[her_beautiful_mistake]

Hello

I've applied this year. There is little I don't know about medical applications.

Yes you have to do a medical degree. This is normally 5 years undergraduate, or if you have another degree you can try for the 4 year graduate entry route.

There are many reasons why you should go for undergraduate rather than graduate entry
1) Undergraduate (going straight from school) is insanely competitive. About 35% of people get in. Graduate entry (going after a degree) is unimaginable. Think 45-50 applicants per place.
2) Money. You will not get funding or loans for your second degree, only your first. So unless your parents or you are really very well off, you will struggle to pay for a graduate entry degree. There are schemes to help you but very few people get any kind of government help. From your third year or so you get grants from the government, but these are unlikely to cover the whole cost.
3) Time is an issue for some people. To do another degree first will take you a minimum of 7 years.
4) With competition rising the Universities are increasing their entrance requirements. By the time you graduate from a Biological sciences degree you may find them only taking 1st and having increasing demands of how well you score in the entrance exams.

Really I would advice trying to get in straight from school, in terms of money, time and success of getting a place it's the more sensible option.

Why do you want to study biological sciences? That's a very broad topic and will cover far more than just human and health. If you are not wanting to study sciences related to humans why are you wanting to do medicine? That sounds a bit harsh, but with the demands that are placed on you in medical school and the competition you have to face to get a place (it's very fearce) you have to make sure that you defintley want to do medicine and would not be happy doing anything else before you apply. If you just want to study it, why not intercalate for a year? To me it seems like such a better option than doing another degree. Intercalating is when you opt to study for another year in University, usually between your second and third year. It's hard to explain but I'll give it a go. Essentially you need three years worth of 'credits' to graduate, but in medicine you need to study for five years, so you are throwing away two years worth of 'credits'. So if you study for another year - a subject of your choice - you graduate with a degree in that subject as well as your medical degree. The benefits are you still get your loan and are funded through this year, and of course you already have the University place.

As for how to become a doctor, as mentioned, you study at medical school, normally for 5 years. 4 years if you go for the graduate entry route, 6 years if opt to study for another year and leave university with two degrees. You then have to spend two years working as a foundation doctor in four month placements in lots of different areas, eg paediatrics, A&E, GP, pathology. You then apply for your specialist training as a pathologist.

So! Onto how to get yourself a place.
I wrote this leaflet for my college so I'm just going to go ahead and copy bits into here.

So you want to be a doctor?
Getting into medical school is not an easy feat, and every year thousands of applicants with straight A grades receive no offers. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to be successful, so before you start putting together your application, ask yourself whether this is what you really want.
This leaflet should inform you of all the things you could, and should, be doing to bring your application up to the standards required to get yourself to the interview stage.

Subjects and grades
There are high academic requirements for GCSEs and A Level results. If you don’t have the grades, you won’t get in.

GCSEs: Universities vary on GCSE requirements, ranging from two B’s to 8 A*s. Most applicants have A and A* grades at GCSE – the more A*s the better! If you don’t, be careful about where you apply and research your choices. It is very important that you check and double check the GCSE requirements of the Universities you hope to apply to before you do so.

A Level: AAB at A level is the lowest grade requirement, though the most applicants have AAA predictions. You need four AS levels, and you will struggle without having Chemistry and Biology to A2. An A in these subjects is normally needed. For the other two subjects, Universities range on whether they prefer all sciences or a mixture of arts and sciences. My personal suggestion would always to be to take Chemistry, Biology and Physics/Maths and then a contrasting arts subject such as History or English Literature. It is up to you whether you continue all four to A2 – this is not necessary but may give you an advantage if you are confident of achieving high grades.


Work experience
Following getting the required grades, work experience is the second most important aspect of your application. With no work experience, you won’t get an offer. Great work experience can make up for poor GCSE grades or a low score on the entrance exam.


What kind of work experience are they looking for?
Getting work experience in a GP surgery or hospital is great, but hard to get and Universities understand this.
Regular volunteering will significantly strengthen your application, especially as if you start now, you will have been volunteering for over a year when it comes to applying.


Work experience that you can find easily
• Volunteering at a care home
• Volunteering in a charity shop
• Volunteering at the League of Friends in your local hospital
• Volunteering at your local hospital
• Visit CVS centre in your town for help finding a voluntary position and full list of what is available.
• Volunteering on a Vitalise holiday.


Work experience in a more clinical setting
It is harder to get this, but not impossible. Write a formal letter and send it out to as many people as possible.
This means work experience shadowing doctors. Have a look on the websites of your local hospital or call them up to enquire about work experience schemes they run.
*I've removed addresses of some places that Ithought students at my college might be successful at*

Extra-Curriculum activities
In other words, what do you do outside of college? Do you play an instrument or a sport, do you speak another language, do you dance or go scuba diving? What are your hobbies?
If you don’t really have any hobbies, don’t worry, you’ve plenty of time to acquire some. I would say as long as you have two extra-curriculum activities, this is sufficient.


Entrance Exams
Most Medical Schools require that you sit an entrance exam; the only exceptions are Bristol, Liverpool and Southampton – which as a consequence have many more applicants per place. There are two different entrance exams, the UKCAT and the BMAT.
· Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London and University College London ask for the BMAT
· You take the BMAT on the 4th November after you have submitted your UCAS application. The cost of the BMAT varies depending on where you sit the exam, but is normally around £30. You get your results on 1st December.
· You can register to take the BMAT and find out more information at www.bmat.org.uk
· All other Universities ask for the UKCAT
· You take the UKCAT the summer before you apply. EG, if you are applying for entry in 2011, you will take the UKCAT in summer 2010. The UKCAT exam costs £60 before 1st September or £75 afterwards. The last date to register for the UKCAT is 9th October. You take the UKCAT exam on a computer at a test centre.
· The UKCAT gives you a score between 300 and 900, with the average score being 600 and most applicants scoring between 500 and 700. Different Universities use the UKCAT in different ways, with some having high cut off scores, but it is generally agreed that you should aim for a minimum of 600. You get your results on the day.
· There are a lot of practice books and courses aimed to help you do well in the UKCAT, I would recommend “Get into Medical School - 600 UKCAT Practice Questions”
· You register to do the UKCAT at www.ukcat.ac.uk – you can also find a lot more information here.


Other things you should know:
• Look into attending the Medlink conference – it’s a great experience and is very motivational.
• For Medical school an application, your personal statement is often the thing that decides who does and does not get an interview. All the things I have suggested here will give you a stronger personal statement, but always be on the look out for things you can do that you could add to your personal statement. Are there any science trips going on?


Resources

www.thestudentroom.co.uk
This site often gives excellent support, advice and information on everything you could possibly need to know about applying to study Medicine.

www.ukcat.ac.uk
For more information on the UKCAT

www.bmat.org.uk
For more information on the BMAT