Prospective advice for applicants to medical school

Work experience

1. It’s possible to get experience in a hospital/ GP even if you don’t have a doctor in your family. Try contacting your local GP to see if they will facilitate a few days of observation in their practice.
2. In terms of hospital placements…start by searching on the website of your local hospital for the list of secretaries for consultants of the specialty that you’re interested in. For example if you like the sound of cardiology, look up the secretary’s contact details and email/ ring them to see if the consultant would be happy for you to visit their department.
3. Any work experience- no matter how ‘small’ is important. It’s always more valuable to be able to explain what you learned on a placement than to simply have turned up for a really long period and not reflect upon your experience.

1. “Don’t make medicine your life- enjoy the lectures, seminars and placement during medical school, but medicine has a habit of trying to take over your life so remember that you were a person before you were a medic and always try to keep a varied lifestyle with different hobbies and friends outside of medicine too!”

1. “I was seriously torn between applying to either medicine or law, as my A-level choices reflected both science and humanities subjects. Both careers would mean you were doing something different and problem-solving every day (which was very important to me). I chose medicine as I felt I could help people more directly, however I have been made sure to involve myself in activities about medical ethics and discussions about how the law interacts with patient care therefore finding a way to combine both interests during medical school. Prospective applicants with a similar position to me should consider ways to be able to pursue both interests by aiming for a job such as an HM Coroner or expert witness in court cases, both of which a medical degree is very useful. Basically, choosing either medicine or law doesn’t mean you can’t do a bit of both in the future!”

1. How many different types of people entered into a career in medicine! There is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ candidate for medical school!

1. Be yourself!
2. Don’t be afraid to say you want to care for people when answering the crucial “Why do you want to do medicine?” question! It’s a perfectly valid reason and the interviewers will be able to tell that you’re sincere
3. Be aware of the wider issues surrounding healthcare in the UK/ country you’re applying to- for instance: current issues surrounding political pressures and ethical scenarios relating to healthcare (e.g. blood transfusions and Jehovah’s witnesses). These topics may come up in your interview!
4. Don’t lie on your personal statement because the interviewer may also be fluent in German!