Top Tips for Preparing an Oxbridge Medicine Application in 2024
Course Choice, Medicine Personal Statement, Work Experience and More!
In this article, U2 Medicine Tutor, Sile (PhD Bacterial-mediated cancer therapy, Oxford Medicine), guides you through each element of an Oxbridge Medicine application. From A-level subject choices to choosing between Medicine degrees and preparing for personal statements and Medicine interviews, she answers all of your Medicine application questions!
Why Pick Oxford or Cambridge for Medicine?
The University of Oxford and Cambridge have an obvious draw: they are some of the most prestigious medical schools in the world. For example, Oxford has been ranked as 1st in the world by the 2018 Times Education rankings of Universities for Pre-Clinical and Health studies for the last 8 years. So when it came to applying for medical schools, this was very much at the forefront of my mind.
Historically, the medical courses in the UK are split up based on how they are run. You have traditional courses in which there are defined ‘pre-clinical’ and ‘clinical’ years; problem-based learning courses with a self-directed learning style and integrated courses which have a bit of both. As I have always been really interested in science, I was particularly drawn to the traditional course type, as it would allow me to indulge my scientific curiosity for three years before having to seriously commit to the clinic. I was torn between following a career in medicine or in scientific research. Ultimately, if I found that I was more interested in the research than the clinic, with the traditional course set-up, I could opt not to progress to clinical school and possibly instead go on to do a PhD at the end of my three years. Furthermore, I felt that the split between pre-clinical and clinical would allow me to build a solid foundation of the medical science before I would have to put it in to practise. This model has worked well for me and for many of my classmates, but I am aware that some students would rather do the lectures and clinic side by side. If this is your preferred method of learning, possible Oxford isn’t for you.
The traditional course style is primarily available at Oxford and Cambridge. From the open days, I got the impression that Oxford placed a higher emphasis on scientific research which swayed me towards it. In hindsight, there was very little between the two but my impression of the Oxford medical schools from the open day was that it was more organised and better taught, and in the absence of much hard evidence to separate the two courses, this is what I went with.
The common perception of applying for medicine at Oxbridge is that only the brightest students from the most renowned schools can get in. Just bear in mind, that all good applications will get interviews so it is worth putting in a lot of effort to get the opportunity. In this article, I will suggest some key resources available to everyone which should help to maximize the quality of your application and interview, with further resources to get ahead.
Which A-levels should I choose for success in my Medicine application?
As with most medical schools, there are standard academic entry requirements. Oxford requires A*AA in three A levels, one of which has to be in Chemistry and the other in Biology, Physics or Mathematics. With these requirements, it means that you have to do Chemistry and then at least one of Biology, Physics and Chemistry. That being said, given that you have to get at least one A in those last three, you would increase your chances of doing so if you took two or all of them.
Cambridge require 2 A*s and an A or 40-42 points for IB students. They also require A-Levels in Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics, Mathematics: “Most applicants have at least three science/mathematics A Levels and some Colleges require this and/or particular subjects. See College websites for details." (Link).
What kind of thing did you include in your Medicine Personal Statement for Oxbridge?
My personal statement was shamelessly self-indulgent, as it must be! There are almost 1,500 people applying for medicine in Oxford, for example, and only 10% will make it. As your personal statement is one of only few representations of yourself which can be used to ‘get you in’, it must make you stand out. As well as being self indulgent (trying to include as many mentions of awards and achievements as I could), you need to come across with personality. This can of course be achieved by you saying so, but it is far more credible if you can demonstrate this in some way. This can be achieved by including anecdotes in which you reference scenarios where you were displayed empathy, good communication skills, integrity etc. It’s helpful to look on the course’s ‘requirements’ webpage to see the language they use to describe desirable candidates so you can use this vocabulary in your personal statement.
Do I have to do Medicine Work Experience?
Work experience is indispensable for your Medicine application. Becoming a doctor is a major undertaking, and in the application process, those reviewing your application will want to see you have made an informed decision when it comes to applying to medicine. How can you do this if you haven’t made the effort to get in to the hospital or GP practise for a few days? (Note: preferably try and do both). The work experience might be extremely helpful for you to decide if Medicine is even for you: I know at least two people who wanted to do Medicine until they shadowed in a hospital for a day only to learn that the profession wasn’t what they envisioned, or saw on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. Some people just can’t come to terms with the bureaucracy, emotional strain or something as trivial as the smell! It is so important you give yourself the opportunity to discover your true feelings for the job before you apply, so you can save yourself some time and apply for something else.
Good students will describe the experience in an application. The best students will identify an aspect of the experience which they can use in their application to demonstrate their suitability to the role of doctor. This can range from seeing inspiring behaviour from the doctor you followed which reassured you of your destiny to be a doctor or possibly inspired an interest in an area of medicine you hadn’t considered. If you really want to impress at interview, having a day in a research lab under your belt will make you stand apart from other applicants.
(N.B. Admissions tutors know it is easier for some students to gain work experience than others. This means they welcome all forms of experience e.g. community/ charity work, volunteering, research experience).
What else can I do to prepare for my Oxbridge Medicine application?
Start preparation early: There are many characteristics of yourself you must portray in any application to medical school: academic, personable, empathetic etc. For each of these, you need to identify how you can demonstrate in an application, as exemplification is more convincing than declaration. For example, to demonstrate your academic ability, showcase some academic award/prize you won. To demonstrate your empathy, maybe do some charity work. To demonstrate your personability, being part of a team/ choir/ group can be good. To demonstrate your interest in medicine, read around the topic such as popular non-fiction books such as ‘This is Going to Hurt’ and ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat’. It is important to remember that all of these activities to support your character can’t be achieved in the month build up to your application so start thinking about these in advance e.g. so you don’t miss the deadline for an essay writing competition, you read the books in time etc.
Get familiar with the structure of the course: As mentioned above, the Oxbridge course is significantly different from all other offered in the country in the strict ‘pre-clinical’ stage (years 1-3) followed by the ‘clinical’ stage (years 4-6). Therefore, you need to be able to demonstrate your understanding of the course structure and how this could benefit you personally. This structure allows for students to engage in scientific research, so you need to be able to recognize this and understand why it is important.
Get familiar with scientific methods: Following on from above, a desirable trait of Oxbridge candidates for Medicine is an interest in scientific research. Therefore, applicants who can demonstrate an interest will fair well. Depending on your interests, there are a multitude of activities such as participating in science competitions such as the TeenTech Awards or the multitude of competitions run for school pupils at the Royal Society of Biology. Alternatively, having a subscription to an age-appropriate scientific journal such as Young Scientist Journal would be impressive, or listening to the Science Weekly podcast by the Guardian. As well as demonstrating an interest in science, you must also show some degree of competence. This is where reading some journal articles would be helpful, which can be found at sciencejournalforkids.org. Here there are TED Ed talks on a variety of current topics in science and medicines. If you really want to challenge yourself, ‘Freakonomics’ podcast has an excellent 3-episode series called ‘Bad Medicine’ which deals with some concepts on the history of medicine but importantly on how clinical trials are sometimes flawed and sometimes very useful. These episodes will provide talking points for both applications and interviews, as well as familiarizing you with the cornerstone of good medicine: the Cochrane Collaboration. Remember, the Oxbridge interviews are heavily science based so you must also be able to interpret scientific data at a basic level. You are likely to get presented with a basic scientific figure or medical imaging and will be expected to describe what you see. It’s important to speak aloud as you do so as the interviewers are more interested in your logic and reasoning than an actual conclusion/ diagnosis.
What was your Oxbridge Medicine Interview like?
The interview process in Oxford is similar to a lot of medical schools, most particularly Cambridge. I was interviewed at two different colleges. The colleges differ greatly in their interview formats, so if you are going for interview, knowing what the interview at Magdalen is like might not necessarily help you with your interview for Merton. At one of my interviews, I was presented with an MRI scan and asked to describe what I saw. At the other, I was asked to describe a scientific experiment. Both interviews had an ethical component (for which there are many guides available online) describing an ethical scenario in which you must propose how best to act as the physician. Both interviews also presented a graph from a research paper and asked me to interpret it. From classmates, I have heard of them being asked similar types of questions but it is really college-specific. It might be helpful to research the prominent medical faculty at your college to get an idea of who would be interviewing you and what kinds of questions you might be asked. Or even better, ask previous interviewees! U2 has a guide to interviews written by their team of Oxbridge medics (see below), and provide full application support including personal statement, UCAT admissions test and interview preparation.
Applying to Oxbridge Medicine: The Key to Success
A successful application to Oxford or Cambridge very much has to have all of the features laid out above. Realistically, it is important for you to have an excellent academic record but also, some life experience: be that in getting work experience, volunteering, extracurriculars etc. Furthermore, I will say that there is a reason it is so hard to get in to Oxbridge: the course is extremely demanding and high standards are expected. If you are not willing to work hard and push yourself, it might be best to apply to a different medical school.
If you have read all of this and are still interested in studying medicine in Oxford or Cambridge, my advice to you is to start putting your application together now, even if it is some time before you have to apply. It would be best for you to construct the skeleton of the application to see where it might be weaker. This would allow you to plan how to address these shortcomings, and give you plenty of time to do so.
Medicine at Oxbridge is an amazing experience. There is no doubt that the teaching and learning environment is exceptional and the opportunities afforded by attending such an established programme are unparalleled. I would recommend the course to anyone who is interested in studying Medicine, and encourage you to apply even if you only just meet the minimum requirements. The worst they can do is say no. Good luck!
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