So you want to be a doctor? The ultimate guide to getting into medical school So you want to be a doctor? The ultimate guide to getting into medical school Second edition Harveer Dev David Metcalfe Stephan Sanders 1 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © Oxford University Press 2014 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted First Edition published in 2011 Second Edition published in 2014 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. 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Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Control Number: 2013943040 ISBN 978–0–19–968686–5 Printed in Great Britain by Ashford Colour Press Ltd, Gosport, Hampshire Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up-to-date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work. Dedication To Sarinder, for her unwavering support and encouragement (HD) To Mina, my beautiful wife (DM) To Imogen and Xanthe, for making life marvellous (SS) Foreword There has never been a more exciting time to be a doctor. Advances in medical science are allowing doctors to understand human biology, diagnose disease and ultimately treat patients in ways that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. There are many reasons why medicine continues to attract the most talented university applicants. The profession of ers the respect and trust of the public, a team-based work envi- ronment, intellectually challenging cases and great job security. However, the best reward remains using your abilities to alleviate the suf ering of those in the greatest need and witnessing the results. Winning a place at medical school is the fi rst step to joining this fascinating profession. The selection process is long, complicated and intensely competitive, so that only the most capa- ble become doctors and care for patients. Earning your place at medical school requires a lot more than just passing exams; at each stage you need to prove that you have the qualities and aptitude required to be a good doc- tor. This book will take you through the application process and show you how to reach your full potential every step of the way. It will show you how to choose the medical schools that suit your personality and send them a clear message that you are the right applicant for their course. If you work hard and use this book as a guide, you could be strolling the wards wearing your new stethoscope before you know it! Best of luck! Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham KBE Hon FREng, FMedSci, FRCS vi Foreword Preface Who has the potential to be an excellent doctor? Medical schools across the UK wrestle with this question as they confront the thousands of applicants every year. A student’s life, skills and personality are reduced to a handful of grades and a single page of writing that will determine their fate. When sorting through these applications, medical schools use fi xed criteria to discern ‘strong’ from ‘weak’ applications. While this ensures the process is ‘fair’, these criteria can miss excellent applicants who simply don’t know how the system works. In writing this book, we hope to level the playing fi eld. Regardless of your background or familiarity with the medical profession, this book will help you put together the best possible application. This book represents the distilled wisdom of over 100 medical students, admissions special- ists and faculty members covering every medical school in the UK. It will guide you through every stage of the application process from getting work experience to writing your UCAS form and coping with the fi rst term at medical school. It will also help you choose the medical schools that best suit your personality, meaning you have the best possible chance of being accepted. Getting into medical school is dif cult; we hope this guide helps you show that you have the potential to be an excellent doctor. Good luck! Harveer Dev (Cambridge Medical School) David Metcalfe (Warwick Medical School) Stephan Sanders (Nottingham Medical School) Preface vii Acknowledgements It would not have been possible to produce this book without the help of many kind individu- als and institutions who gave their time and energy for our benefi t. In particular: All the contributors (listed on page ix by medical school) for their informative and insightful descriptions of life at each medical school. The members of medical school faculty and admissions teams (named on each medical school profi le, p. 107 ) that submitted the text for the Insider’s Views. The members of admissions teams that have collected the data on admissions statistics that we have quoted on each of the medical school profi les. The superb information provided by the GMC, UKCAT, and BMAT, which made researching this book substantially easier. Professor Ara Darzi for contributing the foreword. Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions (www.kaptest.co.uk ) for the material they contributed for the exams chapter ( p. 69 ) and sample questions (p. 304 ). All the contributors of the fi rst edition of So you want to be a doctor? Imogen Hart, Mina Aletrari, and Sarinder Dev for their constant support, exceptional proof-reading skills, and wonderful company. Our excellent editorial team at Oxford University Press, in particular Geraldine Je f ers, Fiona Richardson, Hannah Lloyd, Abigail Stanley, and Claire Steele. Thank you for your continued support throughout. viii Acknowledgements Contributors England London—GKT Birmingham Vishal Kumar Thomas Pepper Joseph Higginbotham-Jones Brighton and Sussex London—Imperial College A l e x a n d r a Ho Tamara Mulenga Matthew Murden Bristol London—St George’s Rebecca Dwyer Bernard Ho Kayleigh Else John Boardman Cambridge London—UCL Stephanie Smith Alex Nesbitt Elizabeth Wheater Dundee Manchester Rohan Shotton Craig Maclean Durham Newcastle Matthew Gibson Joe Selwyn-Gotha Josh Patch East Anglia Nottingham Caroline Anderson Saad Fyyaz E x e t e r Rebecca Bennett The authors Oxford Hull York Elizabeth Mumford Chloe Gelder Jonathan Dickerson Keele Plymouth Daisy Clark Emily Adams Lancaster Shef eld Hannah Barlow Will Sapwell Leeds Southampton Jonathan Batty Rachel Colville Leicester Roxana Lachowicz S t e f a n George Warwick Liverpool Matthew Bowden YinYee Susan Ho Michelle Cheung Northern Ireland London—Barts Queen’s, Belfast Alan David McCrorie Bhavna Gilani Sanjay Shrof Contributors ix Scotland Wales Aberdeen Cardif Mark McInerney Maimoona Ali Dundee Swansea Craig Maclean Leifa Jennings Edinburgh Overseas John Ferns Charles, Prague Glasgow Nabeel Siddiqui Rebekah Wilson St Andrews Joanna Aithie x Contributors Contents Becoming a doctor xvi 1 Making the decision 3 Do you want to be a doctor? 4 Deciding to be a doctor 6 Training to be a doctor 8 Being a doctor 10 Types of doctor 13 The cost of medical school 15 2 Succeeding at A-level 19 Choosing subjects 20 Succeeding throughout the year 22 Preparing for exams 24 Private tuition 26 E x a m s 28 3 Taking a gap year 31 Should you take a gap year? 32 Where to go 34 What to do 36 How to fi nd out more 38 4 Getting a life 41 Why do extracurricular activities? 42 What can you do? 44 A f e w e x a m p l e s 46 5 Work experience 49 Work experience 50 Arranging work experience 52 Preparing for work experience 54 Making the most of shadowing 58 Volunteering 60 Employment 62 Research experience 64 If all else fails . 66 Contents xi 6 Preparing for admission tests 69 The use of admission tests 70 Preparing and taking the tests 72 Admission test strategy 74 The UKCAT 78 The BMAT 82 7 Choosing a medical school 85 The medical school 86 Types of course 88 Types of university 89 Summary of medical schools 90 Competitiveness of medical schools 91 The applicant 92 A guide to decide 94 League tables 98 Performance after medical school 103 How to fi nd out more 104 8 Undergraduate medical schools 107 Understanding the profi les 108 England Birmingham