On today’s episode of the podcast, we spoke to Professor Chris Norbury who is the coordinator of medical school admissions at Oxford Medical School.

He is also the Professor of Molecular Pathology and Deputy Director of Preclinical Studies

Prof Norbury talks through the Oxford Medical School Admissions process which is quite different from traditional medical school applications and what is unique about studying medicine at Oxford Medical School.

Prof Norbury talks through the unique aspects of applying to and studying at Oxford Medical School. He also speaks to us about his career as a scientist which has had a significant impact on medical care.

We talk to Yousuf, a fifth-year medical student at Birmingham Medical School. Yousuf is currently intercalating and studying a masters in Trauma Sciences. In this episode, we talk about his experience of medical school to date as well as the highlights and challenges of his time at medical school.

You can reach out to Yousuf on Twitter.

In today we’re talking to Professor Kevin Murphy from Imperial Medical School. Professor Murphy is the Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism and Admission Tutor for Widening Participation in Undergraduate medicine. We spoke about the Imperial Medical School application programme, what makes the medical school unique and how it promotes and supports widening participation. All the courses Professor Murphy mentions are in the show notes.

Pathways to medicine

https://www.suttontrust.com/our-programmes/pathways-to-medicine/

Medical school council skills course

https://www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/outreach-and-support

Professor Jones is an endocrinologist, that’s a doctor that deals with problems with glands in the body, and is the Head of School at Newcastle University. He gave us an insight into the application process at Newcastle Medical School.

It was a really interesting conversation and we covered a lot including what makes Newcastle Med School unique, the integrated curriculum at Newcastle University, the differences with the graduate entry course and lots more about the selection process. We also discussed the challenges and highlights of Prof Jones’ career to date and at the end of the podcast, we got into how he has dealt with stress during his career touching on how mindfulness has been useful for him and how he has had the opportunity to work abroad as a doctor. It was a really interesting talk.

Links on Newcastle University widening participation can be found here:

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/who-we-are/partnerships/schools/

We speak to Professor Marcus Drake who is a Urologist by background - so a surgeon who works on the urinary tract - and he is an admissions tutor at Bristol Medical School where he is also the head of year 5.

We had a great chat and if Professor Drake doesn’t leave you inspired to be a doctor I don’t know who will! We spoke about what makes Bristol medical school unique, their selection process which interestingly doesn’t take your personal statement into consideration, and how they promote widening participation in medicine. We also spoke about what his career looks like and at the end of the conversation Professor Drake and I end up chatting about some really interesting stuff when it comes to medical school interviews.

Bristol Med School requirements:

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2022/medicine/mb-medicine/

Gateway to medicine course:

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2022/medicine/mb-chb-gateway-to-medicine/

During the chat he mentioned scholarships that are available, below is a link to where you can find more information:

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/students/support/finances/scholarships/

Dr Simon Flemming is a Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgical Trainee working in London. He has done a huge amount of work trying to create positive culture change in the NHS through the #hammeritout campaign. In this episode, we talk about his journey into medicine and his experience as a junior surgeon training in the NHS.