Getting into a UK medical school...in five
First of all, in regards to AS levels, if you felt that you buggered it up the first time, don't lose hope! I was devasted with my ABBB and thought I had to forget about medicine. However, as long as your teachers know that this was just a minor slip and you're capable of achieving those A's, you need to convince them to keep/make your predicted A level grades high enough for med school. Provided that everything else in your application is flawless, you'll still be considered a candidate. I was just a bit more careful when choosing univerisities, re-sat a couple of modules (making sure that my teacher put that my reference) and in the end got the AAA* :)
1. MAKE SURE YOU'RE DOING IT FOR YOU
First of all- the important thing is that you want to pursue this path for the right reasons. Sure, your parents may have been silently encouraging you since you could walk, and there's nothing wrong with that if YOU are sure it's what YOU want to do with your life. This is likely to be a life-long vocation so try and think if you can see yourself doing this in 50 years or so. You may have thinking about the status and pay , but what about the 5 years at uni (providing you pass everything first time) + 2 years foundation training before you can even start embarking on your speciality pathway? Can you handle the irregular hours, blood, responsilbility and extreme stress?
2. RESEARCH YOUR UNIVERISTIES THOROUGHLY
Do you know the difference between the traditional Oxbridge methods of teaching, the intercalated ways used by most UK Unis and PBL? It may be tempting to base your choices on the highest ranking/best/prettiest institutions but you need to make sure that the course best suits your style of learning. If you want to encounter patients and gain clinical skills as early as possible, Oxbridge isn't for you. If you learn by doing rather than listening, it's worth looking into the PBL courses available. The vast majority of Universities require you take an additional test when making your application (Birmingham is a notable exception) - either the UKCAT (an 11-plus style test, NOT based on scientific knowledge, to be taken in the summer/September) or BMAT (required by Oxbridge, UCL and Imperial and taken in November). The British Medical Association website has a really useful document for those interested in medicine which contains a lists of all UK Univeristies offering the degree, as well at the A-levels needed to be accepted. With the introduction of the new A* grade, entrance requirements are being adjusted so it's also important to get up-to-date information from the Universities themselves.
You only get four choices for Medical schools, but it's also vital that you consider your fifth option carefullly. If unfortunately you don't get accepted, you need to make sure that you'd be happy enough with your reserve option; you don't want to drop out halfway through the year because the course wasn't as you thought it was. Most people choose Biomed but if you want a more of a practical vocation, think about Nursing. Some Unis offer a fast-track into getting into medicine should you fail the first time; for example if you do exceptionally well in your first year of Leicester's Biological Sciences degree, you could apply to the first year of their medicine course. My fifth option was the Biomed course at St. George's which lets you transfer into the third year of their Med course if you ace the degree. It's well worth researching should anything go wrong.
3. WRITE A KICK-ASS PERSONAL STATEMENT
The UCAS window for medical applicants lasts only till mid-September, months earlier than for most other courses, so it's a good idea to do a few drafts over the summer to show a teacher when you enter Year 13. The first couple of weeks are likely to be extremely stressful -I remember be reduced to tears- but it means that you can get it over and done with a hell of a lot sooner than your friends. The personal statement should include all the obvious - your reasons for choosing medicine, academic and extra-cirrcular acheivements etc. - just make sure that you present yourself as a sincere, empathetic, well-rounded individual. However, what is a vital to a medical application is evidence of any work experience relating to healthcare/care in general. If you can get a week shadowing at a local hospital, that's great, but Universities appreciate how difficult that can sometimes be so voluteering at a retirement home, St John's etc can also be taken into account- just something that shows that you've become aware of the challenges that you will encounter as a medic. You need to reflect on your experience and say how it's influenced your attitudes to medicine. The character/line limit is a bit of a bugger and you won't have time to list all of your successes; the trick is to be concise.
4. CONCENTRATE ON THE INTERVIEWS AND FORGET THE REJECTIONS
You'll be spending the next months stalking UCAS track and, unfortunately, the chances are that at least one University will reject you. AS LONG AS YOU GET AT LEAST ONE INTERVIEW THIS IS FINE. You only need one interview to get into medical school if you do it well; conversely you could get all four but, if you're not what they're looking for, you may not get any offers. You hear a lot of news stories about people getting five A* grades at A level or whatever but no medicine offers and the papers act as though this is an outrage, but medicine isn't just about the grades- you need the empathy and character to handle future challenges in the profession-these won't just be academic. I got straight rejections without interview from all but one of my medical schools but am now a very happy medic!
The interviews themselves vary from University to University; some will test you on your scientific knowledge, others will be simply to get to know you. It's good to ask around beforehand so you don't end up cramming the night before on facts you won't get tested on. That being said, if they don't ask you anything science-based, they may check to see if you've done your research and ask questions about the structure of the career pathway, the BMA and GMC etc. It also wouldn't hurt to think of the answers to common questions like "Why do you want to go into medicine" beforehand. The best tips I can give to all interviews are to be sincere, polite, empathetic and SMILE.
5. SO YOU GOT AN OFFER; DON'T BUGGER IT ALL UP NOW.
Congratulations! You're wanted! Finally, you're almost at your dream of attending Medical School.
Notice the word almost. Unless you've applied after post-16, there's still those pesky A-levels/IB to get through. The important thing is NOT TO SLACK OFF. Everything you've worked towards can be taken away if you don't get the grades so you need to make sure that you ace those exams. You need to study harder than ever before and put the less important things on hold until you leave that hall for the last time. Don't take it for granted that you've gotten this far already- I know a fair few applicants who fell at the last hurdle.
If it does go wrong on results day, you can do a number of things. Firstly, if you weren't far off with your grades, you can try ringing the medical school directly to see if they could possibly let you in- be warned that the chances of any spaces will be extremely slim-you need to be very quick and very lucky. Secondly, you could just take your reserve. If you got on to one of the courses I described above, you need to knuckle down with the hope that you'll be fast-tracked back into medicine. Alternatively, many places now offer a 4-year medical course for graduates of certain sciences. Doing a BSc first may give you the discipline and maturity to make your second application to medical school successful- this may be just as competitive as at A-level but there's still hope! A final option is to just reapply for next year's intake- if your grades were good enough for another medical school this could work. If you need to resit entire A-levels, be aware that some places may not accept this and you need to check each university.
For those who made it; you're going to embark on the adventure of you life :)