The Ultimate Medical School Collection: Tips and advice for securing the best work experience, writing a peerless UCAS personal statement, & anticipating interview questions for any UK medical school

By Bianca Van Binsbergen, Agarwal Dr Rohan and David Salt

Brand new for 2022, get all of our best-selling medical admissions books in one volume. Get the best support, guidance, and strategies for your application to medical school, and get over £105 worth of books for £39.99!

• Find, choose, apply for, win, and learn from medical placements before you apply.
• Everything you need to know about what to put in your statement, how to structure it, and how to portray yourself in the best way possible.
• Weaponise your application to anticipate your interview questions, prepare for them in advance with practice questions and worked solutions. Master both MMIs and Oxbridge-Style interviews.

The Ultimate Medical School Collection is the only book which contains all the work experience advice, personal statement tips, AND interview questions in one. Each of our courses are distilled into these books - now you can take all three courses from one book.

Fully updated with a new layout, content, and format for the 2023 admissions cycle, The Ultimate Medical School Collection includes:

THREE of our best selling medical admissions books in ONE volume Written by doctors, admissions tutors, personal tutors and university professors, The Ultimate Medical School Collection contains:

• The Ultimate Medical Work Experience Guide – walks you through every part of the medical work experience and placement process. Learn the reasons universities need so much of it. Identify the kinds of work experience are good for you from testimonials about every major specialty. Discover how to find the best opportunities for you and take control of your work experience plan. Master applications and networking for medical work experience, and make the most of your time there to produce real, valuable information and the strongest application.
• The Ultimate Medical Personal Statement Guide – introduces you to the concept of UCAS personal statements for medical school. In this book - you can learn what personal statements are all about, how to write one, what to put in it, and what makes a statement great. Contains detailed guidance on structuring and writing your statement, selecting information to include (such as your work experience), and contains over 100 full size successful personal statements from previous applicants to UK medical schools with detailed commentaries.
• The Ultimate Medical Interview Guide – tells you everything you need to know about how to outperform the competition in your interviews. Covering both MMI and Oxbridge interviews, this guide covers how to anticipate questions, and respond in the most effective way to maximise your chance of getting your dream offer. Contains hundreds of practice interview questions with worked, tested responses to show you what really matters to interviewers.

About Us From UniAdmissions, the publishing division of the UK’s leading Oxbridge and Medical Admissions company, The Ultimate Medical School Collection gives you the best and most fully comprehensive support for your University Clinical Aptitude Test success. Hungry for more? Visit the Uni Admissions website for more application resources, admissions test strategies, and application support.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RAR Medical Services Ltd
• Release date: Nov 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781915091529

Book preview

Rohan

is

the

Director

of

Operations

at

UniAdmissions

and

is

responsible

for

its

technical

and

commercial

arms.

He

graduated

from

Gonville

and

Caius

College,

Cambridge

and

is

a

fully

qualified

doctor.

Over

the

last

five

years,

he

has

tutored

hundreds

of

successful

Oxbridge

and

Medical

applicants.

He

has

also

authored

ten

books

on

admissions

tests

and

interviews.

Rohan

has

taught

physiology

to

undergraduates

and

interviewed

medical

school

applicants

for

Cambridge.

He

has

published

research

on

bone

physiology

and

writes

education

articles

for

the

Independent

and

Huffington

Post.

In

his

spare

time,

Rohan

enjoys

playing

the

piano

and

table

tennis.

13

Medical

work

experience

is

a

requirement

for

applying

to

medical

schools

in

the

UK.

Depending

on

which

universities

you

are

planning

on

applying

to,

their

requirements

in

terms

of

length

and

type

of

work

experience

may

differ.

However,

most

universities

do

not

set

a

minimum

number

of

hours

or

days

for

which

work

experience

needs

to

be

undertaken,

nor

do

they

specify

the

type

of

work

experience.

There

are

some

guidelines

that

universities

tend

to

agree

medical

work

experience

needs

to

meet

(see

"What

does

good

work

experience

look

like?"

on

page

22

for

more

information).

"I’d

highly

recommend

to

anyone

who

is

even

considering

medicine

to

undertake

some

medical

work

experience

as

it

could

completely

change

your

mind

and

will

help

you

make

an

informed

decision."

Medical

schools

also

tend

to

require

that

the

relevant

work

experience

is

recent,

which

is

outlined

as

having

been

done

in

the

last

two

years

at

the

time

of

application.

Due

to

age

restrictions

to

be

able

to

undertake

medical

work

experience

–

most

require

individuals

to

be

16

or

older

–

this

is

not

a

requirement

that

people

tend

to

struggle

to

meet.

However,

it

is

worth

keeping

in

mind

if

applying

after

gap

years,

previous

degrees

or

later

on

in

life.

Medical

work

experience

allows

individuals

considering

medicine

to

experience

the

day-to-day

life

of

healthcare,

to

understand

the

expectations

of

those

working

in

medicine

and

to

decide

whether

this

is

the

right

path

for

you.

20

However,

this

is

just

a

guideline,

and

as

previously

mentioned

(see

"Where

should

I

do

my

work

experience?"

on

page

16),

some

individuals

may

be

able

to

secure

placements

more

easily

due

to

a

variety

of

reasons.

Universities

are

very

aware

of

this

discrepancy,

and

value

individuals’

initiative

in

doing

their

best

to

gain

experience

and

insight

to

develop

them

as

a

person

and

future

medical

student,

while

informing

themselves

to

be

able

to

make

their

own

educated

decision.

"I

was

quite

stressed

about

finding

my

medical

work

experience

but

I

made

sure

that

I

had

a

range

of

places

to

do

my

work

experience

at

as

I

wanted

to

boost

my

personal

statement

as

much

as

possible.

This

included

my

local

hospital,

my

local

opticians,

my

local

vets,

my

local

GP

and

a

week’s

worth

of

work

experience

in

a

care

home."

It

is

also

worth

noting

that

there

is

not

much

value

in

repeating

medical

work

experience

placements.

As

a

student

still

at

school,

what

you

are

capable

of

doing

and

legally

allowed

to

do

on

a

medical

work

placement

is

limited.

So,

it

is

in

your

best

interest

to

pursue

different

types

of

work

experience

placements

in

different

departments

with

different

teams

so

that

you

can

make

the

most

of

your

time

on

medical

work

experience

–

within

your

limitations.

If

you

are

keen

on

a

longer

work

experience,

a

voluntary

caring

role

working

with

individuals

that

are

disabled

or

disadvantaged

or

elderly

would

be

the

most

beneficial

for

you,

and

for

those

that

you

are

supporting.

25

The

general

principles

of

what

comprises

good

work

experience

is

outlined

in

"What

does

good

work

experience

look

like?"

on

page

22.

The

following

are

actions

that

you

can

make

sure

to

keep

in

the

forefront

of

your

mind

during

your

work

experience

to

do

it

‘right’.

Try

and

secure

a

variety

of

work

experience

opportunities.

This

may

include

hospitals,

GP

practices,

volunteering,

working

with

disabilities,

working

with

people

that

are

disadvantaged

and

many

more.

Try

to

get

as

many

placements

as

you

can

in

different

departments

and

specialties

(as

long

as

you

have

the

time

to

do

so

and

you

making

too

many

sacrifices

to

your

school

work).

Focus

on

specialties

or

areas

you

are

interested

in

if

you

can.

But

don’t

limit

yourself

to

only

your

current

interests,

as

they

will

most

likely

change!

Make

the

most

of

contacts

that

you

have

if

they

can

help

you

to

secure

work

experience

opportunities

or

if

they

can

suggest

people

to

contact

they

may

be

able

to

help

you

to

secure

work

experience.