Part 1: Applying Strategically
Everyone always wishes they knew whether a university was going to accept them or not before using up one of those precious 4 medical school applications slots – applying strategically is the closest Ciara and Lucy can get you!
In part 1 of Choosing a Medical School, we discuss how medical schools assess your application and what weighting means with regards to the different parts of your application such as the UCAT, BMAT, your GCSEs, predicted grades and personal statement. We share advice about what to do if your UCAT score is low, as well as how you can find out if you are a below average, normal or above average applicant to each medical school.
Parts 2 & 3: Course Types and How to Make a Tricky Decision Easier
In parts 2 & 3 we break down the different styles of teaching at Medical School. Learn the differences between PBL, CBL, EBL and traditional courses aswell as debunking other terms which you may not have heard before. Ciara and Lucy also share the advantages and disadvantages of prosection and dissection for delivery of anatomy teaching.
And finally, we know that choosing a Medical School (either the 4 you apply to, or the 1 you accept) is a very tricky process. Ciara and Lucy discuss different methods (some less conventional than others!) that you can implement to make such a hard decision a little bit easier.
We have so much advice to share with you so if there is anything you think we’ve missed then make sure to comment on the Medic Mentor blog for this episode at: https://medicmentor.co.uk/category/becoming-a-doctor-podcast-series/
Comment down below which universities YOU want us to release first in our Open Pod series!
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Hi guys! Hope you are both well. Absolutely loving the podcast – such a great way to be getting prepared for medical school whilst also tidying my room or doing the dishes lol
I was wondering if you could do an episode maybe on the topic of evaluating the governments response to the Covid-19 pandemic?
Hiya Ellen! I’m so glad you’re enjoying this and I hope it’s all helping. Ciara and I can definitely have a look doing an episode on the government’s response to COVID-19 – I think it’s a really interesting debate! If this is something you’re interested, definitely check out our other episodes on COVID-19 (https://medicmentor.co.uk/covid-19-resources/). As part of the Medical Leadership Programme, Ciara and I are also working very hard to create a Medical Leadership COVID-19 Teaching Day and one of the scenarios we have created is focusing on this very issue so make sure to check this out if you are on the program. If not, make sure to apply too: https://medicmentor.co.uk/school-ambassador-leadership-programme/
Hi I’m loving the Podcast so far and the uni ones are so useful. Sorry I couldn’t find the blog post for the open pods yet so is it alright if I post my question here? I was wondering for Bristol if you get a lot of essays? The podcast is really incredible and I can’t wait to here what uni you’ll be covering next
Hiya Hannah, no worries at all! The blog post for the OpenPod about Bristol can be found at: https://medicmentor.co.uk/openpods-university-of-bristol-chris/
I’ll let Chris know you’ve asked this question and I’m sure he’ll reply to you as soon as he can! Just keep checking the blog post for Bristol.
Hope this helps!
Hiya,
Really enjoyed listening to this podcast, lots of useful tips! I was wondering if you could do an OpenPod about Newcastle University? Thank you
Hiya Grace! Don’t you worry this is definitely in the line up 😀 – Lucy and Ciara
Hey Lucy and Ciara
I have no words to describe how reliving it is to hear your podcast. I have lately been feeling so much stressed and anxious because of home learning and catching up with Medic Mentor haha!
I was so much lost yesterday that I thought of giving your podcast a shot I thought that it will count for Wider Reading but you know now I feel elated knowing that this podcast is out there to help people feel reassured of the medical school applications as well as life as medical student. I caught up with all your podcasts in a day because it was so much addicting and enjoyable :)) I love it so much and I can’t wait to hear more.
I desperately wanted to write to you because ever since I listened to the podcast I couldn’t help myself. Thank you for making an aspiring medic feel better :))
Ciara- I also wanted to thank you so much for your presentation for the COVID19 innovation programme. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt so much from you.
You guys inspire me a lot and I hope this journey will be successful and fruitful. Big hugs to you both for effortlessly making this podcast amid the dark times
(Sorry for such a long message hope it makes your day 🙂 I feel so honoured writing to you!)
You are most definitely right, your message completely made our day! I’m glad you’re enjoying the podcast as much as we’re enjoying making them. We’re so sorry to hear that you’ve been feeling anxious about home learning, it’s definitely been a massive adjustment for us all. We find that having something to focus on and keeping a goal in mind is massively helpful so make sure to check out @howtobecomeadr on Instagram as we are running a fun but productive medical application challenge to keep you on track with your application during the pandemic, as well as doing some live medical application Q+As! You’ll also be glad to know that Ciara’s presentation on transferable skills will also be released as a podcast episode in due course so you can listen to her awesome tips again in some more detail. Make sure to let us know if there is anything you want us to cover and we’ll make sure to add it to the list! Best wishes from your podcast hosts, Lucy and Ciara 😀
Hi just wanted to ask regarding the part 1 of this podcast and does Cambridge have any cut off points in the application process or is it completely holistic ?
And wanted to ask more about what the freedom of information request is and is there a template of this ?
Hiya Marcus, Cambridge looks at all parts of your application together. Firstly, they will check that you meet their minimum requirements for GCSE and A Level, as stated on their website. Next, applicants will be judged on their BMAT. You can use freedom of information requests (FOIs) for each college to see what is a competitive BMAT score to be chosen for interview. After interview, it is only the interview score that is used to give offers (unless 2 applicants have scored equally well at interview, in which case the rest of the application can be used in a tie-break situation).
An FOI requests submitted by an individual to find out more about an institution. In the case of medical schools, applicants can submit a request to find out how the university will consider their application. Sometimes this includes information they do not state on their website. For example, many universities will state ‘no UCAT cut-off’ but many will rank their students by UCAT and, as more students apply than they can invite to interview, they will by default have a minimum score that a student was invited to interview with. However, be wary of minimums as this does not reflect the average! Someone may have special circumstances that meant they were able to get an interview with a lower UCAT score whereas the average student scores a lot higher.
An FOI can be submitted to the uni through the website whatdotheyknow.com. You can see examples of what people have previously written on this website and use this as a template to write your own if you wish.
I hope this helps! Lucy 🙂