Deciding which UK medical school to apply for can be a difficult decision for an international student, with factors such as course type, ranking, reputation, location and cost all needing to be considered.
Choosing a medical school: Course type
- Traditional courses are taught through lectures, seminars and tutorials for the first 2 years, before students move into practical and clinical work for the following 3 years. For pre-clinical study, teaching covers areas such as anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and pathology and each block is taught as a separate course. The clinical stage will see students work at hospitals as a student doctor.
- Integrated courses differ as lecture and seminar based work is taught alongside clinical studies of the same area, meaning you will begin clinical work from the very beginning of your programme. This type of course is recommended by the General Medical Council.
- Problem based learning courses are unique and fewer UK medical schools offer them. Small groups of no more than ten students are presented with a problem and a virtual patient as the case study. The group will then be guided by a facilitator and have to present their hypothesis at a later date. Medical schools in the UK that offer this style of course include Liverpool, Sheffield and Queen Mary.
Choosing a medical school: Competitive entry
Medicine is one of the most competitive courses in the world to secure a place on and, according to UCAS, in 2012 there were 82,489 application to UK medical schools with only 7,805 places available. Looking into each programme and medical school is of huge importance when selecting the right place to study and some schools are less competitive than others.
Faultless academic records are required, while experience is looked upon greatly by the applications board. If your grades fall short of the entry requirements, many medical schools provide foundation programmes if they believe you have the required ability to succeed.
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I believe my success is due to the great support provided by SI-UK. I was advised the right IELTS courses to attend and they also helped with my visa application. I really want to share with you my positive experience and I would definitely recommend SI-UK to my friends.
