11 Plus Exams Forum

My son wants to study medicine and currently in year 10. He hasn't done any extra activities related to that field. Some of my friends suggested that he should do some course in St John Ambulance?

Any advice or sugesstions please? He is acadamically strong but I know it is a very tough field to get in, so I guess, he needs to do some thing extra?

Year 10 is a good time to start thinking about this- work experience is very important. He needs to know that he enjoys the caring side of medicine, so volunteering in community projects or residential homes is useful. At some stage -once he is 16 or over- he should try to get some experience working with a GP or in a hospital just so he knows what sort of things the job involves. Examples of leadership skills go down well, like running clubs or D of E, and commitment to extracurricular things useful too. Hope that helps?

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/medicine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is a useful source of infromation re medicine on the student room but be aware that some of the content on the forum is a bit adult for Year 10.

It is very much a grown up world, both applying for and studying medicine... that can be the trouble with getting work experience in that it is really quite hard to properly consent people to having a schoolchild around when discussed confidential medical matters.

Suspect St John's Ambulance might be a good place to start as they do have cadet members etc

My eldest dd is in her first year and started after she did a BSc degree first, but that is a long and expensive route.

We couldn't get direct work experience in our local hospital due to having the wrong postcode, but I would suggest taking anything you can get your hands on even if it's not directly related, such as working as a pharmacy assistant ( My dd also did two weeks with a dentist, ), but with this you could still talk about learning about the benefits and disadvantages of electronic prescriptions, patient confidentiality (she saw prescriptions of people she knew), some of the main common problems affecting the area, learning how to work as a team, dealing with angry customers it also improves knowledge about common over the counter medications, but the biggest bonus is getting to actually also talking to the pharmacist on duty .

Secondly I don't think it's too early to go to open days if you have the time ( I work for a London university- so I am biased and love open days) . You actually get the chance to speak to current medical students as well as tutors and get to know more about the course and what it actually entails.