FY2 doctor and application time!

After another long hiatus, I am back! This time as a worldly (joking) F2 doctor.

I was lucky and thoroughly enjoyed my F1 year - a fantastic and supportive DGH, where by the end we felt like a bunch of close knit friends. It was a steep learning curve, and at times could be tough, but overall I had a great time.

F2 has been a step up - I've moved to a a big central London teaching hospital, and went from being a relatively protected F1, to suddenly 'the SHO on call'; is there any worse role than being the medical ward cover SHO? Perhaps second only to the on call med reg.
I started off on surgery which I quite enjoyed, relaxed ward days, lots of theatre time, but the nights and on calls were tricky. As SHO you accept referrals and run the take (very different to medicine), which was pretty daunting! I went from being a bit clueless to seeing 15+ 'RIF pain ?appendicitis' in a day. During this job I was making decisions about whether or not to apply for core surgical training (CST), despite really enjoying surgery, I found the lifestyle tough. I looked into alternatives; interventional radiology? GP with a specialist interest in minor surgery? In the end I did a taster week in Ophthalmology and ended up loving it - a good mix of medicine and surgery, mainly outpatient and well patients, great lifestyle, lots of scope for academia, and also - never ever having to do ward cover. So I put a tentative application in!
Of course I had managed to pick one of the most competitive specialties going - it ended up being a lot of hard work; trying to maximise portfolio points, revising for the MSRA exam, and then the interview felt like an exam itself. I have to stay in London for reasons relating to my non-medical partner, so have fully accepted I might not get a job this round and may need to apply next year. But still, fingers crossed, aye. I did um and arr about taking an F3, but ultimately I am not keen on the locuming life, preferring to have stability, also I am not the best traveller! A month away is the maximum for me personally, so an exotic year in Auz/ NZ/ elsewhere wasn't really for me. I have applied for some research and teaching jobs as a back up.



I have GP next which I am nervous about, but hopefully can learn lots and enjoy all my free weekend and evenings in the summer sun!

Until next time

Working as an F1 doctor

Hello and happy new year!

I am back from a blogging hiatus. It turns out being a doctor keeps you quite busy.

I am currently on my second block of F1 which is geriatrics, after a first four months of Orthopaedics.
I loved Orthopaedics! Everyone was providing me with horror stories of managing 60 dying patients alone as my seniors bullied me, but luckily this was not my experience at all. I had a fab team and I got on very well with the other juniors. Yes, the Reg's perhaps weren't the best with medical problems, but they were useful for Ortho problems and very nice to us all. I got quite a lot of time in theatre and in clinic, and I really feel like surgery is more for me. I enjoy the management side of things, being in theatre, the practical skills such as pulling a joint, and also that you often know exactly what's wrong with your patients.
Whilst Geriatrics has been lovely with a very supportive team, I don't particularly enjoy the unselected medical take, trying to pick apart why exactly a patient has come into hospital, and then after multiple investigations diagnosing '1) UTI, 2) Delirium secondary to UTI'...
Having said that, I am learning lots on this block and there is definitely a we're-all-in-this-together atmosphere with medical teams, especially during my 13h christmas eve shift on take.

I have seen some interesting cases such as encephalitis, pericarditis, CNS lymphoma, amongst others,  but still unsure if that beats an open tib/fib fracture.

Everyone says, and it's true, that being an F1 is a massive (seemingly endless) learning curve. I have definitely felt this - remembering my first day nervous as a kitten on the ward round, sweating in the 35C heat wave and nervous I would forget everything. With each ill patient, with each new scenario, I feel more confident and more settled in.
Not to say I am now some amazing doctor! I still have lots of unsure moments, and lots of times when I feel wholly out of depth and stressed, but I'm definitely improving and slowly getting there.

Some of my colleagues have been having tough times and getting very stressed - remember to look after yourselves out there.

Looking forward to the rest of F1, I mainly feel quite excited! I really like my hospital, it's small and nice and supported. I'm going to start thinking about speciality exams and all that other stuff, a pretty scary prospect. And hopefully the moments where I feel overwhelmed and terrified will become less often...

Happy 2019 to everyone!

5th year in review

I have enjoyed 5th year, it was much more relaxed than the notoriously difficult 4th year, and it was nice to get back to general medicine and surgery after focusing on clinical specialities.

It started off with an amazing elective - I headed down under and spent most of my time on a massive road trip in a trusty bright yellow 4x4, and did very little medicine...

Choosing a deanery

Next 5th year begins, with a whirlwind of career talks it suddenly all feels very real - FPAS, UKFPO, SJT, EPM, PSA, what does it all mean!? Before I knew it was I was going to be making very serious life choices with very little information, as the foundation programme applications opened up in October.
This is a little gripe I think we all have in medicine, it's hard to think of many other job examples where you apply for the location of the job 10 months in advance, with very little information about the jobs/ availability/ working conditions, or anything really. My non-medic partner finds the whole process bizarre, and soon I felt like I needed to make a powerpoint to explain the convoluted application process to all my family members.
Eventually we decided to move down to London, and I tentatively researched the 3 deaneries and was horrified to see the score cut offs and competition ratios. This led to a lot of tooing and froing but I got a good decile + intercalation, and put down North East and Central London. This was mainly because most of the hospitals were actually in London, and it seemed a bit more affordable and nice to live in than North West London. South Thames was too sprawling for me, the idea of a guaranteed long commute didn't appeal!
Luckily this year we were allowed to change our deanery choices up to February, which I think a lot of people ended up doing last minute out of stress! I will leave it to you whether you think this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Our placements were mainly a mix of medicine and surgery with 4 weeks of GP. I found (to my horror) I was enjoying surgery more and more. I had always thought of myself as a proper medic, no cutting here thank you. But as I found myself gravitating to theatres (by choice!) and revelling in interesting cases, x-rays, and CT scans, I couldn't deny the growing enjoyment I was feeling. This led to some serious soul-searching, and massively influenced by job ranking for F1 and F2.

I've never been the best attendee... I did start to feel a bit guilty about missing empty afternoons on the ward, and or the 3rd IBD clinic of the month. I wonder if this is universal to medics? Talking to my friends it appeared lots of people skipped seemingly pointless aspects of placement, to go to the library and do more productive learning. I suppose it's an important part of being an adult learner, you identify what you actually need to go to! But I think now that I am a few weeks away from being an F1, I am desperately regretting leaving at 2pm on Friday - what if I missed a clinical scenario I will now be faced with alone! I suppose this is all part of the 'new doctor' jitters.

SJT and PSA

The year plodded on, I found the SJT a very challenging exam time-wise, and had about 30 seconds to spare at the end. I hadn't paid for any expensive courses, or bought any books, and I worried I would be at a disadvantage, but in the end did well. The PSA (prescribing exam) was fine really, if you can quickly search the BNF you will be okay!

I passed the PSA with a good margin, and managed to get 46 on my SJT! I was in absolute shock. It was a snowy day and I woke up to about 50 texts off various medic friends with their news and asking about mine. I still remember logging in and being manically happy and seeing I had got my first choice deanery. That good mood stayed with me for days!
There will also be friends who have not got what they wanted - it's important to check up on these people, and make sure they know they're cared for, and it's not a reflection of them as a person. I had a friend who missed out on his first choice deanery by one mark, and he was devastated - it's sad that the process appears to be such a lottery, and as he will honestly be a fantastic doctor.

Choosing jobs

Then comes the very stressful process of ranking jobs. In my deanery, you are essentially sent a spreadsheet with 300+ jobs, and are asked to rank them. There was no information online about any of the jobs, and I essentially just googled the hospitals. Luckily I was in a Facebook group where a few F1/F2s from the same deanery posted some reviews, I would have loved a bit more information though!
The process was markedly different across the deaneries - in some you were further subdivided and had to rank areas of the deanery before choosing jobs, in some they went even further and you picked hospitals and then only had about 10 job options to choose from.
I found the whole thing very stressful, it felt like it was a massive choice, deciding your entire life for the next 2 years.
It was a careful balance between location and jobs, with a seemingly perfect job combination, but one year is a bit of a commute away at a hospital with a bad reputation. In the end I tried to settle on location as my first priority.
My main job factors were to avoid A&E - I really did not fancy spending my winter in an understaffed, at-breaking-point A&E department. Many people were surprised at this, as they want to locum in A&E, but it's not for me at all. I also wanted a surgical job at the beginning of F2 to see if it seriously for me, and a possible career choice. This was actually incredibly difficult - there was at least 20+ with no surgery at all (not even OBGYN/ITU - apparently A&E can count?), and very few with surgery + no A&E.
In the end I managed to get my first choice at 2 fantastic hospitals (actually in London) - including 2 surgical jobs, gentle GP for a break, cardiology which I really enjoy, with no A&E or Psych (awful for some, but a dream for me!).
Ultimately you have to do whats best for you - if you don't have the most competitive score, you might put rotations with more undesirable specialities further up (i.e. psych) if its hospitals you really want, etc etc.

Finals

After all the excitement of everyone getting their jobs and deaneries, real life begins. I feel like finals snuck up on me, I had been so focused on other things. It didn't feel like last year, where I worked incredibly hard year round, terrified of the notoriously difficult exams.
Lots of people use 'Alasdair Scotts' notes - whilst they are a fantastic resource, I prefer writing and revising from my own, mainly using OHCM, patient.co.uk and passmedicine. Also some of his management plans are a little out of date.
I tend to revise in the library, finding being stuck at home too lonely. We all plodded through passmed and our notes, laughing at the same question comments and finding the same things hard.
I also spent 1-2 days a week doing about 5-6 hours of OSCE's. I find OSCE revision considerably more draining and difficult than revising for written/ picture exams. All the talking, all the preparation. As a little group we wrote our own stations and used books, which seemed to work well.


Now, all the advice from friends in the year above had been 'the written aspect is so simple you could sit it at the beginning of 5th year and pass, the OSCEs are brutal' - this turned out to the complete opposite. Perhaps med school like to mix it up?

The OSCEs were very fair and really okay, there was some stations I clearly messed up on and found challenging, but overall they were similar to what I was expecting. The written on the other hand, ye God. It was a brutal. Anyways, all over now!

After finals we had a long and good celebration, including lots of BBQs, nights out, and a weekend away medic grad ball, which was so fantastic, I will cherish all my memories dearly.


After all the ups and downs, the amazing experiences, friends, relationships, and genuinely farcical moments, I really can't believe it's all over.
Well med school, you've been a ride, what a joyous experience.
To a new chapter and beginning!

Passed finals - Doctor here I come!

So, I've passed finals and made it! Officially a Doctor.

It feels absolutely insane - how much I've changed since I started this blog in 2009, writing thought out and lengthy pieces about medicine applications, to now, choosing a foundation school, ranking jobs, and ultimately finishing med school.

5th year has been great, and I currently feel warm with nostalgia.

August sees me moving down to the Big Smoke to start my new life as an F1, and what a journey it has been.

Many congratulations to any other finalists out there - we're doctors!

Acute care 'sharp end' of medicine

My rotation just passed involved all the areas of acute care - anaesthetics, ED, ICU etc. It was fab as a medical student, especially on ED. Getting your own patients to clerk, do bloods and investigations on, take round to CT, refer and discuss with seniors, actually made me feel like a doctor. I felt useful and part of the team, helping to bring the waiting time down and doing jobs for everyone.
I was at a major trauma centre so my time on resus was great, very '24 hours in A&E', and also fascinating medicine. The acute assessment and diagnostic side of things is so interesting, especially with all the ultrasound technology etc. they have. Trauma pathophysiology really grabbed me, and also lead me to pick up a physiology book for the first time in about three years.
I can really understand how the faster paced, 'sharp end' of medicine grabs people, but I think for me I would miss the follow-up too much. Even now there's still patients who float into my head and I wonder what happened to them after they were wheeled away.
There were also some incredibly upsetting cases, a neonatal death, multi-mortality RTC etc. I can imagine it is a very emotionally draining speciality.
For example, an elderly lady was brought in with type 1 respiratory failure, severe confusion and drowsiness, and x-ray showed a florid chest infection. She was already elderly with multiple co-morbidities, and BiPAP on resus was failing to bring her O2 sats up. A quick decision needed to be made about escalation of care and DNACPR status, all the while still waiting for her family to arrive. Emotionally difficult for all involved, as DNACPR was decided and the lady eventually went into cardiac arrest and passed. Dealing with death in such a fast-paced way was not something I was used to. Previously, my main experiences with death had been in a Palliative setting, where it is profoundly prepared for, still upsetting, but much more time and consideration has gone into 'planning the death' for want of a better phrase. Although, the consultant told me it was unusual for someone like this lady (in a care home etc.) to not already have a DNACPR decision in place.

Anaesthetics was okay, I got to intubate, do lots of cannulas and LMA's, but I just didn't really enjoy it, not sure why. Maybe it was because of the acute NHS bed crisis, something that underlined all of my time in acute medicine actually. At least one list a day (normally many more) was cancelled due to there being no beds, meaning there was lots of running from theatre to theatre trying to catch them in time to be useful. Then of course there was competition with ODP students, paramedic students, and other medical students! I just always felt like I was awkwardly stood in corridors knocking on scrub windows and bothering people, maybe I just need more confidence.
I enjoyed ICU, but I didn't feel like I could do very much. And my feet! The agony! Those 12 hour shifts with little to do left me dreaming of bringing my own chair to sit on.

Overall, whilst really enjoying my time on the various acute specialities, I don't think they're for me. I can really appreciate why a F2 job in ED would be invaluable though, I feel like I learnt so much there.

First rotation of 4th year

I'm back in medicine after a year out intercalating, and whilst it has been nice to get back into clinical practise I was apprehensive. Trying to remember which blood bottles were for what, and even a basic neurological exam proved difficult for me on the first week back.
However, I did have a gentle start back I was on a oncology attachment at a DGH. I really enjoyed oncology, and am starting to think it might be the speciality for me. I feel like the marriage of science and art is ever present in it, as you utilise complex cellular, pharmacological and radiological knowledge, with a truly holistic approach to your patients. Working in a DGH and staying in hospital accomodation was nice as well. I really got to know the whole team and the clinical areas, and felt like I had more autonomy over my timetable than you find in the large teaching hospitals.
In DGH's I feel like you get a lot more teaching, and have much more free reign of the hospital. In the main city I train in, you often feel like a redundant spare part, taking up precious space and time.
The actual oncology attachment mainly involved clerking patient's and sitting in on clinics. I tried to make sure I clerked with patients with common oncological emergencies, like spinal cord compression and neutropenic sepsis. One (obvious) hard thing in oncology was of course the devastating impact cancer has on patients and their loved ones. I saw an absolutely lovely lady who presented with spinal cord compression, after being in remission for 9 years. Her and her husband were incredibly anxious and distressed, but trying to stay positive. Her bone biopsy quickly confirmed that it indeed was a recurrence of her previous cancer, with a prognosis of <1 year to live, really grim. Despite that though, the patients were truly wonderful - I know that is a cliché, but it is the truth, and with the constant advancements in technology and treatments, there is huge motivation and drive within all the staff. The doctors and nurses were all kind and a lot of fun, this reminded me of some advice an orthopaedic surgeon once gave me 'find a speciality where you get on with everyone', promising!

Next I had a placement on GP, I find GP a snooze-fest, but I understand it's important. Our GP practise was particularly bad, we seemed to have 1-2 hours of clinic in the morning, a 4 hour gap, and then 1 hour of teaching in the afternoon... My placement group and I spent most of our time sat in a small pre-fab building doing SDL. I didn't see a patient alone until the end of my second week, back in 3rd year I had solo clinics daily! The disparity between different placements is always maddening, but hard to avoid for med school I guess. To be honest it probably didn't help that it was almost 1.5 hours drive away, adding a lovely 3 hour commute to what started to seem like a pointless day.
I just struggle to see the appeal of GP, I know it means you won't have nights and weekends, but honestly sitting in a room alone all day, trying to sort out complex (mainly) psychosocial problems and vague symptoms in 10 minutes, being continually vilified in the press, sounds like my idea of hell.
Once interesting difference was this was the first GP I was in to employ a physician associate (PA), a relatively new profession within healthcare, essentially brought in as a quick fix to plug the gap in doctors (as far as I can tell). It was an... interesting experience. Not necessarily positive, I've had much better experiences with hospital PA's. I can see the positives of the scheme, but I think PA's competencies needs to be more widely defined and understood, to be utilised properly.
Anyways, this once again just cemented that GP is not for me. We were all absolutely buzzing as we drove away for the last time.

Intercalation year

Hello,

Long time no speak as per! This junior doctor contract malarky led me back to the Blog-sphere reading Doctor's opinions, and I thought it was about time I revisited this old place. I still get weekly emails from GCSE students asking me about their grades, but sadly my friends, and even my friends siblings, are far from GCSE age and I honestly don't know what the situation is at the moment.

I have heard applications for medicine are down by 18%, so maybe this is the best time to apply!

I have taken a year out of clinical medicine to intercalate this year, and I'm really glad I did. I chose a degree that was 50% research based (I missed science a little bit) and I feel like I've learnt a lot of invaluable skills, not to mention possibly getting a publication out of it (fingers crossed).
Even simple things such as genuinely being able to critically analyse papers, write abstracts, and perform statistical tests haven't really been covered in my degree thus far, but are obviously really important for being a 'doctor and a scientist' and I feel like it will serve me well in my career.

Additionally, having actual free time has been a God-send. On clinical placement you're (supposed to be) on the wards 9 - 5pm, and then have a huge amount of SDL to do. This can be very draining, to the point where it feels like placement is a waste of time because you know the mountain of conditions and drugs you have waiting at home to be learnt. Evenings, weekends and holidays are quickly eaten up by all the things you could and should be learning. The medic type 'A' personality is no help here; things quickly become slightly competitive and stressful, and before you know it you're memorising the waves of the JVP because someone mentioned it once came up in the OSCE 6 years ago.
Intercalating has allowed me to have a job, be on two society committees, volunteer and still have time to take evenings and weekends off work. I've been on three holidays in 2016 alone, and it's just been fab. Having afternoons off and dedicated lab time, with work loads that actually reflect 10/20 credit modules (instead of the ridiculous 100+ lectures for 20 credit modules we got in years 1 and 2) makes a huge difference, allowing you to actually learn and digest the material, instead of desperately cramming it.

I would really recommend it if you have the financial means/ interest in doing so. The majority of my friends who've intercalated are glad they've done so, and I feel like it's boosted my confidence now that I have a greater knowledge in pharmacology, physiology etc.

So if you're thinking about it, research it and go for it! And don't worry too much about Student Finance etc.. Even with my year of Biomed before starting Medicine I still got a loan.

Goodbye for now, once my clinical placements start up again I am hoping to blog more regularly - and thank you to all the Doctors out there protesting, as a medical student whom this contract will greatly affect, I am exceedingly grateful.

Also a little disclaimer: I am quite ready to get back to clinical medicine now. Whilst I have loved having free time and getting back to my scientific roots, staring down a microscope has limits to it's interest, and I have definitely missed placement and all the highs and lows it has to offer. 

Tips for second year Medical Students

Second year is a bit of a hazy blur, but at my medical school it is another academic year.
I enjoyed it more than first year, as we started covering clinical conditions and pathology, and there felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel to all the biochemistry!

Second year is the last year where you still have free time, as soon as the clinical years start you have 9-5 placement and extra work on top of that. In second year I probably had 20 hours a week and still plenty of afternoons off.

So essentially second year is your last time to play! Make the most of it.

• Make the most of your free time: this is the last year where you have a lot of free time for societies/ sports etc, obviously you can do these things in the later years! It's just a bit more stressful. So make the most of opportunities.

• Start thinking about your future career: Attend all the free talks with pizza and Consultants, these are valuable opportunities to think about what you might want to do. Start thinking about how you might bulk our your CV and applications, attend training courses and taster events, get involved with research projects over Summer or during term time. You may even want to think about entering some essay prize competitions, https://www.rsm.ac.uk/prizes-awards/students.aspx, that link provides a fairly comprehensive list of competitions available to medical students and trainees, but check individual speciality websites encase they have more. 

• Get into good working habits: In first year you might have/ probably got away with doing the minimum amount of work and cramming at the end. But this will have to change as you go on (sadly). In second year we had more exams and anatomy spot tests, as well some ridiculously large modules (I'm talking 100 hours + lecture time), which made me considerably more organised. Trial and test you own methods, from mind maps to a4 posters, but here are some pretty fail safe tips:

1. Attend everything - I cannot stress this enough. This may the only time you are taught certain material, you have access to world class lecturers and clinicians, use this, it is such a privilege. 
2. Make good notes at the time - pay attention, there is no point slogging into Uni and spending 5 hours with one head phone in, you might as well have just stayed in bed. If you make good notes at the time, even if you never review the material, it's there as a fail safe for revision time. Much less stressful than desperately calling in favours a week before the exam to get notes!
3. Review your notes - that being said, reviewing your work will mean you retain it for much longer. This is a pretty open ended one, a 'review' could be anything from reading them again at the end of the week, to making A3 posters you stick around your bedroom wall. A lot of medics have a liking for writing and re-writing their notes... this could possibly be argued as an exercise in procrastination, but for many it works well. Others teach the material to themselves, make mind maps, flashcards etc. There's many ways to review and retain information, find one that works for you. I personally try and summarise/ teach the lecture back to myself, review the weeks information on a Sunday, and then do colourful A4 revision posters around exam time. 
4. Slow and steady wins the race - the oldest advice is often the best advice! If you do work little and often, it feels much more manageable, and come deadline/ exam time, you should hopefully feel more confident. There's many ways to do this, some people treat Uni as a 9-5 and fill breaks with hour long work sessions, others blitz it all out on a Sunday afternoon, and some do a few hours in the evening Monday to Friday, and take the weekend as a complete break. You will know when is best for you, think about what times of day you work best, when you have priorities (i.e. sports training, volunteering), and how long it normally takes you to complete things. If you put away some hours now, trust me, exams and deadlines become infinitely less stressful, it means on the wards you will actually know things, and generally your life will be considerably easier. 

• Enjoy yourself: Make the most of your medic and non-medic friends. Soon the non-medics will be graduating, and in clinical years you see much much less of your medic friends, as you're all off on different placements across your County. Have loads of fun and make the most of every opportunity, medical school really is great. 

I hope this has been slightly useful, I was going to add in a point about textbooks, but I generally feel that the people who want to buy loads of text books will do, and the people who were never going to, never will, despite the endless advice about asking older years and checking out the library, who can resist that heavy book deal at Blackwell's. 

Till next time.

Coming back!

Wow it has been a long time!

I still get regular emails from comments on my GSCE-related posts with the usual 'I'm doing 16 GSCE's and 4 early A-Levels can I get into Oxford?' but sadly they didn't inspire me much to reply (I'm sure the information is already there...).
I passed 2nd and 3rd year and am intercalating next year, however I will start uploading posts again on surviving the academic and clinical years, and whether or not to intercalate!

Thank you to anyone who still uses/ reads this blog.

Wannabe (and closer to being) Doctor

First year of Medicine tips

Well it has been pretty great, from the stress of almost missing my first exam, to the high of being in my first surgery.

I have made some amazing friends, mainly in my halls, with their wonderful eclectic mix of personalities, medics are fab, and definitely fun to go out with, but I ended up spending a lot more time with my halls friends rather then becoming a "medic-medic" and closing off my friendship group.

Tips for anyone starting Medicine in a few weeks (or University generally):

• I have been through two freshers, and I promise you that talking to everyone you meet, regardless if they are/ aren't like your "bessie mates from home" will help you no end. You will make friends with people you never thought you would, and will ultimately find some beautiful gems of people. 
• Work out that "study-party" balance later in October. Use the first few weeks to make friends; go to every event, attend all the society tasters, take up that invitation for coffee or to go Irish dancing, you really don't need to be working hard at this point I promise. 
• Medicine is actually a lot more work then most degrees. Lecturers and course leaders will drum this into you, you will attend numerous talks on looking after your mental health and stress, but no-one really listens until Summer term when you are trapped in lectures and revision and everyone else is done and frolicking in the sun. Don't resent it, we have a guaranteed job at the end of this, the quicker you accept you have to work harder and longer then everyone else, the quicker you stop complaining about it and people won't be annoyed at you. Look after other medics, get your work done, and try to not compare timetables with a History of Art student. 
• Attendance is important. I know this better than most as I had to spend part of August stuck in a village GP due to missing placement. ATTEND MY GOD ATTEND. It makes sure you get to know everyone on your course,  feel psychologically involved, and it is a lot less stressful round exam time if you have a complete set of notes... I know it will be tempting to skip lectures, and sleep in, especially if you are on the routine and habits of an Arts student, but you are not an Arts student and you will be responsible for serious decisions and responsibilities soon. So man/ woman up, set a lot of alarms around your room, and you'll get use to it petal I promise. 
• Try not to get too stressed. You are doing enough work and you were good enough to get in. If you attend most things, complete the work that's requested of you (keen beans do extra and there is no shame in that but also not much necessity) you will be fine. Medics are notoriously stress pots, but try your very best to not fall into this - you know the drill, eat healthy, exercise, have outside activities, make lists and get help when you need it.

Ultimately, you will have a fantastic time, I know I did.

Universities resit policies for medicine

WRITTEN SUMMER 2012 - ALWAYS CHECK POLICIES
Good evening,
I hope everyone's exams are going well / have gone well (depending on where you are in your life) and that you feel confident you've got the grades you need.

I realise this post comes with some unfortunate timing as it is exam results day tomorrow, but I'm seriously rooting for everybody to have got the grades they need to get in, and if you miss them, well that's a post for tomorrow I suppose.

Universities policies on re-sits change quite frequently, for example, Sheffield used to be well known as a "resit University" and changed this status due to the high number of resit applications they received. So if you are reading this after 2012 and it hasn't been updated, check for yourself.

Let's begin!

Aberdeen: does not accept resit applicants.
Barts: does not accept resit applicants.
Birmingham: accepts resit applications when there have been extenuating circumstances, and the required grades have been narrowly missed. However they will not accept applications from people who have been previously rejected. I don't know if this means that only people who have previously been offered a place can apply, or anyone who hasn't previously applied...
Brighton: accept resit applicants. The applicant must have only narrowly missed one grade, and must have achieved at least a B. You've got to get an A* in the re-sat subject.
Cardiff: accept resit applicants. You must have achieved at least a B in Biology to apply.
Dundee: does not accept resit applicants.
Durham: does not accept resit applicants.
UEA: accept resit applicants. You must have achieved BBB or ABC. If you resit all 3 A-Levels you need to get A*AA, if just re-sitting one subject, you must achieve an A* in it.
Edinburgh: accepts resit applicants who have extenuating circumstances, however you must provide evidence of these circumstances before you apply in the next UCAS cycle.
Glasgow: accepts resit applicants who have extenuating circumstances, and have narrowly missed a grade, however you must provide evidence of these circumstances before you apply in the next UCAS cycle.
Hull York: accepts resit applicants who have extenuating circumstances with documented evidence.
Imperial: accepts resit applicants who have previously had an offer from Imperial, and who have acceptable extenuating circumstances to explain missing their grades, these circumstances must be included in the referee statement and the candidate should write directly to the school. You have to achieve at least CCC, and be predicted AAA in WINTER exams (not Summer!).
Keele: only accepts applications from re-sitters who have already achieved their re-sit grades (essentially you can't apply till the year after).
Kings: I couldn't actually find the information! If anyone knows please comment below and I will edit it in.
Lancaster: accepts resit applicants. You have to meet their minimum GCSE requirements and discuss it in your personal statement.
Leeds: accepts resit applications from people who have previously held an offer from Leeds, and have well documented extenuating circumstances. You must provide the information and contact the admissions office before applying in the next UCAS cycle.
Leicester: do not accept resit applicants. However they MIGHT accept a resit candidate who has previously held an offer and has strong mitigating circumstances (always worth asking if you fit this criteria!)
Liverpool: resit applicants CAN be considered. You must reflect about re-sitting on your personal statement, and meet the GCSE grades.
Manchester: considers resit applications, however candidates must perform very well at interview to be considered for a place, play to your strong suits if you know you are good / bad at interviews.
Newcastle: does not accept resit applicants.
Oxford: re-sit applicants considered with extenuating circumstances and evidence given.
Peninsula: accepts resit applications, you must have achieved AAB in the first sitting.
Sheffield: resit applicants not accepted.
Southampton: resit applications are considered, you must reflect on your personal statement.
St Andrews: consider resit applicants with extenuating circumstances, you must send evidence to the admissions office before the next UCAS cycle.
St. Georges: resit applicants not accepted.

To some this up, for those of you without extenuating circumstances, and only missing one grade, you can apply to:

• Brighton
• Cardiff
• UEA
• Keele (in a year)
• Lancaster
• Liverpool
• Manchester
• Peninsula 
• Southampton

I hope this has been helpful. I probably won't  be able to answer many questions on the subject, so anyone with queries is best of contacting admissions offices.

Good good good luck with exam results tomorrow, all the best! 

A-Level requirements for Medicine

UPDATED: 08/05/2012

Hola chicas!

It's been a while since I've done an application friendly post, so here is a post all about the A-levels and grades required by Universities, enjoy my darlings.
Note: Essentially no Universities accept General Studies or Critical Thinking as an A-level, and most Universities require Chemistry A-Level. Any exceptions to this rule will be underlined below.

Some general tid-bits:

• Take A-Level Chemistry, unless you are okay with a slightly restricted choice.
• Avoid taking subjects with similar content (Maths/Further Maths, Biology/Human Biology, Biology/Sports Science) because Universities seem to disregard the extra subject slightly.
• Research my friends! 

Aberdeen: AAA in 2 years of study. Chemistry + one of Bio, Maths or Physics.
Barts&London: Possibly the only University not requiring A-level Chemistry! AAAb in 2 years of study. Your A-Levels much include one of Chemistry or Biology. If Chemistry or Biology are dropped at AS, you must have achieved at least a B in them. Further Maths is not accepted if A-Level Maths has been taken.
Birmingham: AAA or A*AA (must be predicted AAA)You need Chemistry and another science. If you third A-Level is an Arts subject, or if you are doing Psychology, Sports or PE with Biology, you must have achieved AAAA at AS.General Studies
Brighton and Sussex: AAA including Chemistry and Biology . However they "reserve the right to make alternative offers where appropriate".
Bristol:  AAA or A*AB in Chemistry and one other lab based science subject (I'm guessing this excludes Maths). These should be completed in 2 years. Biology and sports, Biology and PE, and Maths and Further Maths are not accepted.
Cambridge: A*AA, most applicants (97%) have 3 or more sciences to A-Level. It is stated on the website that applicants with only 2 science A-Levels have a much lower success rate (21%).
Cardiff: Does not require A-Level Chemistry. AAAc including 2 science subjects. If Chemistry or Biology are only taken to AS, you must achieve an A in them.
Dundee: AAA including Chemistry and one other science, taken in 2 years and at first sitting.
Durham: Does not require A-Level Chemistry. AAA including Biology or Chemistry. Biology and Chemistry must be A at AS.
East Anglia (Norwich Medical School): Does not require A-Level Chemistry. AAAb which must include Biology.
Edinburgh: AAAb including Chemistry and another science, completed at first sitting. Biology AS is required. For both AS and A-Level, only one of Maths and Further Maths will be considered.
Glasgow: AAA including Chemistry + one other science subject. If Biology is not taken to A-Level, you must achieve an A at AS. Maths and Further Maths are not considered separate subjects.
Hull-York: AAAb including Biology and Chemistry, must be taken in a single sitting (you must be predicted AAB to be considered). A-levels taken in Y11 and earlier will not be accepted. If you take an A-Level in Y12, you will still be expected to take 3 A-Levels in Y13. Further Maths is not accepted.
Imperial: AAAb including Chemistry and/OR Biology with one other science. If you are offering 4 A-Levels, the would be AAAC. If Biology is dropped it must have had at AS grade B. Vocational subjects are excluded.
Keele: Does not require A-Level Chemistry. AAAb or A*ABb including Chemistry and / or Biology, with another science subject and another rigorous subject. Only one subject from Maths and Further Maths will be considered, along with only one subject from these combinations; Biology/Human Biology and PE. They have a massive list of subjects which aren't accepted on their website. It basically covers vocational and applied subjects.
Kings College London: Does not require A-Level Chemistry. AAAb or AAaab including Chemistry or Biology, if one of these subjects is not taken to A-Level, it must be taken to AS.
Lancaster: AAAb including Chemistry AND Biology. Only one subject out of the combination from Maths and Further Maths are considered. The extended project can sometimes be used to replace a 4th A-Level.
Leeds: AAA including Chemistry. A 4th A-Level is not seen as an advantage.
Leicester: AAA including Chemistry. You must study 4 AS levels including Biology and Chemistry. Taking 4 A-Levels is no advantage, and only one of Maths and Further Maths is considered in the offer.
Liverpool:  AAAb including Chemistry AND Biology. General studies and Critical Thinking can be considered as a 4th subject.
Manchester: AAA including Chemistry and another science. It is expected that you take 4 AS-Levels, however if your school only lets you take 3, if you contact the Medical school and provide evidence, your application will still be considered.
Newcastle: Does not require A-Level Chemistry. AAA including Chemistry and/or Biology. If only one offered at AS, must be achieved at A grade.
Nottingham: AAA including Biology AND Chemistry. 3rd A-Level can be any academic subject.
Oxford: A*AA including Chemistry and another science. If you take more than 3 A-Levels you may have an offer including these, you cannot drop theses extra A-Levels after application.
Peninsula: A*AAc-AAAc including Chemistry and Biology or Physics.
Queens Belfast: AAAa including Chemistry and another science. If not offered at A2, AS Biology must be offered at grade B.
Sheffield: AAA including Chemistry and another science subject.
Southampton: AAA including Chemistry and Biology. If Chemistry or Biology are not taken to A2, they must be achieved to A grade at AS (this is a bit confusing on their website, you may want to check it). Subjects with similar material may not be considered in the offer: maths/further maths, biology/sports science.
St. Andrews: AAA including Chemistry and another science. Only one of Maths and Further Maths will be considered as a 3rd subject.
St. Georges: AAAb including Chemistry and Biology.
UCL: AAA including Chemistry and Biology. General studies and critical thinking are only available as a 4th A-Level subject. Applicants who offer a contrasting subject will be given some preference, such as a language or art rather than a traditional science subject.

Good luck with choosing! I will do a post on resit policies soon.

A2 results 8th March 2012

I GOT AN A!

I GOT A FUCKING A!!

I AM NOW DEFINITELY GOING OFF TO STUDY MEDICINE IN SEPTEMBER

YAYAYAYAYYAYAYAY.

(Back story for blog stumblers: I am a medicine re-applicant and re-sat chem5 in February - already have an offer so just needed an A in Chemistry, now as long as I get my GCSE certificates etc off I should definitely be attending med school this September, but as a medic this time)

I really hope everyone has the grades they wanted / needed today, and good luck people with interviews and those still waiting.

Never give up bambinis!

Week in the life of a biomed student

For anyone stumbling across this blog who actually wants to do Biomed, or for medics thinking of accepting a reserve offer, here is a week in my life (well Monday til Wednesday anyways).

We don't have a set timetable (very annoyingly) so this is by no means representative.

Monday

Morning: The usual 9am start with a presentation tutorial - 4 hours sitting through everyone nervously giving presentations on lab techniques such as immunofluorescence, PCR and electrophoresis. Very boring - I think the more technical side of this degree is the worst aspect for a wannabe doctor.

Afternoon: An essay is due at 2pm, this means fighting for a computer in the med school / harassing your medic friends for their computers as all the biomed students bumble about trying to print their essays last minute.

Evening: 5pm finish after some cardiovascular lectures. I cannot work at all back in halls because of all the distractions so I (in a weird moment of keenness) stayed at med school til 7:30pm working. A lot of people do this, especially students in their clinical years.

Go back to halls and eat / socialise / spend too long on the internet.

Tuesday

Morning: 9am start (as per) this is term has been really bad for them, I can count the number of later starts on one hand. Lectures on an infection module we're doing at the moment - it's pretty interesting stuff and I'm enjoying it. But once you're getting to the third lecture in a row it's pretty hard to keep your eyes open, this is where pod-casts come in. Us students love pod-casts.

Afternoon: A few periods free, because we're at med school 9-4 most days, everyone on the course is really good friends, or at least amicable, so frees tend to be spent socialising. Had a 2 hour practical - I strongly dislike practicals, it's like a slap in the face that you are doing a course designed to make you a researcher. But this isn't just me, no-one seems to like practicals? Maybe we're all too lazy / don't understand what's going enough to appreciate them.

Evening: Food, kayaking training, socialise in the bar underneath my halls, SLEEEEEEPPPPPP. I promise you that despite all the 9am starts, you do not learn to go to bed before 3am like all your Humanities friends, most people solve this problem with the wonderful concept of afternoon naps. University campus' are actually pretty dead places 4-6pm.

Wednesday

Morning: Lectures on gene mutations - kind of like A-Level but a bit harder, and highlighting how many lies they told you :) You experience this feeling a lot.
Afternoon: 9-1 lectures on a Wednesday and then FREE AFTERNOON YAY. I spend my time training for sports and then volunteering at an elderly peoples home. It was an open day today so there was lots of negotiating between crowds of fresh faced school children and anxious parents.

Evening: Was once again super kee-heen and spent a few slow hours in med school working; I sometimes don't know why I bother when it's so likely I'll be leaving, but I guess it will give me a head start next year. Then back to halls, food, and pre-drinking / getting ready for SPORTS NIGHT. I'm pretty sure this is universal around UK universities - Wednesday is sports night, everyone who does any kind of sport, gets dressed up and goes out.

Cool beans! Have fun weeks everyone and good luck for applicants

Lady Gaga...

I had my interview last Thursday, thought it went pretty well but as per I was sickly nervous. Luckily mine was a morning interview so I didn't have to endure it for too long, I have so much sympathy for those people who have to wait till the afternoon.

I had to sign a confidentiality agreement at the beginning (lol!) so I can't tell you any questions or anything but the ethical question involved Lady Gaga, threw me a little bit :S

Otherwise they were fairly standard and oriented around my personal statement, which was quite nice because I know about that!

Although, instead of asking me "Why do you want to do Medicine?" which is a nice question, a question I know the answer to, a questions I have practised, they asked me "Why do you want to be a doctor over other healthcare professionals?" :/ Throwing me into the landmine-filled zone of not offending everyone else who works in hospitals, whilst still making sure they know you think medicine is AWESOME

Interestingly, this year I had to submit a form beforehand with contact details for all my work experience / volunteering placements, didn't have to do that last year! I guess it's to weed out people who are lying, but I really can't imagine them ringing around all the placements for every applicant. It seems Universities are tightening their belts though, so any prospective applicants, think before lying!!

I saw my friend doing medicine at the same place, it was nice to see him, but I was also a bit sad when I thought I could have been with him, being a first year medic, ach.

Oh well, MUST TRY AND MOVE ON (haha) the tour of the uni and meeting all the current students made me SO EXCITED

But, I'm now finding it really hard to concentrate on my biomed course :S It's so so hard to motivate myself to go to lectures and do work, because I know that (hopefully) I should be leaving soon

Anyways, as usual I'm wishing every whos waiting for offers/rejections and going to interviews THE BEST OF LUCK!

Medicine Interviews

I have an interview tomorrow!

Argh, nervous :S But I feel pretty prepared, also, isn't everything easier the second time round? :P

For advice you can see my incredibly comphrensive, and possibly a bit intimidating, posts on interview preparation:

http://youngwannabedoctor.blogspot.com/2010/09/interview-preparation.html

http://youngwannabedoctor.blogspot.com/2011/02/interview-prep-2.html

http://youngwannabedoctor.blogspot.com/2010/11/useful-links.html

But please don't let these scare you, a friend told me that it was slightly worrying how much preparation there seemed to be, BUT PLEASE DON'T FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO DO ALL OF THIS

Every Medical school has different expectations and interview techniques, and at some places you won't even get asked a question about current medical news, whereas at others you will be expected to know big headlines from that week.

So, as usual, research is the key.

I had an interview at the same place last year, and managed to get an offer, so hoping for the same!

Best luck for everyone with interviews and those who are waiting to hear, if you have any questions about particular universities, post below and I will try my best to answer

My story

I felt like getting all up close and personal today after a commenter asked me about my own offers etc... If you really do just want to know what GCSE's you need - LOOK AT POSTS BELOW
If you want to know about my little life, well read on

I've gone about getting into Medicine a bit of weird route, so I shall bullet point:

• Last year, when I was in A2, I got offers YAY
• August rolled on, missed my A in Chemistry by a few UMS - got A*AB overall
• Begged and pleaded down the phone, but nope they were having none of it
• After a few agonising weeks of shittyness, I decided to take my reserve offer of Biomed
• Got to Uni and decided that, whilst the course was fascinating, I still wanted to do Medicine
• Re-applied in October 2011 as a re-sit applicant at University (there really aren't many places you can apply)
• Continued on my biomed course, really enjoying it - great teaching, great Uni, wonderful friends, societies etc - I genuinely thought I would get straight rejections, the chances of an offer seemed so slim
• AN INTERVIEW - January 2012 - so shocked, literally couldn't believe it
• AN OFFER - January 2012, from a different Uni - I almost started crying on the phone to my Mum
• Really kicked Chemistry revision into high gear
• Resat Chem5 (today 1St Feb 2012)

So that's my story really! I'm still on my Biomed course here at Uni, I'm going to ask for a transfer to Medicine at the end of the year, but if I don't get that (and get my A in Chemistry) I will be off

Please don't miss your grades haha, it was horrific, probably one of the worst months of my life. You will feel embarrassed, like you have let everyone down (Mum) and mostly you hate yourself a little bit, because what kind of f*cking IDIOT gives up the chance to do what they desperately want to do.

I tried to put on a front for my friends etc who didn't really understand what it means to give up Medicine when you have put so much hard work into getting there. They thought Biomed was the same and didn't get the fuss, I never explained.

It has taken me a longer time (and I mean months) to come to terms with the fact I missed my grades, I KNOW this sounds ridiculous and melodramatic, but just 3 years of hard work wasted on one exam. I spent ages feeling confused and lost and sad.

ANYHOW, at the moment I feel super positive about everything, it's kind of all turned out to be a silver lining situation.

I've had all the greatness of being a fresher at Uni; the friends, the independence, the nights out, the societies instead of being stuck at home on a Gap Yah missing all my friends and not making many new ones, stalking their photos while I'm working full time with my whole LIFE being about Medicine.

And now I have an offer!! :D

I think I'm going to take my student loan for 3rd term, drop out, and bugger off travelling.

Essentially meaning, I'm going to have the experience of freshers at uni (on a less demanding course), a gap year with all the travelling and none of the work, AND get to do medicine at the end of it!

Despite this, PLEASE DON'T TAKE THE ROUTE I TOOK hahaha

I'm still making sacrifices: I'm going to have leave all my friends, sports etc behind, and go through the whole "getting to know" people process again :S I'm loosing all my security

I've also already signed for a house, meaning I'm losing a hefty deposit

I feel like I've grown up a lot, my perspective on life has changed a lot, and ultimately while it was a slightly unpleasant experience, it was probably one of the most important ones I've had so far (well educationally anyway...)

Anyways, enough poignant stuff, back to analysing all of your GCSE grades.....

Good luck my bambinis!

If you have any questions, post below and I will try my best to answer them

Bad GCSE results and getting into Medicine

*WRITTEN IN JANUARY 2012 - POLICIES MAY HAVE CHANGED, ALWAYS CHECK*

One of the most common questions I get asked on my most popular post - GCSE requirements for Medicine - is "are my GCSE results good enough?"

So I thought I would write a post covering this area, so maybe I won't have to individually reassure quite as many people!

Universities that like GCSE's:

• Oxford
• Birmingham
• UCL
• Aberdeen (AS's do not form part of their academic requirements)
• Edinburgh
• Bristol
• Manchester
• Newcastle 

Universities which think AS's are more important:

• Cambridge
• Brighton and Sussex (BSMS)

This list is from my personal knowledge, if I become aware of the preferences of more Universities I will post them on here!

People who shouldn't worry: Those with 10A*'s and above, whether you are from a state or independent school, these results are excellent.

People who shouldn't REALLY worry, but if they want to go to Oxbridge, London Unis, Edinburgh or Birmingham should: 6-9A*'s with the rest A's - these grades are GREAT, the the majority of medical schools will look upon them favourably. However the places listed are a bit more fussy, and you made need to up your game during your AS's if you wish to impress them.

People who need to check out the universities their applying to for policies on GCSE's: 4A* / 5A* with the rest A/B - you still have a good chunk of A*'s grades there, so don't worry too much, but do expect to have to have a little bit more work experience etc than your 10A* colleagues. Some Universities won't interview people without a certain number of A*'s at GSCE, so check policy (I'm thinking Birmingham and Newcastle). 

People who need to apply to universities in which the UKCAT (or other admissions tests), work experience, extra-curricular activities and AS's and looked upon favourably: 3A*'s and under, with the rest A/B's - whilst you still have good grades, they really aren't up to par for what you need to get into medicine. You need to make up for this slight downer in your application with great work experience, volunteering, EC activities and of course a stellar personal statement with AAAA at AS to back you up.

DO NOT apply to universities which require higher GCSE's than this - it is stupid. They will not change their admissions policy, even if you have grade 8 in cello, are an Olympic rower and have been a carer for 2 years - the admissions policies are there to weed people out, and reduce the volume of applications they need to look over, and people that need interviewing.

Okay, hopefully this has answered many peoples worried questions, and I am sorry if you fall into the last category of this list.

My last nugget of advice is that preparation is the key - do everything early and do everything well.

Good luck with interviews (especially this time of year) and for anyone who has exams or resits.

Exam Stress

So, they have arrived.

Those strange things that rear their ugly heads around the months of May and June.

They are apparently called "Exams" but I am not so sure , a more accurate description would be "try to squeeze your brain a little harder than it's willing to go", or "regurgitate everything you're meant to know onto a piece of paper".

To most people, the mere mention of them brings on a sweat, hands shaking, head spinning, butterflies doing the conga in your belly. That horrible feeling of light headed sickness just as you walk in the room.

This is not helped if you suddenly realise you've forgotten that all important black pen, haven't put your mobile on silent, or are not wearing trousers.

Anyways here are my useful tips for those embarking on the exam period;

• Always bring Olbas scented tissues, not only are they good for nose blowing if you have a snuffle (which will be extremely annoying to your neighbour by the way...you constantly sniffing throughout an hour long exam), but merely breathing in their scented glory will soothe you head and calm you down, so you can attempt your exams with a fresh head. Also they're legal :D.


• Bring water. Now I don't know if anyone else suffers from this but I get exam fidgets, and exam boredom. Not only does a bottle provide me something to fidget with, possibly removing the label and sticking on it backwards so it reads Naive etc etc, but it also means I have water to drink and therefore something to do, hence removing the exam boredom. Plus I hear it's good for you :D, smiles all round!


• Bring a stash of pens and highlighters. This is so you can feel good about yourself by providing a less organised person with a much needed black pen (they will for ever be in your debt for avoiding the wrath of Miss. Scary X), this small ego boost that you will gain from feeling like your a good person will undoubtedly put you in a better mind frame for an exam. Also highlighters can be used to draw pretty pictures on the back of exam papers, yet again freeing yourself from exam boredom :) and, I guess, you could also use them for writing with :/.


• Bring all your notes with you, there's nothing like showing off to other people how much you've done :D, also last minute revision of that subject you were meant to revise while Casualty was on can take place :).


• Sleep loads the night before, no one wants to have to look at your saggy eyes when there trying to do an exam!!


• And finally, leading on from the above, set 2 alarms, being late to an exam run by Miss. Scary X has one punishment, death.

On a serious note, I know they're horrible and stressful and over-whelming, but we can do this guys!! *insert American-eqsue emotional speech* We've been in education for 14 years, this is just the final hurdle

(Before University... but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)

Re-applying for Medicine

*EDIT: Remember applications for Medicine have an October deadline! This means you won't have an entire gap year to boost your application - just the months post exams, so get busy now! And maybe don't book too many holidays...*

First off, I am very sorry if you have no offers!
Butttt do not loose hope, many people do not get into Medicine straight after school, and it is perfectly common to re-apply and take a gap year.
Here are some things you can do to improve your chances next year:

• Volunteering - volunteering makes up a large chunk of many peoples applications, it can be very difficult to gain medical work experience, and the value volunteering adds to your application should not be undermined. Most universities request volunteering placements relating to healthcare, and (preferably) working with the elderly, the very young, disabled people or the very sick. This essentially translates to palliative care, care homes, hospitals and after-school clubs for the young. I did a post earlier with some volunteering websites , and often your local hospital / care homes and hospices will run their own schemes; in which case I turn you to the wonder that is Google. The more, the better, and remember breadth not depth. This will boost your application and expose you to different areas of medicine; however do not take up a placement just for UCAS! Volunteering should also be slightly altruistic haha, and if it is not it will quickly become a chore.
• Work experience - obviously this will aid your application. Do not be afraid to ring up hospitals and GP surgeries to ask for work experience. With hospitals, contact the human resources department or the volunteering department, these are usually little goldmines of information. With GP surgeries, ring the practice manager, many GP surgeries have websites with the practice managers details listed. They know the policy on work experience and will be organising it for you. DO NOT ring up the prescription line or appointment line, you are not a patient there! This will irritate the practice and may mean you are denied work experience. Many practices will not let your have experience in your own GP surgery, so look around for other practices in your area.
• UKCAT / BMAT - trying to improve your scores on the entrance exams can be a real booster. Identify any problems you had last time and learn from experience; if you know you didn't revise enough / were exceptionally nervous / went out the night before / bought the wrong revision guide etc. etc. than ensure these mistakes don't happen again! Easier said than done I know, but a few extra points can make such a big difference.
• Get a healthcare related job - not only will this relieve the financial pressures of having a gap year, but will provide work experience and put your CV one step higher than all the other junior doctors! You can look at NHS Jobs for related posts, from what I've heard, a lot of people become health care assistants or secretaries to Consultants.
• Improve interview technique - I did a massive post on interviews here and here and here. Not much else to say really it is all in there! If you did get any interviews, make sure to ask for feedback. Anything you can improve on will be really useful for the second time round. Also, the average medical applicants spends 40 hours preparing for interview, so if you didn't that much this time, it might be something to think about.
• Research medical schools - each university seems to have a perfect candidate. Look around on places such as the student room and new media medicine to see which kinda of candidates get in, and the specific qualities they have. I wish Medicine wasn't this way, but you do need to play the game to get in. Find and apply to at least one university which is perfect for you (e.g. GCSE's are your strengths = Birmingham, UKCAT your strength = Sheffield) this will hopefully ensure at least an interview.
• Finally, do not give up and work damn hard for them A-Levels!!!

Good Luck !!