College....

*belle*

For those of you here who have studied medicine or who have yet to finish it(or even if u just know someone).i was just wondering how you all got into it.did you get the course first time round in the LC?,did you repeat?,postgrad?.......
repeating seems to be the best option.am i right?
thanks for any help in advance.

tallaght01

I did a biomedical sciences degree before I went to med school. It meant that when I got in there, I had some idea about what was going on.

Having said that, I didn't do the degree in order to do medicine. I'd have been happy to work as a biomedical scientist.

It's important not to do a primary degree with a view to using it to getting into medicine.
Because there aren't many places for graduates, it's very competitive. I had to get a first in my degree to get a place. Others who also got firsts didn't get in.

You need to be prepared to work in whatever area you do your primary degree in, because you may not get into medical school.

Traumadoc

Repeated in Ringsend Tech.

DrIndy

I repeated too, but that was also because I didn't want to go to college initially so went and worked for a year before parents armtwisted me to try another time.

Robbiethe3rd

Repeated in the institute.

Aoibheann

I just got offered medicine there now, I repeated in my own school (didn't put any effort in first time around, cursed laziness!) and I think it's a great option. You can do whatever subjects you want for points, provided you've met matriculation requirements already.

Question for anyone who's studied medicine.. what's premed like? I studied the three sciences, does it make the year a lot easier?

tallaght01

I dont know what premed is like. I didn;t have to do it, as I'd done a science, degree. But just wanted to say well done on gettin a place at med school. It has the potential to be the best few years of your life. Good times. Pity bout the rubbish that comes with graduation

InFront

I did maths for a year after the leaving cert, quit that, and then switched to medicine. Luckily it seems to have been the correct decision so far. You'll find that a lot of people haven't come to medicine straight from the leaving cert, and sometimes it is better to be that way (always an intense course, unless you're pre med)

In order to figure out how to get your place you need to figure out why you didnt get the points. Were you unlucky (in which case it might be best to repeat) or are you just talented in specific areas and does the broad nature of secondary school curriculum not suit your intelligence? If the latter, perhaps you should consider something in science and jump from there?

Overall, if you're looking at the bottom line in terms of effort and money, I imagine that repeating the leaving cert must be the easier option to gain a place.

*belle*

Some very useful advice from ye all.tbh its good to hear what other ppl did.thanks for the posts.
i am most likely repeating.seems to be the best option for me.
cursed leaving....i really thought i was done with it last june.

Aoibheann

Repeating's really not that bad, seriously.. you'll make new friends and the year passes ridiculously quickly..

In the end, repeating made no difference to me as regards doing an extra year, just found out I don't have to do premed (I'm so glad I did all the science subjects!), something similar could happen in your case!