What's the main differences between the medical schools ??

cian casey

So I'm re-applying for medicine after repeating both the hpat and LC. Surprisingly my hpat has shot up (97th percentile now) and I'm hoping with an LC of 550+ that most of the med schools should be in reach.

Essentially I'm wondering what would be the main differences between the med schools i.e. which places the most emphasis on dissection etc.

Lastly I'm struggling to find the actual location of where lectures/labs etc. would be held in the various schools.

Any info. would be appreciated

JDOC1996

Sorry this is slightly off topic, but what did you get in the Hpat the first time?

cian casey

52nd percentile

JDOC1996

cian casey wrote: »

52nd percentile

There's hope for me so :L
Can I just ask what you did differently the 2nd time? Very disappointed with my result and am considering repeating.

cian casey

JDOC1996 wrote: »

There's hope for me so :L
Can I just ask what you did differently the 2nd time? Very disappointed with my result and am considering repeating.

Well I think I under achieved the first time, I wasn't in the right frame of mind. Ah the change in weighting also helped me a bit, S1 and S2 are my strongest. I did med****y online, so reading the practice guides thoroughly and starting revision early helped.

Aside from that it must have been divine intervention

lvoc

I've just qualified from UCD (so am biased!) One of the big differences is that UCD (and i think UCC, but not sure,) are 6 year programmes, whereas all the other med schools are 5 years. Having said that I really enjoyed premed - minimal stress and you get to know your class very well. In UCD all the dissection is years 1 and 2, there are labs every couple of weeks and it's in the health science building in UCD. Most of the lectures are also in Health Science, apart from premed when they're all in the science block. Both buildings are pretty new, right next to each other, and Health Science has a very nice library Also the teaching is *supposedly* better than trinity..but i'm sure TCD students would disagree with me. I really enjoyed UCD anyway!!

cian casey

Congrats on graduating Thanks for the info when you say the dissections are in year 1 and 2 I take it they're the years after premed ?? Would you say UCD has many unique selling points for medicine ??

lvoc

yep, years 1 and 2 are after premed. The teaching is excellent and pretty much everything is online. The hospitals you'd be attached to later are Vincent's and the Mater; TCD are James' and Tallaght and RCSI have Beaumont and Connolly. Depending on where you live could be an advantage or disadvantage. One thing about UCD; exams are at the end of each semester instead of at the end of each year, which to me seems easier. Also once you get to final med in UCD most of your exams are out of the way, so finals are a lot less stressful compared to other colleges which have all the exams at the very end. Bank of Ireland offer a student loan specifically for UCD medical students which is pretty good. Afraid I don't know much about the other colleges!

shakywaky

Can anybody tell me what med in NUIG is like and is the degree accepted for jobs in Dublin hospitals? Is it harder to get accepted for jobs in Dublin hospitals?

Also does anybody know if you can transfer from medicine in NUIG to medicine in UCD after yera 1 with a higher HPAT score?

Just Like Heaven

NUIG offer premed as well, but it's completely optional about 60% opt to take it I think unlike UCD. NUIG premed is less mediciney too you take Biology with 1st year Science so do some plant biology and zoology and that sort of thing. Physics too etc. From what I've seen the undergraduate courses are all pretty much the same these days, there was probably more of a difference between them years ago though.

People say things make your decision on which teaching hospitals are best etc. but it's unlikely that there are really any 'bad' teaching hospitals being used these days anyway. On your dissection point I think 1/2 labs a week for gross torso anatomy in first year and head and neck anatomy in second year is pretty much the standard for all the undergrad courses. There seemed to be a big enough emphasis in TCD on it, you had short vivas at mid term in both semesters in addition to the proper viva and spot exam at Christmas/Summer. Would imagine it's similar everywhere else though.

And as for exams I think every college uses Christmas and Summer exams.

In short I don't think there any 'main' differences. If I were you I'd probably just choose based on things like where you want to rent or if you're living with your parents is it UCD's or TCD's hospitals easier to get out to, if you're paying the rent yourself you'll probably save 1-2k per year in Galway as opposed to Dublin. What can each college offer you in terms of extra-curricular stuff, socs, sports facilities, erasmus whatever you're into.

lvoc wrote: »

Also the teaching is *supposedly* better than trinity..but i'm sure TCD students would disagree with me.

Naturally

cian casey

Thanks @Fewtins, that's very informative, did you study in trinity ??

Just Like Heaven

Still am!

cian casey

2 more quick questions Where are most of the lectures in first year in relation to the main campus and would you recommend halls for first year ??

randylonghorn

fewtins wrote: »

NUIG offer premed as well, but it's completely optional about 60% opt to take it I think unlike UCD.

Um, I'm open to correction, but I think it's optional for those who have at least a C in Honours in two sciences at LC (as in these people are likely to be offered the option of direct entry to the 5 year course, but they may opt to do premed in any case).

As I understand it, for those who don't already have that level in the sciences, premed isn't optional in NUIG.


@lvoc: the three which offer 6 year programmes are UCD, NUIG and RCSI ... UCC doesn't.

Of these only UCD offers *only* a 6 year programme; the other two offer both a 5 year and 6 year programme with higher minimum requirements to be accepted into the 5 year programme.

Just Like Heaven

Yeah just assumed OP would have two forgot about that. Is there not something in UCD about skipping pre med if you have x grades in x sciences and want to, I definitely remember Qol saying something about it only being offered to 20% of the applicants and nobody really takes it. I don't know if it's true I don't know many people studying med there really.

cian casey wrote: »

2 more quick questions Where are most of the lectures in first year in relation to the main campus and would you recommend halls for first year ??

In TCD everything is in the biomedical sciences institute on Pearse street, the only time you really leave is for your family case study visits to the tutorial with the GP or to visit the baby a few times during the year. It's a new building really nice, you're there 4 days a week in second year too. And yeah halls is great for first year the only negative is the distance from campus, loads of threads about it in the tcd forum have a look and decide I guess.

randylonghorn

fewtins wrote: »

Yeah just assumed OP would have two forgot about that. Is there not something in UCD about skipping pre med if you have x grades in x sciences and want to, I definitely remember Qol saying something about it only being offered to 20% of the applicants and nobody really takes it.

QoL is in NUIG, not UCD, Few!!

Otherwise, I suspect you're remembering accurately.

Too much raw fish is getting to your brain, man!

lvoc

shakywaky wrote: »

Can anybody tell me what med in NUIG is like and is the degree accepted for jobs in Dublin hospitals? Is it harder to get accepted for jobs in Dublin hospitals?

Where you do your degree doesn't matter for this, you can apply for any intern job in the country from any Irish university. Obviously will determine your teaching hospitals though!
As for premed in UCD - it's not optional for most people, a few are offered the chance to skip it. Think you needed a's in biology chemistry, possibly physics and top points. But i was before the hpat so it's probably all changed now..

Just Like Heaven

Thanks for that yeah I'm pretty sure it can or could be done, but I've never heard of anybody doing it. You'd miss out on all the craic anyway, if you skip it in NUIG there's fifty other people skipping too so it's not so bad.

randylonghorn wrote: »

QoL is in NUIG, not UCD, Few!!

Otherwise, I suspect you're remembering accurately.

Too much raw fish is getting to your brain, man!

I know where she is, but she was talking about UCD at the time smartypants