UCAS (the applications service for UK universities) allows you to apply for five places on your form. Only four of these applications can be for Medicine, so you need to narrow your choices of medical school down to the best places for you that also give you a good chance of getting an offer. You have approximately a 50:50 chance of getting in! Remember, the deadline for Medicine is earlier than other subjects (mid-October) so give yourself enough time to pick them.
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Playing to your strengths
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Where a lot of students go wrong is applying to the wrong universities. Medical schools all look for different things in personal statements, use different aptitude tests, have different requirements for achieved/predicted grades/subjects, use different interview styles and give all of these components different amounts of emphasis in making offers. Therefore, there should be a medical school to suit everyone!
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To maximise your chances of getting an interview or offer you need to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses and apply strategically. For example, if you didn’t do especially well in the UKCAT, it would be a waste of an application to apply to somewhere where it counts for a large proportion of the application. If you have great results in the correct subjects, good test scores and a strong personal statement, then lucky you! You have a wider choice of potential destinations.
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While applying for any subject is always a gamble, you should be able to calculate your chances of getting an interview at some universities by how much they weigh up different aspects. They all use them differently: some universities will rank you by assigning scores to the application components, while others employ strict cut-offs for grades or aptitude test results. Knowing if they use these means that you can find places that are more likely to give you an interview.
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Some medical schools only accept results from your first sitting of exams, while others are more lenient or ask that you prove exceptional circumstances. A small number do not permit re-applications after a first rejection from them. The application requirements will tell you all of this, but if you are still unsure, get in contact with the medical school in plenty of time.
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The scoring breakdown for applications used by some medical schools are available online. Nearly all universities use your application to allocate interviews and then everyone has a clean slate after that. If you just scrape gaining an interview at one of these, then panic over – you’re now on the same level as everyone else.
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Finding the university for you
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Don’t pay much attention to university league tables! They don’t tell you very much about how you will find studying there and are all based on different things. Aspects such as research and employability don’t give you an insight into the curriculum, and rankings also vary hugely between sources and years. Some are based on current students while others come from graduate feedback, so things may have changed since the information was collected. They may not be specific to medicine either.
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Even if you really had your heart set on going somewhere but it doesn’t look like a realistic option, this is not a setback to becoming a doctor. There is no such thing as a bad medical school; you will get the same degree and have a great experience wherever you go. Don’t worry about making friends - you will always find your kind of people, because medical students are very similar in some ways but demand enough diversity to accommodate everyone!
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At the same time, the university has to be somewhere you’re willing to go. To narrow down potential choices, research the city itself, size of year group, style of teaching/anatomy (see explanation below), extra-curricular activities available, social life in the area, how easy it is to get home, fees, type of interview (see our tab on interview styles, although in reality this shouldn’t make much difference unless you feel really strongly about one) and any accessibility demands you may have.
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Don’t believe myths about reputation or everything on forums! The most helpful thing to do is talk to current students (including non-medical if you want) about their experiences and any questions that particularly concern you. Open days are a great opportunity to do this – there is no need to be shy! If you don’t know anyone personally, email the medical school and ask them to put you in contact with some current medical students and they will be happy to help.
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Useful resources
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Some tools that let you find medical schools to apply to based on your application stats:
https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/choosing-a-medical-school/comparisontool/
http://medschoolselector.student.bmj.com/#/home
This document from the Medical Schools Council gives a brief overview of statistics and requirements for UK universities:
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Common terms and what they mean
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Styles of teaching vary between medical schools: they employ lectures, tutorials and practical classes in different amounts. Early clinical exposure and other learning styles may also be used.
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Traditional courses entail two or three years of scientific, class-based learning with no clinical contact at first, followed by clinical placements for the remaining years of the degree. This style of teaching means you have a solid academic grounding before going onto the wards, so you should get more out of these placements and feel more confident.
More info: https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/choosing-a-medical-school/traditional-courses/
Integrated or systems-based courses incorporate clinical skills alongside scientific learning throughout the course, with ward or GP placements taking up increasing time as the course goes on. Topics are taught in body systems (more like specialties) and may or may not include problem-based learning (PBL). This gives you more practice at building clinical and communication skills, but in reality the exact composition varies quite a bit between medical schools. If you are unsure of which course style is for you, this is a good mix of the other two.
More info: https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/choosing-a-medical-school/integrated/
PBL-based courses are not common themselves, but many medical schools include problem-based learning to some degree. This is a group approach involving discussion of a case scenario, which helps to put knowledge in a clinical context, and then identifying your own topics to research. Self-guided learning is a vital skill for the whole length of your career so this is useful!
More info: https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/choosing-a-medical-school/pbl-courses/
Anatomy teaching is either through dissection or prosection. In reality, this does not make much difference to your learning, but it is helpful knowing what to expect. Most medical schools use prosection, where specimens are already dissected for you in practical classes. This is a lot less time-consuming, ensures students don’t cut through anything important themselves and resembles real anatomy exams. Dissection was traditionally used for centuries, and gives a hands-on understanding of how everything relates to each other.
Intercalation is an option offered at the majority of medical schools and is compulsory in some. This is where you take an additional year (after two or three years of the medical degree) to study the final year of a different medicine-related subject and then resume medicine after. This credits you with a Bachelor of Science degree, which is an advantage when it comes to applying for jobs.
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This has a large research slant and so is useful for those interested in academic medicine. A lot of medical students undertake this, but it is not necessary to become a good doctor. You can also apply to do this at other universities. This adds another year to your studies (and fees) but gives you a chance to explore possible career paths, meet new people and maybe pursue an extra-curricular activity to a higher level.