The Results Are In...

And (thankfully) they weren't (quite) as bad as I was expecting.

I wrote this ages ago, but I've only just got round to publishing it because I'm lazy....

I'd tried desperately to keep the thought of receiving my results right to that dark, murky bit right at the back of my head. I was doing quite well at that as well. That was until, on Tuesday morning, I awoke to find a email from GAMSAT with the subject reading:

'GAMSAT 2013 UK: Your Results Are Now Ready'

Cue lots of uncontrollable shaking and butterflies and everything else associated with acute-exam-result-related-nerves. It's safe to say I was a bit of a wreck. 

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank ACER (the people who do GAMSAT) for telling me the results wouldn't be ready until LATE November, before releasing them on the 19th - Which still classes as Mid-November to me... I'd also like to thank them for giving me no prior warning and for emailing me at 5:53am, so that when I woke up just before 7am, I went into a tizz before I even got out of bed.

I opened the email on my iPad; clicked on the link and carefully entered my login details, whilst simultaneously trying not to drop said iPad through nerve-related shaking.

I then tentatively clicked on the 'Get Results' link before reading three little numbers which have given me a confidence-boost somewhat.

They're not great results, and, as I expected, I'll be doing the exam again next year. But, as someone who expected to be greeted with the dreaded:

'30. 30. 30...'

...Across the board, I'll take what I actually achieved (with very little in the way of revision) as not too bad indeed. For me...

49. 51. 42.

Average: 46.

GAMSAT IS OVER! (For now...)

It's been far too long since I've written anything on here; and I apologise for that.

It's just, you see, I've been a little busy with all the GAMSAT malarky. But it's over now! And I feel a bit strange... Relieved yet worried. 

I sat GAMSAT at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield. It's really near the train station; so my walk (which made me feel like a dead woman walking...) was relatively quick. My admission ticket said to be there for 8:15, and like the Square that I am, I got there at 8:14.

The queue to the Sports Hall was MASSIVE. I was quite surprised that there were so many people sitting the exam. The Sports Hall was full; and they had to put people in two separate meeting rooms in addition to this.

The Sports Hall at Ponds Forge

One thing I learned very quickly is that there's a lot of bureaucracy surrounding the exam. Lots of talking about rules etc. You also (and I didn't know this before) have to keep your admission ticket and ID on your desk throughout the exam.

And you get a rather nice stamp on your hand; which reads: 'Inspected'. Nice. It took thoroughly washing my hands sporadically throughout the day and having a bath before bed to just about get rid of it.

'Inspected'

I can't really tell you that much about the content of the exam because we were kind of sworn to secrecy... I can tell you though, that I had questions about medical ethics and organic chemistry in abundance.

As you probably already know, the exam is split into three different parts:

Section I - Reasoning in the Humanities and Social Sciences,

Section II - Written Communication,

Section III - Reasoning in the Biological and Physical Sciences.


Section I is an hour and a half, Section II an hour (You have to write two essays in that time frame) and Section III is a whopping three hours long!

You get an hour's lunch break between Sections II and III; and, like me, most people chose to go outside and get a little fresh air. In fact, one poor lady had what looked like a panic attack outside the doors because of the sheer strain of the exam.

This is not the aforementioned poor lady...

I was fine during Section I - which leads me to think I did quite badly. Usually the better I think I performed in an exam; the worse my grade ends up being.

I'll admit that I panicked quite a bit during Section II - I prepared for this section in the wrong way. I read lots of newspapers; books relating to Social Sciences and the like; but I didn't practice the writing side of things enough. So, my mind went a bit blank and I started to panic; but I recovered and rambled on about a load of rubbish; which also leads me to presume that I won't do all that well...

Section III on the other hand ended up being a bit of guesswork in parts. I did what Griffiths' GAMSAT Review suggests and guessed 'C' (apparently, there's ever so slightly more chance of guessing correctly if you choose the answer that's 'C'). There were things I recognized and a lot of things that threw me a little. I'm not holding my breath.

At the end of the day, all I did was my best. I was so nervous about Section III that I did consider scarpering during the lunch break; but I would have been so disappointed with myself if I had. It's not my style to abandon things before I succeed; I'm too stubborn like that.

Results are out at the 'end of November'. Oh I love how elusive ACER are.

Hmmm.

Hmmm. Today's been a bit of a crap day to be honest.

Four hours sleep. Then I spent half the afternoon sitting on my bum in front of the fire whilst eating cornflakes and watching comedy on TV to try and alleviate my bad mood.

I went on a wild goose chase too. All around the city to get my Mum an iPad. (She was paying, I was just picking it up for her...)

When I got home, I still felt crap: bad mood, hungry, tired, fed-up etc. I could go on (but shan't for fear of boring you all to death...)

Whilst on my wild goose chase, I picked up some pick and mix. First time I've had it in about ten years. That seems to be helping keep me a little cheerier; that and copious cups of coffee.

I had a really good weekend. A family wedding on Saturday and then drinks with my friends on Sunday evening. I had a laugh for an entire two days (back-to-back) for the first time in ages. It was wonderful.

Then today, I came back to earth with a big bump: I received two job rejections. GAMSAT revision is also looming but I seem to be so bad at self-discipline at the moment, I've hardly done anything recently. It's ridiculous. I need to give myself a big kick up the backside; except I don't know how.

Boy and best friend problems also don't help my mood. Why can't everything just be a bit more simple for once?

Still, tomorrow's another day and I've still got about three quarters of a bag of pick and mix to wade through. So it's not all bad... ;)

Best Friend Dilemma.

The clue's in the title really.

I've known my best friend for ten and a half years. I thought that we'd be friends until we were bitter old ladies, sat next to each other in a Nursing Home knitting away and putting the world to rights. However, that's not really the case any more.

For the past few months she's been constantly ignoring me, making excuses not to see me and just generally not being a very good friend.

She spent the majority of last year unemployed after leaving college. I tried to support her then and she pushed me away. I knew she was struggling but she just didn't want my help. I was doing my finals and she was trying to occupy herself by applying for an endless stream of jobs. She got there in the end and has been working full time for the past few months.

She's an incredibly difficult person to know and to get through to. She won't listen and when she really needs a friend, she pushes everyone except close family members away.

I'm the only person that she's regularly in touch with from school. She's disowned the rest of our mutual friends. She says that she can't be bothered with them because they've made no effort with her. They have, she just didn't realise... Or care.

I'm not going to lie, these past few months have been really tough. I've felt so down for such a prolonged period of time and the only people who've consistently been there for me are my parents.

When I think about how little she's supported me, my initial thought is that I'm just being selfish for expecting her support. She just doesn't realise how other people feel and she's definitely unreceptive to the emotions of others. I feel cruel for even saying that. I haven't seen her properly since last year. I didn't even get a Christmas card. She got a Christmas card and presents before Christmas from me. 

She texted me a few weeks ago to tell me that she was ill. I texted her the next day asking if she was feeling better. She ignored me. So after three days I began to get a little worried. I popped round to see how she was (bearing in mind she lives two minutes walk away from my house), and she couldn't wait to get rid of me. She didn't invite me in and blamed me for her dog wetting itself with excitement because I'd turned up unannounced.

I know our friendship has never been a conventional one, but I do at least expect to get a reply to a text within a week. Something that frequently doesn't happen. I'm losing patience with her. 

I honestly don't know what to do. In my heart of hearts, I feel like our friendship is nothing but a chore to her. I'm a burden to her like I am to many others. And best friends shouldn't make you feel like that, should they?

I can't help who I am and how I am. I can't change to a great extent to fit the needs and wants of other people. And to be honest, if being an unemployed loser for the past ten months has taught me anything, it's that I need to stop trying to please others and focus on making myself happier.

What do I do? Accept that she probably just doesn't want to be friends? Keep on fighting a futile battle? Get on with life and focus on other friends? I honestly don't know. Ten years of friendship would go down the toilet if I were to just walk away; but it's as though she doesn't want me in her life anyway.

We're both only children and there's sometimes a battle of wills when it comes to who's going to get their own way. When we were younger, I never used to give in, but nowadays, she tends to get her way. She deliberately makes me feel bad when there's a threat that she's not going to get her own way. For example, on my birthday a couple of years ago, the two of us went to London. I wanted to go on the London Eye because it's something I hadn't done before. She, however, didn't want to because she'd been on it once before with a relative. She said to me: 

"We can go on it if you really want to, but I really don't want to. If you do though, I suppose I'll go along with it..."

What can I say to that? "Yes I'll force you onto the London Eye against your own will and consequently never hear the end of it..." So, no, I gave in and we didn't go on it. She got her way and I've still never been on the London Eye... 

Recently if I've asked if she's free on a certain day, she'll just ignore my messages. So now I don't generally broach the subject of meeting up. I invited her out for drinks with some other friends over the weekend; she declined my offer.  It's just easier to leave her alone than it is to be ignored or rejected.

I asked her yesterday when she might be next free. She's ignored me. She's been on Facebook today, but she hasn't replied to my message; because I'm evidently a hindrance to her...

It makes me feel like I'm being needy. I'm not though, am I? For wanting the girl who's supposed to be my best friend to just reply to my messages every now and again?

I couldn't resist.

Apologies for this incredibly boring, self-deprecating and insecure post, but it's quite cathartic to write it all out... 
It's really just been a huge excuse for me to use an array of cute pictures. Sorry...

Ooh, It's Been a While!

Hello!

I'm not going to apologise for the (predictable) lack of updates; because there is nothing to update you on really...

Here's what's happened recently:

• I've become a hermit.
• Today I finally hit the 200 job applications milestone!!
• I've had four job interviews now (all of which have been unsuccessful...)
• I've still got no money coming in.
• My next door neighbour recently got a slapped wrist from the police for assaulting my Dad (who's disabled...) More on that in a future post... if you're really that interested...
• I swear I'm on my way to developing a vitamin D deficiency (because of said hermit-ness... Or maybe I'm just becoming a hypochondriac because of all the spare time on my hands...)
• I keep on getting bombarded with spam emails from a company called 'Meaningful Help'... And in actual fact; I'm quite close to going to their headquarters in Texas and... well, after that, I'm not exactly sure what I'd do...
• I've discovered that it's not just me who's feeling isolated since leaving University. My friends are feeling exactly the same way. (Even though they've got jobs or are doing Postgrad stuff...)
• This whole unemployment lark has induced a new lax attitude; my 'pendantic-ness' is disappearing. It's really making me a lot less uptight (at times...)
• Friends/Peers/People I went to school with and didn't really warm to are all announcing pregnancies and engagements. In fact, some are now having their second kids. I'm still unsure as to whether this makes me feel: ridiculously old, incredibly young or a massive failure... (even though I'm only 21, I swear my Mum's tapping her watch impatiently; waiting, just waiting to get grandkids. No pressure...)

I'm also so sad well-organised that since I first started applying for jobs, back in May, I've been keeping a log of all applications that I've made. It's official: I'm ridiculously sad...

That's from the first page... From May/June.

And this is the last... From Today.

It's eleven pages long now, which makes me feel ever so slightly useless. I've been rejected or ignored for an insurmountable number of jobs. I've been rejected for: Temp Christmas jobs, Cleaning jobs, Healthcare Assistant Jobs, Receptionist jobs, Admin jobs, Waitressing jobs, Factory jobs, Marketing/Communications Jobs (which are actually related to my degree!), Sales jobs, Retail jobs etc. I could go on, but I wouldn't want to bore you into oblivion. 

Still, at least it's a beautiful evening:

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've become slightly addicted to Instagram...

News!!

Just a brief post with a little bit of good news...

I've somehow managed to bag myself a couple of job interviews!

I'm not holding my breath, but this time next month I could be a Phlebotomist or a Healthcare Assistant.

Fingers crossed!

I Did It! I Finally Did It!

Sorry, must apologise in advance, this is not really a Medical-type post.

But... I finally did it! 

Yes, that's right, I rang the police about the atrocious excuse of a human being that lives next door to me and his terrible penchant for drink driving.

I have reported him via Crimestoppers online before, but nothing ever came of that.

He came back at around one this morning. He was literally so drunk that he stalled at the top of his drive. He took a good few seconds to realise why he wasn't going anywhere and then re-started the engine of his increasingly battered pick-up truck. After this, he proceeded to scrape all of the bushes on the side of his drive, before his trademark-drink-drive-move of forgetting to apply the handbrake. Cue lots of rolling down the drive and him displaying his panic-stricken face as he frantically tried to stop himself from crashing into his stationary trailer and garage door. 

That was the final straw for me. I grabbed my phone and after a few deep breaths (I don't know why, but I always get really nervous about phone calls, even to people I know really well...) I dialled the non-emergency number. I got through to a lady and politely asked if I was able to report someone for drink-driving. She said yes, and asked me lots of questions about that numpty from next door. 

Now I knew that there was no chance of him being caught tonight, after all, he was already home. But the lady assured me that they'd got his details and she was sending them to all police stations and officers in the local area so they can keep an eye out for him. She also advised me to ring them again next time he goes out drinking, to help them catch him in the act. 

It won't be long before he's at it again. The last time he did it was at 5am yesterday when he was also evidently 'utterly gazeboed'. 

I really hope they catch him. He's a menace. I know if they do catch him and prosecute him for drink driving, he'll be at risk of losing his licence and therefore his business as a gardener. I feel a little guilty about that, but at the end of the day, I'm not the one breaking the law and putting other road users' lives at risk by being an idiot.

I don't understand why he does it, in all honesty. He never used to. He always got taxis to and from pubs, clubs and women's houses. Recently though, he's just decided he'll chance it. That he'll never get caught I suppose, because at that time in the morning, all of the police officers have their hands full with anti-social behaviour on the streets. He needs to be taught a lesson, that's for sure, and I'll go above and beyond to ensure that he gets it.

Oh, and when he got in, he was talking really loudly, not sure if he was on his phone, but I genuinely had to peer through his front door at about 2am, because he was making groaning noises. (Don't laugh!) I thought he'd drunkenly injured himself, so I went round there with a torch and tried to see if he was on the floor. All I could see was darkness, but he's been quiet ever since. 

Call me what you want, but I couldn't bear it if he ended up killing an innocent person because of this and I'd had this information and never acted upon it. I'd feel guilty. Probably more-so than an irresponsible ignoramus like him.

Sometimes I think life would be a lot easier if people knew their limits.

And obeyed the law.

Another Day, Another Job Rejection...

Depressing news! Today I received an email to say I won't be a Family Support Worker. I won't be a Junior Doctor Co-Ordinator either. Or a Healthcare Assistant. Or an Auxiliary Nurse. Or a Medical Receptionist. Or a Radiography Assistant. Or a Medical Staffing Administrator. Or a Dental Nurse. I could go on... There are far more.


I've only been formally rejected from three jobs so far though! I just have to assume that the other 20-odd have rejected me because they've ignored me completely. A bit cruel...


Today I've applied for yet another Healthcare Assistant job. I'm getting to the point where I'm beginning to struggle to feel enthusiastic about any jobs. It's hard to fill out application forms when you know from the start that you won't even get an interview. Why won't someone give me a chance?! Am I really that bad?
I don't smell. I do wash. I'm nice to everyone. I've got a 2:1 degree!


The main problem that I seem to have is a big lack of 'experience'.
To employers, voluntary work isn't important enough to count as experience.


The only actual paid work experience I have is as a Sales Assistant. I'm only going back to working in a supermarket if I really have to. That's my contingency plan for when I get incredibly desperate for money.


In other news, I started my new voluntary work post today. Everyone looked after me and they seemed nice. So that's good. It was tiring though. I must have walked miles and miles around the hospital delivering patient notes and patients themselves! The definite low point was when I kind of lost control of a wheelchair and nearly let a patient go into the road! (Don't worry, it's a side road on the hospital site, and there were no cars around, thankfully!) I'm only little, so wheelchairs with people in them, downhill slopes and my pitiful strength don't go well together... But they didn't get run over, so it's fine. Then I failed miserably at working the special outdoor lift. Two members of staff embarrassingly had to come out and help me.
I've got a degree and yet I struggle to work lifts...
In my defence, I only had three hours sleep last night, so I'm not really 'with it'. Still, I don't think I managed to kill anyone, so that's a bonus...


I'm such a glutton for punishment that I'm going back tomorrow... I enjoy it really!
Different ward though. Different role. Different staff. Different patients. Different speciality. Pretty much everything about it's different. But, it's more experience isn't it? Not that employers will care...
I'm only going in for an hour in the morning so it shouldn't be too bad. I got told by my boss that if the staff on the ward aren't nice and don't look after me then I'm to walk straight out!


We'll see how it goes...


Oh, and in other news, my best friend and I have decided to write a book. Quite exciting really. It's not medical or anything. It's a story. In fact it's one I wrote at Uni and dug out. She liked it, so she's going to illustrate it and then we're going to try and get it published. Ha! The chance'd be a fine thing!! 


Although I've got no plans to abandon my Med school dream and be a famous author!


Until next time!
xx

I Made a Bobo...

Silly me! I thought I had an appointment at the Job Centre Plus today, where I would get to tell one of the advisors to 'stick it up their bum', as it were.


However, I don't have to go until next Monday! In fact I'm not sure I'll bother at all, as previously mentioned.


Here are a simple list of reasons why I'm not bothering with them anymore:

1. They didn't realise I had a degree even though they looked at my CV (twice!!),
2. They said that I would have to give up my Voluntary work if I got a full-time job,
3. They wanted to send me on a course (although they didn't specify what it was or why it'd be good for me),
4. They're sending me to a group meeting on Thursday about CVs and Apprenticeships,
5. The Job Centre Plus feels like the most depressing place on the Earth,
6. The advisors talk right down to you (although admittedly, some are nice too),
7. The computer machine things are really awkward to use,
8. I've witnessed fellow Jobseekers losing their rag through frustration and I'm quite scared of accidentally getting in the way of a fist sandwich,
9. They're not giving me any money (which I'd probably feel cheeky for taking anyway), so they can't threaten me with 'non-payment' if I don't go,
10. Call me a snob, but the jobs that they wanted to send me to are menial, underpaid and too far away. (They expected me to drive up to 90mins away from home to work in a shop or as a receptionist...)
11. They treat you like you're milking the system even if you show to them that you're eager to work,
12. I tried to show them my amazing list of job applications on both appointments and they completely and utterly dismissed it.

I've gone through my list of Job Applications and it looks like I've been rejected for every single one. I've been looking frequently for jobs today, and there really aren't any that I can apply for... 

Still, I start a new voluntary work placement at the hospital on a different ward tomorrow. An acute one this time, so a completely different pace and feel. I'm quite excited! I might not get paid for it, but I'm sure I enjoy my voluntary work more than I would a menial paid job!

Just watch it all fall apart tomorrow, and I'll come crawling back moaning about how much I hate it...

Oh, and on the 'Barry Scott' front:

He went out at half 8 this morning. To do a day's work! Unusual. I wish I'd been really loud all night and kept him awake, just so he'd know exactly what it was like trying to function the next day ridiculously sleep deprived. Except I didn't. 

Until next time!

xx

The Diary of a Job Seeker - Part One

Hello! Again, long time no blog! Let me tell you all about my jobseeking adventures:

Last week, I signed up for Jobseekers' Allowance (Yes, I know I don't think I can get it, still I applied anyway...)

This Monday I had a meeting to go over things. Then on Tuesday an advisor called me asking me to come in.

So on Thursday, I went for a meeting with one of the 18-24 advisors. She seemed nice, but it's quite clear very early on that all they're concerned about is getting you off your bum and into a not very nice job. So far, my 10 steps (10 weekly proactive measures to attempt to find a job) are aimed at finding me a job in Retail, Administration/Reception work or in Care.
I've even applied to be a Junior Doctor Co-Ordinator... That would be quite cool I'll admit. ;)

So far, I've applied for 25 jobs... Now on my 26th application. All to no avail... I've not received ANYTHING. Not an interview. Not a rejection letter. Not even a rejection email.

I've got a 2:1, so why does nobody want me?!

I've got to 'Sign on' for the first time on Monday. It's all very new to me, but I think that's where they check I've been looking for jobs and basically authenticate a payment. Well, I've done that already, so there's no problem there.

I'm also being sent to a group meeting on how to do CVs (even though the lady said I had a "great CV" twice!!) She also said before I left: "Do you have any qualifications?"

YES! A DEGREE! IT'S ON THE CV THAT YOU'VE LOOKED AT TWICE!!

If I could throw myself straight into GAMSAT stuff, I would. But I can't live without money... It's near on impossible. And my savings are there to go towards Med School living costs.

Oh the joys of being a jobseeker...

University of Leicester Open Day!

Well, I went to the University of Leicester last month...

And you may have seen my tweet about how pointless it was... If only I'd have known that before actually getting there! Would've saved me a wasted journey!


The presentation on Medicine itself was in incredibly high demand! There were only two talks: one at 2pm and one at 3pm. I thought it would be better to go for the earlier talk, but ended up queuing for half an hour before the talk started, in a massive crowd of people (all of whom looked younger and far more intelligent than myself), to be told when we all got in to the talk, that there basically wasn't much point in me bothering to apply there - I'd be far, far better off taking GAMSAT and applying to either St. George's or Nottingham...


Basically the reason that it was so pointless was because they're bringing in a new system (at least I think it's new) where they'll be point scoring potential candidates on their previous academic qualifications i.e. GCSEs and A-Levels, as well as their degree classification...
Which means I've got NO chance!


I already knew it was a long shot because of the year long paid work experience requirement, but still, I thought it was at least worth a look!


I must admit that I was particularly reluctant to like the city of Leicester - back in the day when I was browsing Universities for my first degree, I went for an open day at Leicester's other University, De Montfort, and wasn't that impressed. And also knowing that a 'kind of' ex had moved to the city made me even more reluctant to go there! But I have to say that when I got to the area that the University of Leicester was in, I was a lot more impressed than when I went to DMU (which is on the other side of the city)!


Everything about the University is nice, the people seemed relatively friendly, and certainly welcoming. The Uni was neat and looked shiny and new (although the same can't really be said for the Medical School building - which apparently is going to be replaced by a newer and shinier building in the near future). See the shoddy picture below for a glimpse at the Med School building...

This is also another shoddy picture of the Medical School from the side (at least I think it's the Medical School - but don't hold me to that!)

I don't really think there's anything else that I can say about it - It certainly doesn't look like I'll be applying to study there, but that's not to say that I don't like the University, because I do.


Oh, and one of the taglines of the University, which you will be utterly bombarded with if you go and visit is:
"Elite, without being elitist". 
Trust me, you will see it absolutely everywhere! It's been drilled in to me now!


I would recommend that people check it out, of course! You can't take my word on which Medical School to study at!


Next time I'll be telling you all about Keele University!


Thanks for reading! xx

Happy New Year!

Well hello!

Firstly, like always, I must apologise for neglecting my blog again!

And, again, I must make my usual promise of getting round to publishing some posts that still require a bit of tweaking (they've been sat in my drafts for ages... One of them since last July!!)

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a fantabulous new year. 

I'm sat here, and it's the early hours of the morning at the start of a brand spanking new year. I'm not really a big party animal, which I think I might well have mentioned here before... So I welcomed 2012 by watching the pretty fireworks on TV with my parents, whilst stuffing my face with biscuits.
Yes, I really am that cool.

To complete my wild celebrations, I decided to go on a huge online spending spree to celebrate my penultimate student loan payment. So I don't think my bank balance with thank me come the morning, but oh well...

What better way to start the new year? (Well, actually, I'm sure there are plenty of much better ways, but...)

I guess one of the points that I wanted to make is that this time of year is always a really reflective one, so I've spent the last few days thinking about how 2011 shaped me. How much I've grown up. How I've unfortunately lost some people in my life, but thankfully gained some others. It's been a bit of a wild ride, which sadly went a bit pear shaped from September onwards, but, here's to 2012 being amazing!

Until next time!
xx

Newcastle University Open Day!

Last Saturday I went to the Newcastle University open day!

I was feeling pretty tired, because of early starts taking their toll on me, but had to drag myself out of bed to leave home for 8am. 

6am starts really don't agree with me...

After a rushed half hour journey to the train station, we (Daddy Bee and I) got to the platform for the train to Newcastle. We boarded the train when it arrived, in full knowledge that it was going to be one heck of a long journey.

Nearly three hours passed of being sat on a noisy train, on seats with barely any leg room and across from an American lady who kept on staring at us. After the tiring but picturesque train journey was over, we hastily made our way to the Metro station. We eventually arrived at the University, after a short Metro journey, but over two hours after the open day had commenced. So I knew that it was unlikely I'd get tickets for any of the Medicine talks. 

Geordieland

We rushed over to the building where Medical School talk tickets were being handed out -  the King's Gate Building of the University - to be told the inevitable, they'd all gone. 

Tickets for all three talks had gone in an hour. 

So, I didn't get into any of the Medicine talks. I still had a wander up to the Medical School regardless and caught a glimpse of the exterior, which looked impressive to me!

Newcastle University's Medical School

We also went to the Information Fair, and got talking to the loveliest female security guard ever! I was talking to her for about five minutes, but I could've honestly stood there all day listening to her talking with the best accent ever. 

I absolutely loved the city of Newcastle, even though I didn't get to see very much of it. After all, two hours isn't a lot of time to explore anywhere. 

They have a noodle bar in Haymarket Metro Station. Which is a bit of a clincher for a noodle addict such as myself...

I'm thinking about going again, later this year, perhaps. But travelling the day before and staying overnight, so that I don't miss out again!

My poor attempt at getting a decent picture of the King's Gate Building

Luckily, Newcastle University sent me a recorded version of the presentation yesterday.

So if you, like me, couldn't get into one of the Medicine talks - Or even if you couldn't make it to Newcastle altogether, you can watch the presentation here:

https://lectopia.ncl.ac.uk/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?ut=15865&id=11112

St. George's Open Day!

I've been a bit under the weather for the past few days, so cue lots and lots of blogging... 
But apologies for the lack of my presence recently!


I went to St. George's University of London for an open day last month, and I must say, I really liked it!


It seemed like a genuinely nice university, where the students were incredibly enthusiastic.

And I mean incredibly!

The presentation that they gave was informative, even if I already knew just about everything they covered with regards to entry requirements...

But hey, I did my research!

We had a tour with two of the current GEP students, and they were so helpful! 
Their advice was genuinely fantastic, and apparently you could see the relief on my face when they were telling us about their experiences with GAMSAT! It was lovely to meet people who have been in a similar boat to me, who actually got into medical school!


The tour lasted for about 40 minutes, and they even took us into the room where the Medical Students practice putting cannulas into fake arms,
and even fake smear tests on fake foofees... 


We got the chance to stand in a PBL room. 
A room which was covered by white boards.
One of which had:
"We love St. George's... [not]" 
Written on it.

Reassuring.

They'd even got mini fridges and kettles in there for the GEPs. 

Awww.

The library, by the way, is absolutely massive! 

The only thing that they couldn't really reassure me about was the NHS bursary situation.

St. George's is situated in the Tooting area of London.
Quite a diverse area, and I'm reliably informed from the SU presentation that there are 35 curry houses in the area!

So I'm guessing that people round there keep a lot of toilet paper in the fridge...

There are lots of famous alumni to the University: John Hunter, Henry Gray, Edward Jenner and Harry Hill.

I think he was the clincher for me...

I must say, as this is the first open day for Graduate Entry Medicine that I've been to, I didn't know what to expect.


In fact, I kind of thought that people would perhaps look down their noses at me because I'm from more of an artistic background.


But this was absolutely not the case! 
Everybody I met and spoke to seemed friendly and really down to earth! 
They were honest about their experiences with GAMSAT, but didn't scare me into changing my mind!

It's quite a trek for me though, I must say!

It's about an hour and three quarters on the train, and then just over half an hour on the Tube! 
But it was definitely worth it to have a look around.

I can honestly say that I wouldn't mind studying there.

The only problem is the distance.

Being a bit of a Northerner, it's a long way away from home.

And I can't guarantee that I wouldn't get homesick if I had to live in London nearly all the time...

I've also recently been to a GEM open day at the University of Nottingham, so that'll follow soon!

Until next time!

xx

A little bit more about GAMSAT, anyone?

So, seeing as I haven't got a lot else to do, I thought I'd tell you a little bit more about GAMSAT.

I'll do it in a list-y type thing, so it's easier to read:

GAMSAT stands for: Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admissions Test.

Yes, I know I'm from England, and not Australia, but it's also used over here too!

It's used by the following Universities for entry to their four year Graduate Entry courses:

1. St. George's, 
2. University of Nottingham, 
3. Keele,
4. Swansea.

It's an entrance exam used by the above Universities to see if their Graduate Medical applicants are up to scratch.

It's also used by Peninsula for entry to their five year course.

Whereas King's College London, Newcastle and Leicester all require you to take the UKCAT test.

There are three different parts to the five hour test, which are:

1. Humanities and Social Sciences,
2. Written Communication,
3. The Science-y bit.

Basically the information that I've received on the level of science required for the exam is quite conflicting. 

I've been told, by someone who has actually taken the test, that it's best if you revise up to first year undergraduate level Biology and Chemistry, and also A-Level Physics.

I've read, however, that AS Level in all of the sciences are adequate enough to get you through the test, even if you aren't from a science background.

Apparently, there's a lot of organic chemistry featured within the exam.

So get revising that kids!

The science part of the exam is double-weighted, so it's quite important!

The date of the test this year is Friday 16th September.

There are lots of Universities that allow graduates to study Medicine, but as I'm not from a science background (having done no science since GCSE) I thought I'd focus on the courses that are more relevant to people like me ('arty' people). 

Sorry if all of the above is of no use to you! 

And also apologies if I've got certain bits and bobs wrong, I'm no expert on GAMSAT!

Next time I'll be telling you all about my recent trip to St. George's! So...

Until then!

xx