There are several different routes to medicine: pre-medical year entry, entry to Phase I of the undergraduate medical degree following A level study or equivalent, and graduate entry to medicine. Pre-medical year entry is for applicants who have received excellent A level grades in non-science subjects.
Entry to Phase I of the undergraduate medical degree is for students who have science A levels to their name while graduate entry to medicine is for those who have already completed an undergraduate degree yet wish to study for an accelerated medical degree. It is not uncommon for a medical school to receive between 2,000 and 3,000 applications for the small number of places they have to offer.
Due to the high volume of applications received, it is essential to submit your application on time. Late applications will not be considered and certainly won’t make a good impression! During the completion of your UCAS form, you will be required to state your choice of a total of four different medical schools.
Consider the entry requirements of your chosen medical schools and your expected grades before listing them on the form. You will also have a fifth choice of university at your disposal. You could either leave this blank or apply for a different degree. If you wish to take a gap year, you can select to defer your entry. This will not leave you in any way disadvantaged. If you’re applying to medical school, it is essential to have considered work experience.
Work experience will provide you with the ideal way in which to decide whether or not medicine is the career for you. Recommended companies offering medical electives include Work the World and Projects Abroad. As part of your UCAS application, you will be required to submit a personal statement and it is through your personal statement that you will have the opportunity to demonstrate your suitability to medicine.
You will need to show your enthusiasm for the subject and detail any commitments you have made along the way. Above all, you will need to make sure your application is unique. Work experience is the perfect way in which to learn more about working in the medical profession and provides the ideal talking point for your personal statement. Applying for medicine and acquiring the required entry grades may be demanding but do keep in mind that medical school will pose an even greater challenge.
You will be required to work long hours and there will be a need to continue to achieve high grades throughout your time at medical school. You will engage in both practical and theoretical training and teaching will take place in lecture theatres, operating theatres and hospital consultation rooms. You will also be required to continue learning in your own time, in your university accommodation.
While studying medicine may be hard work and the application process exacting, should you acquire a place in medical school, you will benefit from one of the most rewarding careers ever in existence.
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