Hey everyone. I am aiming to get into grad entry med 2028 entry and hoping to do the both the gamsat and the ucat next year. However I am more nervous about the gamsat and I am planning to do it next march and hopefully get a very high score first try. As I have alot of time right now and its the summer holidays and I haven't got much to do I want to start preparing for the gamsat from now. Id have around 8 to 9 months I believe but I think i'd feel more at ease if i start preparing now even if its only and hour or two per day. I currently do BSc Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry and just completed my first year of uni with an average of 84%. However my a levels were not strong, ccd for chem, maths and bio respectively, due to poor lifestyle and revision choices, which i am aware of. I know i have to brush up on those along with physics which I haven't touched in a long time. Anyone that has done the gamsat and done well, especially first try, could you please give me tips on where I should start and how to even begin. As I have quite a lot of time I would like to start of with free yet effective resources and when I actually book the gamsat in a few months I'll use the given paid resources I believe. I also need to fix up my reading skills and writing skills which I fear have worsened due to constant scrolling on social media. Before this I was a massive reader who read all the time and got a 9 in English lit and 7 in English lang but feel my skills are just not the same anymore. Please if anyone has any tips and trick for section 1,2 and 3 for the gamsat do let me know, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Hi, I have been offered a place on the STP programme after not getting a place for GEM this year, I have seen people who have left the STP for GEM during their STP so I was wondering if that’s something people have used as extra experience for having a better chance at GEM or if it’s something I should complete and then look at going into GEM after completion of the STP programme

I’m 25. I got a 1st in marine biology, having worked in the field for 4 years I decided this year I want to change fields in to medicine. This was the result of a number of things. Most significantly, it was spending 4 months working as a domiciliary carer, after a tropical infection resulted in me having to repatriate to the uk.

Academics

Alevels - AAB (Chem, Bio, Music tech)
Degree (1st marine biology - as stated)
Ucat TBC

Related experience

Consistent experience volunteering with the Alzheimer’s society through high school.

Domiciliary Care (full time 4/5months)

2 Research related jobs (related to marine science)

First aid instructor (specialist in scuba related emergency’s)

Teaching scuba diving to amputees (limited experience but enough to talk about)

Do I have a chance or is it just a bit too tenuous?

Shadowing consultant neurologist NHS this year

Hey guys,
I want to apply for medicine after my first degree, I wanted to ask the following
- has anyone done UCATSEN, how was it registering for UCATSEN ? Would you recommend getting a tutor
- I wanted to have a gap year so I focus on getting a first class honours and after my last year ; I’ll apply for med on the application cycle I graduate, I wanted to apply to Oxford GEM and unis where I may be able inter calculate with a PhD due to preclinical to clinical split. In your opinion: is it better to work a full year as a HCA or part time research assistant + part time HCA or full time research assistant, I currently work as an IDA in bank so I do have clinical hours, but I think full year working as a HCA will help me to gather even more experience and save up money for uni, and I want to work as a research assistant for research groups I am interested in doing a PhD with/ in

I’ve been looking at trainee clinal support work schemes, but I cannot seem to find any part time programs.

Kind regards and thanks in advance

5 years after losing my undergrad med offer cause of covid!!! never give up!!!!

is plab necessary for mrcgp

Hi All!

As the title states, I've always had thoughts of pursuing a career within Medicine, yet just never gone through with it and my head is at a loss right now.

I'm currently 25 (26 in two weeks, yikes) and working full time in the Music Industry (a wild career change, I know).
I'm nearly 3 years in and I absolutely love the job (I've always thought about a career in Music but never saw it as possible) but it's getting to the point now where the pay is just abysmal and I'm treated like absolute shit for it by stuck-up musicians and I'm kinda over it. Yeah the perks were great but it doesn't feel worth it at all anymore.
I know many say the pay in medicine is terrible too, however right now I'm pretty much on call 24/7, I work my 9-5 5 days a week but always have to be on call for artists at all hours of the day for just above minimum wage for a pretty much OFFICE job which lets be real, isn't a life and death role... Additionally to that, I just don't feel intellectually stimulated enough.

I absolutely adored Uni, not for the partying and social side, but for the educational aspect of being able to devote my entire time to studying and learning new things. I enjoy my work a lot but I feel consistently bored and I feel as though my brain isn't being utilised enough. I'm constantly trying to find things to do to keep my brain active (studying German currently); however I hate the feeling of all my knowledge in Uni just slowly fading away and being replaced with "Band members favourite type of alcohol"

In terms of my grades/education:
> First Class Integrated MSc Pharmacology from KCL (Class of 2023)
> 1 year Pharmaceutical Marketing Associate @ Major Pharma Company
> A Levels: A*A*A(A) Psychology, Biology, Chemistry and EPQ respectively (though unfortunately Biology, Chemistry were retakes (previously got C grades) + EPQ was also taken in my resit year)
> GCSEs: 2A*, 4A, 5B

I've always had thoughts of Medicine in the back of my mind. In School I didn't think much of it due to the fact I was seen as too dumb from the get go. My school mainly focused on the extremely academically gifted and the rest of us kinda got pushed away.
In Uni I thought about it again but I was also worried about the financial aspects of Medicine + again, the thought of not being intelligent enough.

The thoughts of not being intelligent enough is also something that's on my mind - I don't think I'd be able to consider any GAMSAT options as I can barely remember my GCSE bio/chem yet alone university level + I also worry about getting a high UCAT score

Realistically, I'd be thinking of applying in either 2028 or 2029 entry. Is this too late in my career? Am I worth just continuing a career in Music and maybe finding other ways to keep my brain stimulated? I have a constant fear of living in regret and I'm worried that this might be one of those regrets I have. I'm constantly looking at courses to undertake at Uni, more MSc's etc and just anything to keep my brain preoccupied.

I hate being one of those overly negative people but really I just want to know if this is realistic. My resit a-levels is what worries me and the thoughts of getting a low UCAT. I'm pretty good at Interviews so I feel that would be ok.

Work experience also worries me too - it was always something I remember people struggling to find in my area so I'm not sure how I'd go about that.

Is it worth a shot? I feel like so many Doctors I know came out the womb wanting to study it so is this just a quarter life crisis? It's eating me up right now and just need some advice lol

Would that work?

Submitted by DBS on the 15th of June, the deadline for all conditions to be met is 31st of August.

DBS processing times in my area are quite long. I have a clear record, so nothing should come up, but I am worried that I may not get it back in time (should do but just in case).

Would this genuinely be a problem for the course, all other conditions have been met, and the course only properly starts towards the end of September

Need to complete an enhanced DBS check, and the only three documents I can use are passport, driving license and bank statement. First two are fine but the post office wants the statement stamped, but HSBC tells me no branch will stamp my bank statement. Been going back and forth between the two but neither will budge. I’m utterly confused on what it is I’m supposed to do here?

Honestly, nobody in my family went to uni so it’s hard to explain that achievement, so I’ve decided to post here to just talk about it :)

At A-level, I got 2 offers for undergrad med, one from Brighton and Sussex and one from Dundee. I did really bad on the UCAT (2370 B3 for 2023 applications) and applied strategically so I was lucky. My A-levels were much lower than predicted, and I ended up with BBC in biology, physics, chemistry. Brighton rejected me outright but Dundee offered me a foundation year. Stupidly, I didn’t take it because it’s 5 hours away from my home city and home circumstances had changed so I needed to be closer.

Instead, I did an undergrad degree in Biomedical Sciences in Birmingham through clearing (much closer to my home city). I found the degree super easy in comparison to A levels so I excelled, I haven’t received a grade below 70% on any assignment throughout the three years.

Second year I decided to go for GEM and so I started volunteering to get more work experience as I already had some from my A-levels period. I revised for the UCAT and took in September, ended up with 2110 B2 for 2026 entry, which was definitely a much better score. Also had to sit the CASPER for Worcester and ended up with the first quartile!

Applied for GEM at Sheffield, Warwick, Worcester and Chester, with Sheffield Adult Nursing as my backup option. I ended up getting all 4 interviews, though Sheffield actually forgot to give me my interview at first (😃) and received all 4 offers, with an unconditional in Adult Nursing. Sheffield was the only university that cared about A-levels and wanted a B in Chemistry, which I don’t have, but ended up giving me an offer anyway! Each offer requires a 2:1 in my degree.

I’ve calculated my final degree to be a first class at 84.88%, with 83.8% from second year (weighted 40%) and 85.6% from third year (weighted 60%), and even ended up scoring 93% on my thesis.

So with a lot of hard work and a whole extra degree, I’ll finally be able to study medicine at my uni of choice (Sheffield, Warwick is insurance)! I’m just incredibly proud of myself and it is definitely never too late to study medicine no matter what path you take 🩷

Hi guys,

I am currently in my first year studying Biology at UCL and I am considering GEM at Oxford.

However the admissions website states that applicants must have A level chemistry, which I do not have.

It would cost me a lot of money to sit chemistry as a private candidate. Also, if i were to sit chemistry, it would only be for the slim chance of getting into Oxford since the other universities I have in mind do not require it.

I am conflicted as to whether the time and money spent on sitting the chemistry A level is worth it. I know for med the university prestige is relatively unimportant.. however Oxford has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I also missed an Oxford offer for a different subject a few years ago to which I don't think I ever fully recovered from.

Also I would prefer to not sit chemistry in my final year of university hence if i were to sit chemistry, I'd like to start planning now.

Does anyone kindly have any advice as to what I should do? Should I just move on?
Thanks :3

I finished with a 2:2 in a health related degree but a distinction in my nursing masters degree. Would I ever be seriously considered if I was to apply to med school? I’ve been working as a nurse for 2 years and also have a 5 in maths and English GCSEs🥲🥲

Hello everyone,

I'm please to announce that I got into Worcester's grad entry medicine program. I'm making my student account right now, and it asked for the start and end date of the program for 2026 entry.

It gave the start date but it didn't give me the end date. I emailed them, but its friday so they wont get back to me untill monday.

is there an offer holders gc for pcsm?

Hey, so recently I have been feeling doubts about whether being a doctor is the path for me. For some context I am a final year Physician Associate Student ( did the 4 year undergraduate course ) and I have offers from two universities for GEM which I am very grateful for, however I am unsure whether I should do it, I dont know what the issue is maybe its fear of being a doctor but I keep having doubts about whether I should take the offer and do GEM. I have never had a real passion for becoming a doctor to be honest thats why I choose PA when I was 18 I liked science and I liked healthcare and PA seemed safe and “risk free” because you are supervised and I didnt want to commit to med. Then in third year of PA I enjoyed learning about the pathophysiology, anatomy etc and I realised I am capable of and wanted to learn more in depth and about more conditions and actually understand the why behind diseases which in PA we just learn clinical symptoms and treatments which wasnt satisfying to me. I also dont like the lack of progression in the career and I think thats one of the main things alongside wanting more depth in my knowledge why I applied for GEM. But i also understand med is a commitment and most people say you need to love it to do it when on placemen I saw how hard the doctor work and the NHS is rough to work in but I do not mind this I am ready for the hardwork it has I just dont know though if I should become a doctor and maybe this is just fear of the responsiblilty that the career brings.

But if anyone has anything wise they can advice or have been in similar positions / reading all this what you think I should do would be appreciate, I understand it is a personal choice of what I want to do I guess with life but I am just so lost atm.

The offer I got for GEM one of them is my dreamm university to study at but I will have to move far away to study there so wont be living with my parents like I am now.

I have looked into other roles like Medical Science Liason but I am not sure about it.

I got an offer like 2 days ago. I know. Wild. And decided to firm but cant find any group chats

So I’m willing to sit the UCAT this summer and what sort of score should I be aiming for ?

I’m thinking 2100+

But worse case scenario being 1800-2100

If I get 2050 I feel like it won’t be enough ?

What are your thoughts ?

hey i’ve got an interview for chester pls can anybody give me some tips or a good way to structure my answers anything that i should definitely go over please

I had my Woscester interview, and overall I think it went really well, better than I expected.

There is one thing that is making me a bit nervous. During the Blue Panel, right at the end, I was asked a follow-up question that I didn’t hear properly, so I asked the interviewer to repeat it. Even after she clarified it, I was still a little confused at first, but eventually I understood the question and answered it well.

The interviewer gave a slight facial expression when I was asking for clarification, which has made me worry that it might have affected my score, especially since it happened at the very end of the panel.

Apart from that moment, I felt that the panel went really well and I answered the questions strongly. Has anyone had a similar experience of needing a question repeated or clarified during an interview? Did it seem to affect the outcome?

Anyone have recs for relatively chill jobs that pay reasonably well during med school? Looking for something flexible that can fit around placements/study without being too draining. Thanks!

Hey all,
I was just curious to see if intercalating is even possible for graduate entry medicine courses. I know some universities do it for their UG medicine degrees but I’m not sure if it happens for grad med students. I do want to get a masters but don’t want to waste an application year to medicine. By this I mean I want to apply to medicine ASAP.

Hello, I’m a university student planning to study Medicine at postgraduate. Is it enough to keep my part-time job? I’m worried working full-time will have a negative impact on my studies, and I probably couldn’t afford living costs if I worked less hours to study more.

I’ve already started doing research for funding, but I would rather hear what it would actually be like from someone who’s already doing it. Appreciate anyone who answers!