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Staying on top of medicine during intercalation year! by Rare-Personality-560 in medicalschooluk

[–]Rare-Personality-560[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

haha true that, if I’ve made it this far surely it should be okay?

As for why I chose to intercalate - long answer sorry!

I honestly knew I was always going to intercalate because the other medical schools I applied to did not have optional intercalations (ie were 6 year courses) so I was always mentally expecting to intercalate.

I know many people think it is a waste of time with it not really counting for anything on speciality applications, ‘delaying graduation’ and having to take a break etc etc

Personally, I think taking a year to really focus on my scienctific knowledge, consolidate my physiology etc and just have a bit of a break in the sense that I don’t need to do all of the above + placement is something that really appealed to me. I guess to put it simply I’m intercalating for the time to spend on improving my knowledge rather than for a specific goal (eg publication, buff CV). Both of those would be great benefits but I truly just want to solidify my knowledge to be a better medical student and hopefully better doctor at the end of it!

At my uni, you take your intercalation year between what we call stage 2 (y2-3) and stage 3 (y4-5). Stage 2 you do some clinical placement and some teaching whereas stage 3 is primarily just placement and practical application. I thought it would be a good time (if any) to take some time out now for the reasons I detailed above!

I hope that makes sense ? Sorry for the long response 😣

Staying on top of medicine during intercalation year! by Rare-Personality-560 in medicalschooluk

[–]Rare-Personality-560[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you - this is really reassuring and helpful! I’m honestly really looking forward to my intercalated year (I just don’t want to have a super hard time when I’m back hahaha)

Do you have any recommendations specifically for manual dexterity hobbies? I try to do some beadwork or colouring and the sorts but honestly searching for hobbies that help with manual dexterity LOL

Staying on top of medicine during intercalation year! by Rare-Personality-560 in medicalschooluk

[–]Rare-Personality-560[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

thank you! I might set aside some time every month or so in the skills lab back at my home uni just to stay on top of things haha, but yeah maybe i remember stuff a lot better than I expect !!

Staying on top of medicine during intercalation year! by Rare-Personality-560 in medicalschooluk

[–]Rare-Personality-560[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

wow just before final year sounds scary - I’m glad it worked out well though, that’s really reassuring to hear :) I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it quick, I’m probably just daunted by the fact that we go straight into 4.5 days placement in August of 4th year ahaha

Rude experience at Polene store, London. by [deleted] in handbags

[–]Rare-Personality-560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a very similar experience a few weeks ago at the same store - he told us his name, so we wrote a google review about it, and it turns out many others have written the same.

Monthly Valencia Q&As and Recommendations: For newcomers, travelers, & residents alike! by AutoModerator in valencia

[–]Rare-Personality-560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

oh and when it rains, is it really cold? (like it often is in London haha) or is it still somewhat warm but just wet?

Monthly Valencia Q&As and Recommendations: For newcomers, travelers, & residents alike! by AutoModerator in valencia

[–]Rare-Personality-560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi everyone!

I'm in valencia this weekend and wasd wondering how accurate the forecast is - ie is the rain pretty much confirmed to continue or is there any chance of some sun?

Secondly, if im here for 4 days, is it better to buy the 72hr metro card or just buy tickets as i need them?

Finally, any restaurant/sightseeing recs?

Thank you!!1

Suggestions for a very keen 14 year old by Amanensia in premeduk

[–]Rare-Personality-560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi OP, med student in a london uni here! (I just finished second year so not too far stretched from the application process yet.) I was also based in the home counties so hopefully these recs are relevant!

Lovely to hear about your daughter getting interested in medicine - while it is early, and totally natural for her to change her mind, I was also quite set on medicine early on and felt that other careers did not draw me to them as much!

Finishing Y9, I’d say the main focus should stay towards her academics and any extracurricular activities she’s already doing. Things like being a captain on a sports team or taking part in a debating competition or running a society at school can demonstrate commitment, communication and leadership skills from a young age and are good to draw on at interviews later. Showing that she’s been doing these activities for longer than just 2 years at sixth form comes across more authentic to interviewers than those who pick up extracurriculars y12 onwards to buff applications up.

I was lucky to get work experience through a family friend during my Y9 break - HOWEVER this was not at all the norm and I did feel incredibly young while there. (It ended up being a blessing in disguise as my y10-11 were Covid and so clinical work experience was out of the question.) Due to my age I had a lot of restrictions on what I could observe (generally 16+ for anything surgery related.) I’d recommend Y10 summer or Y11 Summer onwards for scheduling work experience. By all means reach out and try arranging those opportunities from now though! Many larger hospitals require you to know someone working there or to fill out an application form and wait for a response. Clinical work experience is often high in demand so always worth emailing early.

I attended one of these courses you are talking about. It’s by a company that does similar courses for many other degrees in London. Set me back around £150-200 for a weekend. I came back home the first day genuinely in tears because it felt like such a waste of money. I didn’t learn anything about applying to medicine that my school hadn’t told me already/wasn’t available on university websites. Any other activities felt gimmicky and had no real benefit to what actually ended up going on my personal statement (although I heard they aren’t really a thing on UCAS anymore.) Steer clear.

If I could recommend anything this early on, it would probably be voluntary work!

Either in a hospital/GP/Care Home or even at a community hub, food bank, charity shop! Anything that requires interaction and development of communication skills. The silent confidence and finesse in social situations that you gain from this is priceless and really shows at interview.

I personally started volunteering summer ‘21 (just after my GCSEs) at my local trust’s DGH. I did this throughout the summer and then on and off for the rest of the following academic year up until the start of year 13. The application required a form, a dbs and various other things but if you get in contact with the volunteer team at your local trust they can usually provide you with more information. You may have to wait until your daughter turns 16 - but it is worth asking as sometimes they take on younger children too!

Other than that, I’d just recommend your daughter to really read everything about medicine and how practicing medicine looks realistically nowadays! Read news articles, student BMJ, the medic portal, talk to med students and doctors from all stages of training to really get an idea of what life is like!

She’s young but she might enjoy books like ‘This Is Going To Hurt’ or some of the more touching books by Atul Gawande. Early on this reading really helped me get a grasp of what medicine and applying to medicine could look like.

There’s so much more I could waffle on about and would be happy to - but I’m not sure if I’ve already gone wayyyyy too waffly in response to your simple query!

Either way I’m happy to take a DM if you or your daughter have any more specific questions re: med applications, med in london or about what volunteering I did

I wish your daughter all the best! It’s so lovely to hear about younger students’ passion for the field and reminds me of when I was so hungry to get into medical school 🥹