Please advise the most suitable routine for studying medicine 2012

[peaceatanyprice]

Hi all.

Thanks for clicking this thread.

I am aware that there are a few threads that share certain similarities with my situation, however, they might be a bit dated as things might have changed a little on 2012.

Not going to waste your time, I will go straight to the point.

I am a 26 year-old who have a third class non-science degree, which I have only myself to blame, no excuses. I have always been interested in medicine but I've never dreamt to be one. It is too demanding, it takes only the brightest, I told myself. However, I came across a few psychiatry books few months ago and I have been contemplating with the possibility of being a psychiatrist since then. I have done some voluntary works in hospital (especially the psychiatry department) for the past months to make sure it is exactly where I want to be in 10 years time. I have been reading academic psychiatry books in my leisure time because I am that interested in it. Honestly, me wanting to get into a med school is purely motivated by the thought of me being a psychiatrist.

Anyway, the issues I have is i.) Third class degree, ii.) I did not study any science subjects since GCSE.

I now have gathered a few options suggested from the other threads.

1. Apply for Peninsula Medicine school with GAMSAT (since it is suggested that it does not look at the academic background of the applicants)

2. Re-do A level

3. Go for an Open University degree and transfer credits from my original degree

4. Apply for foundation (pre-med) course provided by very limited insititutions

Please kindly let me know what you think about my case and any suggestions will be welcome.

Thank you so much.

[peaceatanyprice]

Anyone?

Can someone please gives me some advices? I am really struggling over the routes above, wondering the PROS and CONS of each of them.

Obviously for OU, it will be very expensive and time consuming.

And for Access course, it is not accepted by some Med schools.

Please help.

[penguin2012]

Hello and welcome to the forum !

I would say that it depends when you want to get into medical school, if you are aiming for 2013 entry then take the GAMSAT and apply to Peninsula. I'm not sure if peninsula have a level or gcse requirements as well- you would have to double check with the university. Also because it is a 5 year course you would have to pay the tuition fees yourself.

I wouldn't bother redoing A levels as some universities don't accept retakes.

If you managed to up your degree to a 2.2 this would open up Nottingham and St George's universities.

Im sure about Access to medicine courses as you said this would restrict the universities you could apply to.

Hope this helps!

[peaceatanyprice]

Hi!

Thanks for the reply!

Yes I am aiming for the 2013 entry.

OK so retaking A level is pointless. 1 down 3 to go.

I am actually not sure about the access course route, I have the impression that it is not widely accepted from other threads.

It seems to me that taking GAMSAT and apply for Peninsula is the best all rounded choice. However, is studying an OU degree have the advantage over GAMSAT that it opens more doors when it comes to application? To put it more clearly, if I go for GAMSAT, I can only apply for Peninsula med school. If I go for OU, I can go for many more med school? (given that I would achieve a good degree)

Do you know anyone who is/was in a similar situation as I do and has got into a med school? How did they manage to do so?

Please bear with my non stop questioning. I just really want to make things clear and make the right choice.

THANKS

[Iceman10]

Hi, I'm in a similar position to you and I'm going to start a thread which will probably be complimentary and relevant to yours (I don't want to hijack your thread).

1. I don't mean to pry, but if you're thinking about Peninsula, you'll need to be pretty financially secure. You'll have to pay tuition fees for years 1-4 (£9k x4= £36k). 5th year will be covered by the NHS bursary, you'll also have all the associated living costs as well with not much help with maintenance.

2. Re-doing A-levels is waste of time and money, you won't open more graduate courses you'll open a few more undergraduate courses though. But its the same situation at Peninsula, you'll need to pay 4 years full price. As a worst case scenario if you don't get into medicine the A-levels will have been a waste of time because they aren't likely to help in a new field as you already have a degree.

3. The Open University have increased their fees to £5k a year but this option seems viable if you can transfer modules. The problem lies in the type of degree you want to gain, if your previous degree has low marks throughout then you will probably want to add more new modules which increases the price and time it will take to complete the degree. If for example it was only your final year that you didn't perform well in then you could transfer 240 credits (2 year) from your previous degree and then pay and sit one year with the Open university. To do the latter you would need to choose a very similar degree so that the modules would be relevant and you would be able to transfer them.

You would have to ask university's admissions departments whether they would accept such a degree. Remember if you do another arts degree some of the graduate courses only accept science degrees. If you need to sit the GAMSAT you'll need to learn sciences.

4. I think foundation and pre med (access?) courses are out as you have a degree. I got a flat out no for COWA because I have a degree. They said the course is designed for people without it.

[peaceatanyprice]

Thanks for the heads up!

I wasn't aware that pre med/access course are out of the question. I thought it is for those who didn't study science at A level.

Unfortunately I do hold the Art-est Art degree (Chinese studies). It seems I am better off not transferring any credit; no point to study another art degree.

The tuition fees these days are crazy everywhere, but well, it is the price I have to pay for my mistakes and also a price for my future. I didn't go for a student loan the last time, I can definitely use some this time.

In your case, which route you are going after?

Thanks again.

[Iceman10]

Email some of the access courses you were looking at. I don't have a life science but I have psychology at a level which is a social science. I think the access courses are designed for people without science a levels and no higher qualification.

You must be aged 19 or over on 31st August in the year you begin the course and will need 5 GCSEs or O levels at grades A-C, including English, maths and science (grade BB). Most medical schools require a minimum of grade B in GCSE English and maths. If you have a C in English and/or maths, you will be required to retake and achieve a higher grade. If you already hold a degree, then acceptance for the access course will be dependant on degree classification. University medical schools do not usually accept students with a recent degree below grade 2:1. Therefore, 2.2 class degrees will not be accepted for this course.

Access to Medicine - Entry Requirements

What are your A-level marks? Unless you have really good marks it would be virtually impossible to use them to get onto a 5 year course. The 6 year courses are aimed at people from poorer backgrounds who went to schools in deprived areas. The requirements are a little less but again I think the degree might spoil your chances.

The degree route is very expensive now, especially with no funding. If you decide to go the Open route its £15k or the bricks and mortar university route is £27k. Its an expensive choice.

I went through the second degree route and have just completed my 1st year. Having poor A-levels and 2 degrees closes a lot of doors so it actually makes choosing which universities to apply to quite easy. I'll be going down the GAMSAT route + 1 UKCAT university.

[penguin2012]

I'd say that GAMSAT is your best route if you want to go for 2013 entry. Good luck in your application and whichever route you choose.

[Leo2004]

I second the advice above - give Gamsat a go!

Good luck!

[peaceatanyprice]

Thanks so much for the replies.

Got that, it looks like doing GAMSAT is the most suitable route in my case.

Btw, I've found out that Peninsula Med school is now split into Exeter and Plymouth, is there any difference between them in terms of teaching quality?

Thanks