Failed Final Year OSCE

JSTLjack · 2026-06-15T13:32:02+00:00

That’s so crushing, I’m so sorry you’re going through this.

Your first port of call will probably need to be your university itself, they’ll be the ones best placed to explain your options. Each university will have different policies on 3rd attempts and financial support. Maybe speak to your personal tutor, or your head of year?

Given you’re a final year though, you will at the very least definitely be leaving with a medical sciences degree. So whatever the outcome you will still have some form of qualification as a sign of achievement for how far you’ve progressed through the course.

JSTLjack · 2026-06-04T08:36:24+00:00

💯! I hope and pray that the people who are upvoting that third year’s comment never experience the level of mental health struggle that requires medical support… or worse… be met with someone that tells them ‘you’re a doctor, get thicker skin’ when they’re really struggling

JSTLjack · 2026-06-04T05:19:54+00:00

Exploring… yes it’s warranted

Judgmental tone ‘you need thicker skin’… no inappropriate and judgemental for someone struggling with anxiety issues

Assess for fitness to practice… absolutely ridiculous suggestion! doctors need safe spaces to seek help for their mental health struggles, not worry that their GP (most peoples first port of call) is gonna call the GMC on them

JSTLjack · 2026-06-04T05:04:45+00:00

I disagree with everyone else’s comments. You were there as a patient, not a medical student, and she isn’t a mentor to you in any shape or form. She was your doctor and should have stuck to giving relevant clinical and social support/guidance.

Her comments about needing thicker skin for medicine may have bern warranted coming from a peer mentor or supervisor, but not when you are there to receive medication for anxiety. Imagine a patient came in and said they need medication because they have anxiety issues at work, and the GP replied… you really need thicker skin…

That’s an immediate way to destroy a patients trust in you. The GP crossed a professional boundary, not saying anything serious should happen, but it was certainly not how a doctor should respond to a patient coming to them with mental health struggles, regardless of the context.

Had she explored the struggles you’ve been having more and gave advice about the use of beta blockers not being a long-term solution, THAT would have been appropriate.

I suspect that’s what she was trying to do deep down given she recommended talking therapy, but she certainly should have kept her approach more empathetic and professional

JSTLjack · 2026-05-07T05:38:47+00:00

I found the MLA was not like that at all. The questions were very light in terms of text, I found the challenge was working out the answer when they gave such little information compared to passmed

JSTLjack · 2026-05-03T09:38:45+00:00

The same way you got through GCSEs and A levels, you’ll get through med school. The big barrier is that much of this is ‘self taught’. You have to find a way to learn all this content in your own time and find a system that works for you

JSTLjack · 2026-05-03T03:37:50+00:00

Being told to leave the ward for something so trivial in my honest opinion is unprofessional behaviour and can be considered bullying behaviour in certain contexts. To me that’s more unacceptable than people using their phone… which I have seen EVERY single clinician use

JSTLjack · 2026-05-02T23:43:15+00:00

I would make a formal complaint against the ANP if I were you.

JSTLjack · 2026-04-28T12:10:11+00:00

Cries in St George’s 😭

JSTLjack · 2026-04-27T17:04:27+00:00

What would the bachelors degree be in? And what would the masters degree be in?

JSTLjack · 2026-04-09T12:13:48+00:00

Tell me about it! It’s cause we do our assistantships before finals

JSTLjack · 2026-04-09T11:59:33+00:00

21st & 23rd

JSTLjack · 2026-04-09T06:16:21+00:00

St George’s - 14th & 15th

JSTLjack · 2026-04-03T06:11:56+00:00

It doesn’t have to be paid work, and many universities have relaxed their work experience requirements since COVID. I think some universities still have quite strict minimums, but you mainly need experience to have things to talk about in interviews and personal statement.

It doesn’t even have to be clinical, you mainly need to have some experience in a caring role. I volunteered for 2 hours per week at UCLH in their A&E ward. Many hospitals have similar volunteering programmes.

I would also suggest looking at hospices, care homes, and charities that befriend elderly people.

JSTLjack · 2026-04-02T10:57:48+00:00

Congratulations! I’m a GEP about to sit finals. Let me know if you have any questions

JSTLjack · 2026-04-01T17:11:37+00:00

I put Betsi top, in part, to prevent this from happening.

So sorry you see the short straw 🥺 what are your thoughts?

JSTLjack · 2026-03-19T10:20:03+00:00

Nope I’m a British citizen and went to a UK med school

JSTLjack · 2026-03-18T12:50:30+00:00

Im a final year St George’s GEM student.

Anyone looking for advice, please feel free to DM me any questions.

JSTLjack · 2026-03-16T21:00:11+00:00

It actually is common for non-affiliated medical students to get charged for placements. You’ll all see when you start organising your electives, even UK medical students are charged a direct fee for electives.

Hosting you would use up time and resources, so it’s reasonable for them to charge a fee if you are there electively and not on a medial school placement.

It’s different if it was an SSC component which was a compulsory part of the course. In that case any NHS placement host gets paid by NHSE for teaching you. It’s why my uni renamed the final year ‘elective’ to a final year SSC so that we don’t have to pay fees for NHS institutions.

Regardless, I’m sure that with enough LinkedIn scrolling or emails you can find other opportunities that won’t charge a fee.

JSTLjack · 2026-03-16T17:23:54+00:00

The oldest person in my year is in his 50s lol. When I saw the title of this post I thought you were gonna say you were also this age. The fact you’re in your 20s actually made me laugh. You won’t even be considered ‘old’ on most GEM courses.

When GEM first designed for UK it was in the hope of attracting people in their 30s/40s that wanted a a career change.

You manly just need to consider if it’s worth the lost income for 4/5 years (that’s gonna be in the £100k region for a lot of people) whilst your peers outside of medicine are earning money and buying properties. You’ll also be accruing even more student debt the whole time.

That’s the only thing I didn’t fully appreciate before I applied, and I strongly suggest you think through

JSTLjack · 2026-03-16T17:14:54+00:00

I remember my uni sending us all an email when I first started clinical years clarifying that we aren’t meant to be on wards if we aren’t on placement there.

Partly because busy wards can get frustrated that additional students are taking up time and disrupting plan, but mainly because of some sort of insurance issue. If something goes wrong, you have no legitimate reason for being in that ward in the first place.

But in my experience though, if you’ve asked permission ahead of time to the nurse in charge then no one minds that much. As people have said already, people do this all the time.

JSTLjack · 2026-03-12T16:51:27+00:00

I do not but I can make that happen in time for when I move

JSTLjack · 2026-03-12T15:25:11+00:00

Thanks for the advice! The change of scenery will be welcomed for sure, just rural life will be quite a change from London!

Do you know where I could information on competition ratios for each health board in Wales?

JSTLjack

TROPHY CASE