Medicine Application as a Mature Student

selgal2002

Hi,

I really would some info from those who are studying medicine as a mature student????? How did you get into it.....Is it as tough and a challenging as i imagine.......How do you juggle college and family etc.

I really would love to do but i keep talking myself out of it, id hate to regret it yrs from now

Breezer

I'm not a mature student myself but there are several in my class (4th year Medicine), ranging from 27-35 I think. At the beginning they sort of had their own little clique, which is understandable when they're lumped in with a load of 18 year olds, but over time that broke down and now they're just part of the group. For the younger ones that means they're out with the rest of us whenever the class goes out; the older ones don't tend to come out as much but they'd hang around with us in college, go for coffee and stuff. No one notices the age gap any more; shared experience becomes a lot more important very quickly. There's so much diversity in the class anyway, something like 14 nationalities, that no one cares about differences like that anymore. We have a lot of North Americans as well, who usually would have finished an undergraduate degree before they start medicine, so they'd tend to be late twenties when they start.

One of the mature students is our current class rep, and was two years ago as well. He'll probably end up being the auditor of MedSoc next year. Another one I know is pretty much a full time carer for his father who has some sort of disability, as well as being a mature student, and for the last 4 years he's been getting the top marks in everything. On a side note, my own mother went back to college a number of years ago (at the age of 46) to do a certificate, then progressed to an undergraduate degree where she came out with first class honours and the top result in the class. She then did a Masters and is currently working as a lecturer. All this while still running a home, looking after teenage kids, etc. So it's very doable if you set your mind to it!

Hope that helps a bit, best I can do from my "immature" stand point

Out of interest, are you intending to do the 5/6 year course, or to apply as a graduate to the 4 year course?

selgal2002

Hiya:D

Thank you for replying and for so much encouragement........i just dont know what to do :mad: I would love to get into the 4yr course. I have a 2.1 Honours Science Degree. I am just going to have to decide if i am going to sit the Gamsat exams if not this March or March 2010. I also have to save a little if this is my calling.I really want to focus and give 100% to this if i decide this is the path i want to take.....i dont want my family to suffer if i cant cope with the course but then i wont know until i try. I am clever but i dont know if i am clever enough to study medicine :eek:and i am just afraid i am setting my goals way to high. One also has to be realistic about what they are truly capable of achieving :rolleyes:

woop

selgal2002 wrote: »

Hiya:D

Thank you for replying and for so much encouragement........i just dont know what to do :mad: I would love to get into the 4yr course. I have a 2.1 Honours Science Degree. I am just going to have to decide if i am going to sit the Gamsat exams if not this March or March 2010. I also have to save a little if this is my calling.I really want to focus and give 100% to this if i decide this is the path i want to take.....i dont want my family to suffer if i cant cope with the course but then i wont know until i try. I am clever but i dont know if i am clever enough to study medicine :eek:and i am just afraid i am setting my goals way to high. One also has to be realistic about what they are truly capable of achieving :rolleyes:

ah meds arent that smart just well driven

Breezer

woop wrote: »

ah meds arent that smart just well driven

Very true. The ridiculously high Leaving Cert. points required are a thing of recent years due to a demand for places. That wasn't the case in years gone by but we still had doctors, and very good ones. The course involves a hell of a lot of work though, as woop said.

Bear in mind that the 4 year course involves much shorter summer breaks, so while it'd be less years that you'd be juggling family and study you'd also be juggling them more consistently during those years.

If you want to PM me your email address or something I can see if one of the mature students from my class can get in touch with you (I'm good friends with one of them - she doesn't have a family but at least she'd be able to tell you more about the process and will probably still be a lot more help than I can be). Otherwise, have you tried emailing mature.students@ucd.ie, or looking at https://myucd.ucd.ie/admission/mature.ezc? It might be of some help to you.

MatthewVII

woop wrote: »

ah meds arent that smart just well driven

A common misconception. Med students are actually smart, driven and incredibly good-looking.

Breezer

MatthewVII wrote: »

A common misconception. Med students are actually smart, driven and incredibly good-looking.

But only those doing the new, modularised course...

Jammyc

how much would one be looking to pay to study medicine as a mature student?

selgal2002

Thanks Breezer i will pm you shortly . Matthew I am sure you are all those things :cool:

selgal2002

Hey JammyC,

Just saw you posted a comment the same time as me. I am led to believe that each yr could cost between 10,000-12,000 Euro so it aint a decision to be messed with.

MatthewVII

In my course setup the fees were something like 8000 euros per year. The good news is that there's plenty of opportunity to take on some extra overtime in intern year, with someone who's EXTREMELY eager able to earn up to 80000 euro to cover loan payments if needed.

Vorsprung

MatthewVII wrote: »

In my course setup the fees were something like 8000 euros per year. The good news is that there's plenty of opportunity to take on some extra overtime in intern year, with someone who's EXTREMELY eager able to earn up to 80000 euro to cover loan payments if needed.

That figure is fairly unatainable at the minute, and will be impossible to attain in the future when you guys graduate. Not even close like. Cutbacks are gonna hit the medical profession fairly sternly in the next short while.

Breezer

bigjimthefirst wrote: »

That figure is fairly unatainable at the minute, and will be impossible to attain in the future when you guys graduate. Not even close like. Cutbacks are gonna hit the medical profession fairly sternly in the next short while.

And for 'in the next short while' read: now At least it looks like we'll still have jobs, which is more than most graduates can say.

Vorsprung

Breezer wrote: »

And for 'in the next short while' read: now At least it looks like we'll still have jobs, which is more than most graduates can say.

If you're in final med - yes.

If you're in 2nd med - there's gonna be 700 EU graduates coming out in a few years (I think it's about 3 years). There are currently 350 intern spots in the country. It's gonna be messy unfortunately lads, and many are not going to be practising medicine.

Breezer

bigjimthefirst wrote: »

If you're in final med - yes.

If you're in 2nd med - there's gonna be 700 EU graduates coming out in a few years (I think it's about 3 years). There are currently 350 intern spots in the country. It's gonna be messy unfortunately lads, and many are not going to be practising medicine.

I'm somewhere in the middle. Gonna keep hoping for now.

MatthewVII

bigjimthefirst wrote: »

If you're in final med - yes.

If you're in 2nd med - there's gonna be 700 EU graduates coming out in a few years (I think it's about 3 years). There are currently 350 intern spots in the country. It's gonna be messy unfortunately lads, and many are not going to be practising medicine.

Thank god I didn't do premed.

/dodges bullet

Breezer

MatthewVII wrote: »

Thank god I didn't do premed.

/dodges bullet

*Reloads*

Actually out of interest bigjim, where are you getting those figures from? Is it the graduate entry people? And what exactly is an "EU graduate" in this sense?

Vorsprung

Breezer wrote: »

*Reloads*

Actually out of interest bigjim, where are you getting those figures from? Is it the graduate entry people? And what exactly is an "EU graduate" in this sense?

This is coming from an Irish Medical Organisation rep for SVUH. An EU graduate is anyone who's graduated from an EU university, but for all intents and purposes, it means doctors from the UK and Ireland.

Prime Mover

bigjimthefirst wrote: »

If you're in final med - yes.

If you're in 2nd med - there's gonna be 700 EU graduates coming out in a few years (I think it's about 3 years). There are currently 350 intern spots in the country. It's gonna be messy unfortunately lads, and many are not going to be practising medicine.

I'm not so sure it will be quite that high. The govenment said in the most recent budget that the increase in medical places was being deferred. Most people missed that due to the over 70's medical card mayhem that followed.

This was a statement on the Dept Ed website last year "The Minister said that under the package that was agreed between herself and the Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney T.D., the number of places available for Irish/EU students will jump from 305 to 725 by the year 2010/2011."

So they are not all active yet. I think to date with the extra EU graduate medicine places its 20 from UCD, 20 from UCC, RCSI has 30, and Limerick has about 55 I think, plus an extra 110 normal CAO undergrad in the last few years spread over all the colleges. TCD, NUIG and the extra places for Limerick might not happen.

Also, what about the EWTD? At least some kind of effort is going to have to be made to implement that and so extra doctors will be needed.

Vorsprung

Prime Mover wrote: »

I'm not so sure it will be quite that high. The govenment said in the most recent budget that the increase in medical places was being deferred. Most people missed that due to the over 70's medical card mayhem that followed.

This was a statement on the Dept Ed website last year "The Minister said that under the package that was agreed between herself and the Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney T.D., the number of places available for Irish/EU students will jump from 305 to 725 by the year 2010/2011."

So they are not all active yet. I think to date with the extra EU graduate medicine places its 20 from UCD, 20 from UCC, RCSI has 30, and Limerick has about 55 I think, plus an extra 110 normal CAO undergrad in the last few years spread over all the colleges. TCD, NUIG and the extra places for Limerick might not happen.

I stand to be corrected then on the basis on what you've said, but it the point still stands in the sense that the problem is merely deferred a few years down the line.

Also, what about the EWTD? At least some kind of effort is going to have to be made to implement that and so extra doctors will be needed.

The EWTD isn't worth the paper it's written on, and this couldn't be more true given the current economic climate.

me2gud4u

If it does come to the stage where the shortage of jobs for doctors becomes a real issue then what would final meds want to have on their cvs etc to ensure they get job?What do they look for in interviews that gives the extra advantage?
i'll be qualifying at this rocky time.....

MatthewVII

me2gud4u wrote: »

If it does come to the stage where the shortage of jobs for doctors becomes a real issue then what would final meds want to have on their cvs etc to ensure they get job?What do they look for in interviews that gives the extra advantage?
i'll be qualifying at this rocky time.....

Exam results are most important for applying for intern positions, as far as I'm aware those with the top points get the available jobs and those below the cut need to go elsewhere, which is why any med student suspecting themselves of being in the lower bracket should always prophylactically apply to external hospitals for intern positions so at to make the July placement.

When moving up to SHO places, the lines blur a bit. AFAIK results aren't that important (everyone hears anecdotal recounts of how so-and-so got some awesome job while some know-it-all was sent to Tralee). For GP schemes, having done electives in general practice are essential to get places. For others, i think a lot hinges on the interviews and how you come across as well as electives (i assume) and other tidbits that look nice, such as the reports you received from your consultants during your internship postings

not too sure though