Calling All Medicine Aspirants: Next Steps

It’s never too early or too late to start thinking about a career in Medicine and when you do make up your mind, it’s also time to look into how you’re going to go about things. Based on what year you’re in, I’ve put together this post to help you figure out what your next steps should be and hopefully this will help serve as some useful guidance. Read ahead!

Year 10

This stage is definitely one where you can start thinking about a career that interests you; it’ll help put into perspective what GCSE (or equivalent) grades you need and what potential A-Level subjects you could pick.

If you’re leaning towards medicine, now would be a good time to do some research about the career and the subject to get a feel for it, this could include anything from browsing online to talking to students in the field if you can.

You could also begin with some regular volunteering and engaging in extra-curricular activities, sports and applying for leadership roles. All of these would further be of great help to your application in terms of useful highlights in your personal statement and interviews.

Year 11

Certain medical schools assess GCSE grades as well so it’s integral to focus on those and make academics your top priority in year 11 (just as much as in years 12 and 13).

At this stage, you will also be required to know what A-Level subjects you’d like to pick so make sure to check out different medical school websites online and look into their subject requirements. Usually, you would need Chemistry (mandatory), Biology and either one of Math/Physics.

In your spare time, you could also indulge in beginning to look for work experience in clinical settings and volunteering.

Year 12

Now that you’ve picked your A-Level subjects, it’s important to stay consistent with your academics from the start. Although AS-Levels are usually not a necessity in UCAS applications, they’re always an added bonus and most schools would base your predicted grades off these results.

This is a good time to start looking into different universities and sort out which ones you might be interested in, this would also help clear out which admissions tests you would have to write. Attending university open-days, speaking to other students and making the best of online resources are some ways to do this. Many universities offer online virtual open days as well. You could head to my last post to get some insight on all the Online Virtual Day Events in 2020.

Work and volunteering experience can be useful to attain at this stage as well. You must also remember to register for admissions tests like the UCAT and BMAT which could be taken in the summer at the end of the school year or the beginning of year 13.

Beginning to work on your personal statement whenever you have the time would be recommended.

Year 13

Year 13 is the final and most crucial stage of your entire medicine application procedure (And also the busiest stage!)

You should be done with your admissions tests by the summer before or within the initial part of the school year. Any language tests (if applicable) should also be completed.

Since the UCAS application deadline is on October 15th, you’ll have to ensure that you get your recommendation letter and are finished with your personal statement in advance.

Interviews are usually conducted between the months of December and March so it’s best to start with some light preparation by November and build it up as your interview dates approach, just so you’re not cramming and under-prepared at the last minute.

While interview results and offers are sent out by April at the latest, ensure that you don’t neglect you’re A-Level preparation throughout the course of this year because that will be your final milestone!

And there you have it, check out my previous post ‘The Big Medicine Checklist’ with a useful tool to help track and ensure that you’ve got everything covered!