The Unofficial Guide to Medicine Blog

News, updates and details of events & competitions from The UGTM team

News & Articles

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UCAT

Mar 4, 2021

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is an admissions test for would-be UK healthcare professionals that forms a part of the multi-factorial admissions process. It is a computer-based test that, as the name suggests, assesses various aptitudes to mimic a...

Getting Medical Work Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic

Feb 14, 2021

Assuming you have passed your GCSEs and A levels with flying colours, you’re probably eagerly waiting to be enrolled in a medicine degree. Then you came across something called ‘work experience’ during your applications. Now you’re left wondering how relevant this is...

Top Tips for Medical School Interviews

Dec 13, 2020

COVID-19 has exacted a global acceptance of the virtual workspace. Medical schools have taken this shift to produce novel experiences from online work experience for prospective medics to digital tutorials for students. Similarly, the admissions process has been...

Top Tips for Clinical Placements

Nov 9, 2020

This year, keeping in theme with the rest of 2020, clinical placements will be a little unusual. With different medical schools setting individual rules for the return to the clinical environment in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, students may find themselves...

Imposter Syndrome – Asset or Assailant?

Jul 13, 2020

In my first year of university, I found myself asking when medicine would become who I was instead of what I did. I wanted to be the kind of doctor who was so connected to their work that it became a part of them.

Burnout in UK Medical Students – The Extent of the Problem

Apr 24, 2019

My social media streams have recently been increasingly inundated with articles, speeches and documentaries regarding the issue of ‘burnout.’ Despite being increasingly well-informed on the prevalence and extent of the issue, my close peers and I have found it hard to clearly understand the concept of a ‘burnt-out’ state; and if we cannot wholly comprehend what it is, how can we expect to recognise it in ourselves?

Unofficial Guide to O&G – my experience of being an editor

Mar 8, 2018

I still remember as a fourth year medical student when Zeshan Qureshi, from the Unofficial Guide to Medicine, said to me "Do you fancy editing an O&G book?" My immediate response was "No way! I’m just a student!" Yet now, five years later, alongside Matt Wood,...

Dealing With Exam Stress

Mar 8, 2017

So it’s coming up to that time of year again when every medical student across the country can no longer banish all thoughts of exams to the backs of their minds, but has the sudden realisation that actually two months isn’t that long to revise everything they have...