Offers And Accepting

There's probably not a huge amount I can say about this topic, but I'm going to go ahead and say it anyway.

When I went for my interview at Brighton and Sussex Medical School we were told in the presentation/talk prior to our interviews that approximately 5% of people will receive their offer of a place on the same day. We were also told that those people would be the ones who scored full marks at every station. Everybody else would receive their offers sometime before May.

Now, I hadn't exactly made the best first impression when I arrived at BSMS as I'd forgotten to bring my qualification certificates with me, but what I did have was a letter from a doctor who I work with, who looks after my Father, stating that I had just found out he had an incurable cancer, literally two weeks before my interview, and hence, I wasn't as well prepared as I would have liked to have been, and probably wasn't in the best frame of mind either. I showed this letter to the admissions team, who were sympathetic and supportive, and informed the interviewers before I went in.

These circumstances meant that, while in the long term I wanted a place to study medicine, in the short term I didn't care very much about whether I received an offer this year. It made me strangely relaxed about my interview. I had bigger things in my life to worry about than if those five people liked me that day. In a way I think it turned out to be beneficial to my interview as I usually get very nervous and don't interview very well, but on that day I couldn't bring myself to even worry enough to be nervous, I just hoped I would get through the day without crying in front of people.

I did making it through the day without crying, just. I had a couple of wobbles but no tears. One of the interviewers told me he was sorry to hear about my Father, which was kind but not what I needed to hear mid-interview, but I still somehow managed to keep it together.

After the interview, I went back to the train station to wait for my train home. I even fell asleep in the waiting room, as I was emotionally and mentally exhausted. It's a good job I had remembered to put my phone back onto loud as it woke me from my sleep. It was a call from the admissions team, they asked me how my interview went and if I was okay, and I was thinking this is a kind courtesy call because of my Dad, but then they informed me that I had done really well and they were going to offer me a place, and that I could call my Dad and tell him. I was in shock. I rang my family immediately to let them know and my Dad told me straight away he wanted me to accept the place, even though I would be further away than I would like while he battles this illness, he was adamant that he wanted to see me live out my dreams, and not put my life on hold for him. It almost broke my heart, and it almost breaks my heart all over again typing it now. But I was incredibly thankful for his support, and even that he made the decision for me. I wouldn't have been able to leave him without his blessing.

While I was shocked and thankful for the place, I did have some doubts about my performance. Even though I had felt comfortable in my interview and I had felt I had answered most questions fully, I didn't think I had done that well, and I questioned for a few moments if it was a sympathy place because of my Dad. But my friends, family, and medical colleagues soon put me right, I wouldn't have been offered the place if I wasn't good enough, and I shouldn't ever put myself down.

I had to wait for the offer to be made official on UCAS but as soon as it was I cancelled the other interview I had been offered, withdrew from the other applications I was still waiting to hear from, and, along with my Father, I clicked the button to accept it straight away. Some people feel I was a bit rash about it, but it had been my top choice out of the universities I had applied to and it was an unconditional offer, so I didn't see the pointing in waiting, travelling to other interviews, and putting myself through more stress at a bad time.

So, I had accepted my place. Now it's time to wait for the rest of the offers to be sent out before I can sort accommodation and finance, forward my certificates and vaccination history, and get my DBS check done.

Thanks for reading.
Katherine

On The Interview Day

I mentioned this at the beginning of the previous blog but let me remind you that I will not be discussing any of the real questions I had to answer as candidates are sworn to secrecy about this. This is something the university takes very seriously. If you are found to have disclosed the nature of any of the questions you can have your offer of a place withdrawn, even if you have already accepted it.

Essential notes
Make some essential notes, bullet points, of the things you find hard to remember or are very important and take them with you to read on the way there and before you go in. Having something practical to read will likely also help to calm your nerves.

Be punctual
Make sure you plan your travel so that you will arrive on time. If you have a long way to travel consider staying somewhere local the night before. Do not plan to arrive at the very last minute or any delay will make you late for your interview.

When you arrive
Register your arrival, there will be people to greet you, likely student volunteers. You may be required to show your qualification certificates at this stage, if you already have them. You will be shown where to wait. Stay calm and read your notes. Eat something small and not too sugary, and remember to stay hydrated.

Information talks and campus tours
You may be given a short talk about your university and what to expect in your interview and you may be taken on a campus tour. This tour could be optional or compulsory. Especially if your tour is before your interview try to use this time to actually look around and ask questions. Could you imagine yourself living and studying here? Which halls would you like to live in? Are amenities conveniently located? What is transport like? Are there lots of societies and clubs to choose from?

In the interview
I had a mini-station interview so that's the only set up I can talk about. This set up is good because you move to a new station every few minutes and start fresh so if you feel like you've messed up one station it's easier to move on and not let it affect the rest of your interview. You get a minute between stations to have a breather and a drink. This set up is also very similar to the OSCE style of exams you will do as a medical student if you get a place so it is good practice.

First impressions
At each station you will have to make your first impression again so remember to smile, introduce yourself and shake hands with your interviewer.

Answering the questions
When you are answering the questions you need to consider the following:

• Am I answering the question they have asked me, not the question I want to answer?
• What skills or attributes are they looking for with this question?
• Where have I shown these?
• Where have I observed these?
• What have I learned?
• How could I use these as a student or doctor?
• The length of your answer.
• The structure of your answer.
• The vocabulary you use.

Remember

Your interviewers are there to help you answer the questions. If they can give you a hint or guide you then they will. If they do this it does not mean you are doing badly.

Your interviewer may cut you off in the middle of a sentence. This could be because what you are saying is not relevant, or you have already said what they want to hear and they want to move on. They may also come back to a question if they feel you have not answered it as well as you could.

Your interviewer may be very cheerful or very serious, this is not a reflection on you or how well or badly you might be doing, they are told to act that way. 

Remember to thank your interviewer and shake their hand as you leave their station.

And remember to relax. You will either receive an offer or you won't, but getting worked up about it won't help you to answer the questions to the best of your ability. 

Good Luck!
Thanks for reading.
Katherine

Preparation For Medicine Interviews

Let me make one thing clear before I begin, I will not be discussing any of the real questions I had to answer as candidates are sworn to secrecy about this. This is something the university takes very seriously. If you are found to have disclosed the nature of any of the questions you can have your offer of a place withdrawn, even if you have already accepted it.

But what I am going to do is tell you what topics I read up on to prepare for my interview.

About me
In this section be prepared to talk about something you're passionate about. Also think of 3 or so words you would use to describe yourself.

Why medicine?
In this section prepare to answer the big question "Why do you want to be a doctor?" Think about your motivation. Do you enjoy science? Do you enjoy helping people? What about leadership or problem solving? Has anybody influenced your decision to apply for medicine, and why? Think about why medicine instead of nursing. Nurses can specialise, prescribe and lead a team. So, why medicine?

What makes a good doctor?
Think about some traits and attributes of a good doctor, both academic and non-academic.

Attributes of a doctor
For the following attributes think about an example of a time where you have shown it and an example of a time where you have observed it.

• Empathy
• Conflict Resolution
• Communication Skills
• Dealing With Stress
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Resilience
• Limitations and Weakest Attributes

Changes in medicine

Think about a topic that interests you, and a topic you've read about or heard about recently. Think about the most important development in the last ten years, and the most interesting one.

Changes in NHS

Think about the biggest challenges of the NHS at the moment, look up NHS hot topics. Think about an issue you've read about or heard about recently. Think about the most important or interesting development in the last ten years. Also consider if there was one thing you could change about the NHS what would it be and how would you implement the change. 

Make sure you look up the NHS core values, the NHS constitution, the NHS seven principles and the 6 Cs of NHS values.

Think about the NHS five year forward view and the Wanless report. 

Make sure you know who the following are and what they do:

• DOH - Department of Health
• GMC - General Medical Council
• CQC - Care Quality Commissioning 
• NICE - National Institute of Clinical Excellence
• CCG - Clinical Commissioning Groups
• STP - Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships
• BMA - British Medical Association
• BMJ - British Medical Journal

Ethics, confidentiality and other notes

Look up the four pillars of ethics and use them when you answer every ethical question, and remember to give balanced arguments. 

Look up the eight principles of confidentiality and make sure you understand the meaning and importance of these.

Look up the stages of breaking bad news, you may be asked to do this in your interview. They do not expect it to be perfect, you will learn how to do this properly later but they are looking to see if you would have the ability to do this. 

Look up how to assess competency in adults and children, how to resolve conflict, and what makes a good leader.

Your university

Remember you might be asked why you specifically want to go to that university, so remember to research the university and be prepared to convince them that's where you want to go.

Thanks for reading.
Katherine

The BMAT Exam

Here's the honest truth about why I sat the BMAT exam... I forgot to apply for the UKCAT exam in time to sit it. I looked to apply on the day the deadline had passed at midday. It was a pretty stressful moment in my application process. Fortunately I had not yet chosen my universities on UCAS. Some rapid research uncovered a November sitting of the BMAT exam and half a dozen or so universities who used it as their entrance exam. I chose to apply to Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Leeds, Imperial College London, and University Colleges London.

The BMAT website - http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/
The website is packed with useful information about the two sittings of the exam. There is currently one date in September and one date in November. It also has information about how to find your nearest testing centre, and the fees for the exam.

The closest test centre to me was The Norwich School, at the Cathedral in Norwich.
The total fee for the exam, late admission fee, and school admin fee came to a total of £129.00.

The BMAT exam - http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/for-test-takers/bmat/preparing-for-bmat/
The exam comprises of three sections. Section one tests your aptitude, lasts sixty minutes and is multiple choice. Section two tests your prior knowledge, lasts thirty minutes and is multiple choice. Section three tests your writing skills, lasts thirty minutes and you will be expected to write a side of A4. You will sit each section consecutively with approximately five minutes between each section. You are not allowed a calculator.

Do not be fooled by most of the exam being multiple choice. Most people sitting the exam will score around half marks, you are not expected to be able to get everything right.  If you head to: http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/for-test-takers/bmat/scoring-and-results/ and scroll down to almost the bottom of the page you will find PDF documents entitled "Explanation of results" followed by the year. These PDF documents will show you distribution graphs of the scores achieved by test takers each year. This should make you feel a little more at ease with the test, I know it helped me when I was struggling to achieve much more than half marks in section two on all of my practice papers.

Section one - Aptitude
It's a little difficult to prepare for aptitude questions because they test how you think and it's pretty difficult to learn that or change it. I did one BMAT past paper for section one and as I scored okay I never did any more. But, prior to preparing for my BMAT I had previously been preparing for the UKCAT exam in which the questions are based heavily on aptitude and so I felt like that had helped me to prepare for this section. Even though you can't really change the way you think, this section is still worth practising as you get used to the kind of answers they expect you to pick.

Section two - Prior Knowledge - http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/for-test-takers/bmat/preparing-for-bmat/section-2-preparation/
If you're sitting this exam while still at college and studying A-levels in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics this part might well be a breeze. If, like me, you finished your A-levels some time ago you might have forgotten most of the information required. Usefully the website provides a PDF document, which can be found in the section linked above, detailing every topic you need to know for the exam. Honestly, I struggled with this section, I hadn't studied chemistry for over three years, and physics for over five years, and in my mathematics A-level I got a D, so this section was the toughest for me and I had to revise a lot for it. I used the PDF I have just mentioned to guide my revision. I made flashcards. And I sat past papers. Lots and lots of past papers. I made notes on the kind of topics which seemed to appear in every paper e.g. a question on circuits, and a question on angles, etc, and made sure that I covered those topics thoroughly.

Section three - Writing
Section three was the only section I didn't practise before the exam day, and this was simply because I had nobody to mark it for me. It's impossible to mark your own writing piece. What I should have done though is read a few questions so I knew how the question was laid out and how much I would be expected to write.

Past Papers - http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/for-test-takers/bmat/preparing-for-bmat/practice-papers/
There's a wealth of past papers available on the website, found at the link above, along with the mark schemes so there's no excuse not to practise. The only problem is that only the most recent papers have an explanation of the answers, rather than just which option was the correct answer, meaning that if you get a question wrong you may not be able to figure out why, which can be very frustrating.

On the day
Standard exam advice applies. Eat a good breakfast, arrive early, remember to take an unlabelled bottle of water, and a clear pencil case with your pens/pencils etc in. Stay calm, work quickly, don't spend too long on any one questions because you will be losing time to answer others which you might know the answers to.

Good Luck!
Thanks for reading.
Katherine