise my knowledge and skills. I have a phonecall scheduled for Wednesday to talk to their health services liason manager to discuss their plans for me, which is quite exciting really. Based on some of the work they do I suspect they may want me to also get involved in the education of other health professionals on prostate cancer, but I may be wrong.

I am also going to a selection day at the Samaritans in a couple of weeks as I want to be a listening volunteer on the phone. This will not only score me a few extra points on my personal statement but will also have a knock on effect in my professional life by further developing my communication skills, which will ultimately have a positive effect on the quality of care that I deliver to my patients.

The only other thing that I really want to do is spend a week in a GP surgery and then I think I have all bases covered.

Apologies for the extremely long post. Even if no one really reads it, it has certainly been a good exercise in reflective practice.

[snakefisch]

Wow! That work experience sounds absolutely amazing. You must have learnt so much from it, that's great!
Make sure you keep a note of all that you learnt/saw etc. as it will help trigger your memory when you come to interview in a year...
I was wondering about the IVF treatment (I should read up on it) but does it still involve a laparoscopy to obtain the egg(s)? And how soon after do they implant it? If that's how it works, it sounds quite invasive. (Please forgive my ignorance!)
It's really good you got to witness some breaking bad news, that is one thing I am lacking as I haven't really seen it.
Omg your cardiology and thoracic experience is amazing too- I am sure this is like gold standard lol! Are you kidding me??
Are you a therapeutic radiographer for your day job then?
Where are you planning to apply in 2013?
I think the way you have reflected on it all is pretty good, I'd give you a place! You clearly want this very much

[SeanXRT]

Yeah I am Therapeutic Radiographer or Therapy Radiographer, Radiation Therapist, Radiotherapist. We have many names As long as I manage to save up enough I should be applying for 2013. I just need to start being more sensible with my money.

For IVF, after the ovaries have been hormonally stimulated the egg collection and ultrasound are performed transvaginal under sedation. The ovaries are imaged and then a needle is passed down the ultrasound transducer so that the fluid can be drained from the follicles. The fluid is then looked at by an embryologist under a microscope as the collection is still being performed so they can find and count the eggs. They are then called back within the next several days for the implantation, which is called a transfer. Unlike the collection the transfer is not ultrasound guided and also doesn't require any sedation.

Whilst in the fertility centre I also witnessed bad news being broken to a patient by a nurse. The patient who was having IVF had been called back for an ultrasound scan as her previous one, only the week before had shown that the fetus had a weak heartbeat. Unfortunately the new scan showed that it no longer had a heartbeat at all. I found this particularly upsetting because my sister had a miscarriage during her fertility treatment as well.

Thanks for your kind words of encouragement. I just hope that I am able to articulate all of this under the pressure of an interview. It will also be quite a challenge to condense it all down for my personal statement too.

I hope that your interview goes well at Warwick. Warwick is probably going to be my first choice followed by Newcastle.

[snakefisch]

Thanks for the explanation wow that is much less invasive then. I was just reading in a history of medicine book about the first test tube baby and back then they did a laparoscopy to obtain the egg!

I would really like to have that kind of experience too. How did you go about arranging it if you don't mind me asking? I think it's quite difficult to get things arranged here in London as there is quite a lot of demand for it!

As for my Warwick interview, at present that is non-existent! I am on the waiting list and still waiting to hear if there is space for me!
Oh my advice, especially if you are going for Newcastle (as they have a high cutoff for the 4 yr) is maybe book in a UKCAT test this year so you can have like a trial run, I think it will definitely help for the real thing

[naseemamaria]

Hi snakefish hope your okay, =)

Rejected from liverpool yesterday but waiting for leeds, st andrews and soton. Good luck for Warwick and Soton!!!

[SeanXRT]

It was really straight forward organising my work experience actually. I just used the contact form on the websites of the respective hospitals and then within a couple of days someone from HR contacted me to make arrangements. As some of the work experience was oncology related I did try to see if I could write it off as CPD so that work would give me the time off as paid study leave, but they weren't having any of it unfortunately. It was worth try though I suppose.

Thanks for the advice as well. The thought had crossed my mind to have a trial run of the UKCAT this year just so I know what to expect so when I have some spare cash I think that I will book myself onto one.

Ah ok, I wasn't too sure what you meant by waiting list. Well I really hope that you get an interview. I've just booked myself onto the med school open day at Warwick in March.

I am starting to get quite excited about everything now. I've been talking about wanting to be a doctor for a long time and now I finally feel that I am actually doing something about it. The ball is well and truly rolling now

P.S. In my first, extremely long post I meant to write ventricular tachycardia not ventricular fibrillation and now I can't edit it. If the patient was in VF they certainly wouldn't have been having ablation therapy, that's for sure.

[FairytaleGirl]

Background : a 2:2 in English and Merdia Studies - Graduated June 2011/ No Science A-Levels.

I have had a few weeks work experience in Cardio and Respiratory - Very Cool and reaffirming my venture..

Right now I am availing of the fact that I'm 23 (almost 24) and have applied as a Mature Student to Universities in Ireland - RCSI/UCD/Trinity - I have the aptitude test for that (HPAT) coming up on Febuary 25th, and then its a case of fingers crossed for Interviews!

If I'm Unsuccessful, I will reapply next year.

In addition to reapplying to Ireland next year, I will be sitting the GAMSAT in September 2012, for 2013 Entry to UK medical schools, (as a Graduate where I can).

Otherwise things are still up in the air - Need to study study study!

[rachyroo]

Hey snakefisch, I've had rejections from warwick and barts but leicester interview next week, which I'm in a massive state of panic over.. honestly feel like I've never wanted anything so badly and the pressure is just too much! I've been following the warwick waiting list thread though and I soooo hope you get a selection interview invite, you definitely deserve it as you're so lovely to everyone on here. And of course just waiting on soton, not holding out too many hopes on that one though as warwick feedback said my 'life outside of medicine' section was a bit lacking on PS.... Fingers crossed for you for warwick and soton :-)

[snakefisch]

Aw thanks Rachyroo, well I wish you the best of luck with your Leicester interview! I know the feeling, I'm going to be so disappointed if I don't get a chance to interview...
Wow I just saw your sig and realised the interview is on Thursday! Well good luck, just remember stay calm and 'sell yourself' as all the guides say! Easier said than done imo
Let me know how it goes