I WOULD LIKE TO BE A

Being a Doctor is an exciting, rewarding and challenging career. It provides wonderful opportunities to choose to work in a wide range of specialties and environments. With every best wish for your success. This information has been collated to assist in your successful application to medical school. Every effort has been made to ensure the information is correct however to guarantee accuracy you are advised to check with the official sources listed.

The good news : ‘Widening Access to Medicine’

The Scottish government are providing funding to increase the opportunities for applicants who are applying from a wider range of backgrounds than those traditionally getting into medicine. These 'contextual' admissions, with adjusted criteria, are to try and help more pupils from rural or deprived backgrounds successfully gain access to medical school. In particular Aberdeen, , and Glasgow offer medicine with a 'preliminary year' or 'gateway to medicine'.

of Aberdeen Gateway to medicine - https://www.abdn.ac.uk/smmsn/undergraduate/g2m/

Gateway to medicine – https://www.dundee.ac.uk/study/ug/gateway-to-medicine/

 University of St Andrews Gateway to medicine- http://medicine.st-andrews.ac.uk/teaching/bsc-hons-medicine/gateway-to-medicine/

-Pupils who have not achieved the academic criteria above but come from the most deprived areas of may be eligible for the pre medicine GAP course https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/medicine/mus/admissions/glasgowaccessprogrammegap/

 University of Contextual admissions criteria- https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergraduate/applying/selection/contextual-admissions

Funding: Can I have help to pay for my university education?

The Awards Agency for Scotland ( SAAS) will pay the tuition fees for Scottish studying their first undergraduate degree at a Scottish University.

You can also apply for a student loan to cover living costs. This is repayable when you start work and earn above the threshold amount ( currently, once you are earning over £18,330/ year).

The Young Student Bursary is available to those who are eligible ( under 25 years of age and household income below a certain level) . Other types of funding are available for care experienced students as well as a discretionary fund and individual universities have their own bursaries and scholarships. https://www.saas.gov.uk/_forms/funding_guide.pdf

What do I need for my UCAS application?

As well as your exam results you need to sit the UCAT test and to have researched what it means to be a doctor.

UCAT What is the UCAT ( previously referred to as UKCAT)?

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is an admissions test used by a consortium of UK & Australian/ New Zealand Universities for their medical degree programmes. It is required for application to all Scottish Medical Schools. https://www.ucat.ac.uk/ucat/

The UCAT helps Universities to select applicants with the most appropriate mental abilities, attitudes and professional behaviours required for new doctors to be successful in their clinical careers. The two hour multiple choice test includes:- Verbal reasoning – evaluate written information Abstract reasoning - ability to make relationships about information Quantitative reasoning – evaluate numerical information Decision making – make judgements from complex information Situational Judgment Test - understand and appropriately respond to real work situations

The UCAT result is used for selection in collaboration with other admissions processes such as the UCAS application and academic qualifications. It is also your opportunity to stand out from other applicants and demonstrate your aptitude for the demanding programme of study.

This test is taken between July and September at an official test centre and can only be taken once in a year. Take time to read the official guidance on the website, use the tutorials and question banks before trying the 4 practice tests. Free official UCAT practice tests https://www.ucat.ac.uk/ucat/practice-tests/

A bursary is available, for eligibility see https://www.ucat.ac.uk/ucat/bursary-scheme/ .

Work experience

 Learning more about what it means to be a doctor

In your personal statement and during the medical school interview process you will need to demonstrate the insight you have gained about the challenges, rewards, skills and attributes required of doctors and how this applies to you. Large amounts of work experience are not required and be reassured that voluntary work and hobbies can provide really useful and valuable experience and skills. Before you attend for medical work experience it is highly recommended that you research as much as possible beforehand. This allows you to gain more from the experience by asking more useful questions and expanding your depth of knowledge and understanding of what being a doctor really means. What does the experience mean for you in understanding how your personal strengths, weaknesses and preferences fit into a medical career? https://www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2331/relevant-experience-for-applying-to-medical- school.pdf https://www.medschools.ac.uk/media/1202/statement-on-core-values-and-attributes.pdf

The Doctors at Work scheme at Raigmore Hospital provides a range of work experiences over the course of one week in the summer. Application for this is through your school guidance team. (Through this programme there is also the opportunity to practice mock multiple mini- interviews later in the year)

Work experience can also be gained through voluntary work with the disadvantaged, disabled or elderly and this may be more valuable than some medical work experiences as you are actively involved rather than being an observer.

Due to confidentiality within a small community you may not be able to experience clinical encounters locally but speaking with local doctors to learn more about their working lives is valuable research.

Consensus statement on the role of a doctor:- https://www.medschools.ac.uk/media/1922/role-of- the-doctor-consensus-statement.pdf

Some questions to think about

What do you know about the content & duration of the medical course e.g. learning activities, patient contact, clinical placements?

What are the core qualities of a doctor?

What do you understand about training after qualification including lifelong studying eg what is a foundation doctor, what is a speciality doctor, what is a primary care doctor ( GP) ?

What do you understand to be the challenges of being a doctor and what strategies would you use to cope with this e.g. emotional impact, responsibility, irregular working hours, work- life balance?

How does the doctor work within a team? Who are the other team members and what are their responsibilities?

Further personal research The following websites are essential reading

To gain a clearer picture of what each medical school is looking for and how they use your results and personal statement- https://www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine

Make sure you look at the General Medical Council ‘Graduate Outcomes’ as this forms the foundation of all the medical school course curricula. https://www.gmc-uk.org/education/undergraduate/undergrad_outcomes.asp

GMC ‘Good Medical Practice’. Patients must be able to trust doctors with their lives and health. This document states the standards expected of doctors in relation to their knowledge, skills & performance/ safety and quality/ communication partnership & teamwork / maintaining trust. https://www.gmc-uk.org/ethical-guidance/ethical-guidance-for-doctors/good-medical-practice

By the time you are graduating you will also have to sit a national ‘Medical Licensing Assessment’ which is being introduced https://www.gmc-uk.org/education/standards-guidance-and- curricula/projects/medical-licensing-assessment

The online Student BMJ (British Medical Journal) has guidance specifically for medical school applicants http://student.bmj.com/student/applying-to-medical-school.html

Keep an eye on the news to learn about what is topical in healthcare. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health

Additional Support

You or your school may be eligible for support by the REACH Aberdeen team. https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/reach-1576.php

Mentoring support may be available to help you with preparing your application & personal statement. Please e mail [email protected]

Dr Yvonne Wedekind GP Teaching Fellow Highland Medical Education Centre Centre for Health Science Inverness October 2019