Primrose Kitten
A-Levels for medicine
For all medical schools, chemistry is the core requirement, some of them require biology as well, which I know most of you think is the most crucial A-level for doing medicine, but it's not. When you're thinking about some of your other A-Levels, you need to make sensible choices, so when you're going for your medical degree interview, chances are they're going to ask you about your A-Level choices. If you've picked biology, chemistry, and dance, they're going to ask you why as a doctor do you think dance is important? If you can't answer that question sensibly, then maybe we shouldn't be picking dance as an A-Level or French, music, art, history, politics, economics or anything that doesn't directly relate to being a doctor or medicine; because they're going to ask you about it when you go to your medical school interviews and anything that just looks a little bit weird, well, you're going to be competing against people that are going to be doing four A-Levels; biology, chemistry, physics, and maths. The other thing you need to be careful of when you're picking your A-Levels is that some places will say that you have to have three science and maths is included a science for this course, but you can't have maths and further maths as two of your A-Levels, similarly, you can't have biology and human biology because they're too similar. The other thing is that psychology doesn't count as a science in this instance. I know it's generally taught by science teachers, but it's not going to count as science.
Katie is a true inspiration, I asked her to write about how initially failing to get into medical school made her more determined to become a doctor. Here is her story…
"Medical school is renowned for its competitiveness. Those who become doctors are seen as successful and accomplished, so what do you do when they reject you? My message to you: find strength in your failures and use it to grow.
My first mistake, when applying to medical school, was my poor academic record. The A-Levels I achieved were far from the string of A’s most candidates possess. Medicine requires you to demonstrate your academic ability, and on paper, I did not look like the ideal candidate. So there are two choices, resit your A-Levels or do another degree to prove you are capable. I decided a degree was more appropriate as fewer schools accepted resit candidates.
My second mistake was not looking at my application objectively. I wanted to be a doctor so much that I poured my heart out in my personal statement and I quickly received rejections as I didn’t meet the basic requirements as each medical school essentially has a tick-box list of what they are looking for. However much you would love to do medicine, however passionate you sound, it will all be for nothing if you do not meet the basic requirements. The key areas are academics, work experience, the personal statement and entrance exams.
Whilst working on my academic record, I had a lot of time to dedicate to other endeavours, like volunteering and caring for patients, organising events, and taking on an additional job allowed me to build my experience in the care environment. Firstly, this made me absolutely sure I wanted to do medicine. Many people like the idea of being a doctor, however, I have met many students who really didn’t know what the work would entail and then realising too late that medicine wasn’t for them. Secondly, it gave me the experiences to write about in my personal statement, to demonstrate that I was the candidate they were looking for.
The personal statement is your chance to stand out and validate your claim for that all important place. Reading Tomorrow’s Doctors and the General Medical Councils’ guidelines will give you a good overview of the qualities they are looking for. You should also look at your chosen universities – perhaps they have a specific goal in mind for their graduates such as becoming a champion for mental health. Think of how you can look like their perfect candidate, how can you link what you have learnt and experienced to the university mission statement.
Finally, there are entrance exams, my third mistake. There is a common misconception that you cannot revise for these, it is not true! Practice makes perfect. Use well reviewed resources such as books and online programs so you are prepared. I didn’t revise the first time and my results were average. The following year with practice, I increased my score to a competitive one.
Those who have tried and failed have at least tried. By learning from my mistakes, I finally gained a place at medical school and I learnt so much more in the process. I hope this small insight inspires you to not be disheartened by failure but to embrace it, to grow as a person and become your best self."
Katie, aged 28.
Studies: Medicine at King’s College London, Year 2.
A-Levels: A Psychology, C Biology
AS levels: D Maths, E Chemistry
Degree: 2.i Applied Biomedical Sciences
