Medical Stream

Introduction

MPW has been preparing students for entrance to medical, dental and veterinary school since the formation of our Science School in 1977.

The majority of MPW's medical applicants fall into one of four categories:

Retake students

Students with A levels or degrees in Arts subjects

Students transferring to MPW for the second year of A levels

Two-year students

Medical applicants must aim for top grades in their A level examinations and for this reason, as far as possible, we stream them separately from other students in the key subjects of Chemistry, Biology and Physics. We also offer designated groups for students who are studying on one-year courses and who have not studied these subjects at A level before. These students have normally taken A levels in Arts subjects or are graduates who wish to change direction to study Medicine. They often need a different teaching emphasis to those who went on to Science A levels directly from GCSE.

January retake students studying Science and Mathematics receive eight hours of group tuition (with a maximum of eight students in a group) each week and a ninth hour devoted purely to examination practice. Additionally, there are surgeries in the lunch hour where students can make appointments for extra help on an individual basis. The structure for one-year students is similar except that there are six hours of core teaching instead of eight.

In all groups, the teaching is geared towards the examination and extensive use is made of past paper material, examiners' reports and our own course notes. There is frequent testing by means of weekly timed assignments and monthly revision tests.

Interview Practice

Having survived the initial selection processes, prospective applicants are likely to be called for interview and, though policies vary from university to university, fewer than half of the candidates who are interviewed are offered places. Even those students who are naturally confident and outgoing will benefit from some interview preparation, and many students will never have had an interview before.

At MPW, preparation for the interview starts from the first week of term, when students are given a preliminary pack of reading materials. During the course of their studies, they are given the opportunity of two practice interviews, at least one of which is chaired by someone who has experience of university interview panels. Our practice interview questions are all drawn from a continuously updated data base of questions from real medical, dental or veterinary school interviews. Examples may be found in MPW's 'Getting into' guides.

Practice interviews are followed by detailed analysis and feedback (including video playback where appropriate) and suggested further reading.

Choice of Courses

Students who wish to join MPW have an interview with the Principal or one of the Directors of Studies in order to work out the most suitable study programme. For retake students, this is to a large extent dictated by the previous grades but could well involve changes of board or even a change of subject. Detailed advice is given about the feasibility and advantages of carrying over individual modular results or practical grades. We will normally suggest that students meet our Heads of Department after the interview to discuss the syllabus in more detail.

MPW also offers a range of courses that may not have been available at the student's previous school. For example, students following one-year courses often opt for Statistics rather than Maths/Stats; or Psychology from scratch.

UCAS Advice

Chemistry is a requirement for entry to all medical, dental and veterinary schools.

Admissions tutors decide if a student will be called for interview (or made a new offer) on the basis of the information contained on the UCAS form. Clearly, a good deal of preparation is needed in order to make a medical, dental or veterinary application convincing. Precise strategies are needed in order to maximise each student's chance of securing an interview and, for this reason, work on the UCAS form begins on the first day of term, if not before. Particular attention is paid to helping students prepare personal statements which demonstrate their personal qualities and their individuality.

Retake students have to take extra care in the preparation of the UCAS form. The chances of success are improved considerably if there has been a previous offer and enhanced further if there are documented reasons for failing to achieve the necessary grades. Covering letters, references and work experience all have an important part to play. Retake students considering Medical Stream places at MPW should prepare themselves for a frank discussion about the general feasibility of reapplying.