Applying to medical school is never easy, but for me it was a longer journey than I ever expected.Looking back at the process from my position as a fourth year medical student, it is easy to think that it wasn't as hard as I thought at the time, but going through it was a very difficult experience.
Parents and teachers alike put a great deal of stock into making sure that as a teenager you have put enough thought into your future career choice. So much so, that at the time deciding to be a doctor seemed to be the hardest part of the process, I was wrong. Coming from a large family of doctors meant that I felt I had good insight into the challenges my future career would bring. My family spent a great deal of time emphasising that medicine wouldn't be part of my life, that it would be my life; however, no one told me that the application process itself would also be my life.
After accumulating the relevant work experience, evidence of group working, outside interests and the like, the time had come to fill in the UCAS form. The school I went to was very particular about making sure the form was perfect. I only began to realise this the fifth time the form was handed back to me because one teacher felt that a comma was missing in one sentence, despite perfect spelling and grammar in the rest of my personal statement, but there were larger problems for me during sixth form. Despite being one of the brightest students at GCSE, I found the switch to A-levels harder than I ever expected. I found myself behind my peers and this had a knock on effect on my predicted grades. However, I was convinced that with hard work and perseverance I could catch up, and found myself working harder than I ever had in my life. This hard work, along with much negotiation with my teachers saw my predicted grades go up to the minimum requirements for the medical schools I was applying to.
On a whim at the last minute, and with the realisation that as much I wanted to go to medical school they might not want me, I opted for Human Genetics as an insurance choice. As it would turn out, this snap decision would be the best I ever made. The Human Genetics offers came in a mere two weeks after submitting my form; however, as my friends started to receive offers for medicine, any on my front were sorely lacking. Finally, in March, five months after submitting my UCAS form and with three rejections from various medical schools, Manchester finally made me an offer following interview. I was overjoyed. I felt that the hard work was finally paying off and I was getting what I deserved.
As results day came round though, it was to bring with it a harsh realisation. The hard work had not paid off, my grades were not high enough and Manchester would not take me. Everything I had worked for had vanished with the opening of an envelope, and as I sat in the car outside the school it truly felt like my life had ended. I had never imagined myself being anything other than a doctor and I didn't know how to proceed from that point. Fortunately, my grades were high enough to accept the insurance offer from Human Genetics, and the degree I had applied for on a whim all those many months ago would be my saviour, even if I didn't know it at the time.
The next month went by in a blur of preparing to leave for university, both a different city as well as on a different course to that I had been desperately hoping for. Freshers' week was massively difficult, mainly because Human Genetics at Newcastle is taught at the medical school so the majority of people I met in that first week were medical students. I couldn't help but wish I was as lucky as them, but then an extraordinary thing happened. As my course progressed, I didn't just enjoy it, but I came to love it. Not only did I love it, I was good at it too and this took me completely by surprise. A-levels had knocked my confidence to such an extent that I had naturally assumed that I would struggle at university as well; instead I excelled. This presented me with a whole new challenge regarding my future career plans.
After writing off the idea of ever being a doctor at the age of eighteen, I found a first class in my B.Sc. Honours degree well within my reach. This gave me more than the minimum requirements to apply for medicine again. I spent more time trying to decide whether to pursue a career in my old love medicine or my new love genetics. Finding this an impossible decision I decided to apply and see what happened. If I got no offers the decision would be made for me. The decision was not made for me. After the struggle first time round, applying during the final year of my degree was a breeze. I was in control of my own UCAS form, and it was actually submitted early. Because of that, I already had my first offer before Christmas. The icing on the cake was that it was in my home town. It was this offer that made me realise how much I still craved a career in medicine. This offer would have been enough, but life just kept getting better. I received offers for all the schools I had applied for, including Newcastle, the city that had been home for the last three years. There just aren't the words to convey how this made me feel.
I decided to give medical school a go and see where it took me with the knowledge that I always had genetics to fall back on. I'm now in fourth year and still on Cloud nine. I would be lying if I said that I didn't miss science, but I love medicine in a way I could never have predicted, and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
Lara Khoury, fourth year medical student, Newcastle (2008)
What, You want Me to sit an Entrance Exam.....!!
When I discovered that applicants for entry into medical school in 2007 would have to take a newly introduced computerised exam called the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT), I went bonkers! I had been planning a smooth entry into a nice med-school in Britain since year ten, and now when I was about to enter the second year of A-levels, and apply for a place in a medical school, they were telling me I'd have to take another exam?! And for what? Just for my application to be considered by the universities! You can see why I was grinding my teeth.
I won't do it. I won't take the exam! To hell with British med schools, I can apply to Canadian ones I told myself.
But could I really just let go so easily? For almost three years, I had been collecting and skimming through brochures of the different universities in Britain. I had spent countless hours reading the websites of the medical faculties of the many medical schools all over Britain. It had practically become a dream of mine to get into a medical school in the United Kingdom. So what if I had to overcome another hurdle? I had done it before, with my GCSEs and A-levels, why not now? Why let a petty obstacle such as an exam stop me from being trained to become a doctor in the country that I wanted?
So I gulped and took the exam. I got an average score in every section. All is lost I thought, I'll never get accepted into a good medical school in England! I broken-heartedly applied to Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Southampton, but the application sat neglected by me because my time and energy were being spent trying to get my documents together for applications to Toronto and McMaster, both in Canada. I found out that in Canada, I would have to do a four-year-long undergraduate degree before I could apply to a medical school, unlike in Britain where I would be entering medical school straightaway. Now I was in a fix - medical school in Canada didn't seem like a great option anymore and I was sure that I would be rejected from all the four British medical schools that I had applied to.
My worry was further aggravated when Manchester rejected my application. Then Edinburgh and Southampton - I felt like I'd been slapped in the face when Southampton rejected me because they had interviewed me and I had been hopeful that I'd be accepted by Southampton. Newcastle invited me for an interview too, and I wearily went, without much hope. Newcastle was the university I wasn't expecting much from because I had been obsessed with Southampton. But when Newcastle made me a conditional offer, I forgot all about the rejections, I forgot all about Canada and made sure that everything was in order for me to enter Newcastle medical school in September 2007.
Right now, being at Newcastle, I tell everyone who cares to ask that I'm really glad I'm here. It may not have been my very first choice, but after having seen other medical schools outside their brochures and websites, I'm surprised that I got accepted here and frankly, very pleased that I'm studying medicine here.
Applying to medical school is arguably the most worrisome thing that I, and I'm sure many others, have had to do till date. You have several obstacles to overcome to finally get to medical school, like the UKCAT exam, or the personal statement in the UCAS application form or the interview at the medical school; sure, it's not easy. I know some people who have tried once, twice, even three times to get into any medical school and failed, but that doesn't stop them from trying again! Nothing good in life comes easily.
Applying to medical school is like being on one of those reality shows on television in which a contestant gets thrown out every week or so, except this is real life and there are no cameras, and the prize at the end of the run is not a cheque for five-thousand pounds, it's a place with the two-hundred-odd other students on an MBBS programme.
Daniyal B Daud, first year medical student, Newcastle (2008)
A Detour to Medicine
Just 6 years ago my dream was to be a musical theatre star, treading the boards in London's west end. I was at a specialist performing arts school spending 5 hours each day training in singing, dancing and acting, although due to gentle parental encouragement I was studying A-levels in English Literature, Drama and Theatre Studies and Human Biology alongside this. I had never had any desire to go to university throughout my school career, however, one morning in an AS Level Human Biology class I had a very sudden and dramatic change of heart: I want to be a doctor! Typical! A career in medicine had never crossed my mind before and I had no idea how to go about pursuing one. Looking back I think I had always thought performing was a self indulgent profession despite being fun, and I had always wanted to help people! After consulting a few university prospectuses it seemed that I would need chemistry to at least AS Level in order to apply; the only problem was that I wasn't studying chemistry! I started to get disillusioned and felt like giving up, but then I noticed that Bristol offered a 6 year medical degree with a preliminary year in basic science for non-scientific applicants. After even more scrupulous prospectus scouring I found about 6 medical schools that offered the same and discovered that Newcastle only required chemistry OR Biology at AS/A Level for their 5 year course. So I applied for my 4 choices, went for interviews, accepted an offer from Newcastle and the rest is history. I am now in my final term of my fourth year and I have never looked back since.
Why am I writing this article? I couldn't fill my personal statement with details of the science awards I had won, or how I'd wanted to be a doctor since infancy - why would they want me at their medical school? I didn't feel I had as much to offer as the more scientific applicants. If you're thinking this too, I want to tell you it's not true. There are plenty of attributes you will have that will potentially make you a great doctor that others may not; you just need to discover what these are and emphasise them in your personal statement and at interview.
The personal statement
I cannot tell you how many hours I spent picking over the details of my personal statement; I'm pretty sure it took years off my life. But the main points to incorporate are:
1. How will your non-scientific interests/subjects make you a good medical student and ultimately a good doctor; e.g. if you're musical would this provide a good stress outlet during your studies/career, does it make you a better communicator?
2. Work experience. You still need exposure to the world of medicine, even if this is helping at a residential home, going to home visits with an out of ours GP; they still need to see you're keen to experience medicine in a variety of settings.
3. Relate each point you mention back to why that will make you a good medical student; e.g. if you're into acting or performing does this mean you're good at team work and also able to handle leadership?
4. Make it different; the poor admissions staff read through piles of personal statements every day so try to make yours stand out. Use some light humour, try and be sophisticated with your language. Don't just write a list of things you've achieved.
The interview
This is a nerve wracking experience for everyone so don't do yourself a disservice by doubting whether you should be there just because your background isn't scientific. There is more to being a good doctor than that. Show that you have good communication skills, if you can't answer a question directly discuss your knowledge in the field and come to an educated conclusion rather than saying 'I don't know'. You're not expected to be a doctor when you walk into the room; a lot of the time they want to see how you can handle difficult situations. Try not to be intimidated and be proud of your more diverse background; you still have a lot to offer!
I really hope this article has given you a few pointers and bolstered your confidence. You still need AAA/AAB in whatever subjects you study at A-Level for most universities, but if you're dedicated enough to pursue medicine via a less easy route then I'm sure you're able to achieve these grades. Remember, science isn't the only thing that makes a good doctor.
Best of luck to you all!
Briony Conduit, fourth year medical student, Newcastle (2008)
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