Mature Student - Medicine (Ask all your questions here)

another question

I would like to apply to do Medicine in one of the Dublin universities in Sept. 2014 but I have a lot of questions and although I know many of them have probably been answered in other threads I thought this would be easier for me and for other interested mature students to find all the relevant information for studying Medicine in one thread.

If anyone has or is studying medicine in Ireland as a mature student or has any answers to the below questions, I would be appreciative of your help.

**THREAD HIJACKING WELCOME - Other Boards users are more than welcome to post their questions here also, the more Q&A's the better for everyone**


1) What should I be doing between now and Sept. 2014 that would benefit my personal statement in terms of work experience, volunteer work etc? From what I can gather on Qualifax, all the universities seem to say that consideration is only given to candidates with relevant life experience who can prove/show they have a genuine interest in the area etc.

2) On a scale of 1-10 (10 being extremely difficult), how difficult is the course itself?

3) I'm 24 and working part-time in retail since I left school. I studied Physics, Chemistry and Biology for my Leaving certificate. I didn't give chemistry much time in school and ended up with a D3 on a higher paper, will this make things difficult for me? I had a B1 (higher) in Biology and an A1 in Physics (ordinary).

4) Time is of the essence for me and I really would prefer to be able to do the 5 year programme instead of the 6 year one (I intend to give this my all and study really hard). I am correct in thinking that Trinity are the only ones who offer a 5 year programme? I am eliminated from UCD as I don't have the required HC3 in chemistry and I think the same applies to RCSI.

5) People keep saying to me 'if you really want to do something, then just go for it and don't be worrying about money and other obstacles' but I am so worried about money. I don't know how I am going to put myself though university for a minimum of 5 years, paying rent and bills etc. Even though I have studied privately myself before, I haven't claimed a degree from the government so at least I will have my fees paid ( a bit of a ramble sorry) so my question here is: is Medicine one of the more expensive degrees to do in terms of books, I'm just imagining that on the basis of the course size, the books themselves must be an exorbitant cost.

6) I know there was a cut in the nursing internship salary to 50% of what it was previously. Did the cut effect the doctor internship also? Or does anyone know what the internship year pays because I like most will be crying out for a half-decent salary at that stage.

7) Finally, do any of the Dublin universities offer clinical placement in Sligo General Hospital that you know of or is it all done in the Dublin teaching hospitals?

That's all I can think of at the moment, it would be great to hear from some of you doing the course as mature students and how you manage.