So if you've started to look into studying Medicine and maybe started looking at universities, you've probably seen the words "PBL", "Integrated" and "Traditional" popping up everywhere. I thought I'd make a post just to help anyone who's confused about what these mean.
Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
The newest way of teaching medical students. In PBL, you have an assigned teaching group. At the start of a week or two-week period you and your group are given a "problem". This is usually about a patient who has some symptoms perhaps. Within your group you will have to figure out what you already know about the symptoms and what could be causing them, what you need to know in order to be able to better understand the problem and figure it out. Each person will then be assigned a different aspect of the problem to try to answer, and then at the end of the week or two week period they will come back to their PBL group and teach them what they've learnt and researched. Throughout that next week or two weeks, the lectures and seminars you have will be based around the problem you are studying. You won't be left completely on your own - each PBL group has a supervisor who asks the correct questions to ensure that the group is going down the right path in dealing with the problem.
Personally, I don't like the idea of PBL as I prefer to be taught in a lecture - I like to be told what I'm learning, and to have it explained to me by an expert rather than someone who has just learnt it themselves. As well as that, I don't like the fact you would have to rely on other people to do the work for you. If they don't research their part, then noone will know about that specific section of the problem.
However, PBL could be beneficial if you enjoy private-study and self directed learning - it will definitely help it go in more, and also if you enjoy working in a group and being taught by other students.
Universities which do mainly PBL: University of East Anglia (UEA), Hull-York Medical School (HYMS), Manchester, Keele, Exeter, Glasgow
Traditional
This is at the other end of the spectrum to PBL. The Traditional course has a very strong pre-clinical/clinical divide. This means that for the first two years of your teaching you will only be taught in lectures, seminars and tutorials and will have no clinical contact (that is, no hospital visits or clinical skills), and will be taught the science of medicine basically. After those two years, you will then move onto the clinical part of the course. You will be based in hospitals and will also learn clinical skills, and still be taught a bit about diseases.
The traditional option is good if you want to know everything before you start doing anything clinical or anything with patients. It's good if you're very strong academically and enjoy having lots of work all at once.
However, the negative part of the traditional course is that sometimes it can be difficult to relate what you're learning as you never see it in real life. In addition, you may sometimes feel demotivated as you don't get to experience what being a doctor is like and may think "why am I doing this?"
Universities which are Traditional: Queen's University Belfast, Cambridge, Oxford,
Integrated
This seems to be the approach that most medical schools take to teaching medicine. The integrated course has a bit of everything in it, although still with a slight pre-clinical/clinical divide. In your first two years you'll have maybe a bit of PBL, a few hospital and GP visits, a lot of lectures and seminars and you'll learn some clinical skills too. After these two years, you'll then go on to have attachments in hospitals whilst still learning some clinical skills and putting your knowledge into practice a lot more. You'll also still have some lectures and will have a lot more patient contact. The integrated curriculum does vary between different medical schools - with some having more early patient contact than others.
The integrated course is what appeals to me the most. The early patient contact is so valuable because it will help to motivate you and make sure that you can deal with patients, and enable you to relate what you've learnt to an actual real life situation. You'll also still be taught in lectures and so will be taught by an expert, but will have the opportunity to ask questions in your seminars, and get to know a few clinical skills.
Some negatives to the integrated course could be that you only like one type of teaching, or you don't feel comfortable being exposed to patients so early. As well as that you might not enjoy lectures and seminars, and would enjoy working in a small group where you could ask your peers questions.
Universities which are Integrated: Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Nottingham, Bristol, Brighton, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh, Guy's and St. Thomas', King's, Imperial, Leicester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Southampton, St. George's.
So those are all the types of different medical courses, I really hope this helps clear up any questions any has. These are just my opinions, and you might find you'd love a PBL course so don't take everything I say to heart!
Sunday 8 December 2013
Friday 6 December 2013
Update
So I know it's been a while since I last posted on this blog, so I just thought I'd write an update about what's happened over the last few months.
The first and most important thing: I applied to Medical School! After hours of slaving over my personal statemen and studying for the UKCAT, I finally got it finished and sent off my UCAS form.
I had an interview at one of the universities I applied to in mid-November, and I feel like it went quite well! The panel who interviewed me were lovely and they weren't trying to catch me out - they definitely tried to make me feel at ease, and if I got a bit stuck they wouldn't try and keep pushing and pushing me for an answer if my mind went blank (which unfortunately did happen just once). I felt like I could answer the questions - hopefully it was good enough for me to get in! Fingers crossed.
I also got an offer to study Biochemistry as my backup - hopefully I won't have to take up this offer, but it's still nice to just have one offer when I log onto my UCAS Track page.
I've also obviously got my AS grades - I was really happy with them and they were good enough to allow me to apply to medical school so that was great!
I've started A2! It's quite difficult, but hopefully I can manage it for the rest of the year. I've dropped French and continued with Biology, Chemistry and Maths and they're all so interesting.
It is quite difficult seeing everybody get offers when you know that you're not going to get any offers until around March, but then everybody else who's applying to medicine is in the same boat as you. I'm watching all of the threads for the applicants to my universities on The Student Room, and it can be quite nerve-wracking, especially when you see other people getting interviews at a university you applied to!
I'm trying to keep up to date by reading the BMJ and BBC News, and I follow some of the Medical Schools on twitter, as they sometimes post about the medical research that their university is undertaking.
So that's just a little update about what's going on! Hopefully I'll try to post on here more often - sorry for slacking!
The first and most important thing: I applied to Medical School! After hours of slaving over my personal statemen and studying for the UKCAT, I finally got it finished and sent off my UCAS form.
I had an interview at one of the universities I applied to in mid-November, and I feel like it went quite well! The panel who interviewed me were lovely and they weren't trying to catch me out - they definitely tried to make me feel at ease, and if I got a bit stuck they wouldn't try and keep pushing and pushing me for an answer if my mind went blank (which unfortunately did happen just once). I felt like I could answer the questions - hopefully it was good enough for me to get in! Fingers crossed.
I also got an offer to study Biochemistry as my backup - hopefully I won't have to take up this offer, but it's still nice to just have one offer when I log onto my UCAS Track page.
I've also obviously got my AS grades - I was really happy with them and they were good enough to allow me to apply to medical school so that was great!
I've started A2! It's quite difficult, but hopefully I can manage it for the rest of the year. I've dropped French and continued with Biology, Chemistry and Maths and they're all so interesting.
It is quite difficult seeing everybody get offers when you know that you're not going to get any offers until around March, but then everybody else who's applying to medicine is in the same boat as you. I'm watching all of the threads for the applicants to my universities on The Student Room, and it can be quite nerve-wracking, especially when you see other people getting interviews at a university you applied to!
I'm trying to keep up to date by reading the BMJ and BBC News, and I follow some of the Medical Schools on twitter, as they sometimes post about the medical research that their university is undertaking.
So that's just a little update about what's going on! Hopefully I'll try to post on here more often - sorry for slacking!
Friday 5 July 2013
Results Day
I am absolutely terrified for results day, and that is genuinely not an exaggeration. I don't remember being this scared for GCSEs, so why for AS?! I guess maybe it's because they count for more and my offers are based on these.
I keep over thinking my exams far too much, especially Biology Unit 1 which just went terribly (if you take Edexcel Biology you'll understand)! And I didn't really have any exams that I came out of saying "I aced that". So all in all it's absolutely terrifying.
I'm super competitive as well, so if I do badly and then someone does better than me, I won't be happy for them, I will be enraged! It's quite a bad trait to have in that respect, but very useful when it comes to school because it means I work hard.
Also, last year I constantly had dreams about failing all of my GCSEs, so I'm just waiting for those nightmares to come back again!
I keep over thinking my exams far too much, especially Biology Unit 1 which just went terribly (if you take Edexcel Biology you'll understand)! And I didn't really have any exams that I came out of saying "I aced that". So all in all it's absolutely terrifying.
I'm super competitive as well, so if I do badly and then someone does better than me, I won't be happy for them, I will be enraged! It's quite a bad trait to have in that respect, but very useful when it comes to school because it means I work hard.
Also, last year I constantly had dreams about failing all of my GCSEs, so I'm just waiting for those nightmares to come back again!
Plus, to make things worse, I'm actually on holiday on results day. And we don't get our results until 1pm, so I have to get my grandma to pick them up from me. And also, I'm on holiday with loads of other people getting their AS results, and they'll get theirs in the morning and I'll have to wait until the afternoon!
I think the thing I'm most scared of is just getting "average" grades because I won't know what to do. Will I take a gap year? Apply anyway? Retake? Not apply for medicine? There are so many options! And I'll make sure to address those in another post.
So all in all just a little rant about results day. I reeeeally hope that everybody gets what they want, even if it is a while away!
And with that, I'll leave you with this:
(correct at time of posting!)
I think the thing I'm most scared of is just getting "average" grades because I won't know what to do. Will I take a gap year? Apply anyway? Retake? Not apply for medicine? There are so many options! And I'll make sure to address those in another post.
So all in all just a little rant about results day. I reeeeally hope that everybody gets what they want, even if it is a while away!
And with that, I'll leave you with this:
(correct at time of posting!)Thursday 4 July 2013
Stress
I am not even joking A2 is hard already, and I'm not even in year 13 yet!
I don't know if all schools do this, but in my school you have to start studying for A2s whilst you're still in year 12, and you're not allowed to drop the subject that you want to until September. It's sooooo frustrating because I'm being forced to study French when I know that I definitely do not want to do it next year unless I fail ridiculously in another subject.
Anyway, so my teachers are setting us so much work at the moment. Next Wednesday I have three tests in one day. Three. And my Chemistry test counts towards my predicted grade for A2! I also have just other bits of work from all of my other subjects which are really adding up. AND I need to work for the UKCAT, AND I need to do my personal statement, AND I have a show next week. Help!
I thought that once AS had finished I'd be done with all my hard work for this year! But this is the same amount of work that I was getting before exams even started.
Anyway, rant over - and here are a few of my tips to deal with stress:
1. Don't work too late. I always find that I work until about 11pm, and have no time for myself in the evenings, leaving me stressed and exhausted. You'll be surprised how much good an early night can do you, so finish work early and don't work too late because you won't take anything in.
2. Take a break. Watch your favourite TV show or read a book that's non-subject related. Just do something that isn't to do with school just to take your mind off of it so that you can come back to your work refreshed.
3. Prioritise and organise. Do your work in the order that it's due in. If you have five pieces of homework in for the next day, don't do something that's in for next week because that's pointless. And stay organised - use your school diary to keep track of the work you have to do, when it's due in and if you've done it.
4. Extra-curriculars. Do something outside of school to break up your work and enable you to socialise. It's nice to just meet up with some people, even if all you do is rant about work - get it off your chest!
5. Stay calm. Everything will be fine. Just stay on top of your work to avoid stress, and take advantage of your free time! Don't feel like you have to work every second, because you don't have to - take breaks and stay relaxed!
Hope this helps you to stay destressed!
I don't know if all schools do this, but in my school you have to start studying for A2s whilst you're still in year 12, and you're not allowed to drop the subject that you want to until September. It's sooooo frustrating because I'm being forced to study French when I know that I definitely do not want to do it next year unless I fail ridiculously in another subject.
Anyway, so my teachers are setting us so much work at the moment. Next Wednesday I have three tests in one day. Three. And my Chemistry test counts towards my predicted grade for A2! I also have just other bits of work from all of my other subjects which are really adding up. AND I need to work for the UKCAT, AND I need to do my personal statement, AND I have a show next week. Help!
I thought that once AS had finished I'd be done with all my hard work for this year! But this is the same amount of work that I was getting before exams even started.
Anyway, rant over - and here are a few of my tips to deal with stress:
1. Don't work too late. I always find that I work until about 11pm, and have no time for myself in the evenings, leaving me stressed and exhausted. You'll be surprised how much good an early night can do you, so finish work early and don't work too late because you won't take anything in.
2. Take a break. Watch your favourite TV show or read a book that's non-subject related. Just do something that isn't to do with school just to take your mind off of it so that you can come back to your work refreshed.
3. Prioritise and organise. Do your work in the order that it's due in. If you have five pieces of homework in for the next day, don't do something that's in for next week because that's pointless. And stay organised - use your school diary to keep track of the work you have to do, when it's due in and if you've done it.
4. Extra-curriculars. Do something outside of school to break up your work and enable you to socialise. It's nice to just meet up with some people, even if all you do is rant about work - get it off your chest!
5. Stay calm. Everything will be fine. Just stay on top of your work to avoid stress, and take advantage of your free time! Don't feel like you have to work every second, because you don't have to - take breaks and stay relaxed!
Hope this helps you to stay destressed!
Wednesday 3 July 2013
Choosing Unis
Just a quick post because it's quite late and I reeeeeeally need to sleep.
Picking the university that you want to go to is so important, especially for Medicine because everywhere wants different things and they're all so picky! So here's a list of things to look at and questions to ask yourself when you're trying to pick which universities to look at or apply to.
1. What grades do they want? There's no point applying to somewhere like Birmingham if you don't have exceptional GCSEs (a good number of A*s, especially in all sciences, Maths and English) however, universities like Newcastle don't even consider your GCSE grades. It'a good idea to look at what they want in case you don't have it, because if you don't have the right GCSEs it's straight to the "no" pile. Play to your strengths when looking at universities.
2. What A level subjects do they want? Some universities require specific AS grades, whereas some don't mind. Some Chemistry and Biology to A2, whereas some only want Chemistry. Some want Maths AS, some don't. Check which subjects they want to make sure you don't end up stuck taking the wrong subjects.
3. What kind of course do they offer? There are different types of Medicine course: PBL, Integrated, Traditional, systems-based... You need to decide what best suits you to make sure that you'll learn well when you go there, so definitely look into these options.
4. How much work experience do they want? If they want loads of experience but you only have a few days then don't apply, however if they say that they want just some experience in a healthcare setting then if you have that, go for it! Universities definitely understand that not everybody can get work experience in a hospital so anything is good! Hospices, old peoples homes, etc.
5. UKCAT/BMAT? Check to see if they want these things. You'll need to start practicing and book early to make sure that you're ready for it, because sometimes these exams can be the deciding factor. So check this first, and if you think you'll be bad at it, try to look at other universities that don't want it (Birmingham, Bristol...)
6. What's the city like? When you visit the university definitely go and visit the city because you may love the university but hate the city, and don't forget you have to go and live in that city after your first year.
7. Application process? Once you've chosen where you want to apply, it's worth checking their application processes just to make sure that you know what you're letting yourself in for, and which things they focus on more in their application. Southampton, for example, doesn't interview so you'd have to make your personal statement fantastic in order to apply there. Just get an idea of how they do things, and a good way to do this is to either email the university or find out at their open day.
These are just a few of the things you should look at. Of course there are others, but these are the questions that I've been asking myself recently about the universities that I've seen.
I hope that this helps!
Picking the university that you want to go to is so important, especially for Medicine because everywhere wants different things and they're all so picky! So here's a list of things to look at and questions to ask yourself when you're trying to pick which universities to look at or apply to.
1. What grades do they want? There's no point applying to somewhere like Birmingham if you don't have exceptional GCSEs (a good number of A*s, especially in all sciences, Maths and English) however, universities like Newcastle don't even consider your GCSE grades. It'a good idea to look at what they want in case you don't have it, because if you don't have the right GCSEs it's straight to the "no" pile. Play to your strengths when looking at universities.
2. What A level subjects do they want? Some universities require specific AS grades, whereas some don't mind. Some Chemistry and Biology to A2, whereas some only want Chemistry. Some want Maths AS, some don't. Check which subjects they want to make sure you don't end up stuck taking the wrong subjects.
3. What kind of course do they offer? There are different types of Medicine course: PBL, Integrated, Traditional, systems-based... You need to decide what best suits you to make sure that you'll learn well when you go there, so definitely look into these options.
4. How much work experience do they want? If they want loads of experience but you only have a few days then don't apply, however if they say that they want just some experience in a healthcare setting then if you have that, go for it! Universities definitely understand that not everybody can get work experience in a hospital so anything is good! Hospices, old peoples homes, etc.
5. UKCAT/BMAT? Check to see if they want these things. You'll need to start practicing and book early to make sure that you're ready for it, because sometimes these exams can be the deciding factor. So check this first, and if you think you'll be bad at it, try to look at other universities that don't want it (Birmingham, Bristol...)
6. What's the city like? When you visit the university definitely go and visit the city because you may love the university but hate the city, and don't forget you have to go and live in that city after your first year.
7. Application process? Once you've chosen where you want to apply, it's worth checking their application processes just to make sure that you know what you're letting yourself in for, and which things they focus on more in their application. Southampton, for example, doesn't interview so you'd have to make your personal statement fantastic in order to apply there. Just get an idea of how they do things, and a good way to do this is to either email the university or find out at their open day.
These are just a few of the things you should look at. Of course there are others, but these are the questions that I've been asking myself recently about the universities that I've seen.
I hope that this helps!
Tuesday 2 July 2013
To Do...
This post is just going to be about things that I do at school, and things that I've done or am going to do in order to improve my personal statement.
Firstly, of course, is the all important UKCAT. Most universities require that you do the UKCAT (except Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol) and universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and some London ones require the BMAT. I've started practicing a bit for this test, and I have to say I'm finding it so hard, especially Abstract Reasoning. I'm okay on Decision Analysis, but the others throw me because of the strangely worded questions. So I'm determined to practice hard over the Summer so that I can get the best result possible!
Then we have work experience. Ahhh, work experience. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any work experience in a hospital but I've managed to find a volunteering opportunity in a Children's Hospice, and some work experience in a school for disabled children. Hopefully if I reflect really well on what I learn from these experiences then I'll be able to sound just as good as applicants who have been to a hospital. Also, in March I went to Lourdes and volunteered for the HCPT with disabled children, and I'm aiming to try and get some work experience in a GP during the Summer as well.
We've been told at school to go to some lectures, so I'm planning on watching some TED talks and downloading some lectures on iTunes U. I've bought quite a few books to read as well, and I'll list the books that I'm reading at the bottom of this post. I'm probably going to do a few book reviews as well so anyone interested could read them; and also it'll benefit me because I'll be able to reflect on what I've read! I'm going to some science lectures next week and I'm going to do a first aid course, so those will contribute too.
I try to do quite a few extra-curricular activities and I'm currently taking part in our school musical, Mary Poppins, and I've been in other school shows too. I want to set up a Medical Society in my school so that we can discuss medical issues, because it'll give me some drive to research more things, and I can give advice to the lower years too! I do singing lessons, I'm in my school choir and I go to Rangers (which is part of Girl Guiding UK) so I really hope that I'm okay on the extra-curricular front!
I think that's it? Sorry it's been such a long post! I just thought maybe things I do could help you think of ideas of things to do as well.
Books I've read/am going to read:
Firstly, of course, is the all important UKCAT. Most universities require that you do the UKCAT (except Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol) and universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and some London ones require the BMAT. I've started practicing a bit for this test, and I have to say I'm finding it so hard, especially Abstract Reasoning. I'm okay on Decision Analysis, but the others throw me because of the strangely worded questions. So I'm determined to practice hard over the Summer so that I can get the best result possible!
Then we have work experience. Ahhh, work experience. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any work experience in a hospital but I've managed to find a volunteering opportunity in a Children's Hospice, and some work experience in a school for disabled children. Hopefully if I reflect really well on what I learn from these experiences then I'll be able to sound just as good as applicants who have been to a hospital. Also, in March I went to Lourdes and volunteered for the HCPT with disabled children, and I'm aiming to try and get some work experience in a GP during the Summer as well.
We've been told at school to go to some lectures, so I'm planning on watching some TED talks and downloading some lectures on iTunes U. I've bought quite a few books to read as well, and I'll list the books that I'm reading at the bottom of this post. I'm probably going to do a few book reviews as well so anyone interested could read them; and also it'll benefit me because I'll be able to reflect on what I've read! I'm going to some science lectures next week and I'm going to do a first aid course, so those will contribute too.
I try to do quite a few extra-curricular activities and I'm currently taking part in our school musical, Mary Poppins, and I've been in other school shows too. I want to set up a Medical Society in my school so that we can discuss medical issues, because it'll give me some drive to research more things, and I can give advice to the lower years too! I do singing lessons, I'm in my school choir and I go to Rangers (which is part of Girl Guiding UK) so I really hope that I'm okay on the extra-curricular front!
I think that's it? Sorry it's been such a long post! I just thought maybe things I do could help you think of ideas of things to do as well.
Books I've read/am going to read:
- The Viral Storm - Nathan Wolfe - DONE
- The Emperor of All Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee
- The Epigenetics Revolution - Nessa Carey
- Bad Science - Ben Goldacre
- How We Die - Sherwin B. Nuland - IN PROCESS
- Medical Ethics: A Very Short Introduction - Tony Hope - IN PROCESS
Monday 1 July 2013
Introduction
Hi!
So I'm Nicole, I'm 17 and I'm hoping to study Medicine at University. I am currently studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and French for my A levels, and I'm coming towards the end of year 12.
I know that even the prospect of applying to medical school is so ominous and scary. I can safely say that I am absolutely terrified that I'm going to get no offers, and that I'm going to be stuck with nothing to do. Every time I think that I've done everything I can, something else pops up which makes me doubt myself all over again.
My overall aim for this blog is to just help anyone who wants to apply for medical school. I'm not an expert (clearly), and I haven't even been through the whole process of applying yet, but I know that when I was beginning to think about applying I was scouring the web to see if I could find any form of help from somebody who was just normal, and had been in the same position as me! This will be a sort of diary of my journey, just to let you know what I'm up to and I'm what I'm doing to improve my application.
So if any of you are like I was, then this page is here to help you. Hopefully my posts will give you some ideas of things to do to apply for medical school, and if you want to ask me anything, or offer me any advice that would be massively appreciated too!
Nicole xxxx
p.s. "Nich" is pronounced as "neesh". It's just a nickname that I've been given by my friends, and Doctor Nicole was already taken as an address!
So I'm Nicole, I'm 17 and I'm hoping to study Medicine at University. I am currently studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and French for my A levels, and I'm coming towards the end of year 12.
I know that even the prospect of applying to medical school is so ominous and scary. I can safely say that I am absolutely terrified that I'm going to get no offers, and that I'm going to be stuck with nothing to do. Every time I think that I've done everything I can, something else pops up which makes me doubt myself all over again.
My overall aim for this blog is to just help anyone who wants to apply for medical school. I'm not an expert (clearly), and I haven't even been through the whole process of applying yet, but I know that when I was beginning to think about applying I was scouring the web to see if I could find any form of help from somebody who was just normal, and had been in the same position as me! This will be a sort of diary of my journey, just to let you know what I'm up to and I'm what I'm doing to improve my application.
So if any of you are like I was, then this page is here to help you. Hopefully my posts will give you some ideas of things to do to apply for medical school, and if you want to ask me anything, or offer me any advice that would be massively appreciated too!
Nicole xxxx
p.s. "Nich" is pronounced as "neesh". It's just a nickname that I've been given by my friends, and Doctor Nicole was already taken as an address!
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