EVERYTHING You Need to Know About Studying Medicine (incl. Survey)

On paper, becoming a doctor is easy. Assuming you satisfy the various entry requirements the course itself is purely vocational, and you're pretty much guaranteed a job at the end of it. The difficult part, however, is getting onto the course in the first place.

In the UK there are multiple ways of doing this. By far the most common is at the undergraduate level, following the successful acquisition of 3 A-A* grade A levels at school or college. Unfortunately, medical school is fiercely competitive, so as well as tricky admissions tests (typically the UKCAT or BMAT) you will also be expected to undertake a fair amount of extracurricular activities such as voluntary work.

Additionally, you will need at least some work experience in a hospital or other medical setting and will need to pass a medical school interview.

If this seems like too much of a challenge, there are other options available. The main alternative involves doing a graduate medicine degree, meaning completing an undergraduate degree first.

Different universities look for different degrees. Some will want you to have completed a BSc (Bachelor of Sciences), however others simply require any degree, as they look for more varied students. The good thing about graduate entry is that the only grade you'll need is a 2:1 and above, supplemented with extracurriculars.

A medical degree is a full-time endeavour, typically taking 5-6 years at undergraduate level, or 4-5 years as a postgraduate degree. The extra year at undergraduate is typically used to undertake a year of 'intercalation', this is where you study a separate BSc for a year in order to obtain a more varied education.

At the end of your degree, you will be able to use the title 'Dr' and will begin your foundation years of training in the NHS, assuming you stay in the UK. Alternatively you can stay in education, and consider completing either a Masters or PhD.

Due to the hands-on nature of this clinical degree, there are no distance options available, and it is highly recommended that you live in the city in which you are studying.

So what is it like studying medicine?

Talking from experience, I can say it is a difficult but incredibly rewarding experience. There is certainly a lot to know - after all you are studying the entire body and everything that can go wrong with it!

However, there is nothing more satisfying than being able to follow a patient through their journey of care. Getting to know individual patients is one of the highlights of your time as a medical student, and it can truly make up for the sheer amount of studying you'll need to do.

The amount you need to study will vary greatly depending on your academic ability and your medical school. Certain schools favour a 'Problem Based Learning' approach, where the majority of learning is undertaken by students in their own time. Other universities prefer a more didactic approach, using lectures and seminars to teach.

Depending on which method you prefer, you should individually assess each university based on what they offer.

No matter which school you study at, one thing is certain: exams. Due to the nature of the career prospects involved, medicine has a lot of regulation from governing bodies such as the GMC. This means that the school will need to ensure that anyone they bestow with the title of 'Dr' is fully up to the task. This means each and every year you will undergo multiple exams.

The first few years tend to be 'preclinical' years. These are where students learn the science of medicine, such as body systems, anatomy, and pathology. Within these years you will also study clinical communication, ethics and other aspects that run parallel to the science of medicine.

All of these will be examined to one degree or another depending on the medical school. As a general rule, you can expect at least 3 exams at the end of each year, with the possibility of additional ones during the year. Practical exams may also be included.

How should I study?

Everyone studies differently, and whether you are a new or veteran student it is important to play to your strengths. Especially if you are considering something as competitive as medicine, it is important to remember that, unless you have mitigating circumstances, any medical school will want you to perform well academically.

If you do fail any exams when in medical school you may not be able to continue onto the next academic year, so make sure you study!

Although everyone studies differently, there are some rules that everyone should try to follow. The number one rule that I would suggest is this: don't leave everything until the last minute! Make sure that you are keeping up to date on key topics throughout the year and that you read up on any areas you are having trouble with.

The worst thing would be to leave everything until only a few weeks before the final exam of the year!

Once you have found which way you prefer to study - perhaps you like watching videos on topics, or maybe you simply prefer to read from a textbook? - allot some time each week for studying outside of your core contact hours.

You might prefer to make a weekly schedule with dedicated study time, or maybe you'd prefer to simply take the time to study where you can. University can be a very busy time, so do what works for you! Remember that if you choose to have prolonged revision sessions, it is advisable to take regular breaks (at least once an hour) to ensure you're learning at your best.

The vast majority of what you will need to know will be taught and learned whilst studying though there are some things that the medical school will expect you to know beforehand. This includes some of the basic sciences (though any additional knowledge you have specifically relating to cell biology will help) and basic mathematics skills (needed for working out prescriptions and doses!).

All of this should be assumed within the entry requirements for your programme, so all you need to bring with you is a willingness to learn.

Where can I study medicine?

Out of 130 total, roughly 1/4 of universities in the UK offer medicine, meaning you have plenty of different schools to choose from. Some of the most famous include Oxford and Cambridge (the most prestigious universities in the country, if not the world), though more modern universities such as University College London or Imperial College London also offer medicine in the vibrant city of London, which arguably has better links with patients and cutting-edge healthcare.

What areas can I specialise in?

There are many different areas of specialisation within healthcare, and many different ways of categorising them. Maybe you want to assess the specialties as medicine vs surgery. Or maybe you want to consider a work/life balance, and so want to consider whether to work in a hospital or in the community?

Or maybe you've decided you don't want to work with patients at all, and would rather go straight into research or pharmaceuticals.

The great thing about a medical degree is the job prospects associated with it. There is a job for everyone, whether you thrive on being busy or want something a little calmer, or maybe want to spend more time getting to know your patients or would rather talk to them as little as possible.

Just a few of the most popular occupations include surgery (though this breaks down into many more subspecialties!), emergency medicine, paediatrics (children), cardiology, radiology, psychiatry, and many, many more.

Working as a Doctor

Although all the specialties are incredibly different, there are some general things you can expect about working as a doctor.

Number one is that the job is difficult. No matter your specialty, you will be making decisions for your patients with their best interests at heart. These can include lifechanging (and in some cases, life-saving) decisions, which will affect them for many years to come.

As such, in addition to all of the knowledge you will be required to amass, there is a certain emotional toll that comes with the work. Additionally, as a junior doctor, you can expect very long hours doing the jobs that the consultants don't particularly want to do, and work/life balance can be very, very difficult to maintain.

Especially alongside night shifts and spending other unusual hours on-call, any friends you have outside medicine may not fully understand why you can no longer hang out with them as much as you used to.

Happily, the upside to this is that there is a lot of emotional satisfaction in the work. When things go well patients can be incredibly grateful, and the feeling of having listened and helped someone in their time of need is like no other.

Plus, if you can find a specialty which interests you then you'll never have a boring day at the office, giving you the kind of job satisfaction that many other careers lack. The important thing is just to learn to be able to take the ups with the downs.

More specifically, a typical career prospect following a medical degree in the UK is working for the NHS in some capacity. As previously mentioned, upon completion of your medical degree you will be expected to undertake your foundation year training programme. This consists of two years of paid work as a junior doctor, on a variety of different rotations and specialties.

This can be a great opportunity to really find which profession suits you, though you do not have to specialise in any of the rotations you work on throughout the foundation programme.

After these two years (typically referred to as FY1 and FY2), training diversifies. Depending on the specialty training length varies, with GP training taking 3-4 years and surgery training taking anywhere from 5-8 years. The title that you take on for these years will vary depending on the specialty, but as a general rule you will remain a 'junior doctor'.

So what kind of salary can you expect to earn from being a doctor? This depends a lot on what you end up doing. The starting salary for an FY1 doctor is £27,146, which increases to £31,422 during FY2.

Although there is then some variation among specialties, when working for the NHS you can expect your salary to increase to £37,191 and up to £47,132. As such, medicine is certainly not a bad career to go into from an earnings perspective, with consultants in the NHS earning between £75,913 and £105,042 after their training.

Many doctors also choose to perform private work alongside their NHS role, leading to a far more lucrative salary.

Another great thing about medicine is the job prospects following the degree. Anyone with a medical degree can expect to find work within the NHS very easily as there is currently a shortage of doctors in the country, making a medical degree a sure bet if you're looking for a vocational course with guaranteed job security afterward.

But suppose you complete your degree and then decide that working as a doctor isn't for you?

Once again a medical degree is sure to provide, since many recent graduates are choosing to go into any number of parallel professions, such as medical writing, medicolegal, pharmaceuticals and many more. Others still are choosing to go an entirely different route, such as business, finance or law - a medical degree is seen as a very prestigious degree to hold, effectively guaranteeing work if you find your niche.

Because of this, if you are considering going into medicine I cannot recommend it enough, at least as something to consider.

Guaranteed employment at the end means the worst case scenario is you'll come out the other side with a prestigious degree and increased employability, and best case you may have found a job which you genuinely love doing and pays well.