How I Got Into Graduate Entry Medicine (UK) *with bad grades
Summary
TLDRIn this inspiring video, Danela shares her unique journey into graduate entry medicine in the UK. Despite initial setbacks with her A Levels and a brief stint in nursing, she pursued a degree in Biomedical Science and later worked as an Apple technician. With perseverance and hard work, including volunteering and shadowing experiences, she eventually secured a place in medical school at the University of Warwick. Danela's story highlights the importance of dedication and the possibility of achieving one's dream, regardless of background or age.
Takeaways
- π Danela is a third-year graduate entry medical student in the UK, sharing her journey into medicine.
- π₯ Born in Colombia, she moved to London at a young age and was always inspired to become a doctor due to her innate desire to care for others.
- π She chose A Levels in Spanish, Biology, and Maths, achieving ABB grades, which initially shattered her dream of studying medicine as an undergraduate.
- π©ββοΈ Unable to apply for undergraduate medicine, she pursued a year of nursing, but felt unfulfilled and quit after realizing she wanted more responsibility.
- π¬ She then switched to a 3-year Biomedical Science degree, graduating in 2018, and applied to graduate entry medicine but was unsuccessful due to a rushed application and lack of preparation.
- πΌ After failing to get into medicine, she worked full-time as a technician for Apple for 4 years, gaining valuable skills and life experiences.
- ποΈ She received an offer from the University of Buckingham but couldn't afford the high tuition fees, which reinforced her determination to try again for graduate entry medicine.
- πͺ Danela decided to give it her all, working hard on the UKCAT exam, gaining work experience, volunteering, and shadowing to strengthen her application.
- π She applied to multiple universities, secured interviews, and ultimately received an offer from the University of Warwick, proving that persistence pays off.
- π Reflecting on her journey, she emphasizes the importance of not giving up and encourages others to pursue their dreams, regardless of setbacks or age.
Q & A
What was the original background of the speaker?
-The speaker, Danela, is originally from Colombia but moved to London at a young age where she was raised and completed her primary and secondary education.
Why did Danela initially choose to study nursing instead of pursuing undergraduate medicine?
-Danela chose to study nursing because she couldn't apply to undergraduate medicine due to her A-level grades of ABB, which she considered pre-average and not competitive enough for medical school.
How did Danela feel after completing her first year of nursing?
-Danela felt unfulfilled after her first year of nursing, as she wanted to be the person responsible for making decisions and solving problems, which she felt she wasn't getting to do in her nursing role.
What did Danela study after leaving nursing?
-After leaving nursing, Danela studied Biomedical Science for three years, hoping it would open doors to medicine in the future.
What was the outcome of Danela's first application to graduate entry medicine?
-Danela's first application to graduate entry medicine was unsuccessful. She did not get any interviews or offers, which shattered her hope and reinforced the idea that she was not good enough to become a doctor.
What job did Danela take after graduating from Biomedical Science?
-Danela worked as a technician for Apple for four years after graduating from Biomedical Science.
What was the turning point for Danela in her pursuit of medicine?
-The turning point was when Danela received an offer from the University of Buckingham, which boosted her confidence, even though she couldn't afford the tuition.
Why did Danela decide to reapply for graduate entry medicine despite thinking it was too late?
-Danela decided to reapply because she realized that if she didn't try her best, she would regret it for the rest of her life, even if it didn't work out.
What steps did Danela take to improve her application for the second attempt at graduate entry medicine?
-Danela worked hard on the UKCAT exam, gained lots of work experience, volunteered at a hospital, worked as a COVID responder, and did shadowing to have more to talk about in her personal statement and interviews.
How did Danela's journey into medicine affect her perspective on her own abilities and the process?
-Danela's journey made her realize that she had to put in hard work and effort to achieve her goal, and that it's never too late to pursue what you want. She also learned that having diverse experiences can make one a better medical student and potentially a better doctor.
What advice does Danela give to others who may feel it's impossible to get into medicine?
-Danela advises that if medicine is one's dream and they haven't given it their best shot, they should consider trying again, as many people have applied multiple times before succeeding.
Outlines
π Journey to Graduate Entry Medicine
Danela, a third-year graduate entry medical student in the UK, shares her unique journey into medicine. Born in Colombia and raised in London, she always had a passion for helping others and science. Despite obtaining ABB in her A levels, which initially shattered her dream of studying medicine, she pursued nursing for a year before realizing she wanted more responsibility. She then switched to a biomedical science degree, which she completed in 2018. After an unsuccessful first attempt at applying for graduate entry medicine due to a rushed application and lack of preparation, she worked as an Apple technician for four years, saving money and gaining life experience. Despite feeling it was too late, she decided to give it another shot, applying to graduate entry medicine again and eventually receiving an offer from the University of Buckingham, which she couldn't afford. However, this experience boosted her confidence, leading her to apply again and ultimately securing a place in medical school.
π Overcoming Obstacles and Age Concerns
In this paragraph, Danela reflects on her decision to apply for graduate entry medicine again despite feeling it was too late due to her age. She emphasizes the importance of giving it her best shot to avoid future regrets. Danela worked hard on her application, gaining extensive work experience, volunteering, and shadowing to enrich her personal statement and interview responses. Her efforts paid off with interviews and an offer from Warwick University. She dispels the myth that it's too late to pursue medicine, highlighting classmates over 30 and 40 with families and different backgrounds who are thriving in the program. Danela also mentions the diversity of her course, with students from non-science backgrounds excelling in medicine. She encourages perseverance and dedication, sharing her story as proof that it's never impossible to achieve one's dream of becoming a doctor.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Graduate Entry Medicine
π‘A Levels
π‘Personal Statement
π‘UKCAT
π‘Nursing
π‘Biomedical Science
π‘Work Experience
π‘University of Buckingham
π‘Application
π‘Interview
π‘Diversity
Highlights
Danela's journey into graduate entry medicine with pre-university and A-levels that were not top-tier.
Born in Colombia and raised in London, Danela always had a passion for becoming a doctor.
Chose A-levels in Spanish, Biology, and Maths, resulting in ABB grades which initially shattered her dream of studying medicine.
Decided to do a year of nursing to be close to the medical field but felt unfulfilled and quit after the first year.
Switched to studying Biomedical Science for 3 years, hoping it would open doors to Medicine in the future.
Graduated in 2018 and applied to graduate entry medicine but was unsuccessful due to a rushed application and lack of preparation.
Worked as a technician for Apple for 4 years, gaining valuable skills and saving money, but still felt the call to medicine.
Received an offer from the University of Buckingham but couldn't afford the tuition fee.
Decided to reapply for graduate entry medicine with renewed determination and a better application.
Worked hard on the UKCAT exam, gained extensive work experience, and volunteered as a hospital worker and COVID responder.
Applied to multiple universities and eventually received an offer from the University of Warwick.
Shares her love for medicine and how her experiences made her a better medical student.
Encourages others with diverse backgrounds and non-science degrees to pursue medicine if it's their passion.
Mentions the commonality of applicants who have tried multiple times before successfully getting into medical school.
Reflects on the hard work and effort required to make her dream of becoming a doctor a reality.
Endorses the value of perseverance and the belief that it's never too late to pursue one's dream of studying medicine.
Invites viewers to share their stories, questions, or comments in the comments section.
Transcripts
if you are wondering how I got into
graduate entry medicine with pre average
a levels and how maybe you can too then
this video is for
[Music]
you my name is danela and I am a third
year graduate entry medical student in
the UK and in this video I'm going to be
telling you everything about my journey
into medicine now it has been quite a
long process and it's very unique so I'm
going to start right at the beginning so
to give you some background I am from
Colombia originally I was born there but
moved to London when I was very young I
was raised in London I did my primary
school in secondary school there do my
gcses and I always knew that I wanted to
become a doctor ever since I was a child
I would like run towards somebody
whenever they got hurt I just wanted to
be there I wanted to care for people it
was just so instinctive to me I was
naturally very curious and I loved
science so I chose a levels that would
potentially open the door to medicine as
an undergraduate I did Spanish biology
and maths and I ended up getting ABB
overall as my great so that kind of
shattered my dream initially to study
medicine because I was never like the
smartest person in the room I was never
naturally clever I had to work really
really hard and I thought it took me
such hard work to get these grades I'm
never going to be able to make it into
medicine so I couldn't apply to
undergraduate medicine so I decided to
do a year of nursing instead I thought
that nursing would be like the closest
thing to being a doctor I really wanted
to work with patients and with other
people and within a team so yeah I did
nursing for a year although I think that
nurses are absolutely amazing and that
was a great experience for me to study
how to care for people I felt really
unfulfilled and I wanted to be the
person who was responsible and who made
decisions and who would like solve
problems and I just felt like I wasn't
really getting that with nursing so I
ended up quitting nursing after the
first year and I did biomedical science
instead hoping that I would enjoy
science more and that it would
potentially open doors to Medicine in
the future so biomedical science was 3
years in total I graduated from that in
2018 and I remember applying to graduate
entry medicine the year that I graduated
it was a very last minute decision
though I did not spend a lot of time
working on the application I totally
rushed my personal statement I didn't do
that well on the ukat exam because I
didn't prepare for it enough and I
didn't have a lot of work experience and
unsurprisingly I got no interviews and
no offers and I'm not going to lie that
kind of broke my heart and shattered
this hope that I would get into medicine
if anything it reinforced this idea that
I was not good enough to become a doctor
it's so funny cuz I actually had this
like weird notion that if it's meant to
be it was going to happen and it kind of
made me think that I didn't have to put
hard work or any effort into the
application because if I was just good
enough it was just going to be easy
which was just completely the wrong
mindset to have because if you want
something you have to work for it like
nothing is just ow to you which is kind
of the mentality that I had so yeah
didn't get into medicine so I decided to
work fulltime instead when I graduated
from biomed now I knew that I didn't
want to be a biomedical scientist
because I didn't just want to work in a
lab I wanted to work more with people
and again I wanted to be in a clinical
setting I wanted to be a doctor I ended
up working as a technician for Apple for
4 years and that was a great experience
I loved it I got to learn so many skills
I got to make some money and save some
money I got to travel quite a bit make
CL of friends and yeah overall really
great job but I still deep down you this
just is not for me this isn't right so I
then applied to the University of
Buckingham now Buckingham is a private
university and I kind of knew that but I
wasn't really aware of how the funding
works for it so I did my application I
did an interview it was an MMI and I
received an offer for Buckingham and
that moment for me was like oh my
goodness maybe I am good enough maybe I
can do this yeah I was so so so happy
and then I realized I have to pay
something like
Β£37,000 a year just for tuition I did
not have that amount of money just lying
around so sadly I couldn't end up going
there but that sort of push that sort of
confidence boost was enough to make me
think oh if I can get into Bingham then
maybe I can get into somewhere else so
that was when I decided I was going to
try and apply for graduate entry
medicine again by this point I was maybe
24 I think think and I had already
thought it's too late for me it's not
going to happen I'm too old I've just
missed my opportunity but I thought to
myself if I don't try if I don't give it
my best shot I know that in 10 20 years
time I'm going to regret this for the
rest of my life even if I give it my
100% And I don't get an offer at least I
will know that I gave it all of me and
it just didn't work out or it just
wasn't meant to be so I decided that I
was just going to give it my all do
absolutely everything that I could in my
power to make it the best application
ever I worked really really hard on the
UK exam I did loads of work experience I
worked as a volunteer for a hospital I
worked as a covid responder I did loads
of shadowing um yeah I did loads of
different things that would give me lots
to talk about in my personal statement
and in interviews and yeah worked really
really hard for about a year apped to to
quite a few different universities I
can't remember where else I applied
actually but anyway I applied got some
interviews and got an offer for war and
that is where I am now it feels a little
bit surreal that I'm here still I
remember getting that offer and thinking
surely there's been a mistake like
surely surely not but here I am and now
that I'm here I just absolutely love
what I do it is is exactly what I
thought that it was going to be and all
of those thoughts and those ideas I had
about it being too late just were not
true at all so many other people felt
exactly the same way and there are
people on my course now who are over 30
40 who have children who have families
who have mortgages who come from
completely different backgrounds and
they're able to make it work and they're
amazing medical students and will be
amazing doctors looking back I feel so
grateful that I actually had the time to
go away and do other things because as I
mentioned it gave me so many
opportunities to learn so much about
myself about what I wanted about who I
was and I feel like all of those
experiences and all of those lessons
make me better as a medical student and
will make me hopefully a better doctor
one day again so many other students on
my course come from completely different
backgrounds like non-science degrees
including things like law and languages
and Humanities and they're doing
amazingly well which should encourage
you if you are feeling like this isn't
something that you can do because if you
dedicate yourself and if you know this
is what you want to do then it is
entirely possible it is also really
common to hear of people who have
applied to medical school two three four
times before and have persevered and
have kept insisting and kept applying
and they made it in so again if you have
applied multiple times if medicine is
your dream and it just seems impossible
it really is not and I am a testament to
that and I'm such a huge advocate for
medicine and how amazing it is and so I
want to encourage you to really think
that if this is what you want to do and
you know that you haven't given it your
best shot then maybe you should so that
was my story of how I got into graduate
entry medicine in the UK I know that on
this side of it now looking back it just
seems super easy and like you know
everything just worked out for me but I
actually had to put so much work and so
much effort into it and it seemed really
impossible to me at the time but as I
say it is entirely possible and I love
it it's great so if you would like to
hear more about my story if you have any
questions or comments please leave them
in the comments below otherwise please
don't forget to like share and subscribe
and yeah thanks so much for being here
thanks for watching I'll see you next
time
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