North West Thames FS2010 BUT am in LOWEST quartile -ranking jobs?

[Noorah]

Hi guys,

I got into my first choice FS, the North West Thames FS I am really happy!!

However I also found out that my score was in the lowest quartile. Majority of students will be ahead of me. What does this mean for me?

I know I want to do a particular speciality and have found around 43 jobs with this, however I am worried that I will be posted off to Colchester or Watford (2 outfirms under the NWTFS). I do want to stay in London, pref both years and if not, then for the first year at least.

Do I go for something I think people won't chose or do I just go for my ideal rotation? I'm thinking of doing the latter.

I'd appreciate any help. Maybe previous experience from other NWTFS applicants?

Many thanks,

Noorah

[dudey]

Hey I'm in a similar position to you, although STFS have not released quartiles yet. The speciality I want to pursue, there are less than 15 posts out of 816!!

From speaking to people, I think it's important to try your best to do the speciality you want to pursue later as one of your F1 rotations, and put location as a secondary factor. In the crazy competitive world we live in, you have to take every opportunity to bolster your application.

That's not to say you can't get a ST1/CT1 job in this speciality if you are not able to do a rotation in it as an F1.

Obviously, if you can't get the rotation, then do your best to do some audits/clinical research/posters on this topic during your F1 year.

[Eleeeepil]

why in the first place apply to somewhere so competitive if you have a particular rotation you want to do badly

[dudey]

why in the first place apply to somewhere so competitive if you have a particular rotation you want to do badly

Everywhere in London is competitive, although NETFS was undersubscribed this year. I applied to STFS because it is local to me, and I know the hospitals/areas better than anywhere else. Besides, super subspecialised jobs e.g. neurosurgery, ENT, paediatric surgery etc, are very difficult to find in any foundation school. People apply to London for three main reasons:

1. They live in London
2. They studied in London
3. Prestige (generally speaking, you have to have a reasonably strong app to get into London, I have friends studing medicine all over the UK, and generally the London hospitals tend to have the better consultants, who will be good contacts to make in your future career, London is the capital city etc etc).

As I said in my above post, there is no CT1/ST1 post that states you HAVE to have done a rotation in a particular speciality to get the job. Providing you can demonstrate you love the subject and you'll be great at the job, you are in good shape. You can demonstrate that in a million ways, and if you can't get the rotation you want, just do a taster week in it.

It's a case of weighing it up. I would rather be in London doing a mediocre speciality, than being stuck in Manchester doing the speciality I love. At the end of the day it's a personal choice, you apply where your needs are met.

[Noorah]

Hey dudey,

Thanks for the reply.

I think I've decided to go with the rotation I want to do and then rank the jobs the best I can. I don't see how I could predict what other people may be interested in.

I don't regret applying to North West Thames at all, even though it was the most competitive and I ended up being in the lowest quratile. I've heard of people who got high 90's but who are very much average students, some of them even filling the application in last minute.

MTAS is a little bit like a lottery. For example, who could have predicted that North East Thames would actually be undersubscribed this year with the lowest mark to get in being around 55? Last year this deanery was oversubscribed by more than 100 students!!

[Noorah]

Hi there,

I wrote some time ago stressing about choosing jobs. I just wanted to summarise how i fared so that future applicants can see how you can't predict things with MTAS.

I am a graduate with a first class degree.

Although I had won medical school prizes I didn't have any national prizes, presentations or audits.

I ended up being in the 3rd quartile in my cohort. Due to having to resit an exam in first yr. I missed the 2nd quartile by 0.2 points.

I did my best answering the crucial questions, put in a lot of time and effort. Got consultants to read them, and re-read them. Friends, doctors, royal lit. society ppl.

I got a score of 84 - therefore scrapped through to the North West Thames Foundaton school.=) I was just pleased to be in.

I ranked all 267 jobs. How? Just by what I wanted to do. I would be happy to get any of my first 30 jobs.

I got my 5th choice.

I'm thrilled. Yes it was stressful and a long process.

Advice for future 5th years:

1. Let go of things you have no control over anymore, ie prizes, presentations etc. If you don't have them, don't dwell on it. If your ranking is low in your class, let it go. You can't change these things now.

2. Put all your effort into the things you can have some control over, whether that be questions or interviews. Aim for max scores.


3. Pick the foundation school, location and jobs you want.



Best of luck,

Noorah

[Clarkey]

Cool thank you for coming back to let us know how you got on. This will be me in a year! Good luck with your jobs