Medicine ?

[panicattack]

Our DD, about to enter Y10, is showing an interest in studying medicine eventually. As non-medics ourselves we would appreciate some advice from anyone who could point us in the direction of taster courses she could attend in the next couple of years and what type of work experience any of your children have found useful ? Also, A-level combinations would be useful ? Ideally she would like to attend some lectures in the topic before she sets her heart on it, so any courses which could help her decide would be great. Ideally these would be in London or South-East. Many thanks for any help you can give.

[Marylou]

Lots of info on here http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medicine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... excellent careers advice and links provided, though caution/supervision recommended for younger ones as the overall site is used mainly by older students who discuss anything and everything!

[franticmum]

There's a course in London (and also in Nottingham) in February, aimed specifically at Y9 and Y10's, called MedlinkX. It covers medicine and veterinary and basically gives parents and children an insight into what they could be letting themselves in for before they apply for uni. We are going for that reason as daughter wants to be a vet. I understand they split the course for some lectures into vet and medicine so its more specific when necessary.

The course is not available for booking yet but all last year's info is on the website if you google it.

[KB]

DC of friend did this and found it helpful.

If doing work experience this year then anything where people skills can be developed would be useful - it is virtually impossible to get direct patient experience at this age but anything in a day centre or retirement home would be great.
Alternatively something in a day nursery.

Joining St John's Ambulance would be good - or at the very least undertaking one of their courses.

When a bit older then volunteering in a hospital etc in the coffee bar, gift shop is another option.

Have a browse of web sites for medical schools - they set out their admissions criteria including experience and A level subjects. Note that where they state 'preferred' it is pretty much required!

[Looking for help]

My son is thinking about Medicine.

I have read that Further Maths is often not accepted by universities as a 4th A Level , is this true ?

At the moment, (having just started Y11), he thinks he will do Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Further Maths. If he gets an A in his AS level Phil & Ethics which he is doing this year he will probably continue with that as well as it doesn't appear onerous as the A2 is split over years 12 and 13.

Are these good choices, or should he drop the further Maths idea and concentrate on the Phil & Ethics as his fourth ?

In terms of work experience, would working next summer in a care home be sufficient, or would he need actual hospital/medical experience ?

Also in terms of GCSEs, how many A*/As are required ?

Thanks for any help.

Edited to add I have read the link above and Further Maths is often not considered as a separate A Level

[Amber]

LFH I have pm-ed you.

Re Medlink, DD did this - she enjoyed it but now feels it was largely a waste of her time and our money in terms of what it actually offered. Superficial and didn't deal with the real issues - well how could it? Very profitable for the company concerned. Several of her friends went too and none of them would wholeheartedly recommend it unless you are feeling very rich!

[SteveDH]

Just couple of comments.
1stly as this is a Medicine thread, then yes Further Maths is often not considered as a 4th A Level, however for courses such as Engineering where it is important it is, and work wise it is definitely not a soft option.

2ndly Regarding Medlink, my DD's school states that if you want to go on a university taster course then you need to ask well in advance for them to consider giving you time off, and that they wont give time off for Medlink as they don't consider it a good use of time.

BTW my DD's not doing Medicine although most of her friends are.
Interestingly, my DD has just returned to school for year 13. Prior to the AS results there were about 50 pupils (out of 120) planning to do medicine, this has now dropped to 20, probably due to chemistry results this year being a lot worse then expected.

[Amber]

Prior to the AS results there were about 50 pupils (out of 120) planning to do medicine, this has now dropped to 20, probably due to chemistry results this year being a lot worse then expected.

Not necessarily. My DD has changed her plans, and scored very highly in all her AS levels, including Chemistry. It is a very big commitment, Medicine, and needs to be entered into with eyes wide open.

[hermanmunster]

Prior to the AS results there were about 50 pupils (out of 120) planning to do medicine, this has now dropped to 20, probably due to chemistry results this year being a lot worse then expected.

Not necessarily. My DD has changed her plans, and scored very highly in all her AS levels, including Chemistry. It is a very big commitment, Medicine, and needs to be entered into with eyes wide open.

DS changed his mind away from medicine in year 12 (following some well organised work experience ) - still went on to get v high marks in chem at A2

[sherry_d]

I thought you only needed 3 A levels for most courses so a 4th choice wouldn't really matter what it was. Is it different for medicine? Do they really need 4 A levels or just your best 3 including chemistry? I didn't realise they were courses that demanded 4 A levels apart from some one or two Oxbridge colleges.

Regarding A/A* I was just nosey to find out what they required and it seems you need to look into the different universities as they seem to all weight certain things more. Birmingham seems to need at least 7A* at GCSE to even get an interview if I remember right. I am glad my daughter has no inclination at all to go into anything medicine, the competition for medicine is just insane.

I remember there was a member here whose son went to study medicine and after a year decided it wasn't for him and went into music. It makes much more sense having medicine as a graduate program.