The 'I feel like Im never going to get into Medicine' Thread

2 people who already have a 2:1 degree?! What are they playing at!

Are you only applying to NUIG then??

Have you sat Bio and Physics yet? Did the leaving cert in 2007 and the nice people in Pearse college assure me it hasnt changed too much....here is hoping..I'm desperately trying to remember by Macbeth.

EternalGeek wrote: »

2 people who already have a 2:1 degree?! What are they playing at!

Are you only applying to NUIG then??

Have you sat Bio and Physics yet? Did the leaving cert in 2007 and the nice people in Pearse college assure me it hasnt changed too much....here is hoping..I'm desperately trying to remember by Macbeth.

The english paper 2 changes every year, different plays, novels, poets etc.

Im the same way, not sure I could handle living in Dublin, so far away from everyone, it would make the 5yrs very long. Cant remember any Hamlet :-( Ag Science is supposed to be handy points. You do a project during the year worth 20% of the score, only thing is finding a teacher to sign you off on, I'll be doing everything at home, dont think i could handle fulltime school, I'd feel so old at 28yrs :-(. Im tempted to have a go at higher maths with the 25 extra points. Jes you'll have a great start with nursing degree, will you apply as grad entry as well. Only thing its so expensive to go back and do the degree, I'd say you'd end up with student loans of €70k+ ahhhh ........

EternalGeek wrote: »

Could not agree anymore with the sentiment of this post as Jessibelle, my real life buddy will testify to I do spend a lot of time wondering why I am not already the Irish female version of House :rolleyes:

Have a nursing degree, am applying for 2013 entry. Working as a staff nurse and repeating the Leaving cert in the meantime.

Am happy to rant on the subject at anytime if anyone cares to do so

I'm a repeat this year as I want to get into medicine again but don't think I'm going to make it. I was thinking of doing a nursing degree and get back in later and this is exactly ur case. Can I ask you what subjects are u repeating this year?

Bella, I personally really regret not just repeating the leaving cert after school. I was not happy during my four years of nursing, and let me tell you it is very very disheartening watching some interns behave like complete and utter morons while bitching about their long hours when you are sitting there as a nurse thinking you would kill to be where they are!!
I will be repearting and am hoping to do english, irish, maths, german, geography, bio, chem, physics and ag.science.

I technically got a 2:1 but nursing lists it as a 2:2 (They dont tell you that in the prospectus :mad:) so I don't think I can apply for GEP as my official degree says 2:2

There definitely is! I am 23, I have a degree and in September I am starting a year long repeat leaving certificate course. I know there are people who think I am totally certifiable crazy but to be totally honest I don't give a s**t because I know all I want to do is be a doctor and I am going to keep applying til I wear an admissions office down enough to let me in

I am doing it in Pearse college

Sorry for this long reply but I just saw this thread and noticed how many people are considering or have already decided on going back to repeat the leaving as mature student to get into medicine.

I'm 23 and I just finished repeating in IOE this year and thought i'd share my experience. I already have a science degree but unfortunately just missed out on the 2.1. It was suggested to me to go back and do the leaving again. Everyone of course said it'll be so easy because you already have a degree but let me tell you know it most definately is not.

I took 9 subjects. English, Irish and French at ordinary level and then I took Biology, Chem, Physics, Agricultural Science and Agricultural Economics all at higher level. I just finished my exams last thursday I am still exhausted. I have to say this year was a lot harder then I thought it was going to be.

Be prepared to give up a lot of time with friends and your social life. I worked extremely hard this year and still feel I didnt get enough points. I let the stress and nerves get to me at the end and under the exam pressure made some stupid mistakes that I really should not have made. And believe me the stress will get to you at some stage of the year. I usually don't get very stressed but the Leaving cert changed that.

I think you should keep in mind that repeating is a good idea when you're older because you are now more mature and realise what you want but you still have to keep in mind that you're covering 9 different nine subjects in 9 months rather than the usual 17/18 year olds that are covering the courses in 2 years. I have to admitted the subject matter is easier to understand now but the volume of information you have to learn is unbelievable. Also you have to keep in mind that knowing the subject matter is fine but to get A1s you need to know the information to perfection.

What also really got on my nerves was the way the leaving cert is actually marked. If you answer a question your explanation may be correct but if its not in the marking schemes then you get a big fat zero for the question even though you may be right :mad:. Also if you're thinking about taking Higher Maths the new Projects Maths is very different to the old course and Maths is changing again this year.

Time is also so important this year. At the beginning you think you have so much time to do everything but that quickly changes. Especially after christmas your study time can really takes a hit. The middle term is the worst. You have project deadlines, orals and hpat to study for and believe me they definately take more time than you think they will. Also if you're thinking about doing Agricultural Science just to warn you my project was about 14,000 words long (longer then my thesis in college) and my project wasnt even the biggest in my class. The teacher can only give so many projects A1s so competition for those marks is high. ( Like everything with the leaving cert I suppose)

I meet a few other people 23/24 years old who went back and repeated and it didnt work out. I thought repeating the leaving was my ticket in but unfortunately I think I'll either have to repeat again or depending on points just take the hpat again.

I know all the above sounds pretty bad but tbh I dont regret the year. It was extremely stressfull but I'm still glad I did it and just have my fingers crossed that I did better in my exams than I think I did.

If you would like anymore advice, about orals, projects, hpat etc just pm me and best of luck to all of you

TC80 wrote: »

Can I just offer one or two observations, based on nearly a decade as a doctor.

To the OP and all prospective medical students. Don't make getting in to medicine your everest, your four-minute-mile. Whether you get it or not, the sun will still come up tomorrow morning and there will be a whole new set of joys and challenges. In medicine, and other areas in life, every hurdle you jump puts you on the bottom rung of a new ladder. And those of you who follow the medical press will realise the number of ladders is being increased all the time.

Always, always, always be as defined by what you do outside medicine as what you do inside it. This applies as much to the first year student as to the senior consultant. This involves making sacrifices and compromises. The most dedicated, committed, saintly doctors are sadly often those who are the most psychologically burdened. Dig deeper ad you'll find a lot of pain in their personal lives, believe me. And a large part of tlit is because they lost that balance and the ability to draw boundaries.

The reason I am online at 2 am is because of something that happened at work today. After busting a gut working for a very sick patient all week I was on the receiving end of a volley of abuse today from 6 of his family members. The criticism was deeply personal and unjustified. I will have worked 94 hours by the end of this week, as well as having written two papers for submission to journals. To do all that and be accused of not making an effort hurts. And the kicker is that in the current climate you can't really argue back and defend yourself, unless you fancy a trip to the medical council and being a front page star of deeply distorted headlines on every paper in Ireland. You can only sit there meekly and apologise for things you never did. I feel like an idiot for hyping myself up so much back 14 years ago to get into med school. I can't sleep for thinking about it. Do I
regret studying medicine? No. What I do regret is losing balance in my life. I regret allowing myself to be defined by my work. I deeply regret staying in this country.

I hope all of you get into med school and make a better fist of a life in medicine than I have but please never lose sight of the fact that as a human being you are worth a whole lot more than life as a junior doctor will allow you to believe you are. Good luck in your exams.

Wow.
One of the best post i've read on Boards.
And one of the most honest i've read from another doctor.
This is great advice.

Leinsterview wrote: »

Speaking as another doc, I'll second that.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79487768

Are you thinking of repeating Medicine.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79488142

Or going back to do Biomedical Science.

Leinsterview wrote: »

No. Just doing some recce on behalf of a daughter who is thinking of following in Daddy's footsteps.

Oh OK.
Very good.
You haven't managed to change her mind then?

take everything wrote: »

Oh OK.
Very good.
You haven't managed to change her mind then?

Like most people in these situations I have mixed feelings.

Bella29 wrote: »

I'm feeling really despondent as the moment as well...the medical prospect for me is so grim! So I didnt get into medicine last year and is currently repeating my leaving cert and feeling that yet again I'm never going to make it in. Is there any point in going to going to college and doing a random course hoping that I will achieve an 2.1 diploma and start medicine again or should repeat another year of Leaving Cert, AGAIN, taking once again a 50/50 chance with the LC? I know what I want in life and I am not ready yet to give up on this seemingly austere dream. However family pressure is so great as my mum said I must go to college this year no matter what as she gave me this year as a last chance to get into medicine. So really I find myself being squeezed into a corner here. Do yous have any advice for a troubled soul like me? I know there are a lot of medical students and potential medical students on here. I'm desperately searching for some advice from people who have made it to the other side and those who are relatively in the same situation as me, taking in account that at the moment, I'm 19 and going to be 20 this July

I would recommending repeating the LC one last time, what points are you on at the moment? Think of the money you would save by going in as an undergrad. You're looking at fees (registration fees) of about 3000-5000e plus expenses(living,food etc) vs 12000-15000e plus expenses as a postgrad course. If you can't get into medicine I would recommend pharmacy as it would really help you with your medical degree rather than just science or arts.

Abby19 wrote: »

FairytaleGirl - a few quick questions and pointers about applications. You may have all of these covered, but I have heard of a few who hadn't, so just in case ...

Just wondering did you meet all the matriculation requirements for entry? It looks as though you are from Derry?
For TCD the Advanced GCE (A-Level) requirements are Grade B + Grade C In two of physics, chemistry or biology. If you do not have a qualification in physics you must present GCSE mathematics at grade B or better. This could vary in other colleges.

If you are going in as an undergraduate or mature you still need to meet the matriculation requirements, e.g. certain grades in Chemistry and Biology, etc. I know some people who applied and didn't have two sciences in the LC, but assumed that as they had a science degree, that would suffice. It doesn't. It is a bit like the 2:1 requirement for Grad Med, regardless of higher degrees, e.g. Masters and PhDs.
I know quite a few people with degrees who have sat or are sitting LC Chemistry and/or Biology to meet the requirements. I also know of someone with a degree who went back and repeated the entire leaving cert and got in with LC and HPAT as undergraduate.

Also you can tailor your applications for each of the colleges a bit. At least that is what I was told when I applied.
TCD only accept their supplemental application form. You need to apply through the CAO, but they don't look at your application, so you can focus on UCD/UCC/RCSI who do. Though RCSI also asks for a separate submission. TCD at the time did not accept references, and I was told that even if I attached my references to my application they would not be copied or provided to the interviewers.

Lastly in the mature part of the CAO form I found it very difficult to try and paint myself in any positive light with the formatting limitations of an online form. So the first couple of sections on academic record and qualifications, etc., I filled out online, but for the CV part, I prepared various documents in Word and put something like. 'Please see separate document sent by post.' into the application form. That way my work experience and stuff like that I could format properly and make my application a bit more professional looking.
I did the same for the TCD form as well. Filled the first few pages by hand (they do like to see some handwriting apparently) and for the latter bits I attached typed up sections. It also meant I could include more info on a typed page than an handwritten one.

I helped out at some of the mature student evenings and these were some of the common questions that came up. And I know this approach has worked for others applying for mature medicine.

As for age - there is currently an intern in their late 50s/early 60s in Tallaght hospital. Most of the North Americans who come over to study Medicine have undergraduate degrees, so you would be at the younger end of their age range. Medicine is 4-6 years, then intern year, then SHO training (2-3 years), SPR training (3-5 years), so it is a long slog if it is not what you really want. GP is 4 years after intern year assuming you get on a training scheme.

Many people are not successful on their first application - it is heartbreaking, but really, really common.

If you have any further questions feel free to PM me. If you want you could send me on your application and I'll give you feedback.

Hey Abbey19, I just wondering what kind of experience did you have before applying for mature entry?

I've been working in a nursing home since I was 16 and then once I went to college I worked there every summer full time, so in total I have about 6/7 years experience working there. I was a youth volunteer when I was 17 and helped bring a group of sick and elder people to Lourdes and during my transition year I volunteered in a local psychiatric rehabilation center. The only recent experience I would have though would be working in the nursing home as a care assistant. I'm currently looking into volunteering in my local hospital but the only volunteering available is visiting around the wards and talking to the patients and running earns for them. It's better than nothing i suppose but not exactly what I'm looking for.
I'm finding it quite difficult to get any experience with actually doctors and patients because of the strict confidentiality.

I have a science degree but went back and repeated the leaving cert this year but unfortunately I don't think I got the points. I'm prepared to repeat again if needs be but I'm afraid it might not look the best if I'm doing it for a third time but then again they might look at is as commitment to getting in, I hope.

Just looking for some advice really