Studying medicine teaches you to combine science-led problem solving with practical skills for a lifelong career helping others in a vast range of specialities in both clinical and academic settings.
Here are some general resources related to Medicine. These should be a useful introduction, regardless of which Medicine related course you’re interested in and where you might want to study it.
InsideUni Medicine 🔗 🌟 Our friends at InsideUni Medicine have created a new resource all about medicine applications. Like our website, it includes student-written advice about the application process, including real students' testimonies of what it was like to apply and do a medicine interview. It's a brand new project, so you can sign up 🔗 to the newsletter for updates!
The Cambridge MedSoc Guide to Applying to Medical School 🔗 🌟 Although this guide contains some Oxbridge-specific content, the majority of the information is relevant to UK medical schools more generally. In particular, check out the sections on writing Medicine personal statements, and preparing for common interview questions. The guide was written in 2019, so it is worth noting that expectations regarding work experience have generally been relaxed, as all universities are mindful that Covid-19 will have inevitably prevented prospective applicants from completing work experience in the healthcare sector.
The Medic Collective website 🔗 🌟 A huge collection of free resources dedicated to making applications to medical school less daunting! The website has sections on choosing a medical school, obtaining work experience, exploring some wider reading, and preparing for admissions tests.
'Perfect Your Medicine Personal Statement' free eBook 🔗 🌟 A brand new eBook compiled by current Medicine students, including how to reflect on your experiences; common mistakes to avoid; and tips for writing about any virtual work experience you may have undertaken this year!
The Aspiring Medics 🔗 🌟 A community of medical students and doctors who have produced comprehensive application guides, ranging from UCAS to personal statements, to articles on medical ethics and medicine diaries. In particular, check out the extra reading page 🔗 🌟 to learn more about the NHS, coronavirus, and public health.
Aspire Med 🔗 Set up by a group of motivated medical students with a passion to inspire and empower individuals to fulfil their potential, Aspire Med aims to make information and support available to all those who wish to apply to medical schools. They also host events and conferences - find more details on their Facebook page 🔗.
Books: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
One serious and one funny but poignant; books about life as a doctor. Can be referenced in interviews but also allow you to explore what being a doctor is really like!
Medical schools have one of two entrance exams. Most use the UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) previously known as the UKCAT (United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test), whilst a select few including Oxbridge use the BMAT (BioMedical Admissions Test). There are a lot of good (and free!) resources out there for both however there are a few courses you can pay for that I’ve included for completeness; however they are definitely not required to score highly in these exams. They are indicated by a £ sign in the lists below.
Official UCAT website 🔗 🌟 The official UCAT website including registration details and a few free practice tests.
**1250 UKCAT Practice Questions by iscMedical: Every year the UCAT admins write a whole host of new questions and release the old ones, this is a compilation of years’ worth of test questions you can do in bulk. It also includes advice on how to approach each section and can be carried around and used whenever you have a spare minute.
The Medic Portal 🔗 A useful free bank of questions for practice.
Medify 🔗 (£) Much cheaper than Kaplan, this is effectively another bank of questions you can use. However some of the questions are written by the company themselves so may not be as faithful to the true exam.
The medic portal 🔗 (£) The Medic Portal runs training days in schools around the country for the UCAT. Some comprehensive schools offer subsidies for these so it is worth discussing with your school if they will do this.
The BMAT will no longer be used after 2023.
Admissions testing 🔗 🌟 A collection of all of the past papers on release to the public. The paper comes in 3 sections and the specification for each is updated periodically so worth scrolling down so you know which papers will be most like the actual test.
Admissions testing: BMAT specification 🔗 🌟 A guide that explains the format of the BMAT, and more importantly, has a syllabus of expected GCSE science knowledge. Not every GCSE exam board covers every one of these topics and it is expected that you will have knowledge from biology, chemistry and physics so worth brushing up on unfamiliar/difficult topics.
700 BMAT Practice Questions by iscMedical: Another bank of questions as well as explanations on how to approach each section which is especially useful for essay writing.
** Medical School Interviews (2nd Ed.) by iscMedical: a really useful book that covers the basics of different interview styles and common questions and can be used for interviews at any uni.
YouTube videos to give you an idea about what interviews are like!
Medicine mock interview 🔗
Medicine interview tips 🔗
The Medic Portal medical ethics 🔗 🌟 Medical ethics are a favourite interview question at every university. The Medic Portal has a great blog series about the 4 pillars of medical ethics and how to use them to BBC News - Health 🔗, The Guardian Health 🔗
Like current events in the medical world, being familiar with current events and scientific developments even in a broad sense can show interviewers you are interested in the world around you. BBC news 🔗. BBC news science and the environment 🔗. The Guardian Science 🔗.