how easy/hard is it to get into a UK med school?

[davesnow10]

Hey there. been learning a heap from this site....

For those of you who have gone from the US or Canadadian school system to a UK (not Irish) medical School: How difficult did you find it? What kind of prerequisites do they require?

Are there schools that require the MCAT? are there some that are more welcoming than others to American students?

Thanks so much in advance,

Dave.

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[jjjez]

apart from veterinary medicine, medicine is one the hardest courses for students to get in to.
the way admission works in the UK is people will do their A levels (the A is for advanced) between 16 and 18, but because of the school year and the admissions methods, (you apply via an organisation called UCAs (univeristy college admissions service), which costs ?25 a rip off i know) you will be provisionally accepted in the grades you sare PREDICTED to obtain are satisfactory (or if they like you and the other variables not worth mentionning)

Thus when you ome to take your exams you need to get the grades your teachers THINK you will get. complicated i know. then after the results are announced you contact the university and give them your grades, if you dont have the right grades then yuo may be considered on an individual basis depending on how close you were. it's all at the UCAS site (google it)

the A-levels people most usually have are:

A level maths, physics, biology (not essential suprisingly), chemistry
and these are usually A's and B's!

lastly the university actually consider you GCSE's (general certificate in secondary education. Your SAT's i think) also. medical schools do like to know they're taking the best here.
In the UK it is regarded that a certain type of person does medicine (but dont let that dissuade you.
i would advise you to pick a london medical school, not oxford or cambridge, although these are the harvards of the UK, barely anyone lives there and all the decent hospitals are really in london to be honest. try king's (where i am!), UCL (university College London (excellent), or Queen MAry's but really because medicine is so hard here, any of them will do.

 

[Purifyer]

lastly the university actually consider you GCSE's (general certificate in secondary education. Your SAT's i think) also. medical schools do like to know they're taking the best here.
In the UK it is regarded that a certain type of person does medicine (but dont let that dissuade you.
i would advise you to pick a london medical school, not oxford or cambridge, although these are the harvards of the UK, barely anyone lives there and all the decent hospitals are really in london to be honest. try king's (where i am!), UCL (university College London (excellent), or Queen MAry's but really because medicine is so hard here, any of them will do.

I thought oxford's clinical years could be done in london teaching hospital?

 

[13538]

Oxford and Cambridge pre-clinical medical students can undertake their clinical training in London, Oxford or Cambridge. Apparently, there isn't always enough Oxford (or Cambridge) clinical places for Oxford (or Cambridge) pre-clinical students though!!

 

[FionaS]

Hey there. been learning a heap from this site....

For those of you who have gone from the US or Canadadian school system to a UK (not Irish) medical School: How difficult did you find it? What kind of prerequisites do they require?

Are there schools that require the MCAT? are there some that are more welcoming than others to American students?

Thanks so much in advance,

Dave.

You need excellent marks/grades in your SATS (this is what you take at 18, yes?), and also in anything you've done since then (at University). If you can get a glowing reference then that is all to the good - sometimes with overseas students they're more inclined to put more emphasis on what the PS says.

Most UK students have straight As with maybe a few B grades thrown in, so you need to think of the equivalent in the states - that's who you're competing with. For example, I got A levels in Chem, Bio, Physics and General Studies (all A grades) and an A in AS level (=1/2 an A level) Maths. Getting in is difficult (about the same as the States apparently), and you can only apply to 4 med schools at a time. But it's not impossible!

I'm not particularly aware of any med schools that are more american friendly than others - my own advice is pick a part of the country that you like and apply to the med schools in that region. My personal opinion is to avoid London Med Schools - not because they are bad, but because living in London is prohibitivly expensive compared to elsewhere, and they have fewer patients per student than other big cities (come to Brum! ). But then you do see some rare and exotic stuff in London which you will likely see less of elsewhere (but do you really need that as a med student?)

I don't think anywhere requires the MCAT, though if you take it then they'll want to know the results...

 

[miscalculated]

I concur, London is hellishly expensive. 2 quid for a zone 1 single!! But I love London (a suprise considering my farmer background, oooh arrgh!) and you're much more likely to meet other American students if you come to London, if you're worried about getting homesick, that is.