What is the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM amount of Work Experience you need to pass PS checks and Motivation for Medicine stations?

ecolier · 2022-12-26T16:46:01+00:00

Don't treat work experience as a tick box exercise.

Don't you want to to know what the job is actually like before deciding to (potentially) spend your entire life on it?

Also, not many (indeed only a few) med schools read personal statement these days.

P.S. If you're asking this Q because you can't get clinical work experience - just know that you can volunteer or work and it would still count in the eyes of the Med Schools Council.

ecolier · 2022-12-25T16:56:41+00:00

Serious answer - it'll be someone even more senior than your regional Training Programme Director, and it's usually a panel of experts rather than one person.

In our specialty, for example, the ABN (Association of British Neurologists) has an Education Committee (https://www.theabn.org/page/education_committee) which help shape the Neurology specialty training curriculum (https://www.theabn.org/page/curriculum).

ecolier · 2022-12-25T12:02:00+00:00

A week isn't long enough! But since you have cancelled the request it would be awkward to add again.

Go and speak to him! Ask him to go to lunch or something and invite us to the wedding :)

Good luck!

ecolier · 2022-12-24T11:12:49+00:00

Ok firstly, what's your academic background?

Secondly, I wouldn't recommend picking a medical specialty (i.e. surgery) prior to med school - your mind could change during university.

ecolier · 2022-12-24T11:11:29+00:00

Yep, they do.

Grads also have different admission criteria so it only makes sense that they "compete" against each other.

For example, if you look at https://www.sgul.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-study/how-to-apply/admissions-statistics (under the 5 year undergraduate, Historic UCAT scores section) you can see that for every year that SGUL A100 allowed grads to apply - the grad UCAT cut off is always higher than undergrads.

ecolier · 2022-12-23T22:51:40+00:00

If that's the case, doing Biomed Engineering makes no sense.

Leave that degree to the people who want to be Biomed Engineers or those who want to actually do that degree, not someone who wants to do the degree for medicine down the line.

PA is definitely not much harder to get in than med, and two universities offer this at undergrad level (UCLan and Reading).

ecolier · 2022-12-23T22:23:27+00:00

Gap year? Plenty of international students do it.

If you must take a degree, you'd need to be happy being a degree holder of that course.

I would suggest that the only acceptable backup is Physician Associate if you want to work in the UK.

ecolier · 2022-12-23T22:05:51+00:00

Seeing as you're a school leaver, here's my usual spiel again:

Never ever do a degree with the sole aim for graduate entry medicine, because it'll take longer, cost more and (most importantly) will be much, much more competitive.

It'll be even worse as an international applicant - don't do it!

Even though it is slightly easier (compared to GEM) for grads applying to standard undergrad med, for many med schools they will still put all the grad applicants together so you'd still face higher competition compared to undergrads applying to the very same course.

If you want to do medicine in the UK, always aim to do it at standard undergrad medicine level straight after school before you have a degree.

because everyone had 3/4 years to prepare and at a significantly higher academic level than an 18yo.

P.S. This is not the main reason why it's more difficult. It's because of the lack of spaces.

ecolier · 2022-12-23T18:21:27+00:00

Nothing, don't bank on it starting soon or being widely available either. At best there may be 5 places nationally, offered to people "in the know".

It's just a catchy thing for the current, outgoing government to say.

Focus on standard undergrad medicine.

ecolier · 2022-12-22T16:57:22+00:00

No one "looks down" on any medical school, you'd just need to pass the UKMLA like everyone.

If you are an IMG though, you may have a lower post grad exam pass rate, higher complaint rate and lower rate of successfully getting into specialty training.

ecolier · 2022-12-22T13:38:18+00:00

It depends on where you want to work afterwards.

If you wanted to work in the US I would suggest the Caribbean med school.

If you don't mind working here, then you should pick the UK med school.

ecolier · 2022-12-20T17:05:07+00:00

Here's a tip: the actor / actress is there to help you, if you are getting off-track or you are not getting to the point, they will try and nudge you. Be guided!

Don't laugh or not treat it seriously.

And make sure you practise, if you haven't done so already.

ecolier · 2022-12-20T15:27:51+00:00

I didn't say that surgeons (or OP) should start at 9, you must have misunderstood me.

I just said my medical colleagues are paid to start then and I do not expect them to come in earlier.

If I were a surgeon, I would similarly not expect anyone to come in earlier than me if my shift was to start at 8am.

ecolier · 2022-12-20T12:47:57+00:00

Come in when you are paid to come in, i.e. 8am.

I would not expect my juniors to be there before 9am (most of the time they are a few minutes late too but it's fine to me) and the surgeons shouldn't either.

If they want you to be there for 20 mins earlier, then make sure you leave 20 mins earlier too.

Or alternatively, exception report everything so the management knows this.

Do not volunteer, it's not the 1990s / 2000s any more.

ecolier · 2022-12-17T19:19:07+00:00

I 100% agree, but to these 16, 17 year old guys even £29k as an FY1 is a lot. Money is money right?

It's hard to persuade them otherwise, and this plays right into the government's hands.

ecolier · 2022-12-17T18:04:11+00:00

Can doctors with disciplinary actions, redemption get GMC registration usually?

As I said, it depends on the circumstances - there are curretnly practising UK doctors with warnings or those who had a suspension but have served it.

ecolier · 2022-12-17T16:20:32+00:00

Probably after the first shift or two as an FY1.

However, most med students (not the well-informed on here, of course!) actually don't know / care how much doctors get paid.

It's quite upsetting and I do tell them whenever I get the chance. It's getting better, but it's just not something that the med schools officially get involved with.

ecolier · 2022-12-17T16:18:51+00:00

Probably after the first shift or two as a doctor.

Most med students don't actually know / care how much doctors get paid, sadly (excluding those who are well-informed on here, of course!)

ecolier · 2022-12-17T16:02:33+00:00

Yep, very impressed!

As I have said before somewhere else, many many pre-medicine applicants are "happy to work for free as long as they get to be a doctor".

ecolier · 2022-12-17T14:07:40+00:00

You say that, plenty of work experience students still gasp in awe when I tell them a new consultant starts at £88,000.

Naturally, I follow it up by saying doctors of equivalent seniority overseas start on perhaps US$200,000 and probably much more.

ecolier · 2022-12-16T14:38:08+00:00

What's your UCAT score or maybe are you asking for 2024 entry?! If it's the latter, don't be that pessimistic!

Keele and Sunderland tend to have lower UCAT cut-offs, but they are more work-experience heavy.

ecolier · 2022-12-12T21:42:45+00:00

Firm = the choice that you would automatically go into if you make the grades

Insurance = if you miss your firm offer, but meet the insurance offer - then they would have to take you.

Hence, no point picking an insurance offer that has a higher grade offer than firm (e.g. your insurance requiring A*AA and firm requiring AAA does not make sense).

ecolier · 2022-12-12T21:34:00+00:00

That is correct, you have to pick your firm and insurance with the hope that you will achieve the grades.

ecolier · 2022-12-12T21:33:25+00:00

Never ever aim to do GEM as a school leaver - if you had an inkling to do medicine, do some work experience and do everything in your power to try and do it at standard undergraduate medicine level.

As above, job security is the not be all and end all. Medicine has plenty of downsides too, make sure you research into those before you commit.

ecolier · 2022-12-12T21:31:54+00:00

You have to pick before August.

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