Aspiring Medics Skype into Medical School

A group of aspiring medics from Year 11 and Year 13 made a Skype call earlier this term to BSMS, the Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

The meeting, a first between Highcliffe and BSMS, was at the invitation of Doctor Claire Smith, Head of Anatomy at the Medical School and a senior colleague on the Admissions panel to study Medicine at BSMS.

Our students were in the very fortunate position of being able to talk with Claire about:-

• What makes a really good application to study Medicine at University
• How the different medical schools offer very different experiences, based on a range of pathways through training, varying approaches to learning and types of assessment, to the size of the individual medical schools and their particular specialisms
• The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in the Sixth Form and its importance in applying to study Medicine at University
• What admissions criteria tutors are looking for in aspirant medics when they apply.
• The pros and cons of applying to medical schools which are much further away than the local region, such as Exeter, Cardiff, Bristol, Southampton, Oxford, and the London medical schools including Imperial College.
• The BMAT and UKCAT tests that students take alongside their A levels
• Interview techniques and multiple mini interviews (MMIs)!
• Alternative routes into medicine such as via Biomedical Science degrees and the Physician Associate Programme (which originates from the USA)
• Gaining high quality and relevant work experience whilst in the Sixth Form

We also talked about the NHS and its future, and about how ethical debates underpin just about everything!

Most importantly, we talked about how BSMS and Highcliffe can work together in the future to help develop and extend our Aspirant Medics Programme. We also want to   continue and extend our rich tradition of students progressing from Highcliffe Sixth Form to study Medicine and then go on to become the Doctors, GPs, surgeons and consultants of the future.

The President of the British Medical Association (BMA) said exactly this to our Year 11 students who attended the National Conference as delegates in June of this year!

We would like to thank Claire for a superb Skype meeting. We look forward to working more closely with BSMS in the future, and our visit next summer, plus the possibility of linking our current Medical School applicants to young doctors in the local area via this collaboration

Year 11 students can find out more about this link, and how the Aspirant Medics Programme develops in the Sixth Form, via MR O'Connor.

‘Students have put Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) in first position in the National Student Survey (NSS) for medical schools. Dr Juliet Wright, Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning at BSMS, says: "I am delighted with our excellent results in the 2017 National Student Survey. Our staff are committed to providing students with an outstanding education in medicine, and the particularly high scores for teaching show we have been successful in achieving this.’

Aspirant Medics in Years 11 and 13,
Stephanie Fletcher-Jones, Ria Hill, Jack Ogden, Zoe Sheard, Annie Suenfa,
Mr O’Connor, Programme Coordinator.

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Owned by: NOC | Last Published: 18/10/2017 14:47:03 | Next Update: N/A