My Top 3 tips on how to get 4 Med School offers
Receiving that first pre-interview rejection can be heart-breaking, but having 4 rejections is soul destroying.
All that runs through your mind is: “I’m never going to be a doctor” or “I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life”!
Seriously, CHILLAX!! It’s definitely not the end of Medicine – it’s just the start of one of the best experiences of your life. It is inevitable that you will feel very unmotivated and upset for a period of time (to the point I refused to watch my favourite show, Grey’s Anatomy), but you have to – and will – get over it.
1. Get feedback from the universities you applied to
After I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I requested feedback from all of the Universities I applied to, post-rejection, so I could fully understand what my weaknesses were and what I could work on to make my next application worthy of a jaw-drop!
My academics and extracurricular (volunteering, sporting activities, Duke of Edinburgh, etc.) ticked all the boxes, but my UKCAT score REALLY let me down first time round. Many people claim that it’s a test you can’t study for and it’s all down to your “natural ability”, but that’s a load of faeces! If you put in the time and effort to practice, you’ll be amazed at how much your aptitude skills can progress (especially after a year out).
2. Take a Medicine gap year and use it wisely!
I was 100% certain that I wanted to take a gap year, rather than diving into a degree that I wasn’t fully committed to. Yes, graduate entry would be great considering that you’ll have another degree under your belt, and you’ll get to go straight to University, but if you really want to become a doctor, it’s worth the wait. You can also intercalate at most, if not all medical schools, meaning you’ll graduate with two degrees anyway and save yourself at least 2 years.
During my gap year, I worked for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity in The Royal Hospital for Children (in Glasgow – in case you hadn’t guessed). After applying for and completing a 3 month voluntary internship, I was lucky enough to be employed by this incredible charity. My work involved helping out with events within the hospital and occasionally working in their fundraising Hub.
3. Reflect on your experiences and new skills
It has certainly been one of the most incredible and beneficial experiences of my life. I’ve gained and developed so many skills (e.g. organisational, interpersonal, prioritising, etc.); met and had an impact on a variety of amazing families; become financially comfortable for going to University; and as clichéd as it sounds, I’ve definitely become more independent and mature.
It is also great to understand the impact that charities can have on NHS hospitals (and something you can talk about at interview too). At my interviews I was able to talk about medical equipment that the charity has purchased for the hospital – including one of the UK’s first 4D Cardiac Scanners – and the impact this has had on patients.
The world is your oyster
This is just one way to make your year out fantastically beneficial. There are endless opportunities when it comes to taking a gap year, and an insane amount of skills you can develop whilst doing so. The best part is that you are free to do whatever you want (within reason!). Whether that’s working, volunteering, travelling, or all of that! But the most important things are that you gain something from it, you have fun, and are able to use these learning experiences to have a better second application! For me, obtaining 4 interviews this time round was due to having a higher UKCAT score, but receiving 4 offers – a position I never thought I’d be in – was down to the fact that my gap year gave me so much (perhaps too much) to talk about, and the confidence/maturity that was needed to excel at interview.
So if you’re contemplating whether to take a gap year or not – DO IT! You will not regret it!
Uploaded by Kay on 30 March 2016
