Mature entry Medicine 2016/2017

Basscon23

Hey guys.

I was wondering if anyone who has been successful in gaining a place in medicine had a similar background to me, or know if someone who has.

I'm a 24 year old, who up until recently had been a primary carer for my sick mother. This started during my leaving cert, so my points were quite low 460.

I don't have much experience in the medical field, apart from shoaowing a surgeon for 2 weeks recently. I'm hoping to have more experience before the applications close in Feb.

I was wondering, since I do not have a degree, and little experience, is there any chance I could even secure an interview? Any help people could provide would be great.

eigenboggle

Hi Basscon23,

I am a mature student who was successful in my application without a previous degree. I completed a one year access course first when I was 25, to get back up to speed on the sciences and education in general, and then was successful in getting a place following that. I know of others who have also been successful following an access program. Many of the colleges offer such courses, TCD and DIT for example, so it might be worth looking into that as a potential route to medicine.

I think the most important thing that the colleges look for when evaluating mature students, apart from academic success, is for you to convince them that you will stick it out for the duration of the course. Recent education is a great way to showcase that.

Basscon23

Thank you so much for the reply. I really appreciate it.

How did the access course go? Did you get your place in Medince based on Faciltated entry, or did you just compete normally via mature entry?

Also, what type of grades did you receive overall in your access course? Was it all A's.

How was the interview process? Did you have any clinical shadowing experience?

Sorry for bombarding you with all these questions, I'm just eager?

eigenboggle wrote: »

Hi Basscon23,

I am a mature student who was successful in my application without a previous degree. I completed a one year access course first when I was 25, to get back up to speed on the sciences and education in general, and then was successful in getting a place following that. I know of others who have also been successful following an access program. Many of the colleges offer such courses, TCD and DIT for example, so it might be worth looking into that as a potential route to medicine.

I think the most important thing that the colleges look for when evaluating mature students, apart from academic success, is for you to convince them that you will stick it out for the duration of the course. Recent education is a great way to showcase that.

Caolan

Basscon23 wrote: »

Hey guys.

I was wondering if anyone who has been successful in gaining a place in medicine had a similar background to me, or know if someone who has.

I'm a 24 year old, who up until recently had been a primary carer for my sick mother. This started during my leaving cert, so my points were quite low 460.

I don't have much experience in the medical field, apart from shoaowing a surgeon for 2 weeks recently. I'm hoping to have more experience before the applications close in Feb.

I was wondering, since I do not have a degree, and little experience, is there any chance I could even secure an interview? Any help people could provide would be great.

Mature entry information evening taking place in RCSI tonight for anyone interested

http://www.rcsi.ie/ugppmopenday

6:30 in St Stephen's Green

eigenboggle

Basscon23 wrote: »

Thank you so much for the reply. I really appreciate it.

How did the access course go? Did you get your place in Medince based on Faciltated entry, or did you just compete normally via mature entry?

Also, what type of grades did you receive overall in your access course? Was it all A's.

How was the interview process? Did you have any clinical shadowing experience?

Sorry for bombarding you with all these questions, I'm just eager?

Hi, no worries.

The access course was an amazing and really formative experience. I entered through facilitated entry and I also had to do the HPAT. Grades wise during the access course I didn't do great on the first exam or two but then got into the swing of it and my final grades were all high firsts, though I worked hard and put in a lot of hours. My HPAT score was also pretty high.

I had some volunteer experience and had shadowed a GP but that was it.

Any other questions fire away, I know what it is like trying to get all of the info together in the initial stages!

Isco

eigenboggle wrote: »

Hi, no worries.

The access course was an amazing and really formative experience. I entered through facilitated entry and I also had to do the HPAT. Grades wise during the access course I didn't do great on the first exam or two but then got into the swing of it and my final grades were all high firsts, though I worked hard and put in a lot of hours. My HPAT score was also pretty high.

I had some volunteer experience and had shadowed a GP but that was it.

Any other questions fire away, I know what it is like trying to get all of the info together in the initial stages!

Hey just wondering what you mean by facilitated entry in this case? Also, did you apply and do the HPAT as you were doing your access course? Thanks