Month: May 2022

Interviews for medical school are broadly split into two very different formats. The traditional, panel based interviews and Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI) type interviews.

Panel Interviews

Panel interviews generally involve between two and four panel members quizzing you for 20 minutes to half an hour.  Panel members will range from senior doctors and nurses to junior doctors and sometimes even medical students themselves. Panel interviews will focus on your motivation for studying medicine, your reason for choosing that university and your specific qualities that make you suitable to study medicine.

Multiple Mini Interviews

MMI interviews involve a selection of short, one on one interviews undertaken on a circuit of interview stations. Some of the MMI stations will focus on similar aspects to a panel interview but some stations will be task focused and involve mental maths calculations, role play simulation and ethical discussions. MMI interviews are generally much longer than panel interviews and can last over an hour.

 

MMI interviews are generally considered a fairer assessment of candidates as you are given more opportunity to sell yourself and your overall score will be based on the opinion of a wider group of people. On the other hand, MMI interviews can be more gruelling and require you to stay focused and alert for far longer.

How can I prepare for medical school interviews?

Regardless of where you apply, there are some key tips to help you maximise your changes of acing the interview:

 

• Understand the universities course structure and be able to talk about why you want to attend that specific university.
• Reflect on your work experience. Think of things you saw that you felt were examples of good qualities in a doctor.
• Read the news. The NHS is constantly in the news and being informed about current issues stories will help you demonstrate your interest in being part of the medical profession.
• Read the GMCs “Good medical practice” which outlines the qualities that UK doctors should have.
• Know your ethics. A classic interview question is asking you to evaluate an ethical situation in medicine and so it is essential to know your beneficence form your non-maleficence.

Contact Us

If you have been invited to a medical school interview, pat yourself on the back because many people don’t make it this far. Interviews can be hugely daunting, and it sometimes feels like they could ask you any question under the sun. Luckily, with enough preparation and the right knowledge you will have all the tools you need to show them why you would make a brilliant junior doctor.

 

For any help and support with the application and interview process including arranging mock interviews and practice stations, please contact us.

You should start preparation for the UCAT exam between two and three months before your exam date. On average you should spend between four and six hours a week on your revision and this will naturally increase the closer you get to the exam.  Here are some simple ways in which you can structure your preparation for the UCAT.

Understand the Structure

The UCAT exam is a two hour exam split into five sections. The first four of which give you a score out of 900. Each of these four sections are worth the same number of points and the average of these scores will become your final score. The last section, a Situational Judgement Test (SJT) is graded between bands 1-4 with 1 being the best and 4 being the worse. Each final score will therefore be a score out of 900 and a banding for section 5 (SJT). E.g. 759 – Band One.

 

Learn the Theory

One of the most challenging aspects of UCAT preparation is working out where to begin. Each section tests a different mental skill and it can be daunting trying to work out exactly what each question is asking. This is especially important for the SJT section. To ace this part of the UCAT you have to understand the rules and regulations that govern how doctors work and the ethical principles on which all medical decisions are based. This is where tutoring can be incredibly useful as our tutors can help you navigate this maze and make sense of each UCAT section. We can help you understand the variations on each question type.

Reflect on your Mistakes

One of the most challenging aspects of UCAT preparation is working out where to begin. Each section tests a different mental skill and it can be daunting trying to work out exactly what each question is asking. This is especially important for the SJT section. To ace this part of the UCAT you have to understand the rules and regulations that govern how doctors work and the ethical principles on which all medical decisions are based. This is where tutoring can be incredibly useful as our tutors can help you navigate this maze and make sense of each UCAT section. We can help you understand the variations on each question type.

Finesse your Exam Technique

The best advice I received before taking the UCAT exam was to practice under exam conditions. That meant, phone away, use the computer calculator and keep my timing strict. The more you practice under exam conditions, the fewer surprises you’ll get on the day. One of the easiest ways to drop points on the day is to run out of time on a section because you’re not used to doing questions under the right time pressure.

Take Mock Exams

A big challenge of the UCAT exam is sustaining focus for two hours straight. In the three weeks before your exam you should practice running through whole past papers under exam conditions. The more of these you do, the fewer surprises there will be on the day and the less mentally tiring the exam will be.

Contact Think Tutors

Overall, with the right planning and tailored practice you can shift the UCAT from being a source of anxiety and stress to being a huge asset for your medicine application. Having a UCAT tutor can go a long way to helping ease this burden and provide personalised support that is tailored to the unique way in which each student thinks. If you would like to learn more about how a UCAT tutor can help achieve your goals, please contact us.

 

 

 

Structure

While every personal statement will be different, most will have a recognisable structure. Contained in your 4000 characters will be the answers to the following three questions.

 

1. What qualities do you possess that will make you a safe, ethical and professional doctor? These are you attributes.
2. What is it about medicine that attracts you? This is your motivation.
3. What have you done to understand the world you’re trying to join? This is your perception of medicine.

 

Each paragraph of your personal statement should answer one of the three questions above. For any support or help in navigating this process including tuition for UCAT and BMAT exams, interview preparation please do contact us.

Content

The content of your personal statement is, as it’s title suggests, personal.  This is a good thing as it gives you a certain degree of flexibility and the opportunity to speak honestly about yourself. While the words you put to paper are your own, you would be foolish not to reference these key personal statement topics.

 

Why you want to be a doctor. This is generally how students will begin their personal statements and there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone will have a different motivation to study medicine and you do not have to have a challenging personal experience to justify you application. If you simply find the combination of biology and human interaction interesting then say that. Equally, if you were inspired by seeing an impressive doctor at some point then it is also ok to say this. As long as you are speaking truthfully it will come across in your personal statement and interview.

 

Work experience and volunteering. Work experience is an invaluable opportunity to see the reality of working in the NHS and you personal statement should rightfully highlight this. Crucially, your personal statement should not be a trophy room of various impressive shadowing opportunities you have completed. This doesn’t demonstrate why you would make a good doctor and whether you truly understand working in the NHS. Your work experience paragraph should instead focus on what you learnt and gained in your work experience. Was this watch an example of good communication skills? Was this a difficult ethical situation that you have reflected on?

 

Extracurricular activities. Being captain of you hockey team at school unfortunately does not automatically make you a good doctor. The key with your extracurricular achievements is to relate them back to important skills that doctors must have. For example, being calm under pressure or assessing and utilizing the different skills of a team.

 

Sometimes the hardest part of writing a personal statement is just getting started. Try writing some paragraphs on the topics listed above in as many words as it takes. Don’t worry about it being too long, it is always easier to cut it down afterwards.

Contact Think Tutors

If you need help from somebody who has written a successful personal statement before, or perhaps was involved in shortlisting candidates, please contact us.

 

We also offer tuition and expert advice on every major entrance exam, from Cambridge Law Test to the LNAT, MAT, STEP, BMAT, GAMSAT, UCAT, CAT, ELAT, GAA, HAT, PAT, MLAT, MML, OLAT, TSA and the Oxford Philosophy Test.

Start with the entry requirements

Close to 28000 students apply to study medicine in the UK each year. In order to help filter students each medical school will set its own entry criteria that students must meet in order to be considered for interview. This is usually a combination of GCSE grades, A level / IB predicted grades and the UCAT / BMAT score.

It is vital to understand the entry criteria as medical schools will not even look at your personal statement if you don’t meet their entry criteria. Conversely, understanding which medical schools you can apply to will help bring down the number of medical schools you need to research and choose between.

Research the shortlisting process

Unfortunately, meeting the entry criteria is not enough to be invited for an interview. For all students that meet the entry criteria, medical schools will then look at each students individual application (school grades, UCAT / BMAL score, personal statement, work experience) before shortlisting the top students for interview. Each university will have information on their website outlining their shortlisting process and which aspects of the application they rate the highest. No medical school is easy to get into but some the shortlisting process of some universities may play to your strengths more than others.

Understand the course design

Most medical schools combine classroom and lecture based learning with clinical placements where student learn on the job. The exact balance between clinical placements and lectures will vary between medical schools. If getting onto the wards as early as possible is important for you, consider universities like Nottingham that have clinical placements from Year 1. Conversely, if you are happier in a lecture hall or tutorial, universities like Cambridge or Oxford might interest you more.

Problem Based Learning

A minority of medical schools rely on Problem Based Learning (PBL) as a key teaching approach. PBL is a group based learning tool in which students are encouraged to do their own research and tackle problems in a small group environment with the help of an instructor. PBL isn’t for everyone and so knowing the medical schools that do and don’t use it is an important consideration.

Where do I want to live?

Does the idea of being at university 200 miles away from home sound like a nightmare? For many students, location plays a key role in choosing medical school as some students will be happy to compromise on certain aspects of a course if it means being close to home. If you don’t think you’re going to happy living in the city the medical school is based in then there is little point in applying.

To intercalate or not to intercalate?

Intercalation in the term for undertaking an additional, one-year science degree as part of you medical degree. Not all universities offer the chance to intercalate and an extra year at university means another year of student loans so whether you would want to intercalate should also be part of your process of choosing universities.

Contact Think Tutors

Whatever medical schools you settle on, remember to research the entry criteria, understand the shortlisting process, review the course structure, and ask an expert for some sound advice.

 

For any support or help in navigating this process including tuition for UCAT and BMAT exams, interview preparation please do contact us.

 

We also offer tuition and expert advice on every major entrance exam, from Cambridge Law Test to the LNAT, MAT, STEP, BMAT, GAMSAT, UCAT, CAT, ELAT, GAA, HAT, PAT, MLAT, MML, OLAT, TSA and the Oxford Philosophy Test.