Post by NMA on Mar 2, 2005 10:12:23 GMT
Assalaamu alaikum,
Everything to do with IBSc's here. I know lots of you guys and girls are busy applying right now.
General advice
Firstly, there is no such thing as the 'best BSc'. Whayt suits one person does not necessarily suit someone else.
Secondly, despite what the Med. School tell you about everyone having to do a bsc, this isn't actually true. Certainly, at the time of writing, it isn't. I am fromt he first group to do the new course, and I know of several examples from my year who are not qualifying with a BSc. The reasons? They didn't want to do one, and there weren't enough BSc's to go around.
Third, there is a myth that the BSc year is a holiday year. This myth is grounded in truth... many years ago, before the new course, preclinical medics were worked a lot harder, with additional essays and research projects to complete, as well as higher pass marks in the exams. In that circumstance, the BSc year was a bit easier. Now, however, it is the other way round, and many people who went straight from pre- clinicals tell me they were surprised by the amount of research that is required.
OK, choosing a BSc.
The obvious advice applies here. Do lots of research. examine your options, and talk them through with people who can give you advice. Talk to people who have done them already. And go for something you are interested in.
Remember that if you don't see something you want to do, ask if it can be done. Planning early really helps in this respect (planning in advance helps... now theres a surprise!). Also remember that most BSc courses will allow you to do up to one course unit outside the units they offer- more on this later.
Don't be afraid of contacting the bsc tutors in advance, to discuss things with them.
The Project
well, maybe a brief course overview first... Intercalated BSc's generally comprise four course units, in other words, four areas of specific study within the subject. most of the BSc's on offer here have optional units or half units, which allow you to choose which direction you want the BSc to go in. but whether you get a choice in the units or not, most are now 4 course units.
The BSc Project is a major part of most BSc's. Depending ont he course, the Project is worth up to half of the entire BSc (2 units). for this reason, it is important to choose a project carefully, and make sure it's something you are really interested in.
The most ideal way of doing this is to think up a project you want to do in advance, find someone who will be your supervisor and then get into a BSc that is related and agrees to take you. If you have a potential project and supervisor, the last part is easy. This CAN be done, but is very rare.
The more usual way is to get accepted onto a BSc course, and then see what projects are on offer. make sure you get in quick, because you need a project you are interested in with a supervisor you can get on with and learn from. There usually follows an application/ interview process...
Course units outside of those offered by your subject BSc
As I mentioned earlier you can do up to one course unit outside of those offered by your BSc. Of course, this needs the approval of the BSc tutor, and acceptance onto the other course unit. In some cases, this is not a problem... doing a physiology unit in your pharmacology BSc for instance. However, occasionally there are clashes with timetables, ets. again, working it out in advance is the best way if you plan to do this.
Just to add that you should not limit your choices if you decide to do this. For example, learning a foreign language in the UCL language centre counts as one course unit. Or there was one brother who did a bit of Indian Architecture along side an immmunology degree...
When is the best time? What about Clinics?
This is something that many have asked. when you are in pre- clins, it seems that the logical thing is to do a bsc, and then do all of your clinics in one go. This is another med school myth, again grounded in the truth of the old course.
In the old course, after two years of Clinics, you sat your written finals, and then after your elective and final year, you only had your practical finals. In the new course, you sit 'finals' papers in years 4 and 5 also, but they are structured differently, i.e. systems based. and it's still not clear how much, if any, year 4 grades count towards your FINAL mark; anyway, there are written and practical finals at the end of year 5.
When I found myself doing a clinics first, there was a clear difference betwewen those that had done BSc's and those that hadn't. I guess the ones that had were a year older, a bit more mature, and new how to look things up. So these are possible gains to doing a bsc first. However, clinics are nothing like BSc/ pre clins. you don't get long holidays, for a start. and the style of study is very different. So given that your second year clinical grades affect your finals, you obviously want to have done a bsc before the second year clinics.
I personally would recommend doing a BSc after one year of clinics. This way, you experiance clinics, you see what has to be done, and how. then you do a bsc, which tends to be followed by a 3 months holiday, during which time you can go over all that stuff you didn't learn in the first 3 years- properly, this time.
Also, having done a year of clinics, you may find your interests have changed. And a clinical application is supposed to get some favour in the applications process- certainly there are some BSc's that stipulate that clinical students only will be considered... or atleast there were when I was applying.
having done the long hours of clinics, I think ppl make better use of their time during and immeadiately after a BSc too.
The final advantage I will mention is that you start your second year clinics refreshed. First year clinics finish 2 or 3 weeks before second year clinics start... this will be the first time you have a year that long, and doesn't leave much time to recover if things have gone badly. On the other hand, entering after a 3 month break means you should be completely revitalised
For those of you who wish to go for a MBBS PHD course, you start off with the bsc, and then apply during that year. For you guys, I would recommend the BSc straight after pre clins. the way that course is structured, you do the phd at the same time as your clinicals. Although entry to it is possible from any ofthe other options too, starting a phd so late in your med. school career can mess things up a little, and also the course does appear to be designed for the pre-clin- bsc entry route.
Anyway, thats enough from me for now...
wasalaam,
NMA
Everything to do with IBSc's here. I know lots of you guys and girls are busy applying right now.
General advice
Firstly, there is no such thing as the 'best BSc'. Whayt suits one person does not necessarily suit someone else.
Secondly, despite what the Med. School tell you about everyone having to do a bsc, this isn't actually true. Certainly, at the time of writing, it isn't. I am fromt he first group to do the new course, and I know of several examples from my year who are not qualifying with a BSc. The reasons? They didn't want to do one, and there weren't enough BSc's to go around.
Third, there is a myth that the BSc year is a holiday year. This myth is grounded in truth... many years ago, before the new course, preclinical medics were worked a lot harder, with additional essays and research projects to complete, as well as higher pass marks in the exams. In that circumstance, the BSc year was a bit easier. Now, however, it is the other way round, and many people who went straight from pre- clinicals tell me they were surprised by the amount of research that is required.
OK, choosing a BSc.
The obvious advice applies here. Do lots of research. examine your options, and talk them through with people who can give you advice. Talk to people who have done them already. And go for something you are interested in.
Remember that if you don't see something you want to do, ask if it can be done. Planning early really helps in this respect (planning in advance helps... now theres a surprise!). Also remember that most BSc courses will allow you to do up to one course unit outside the units they offer- more on this later.
Don't be afraid of contacting the bsc tutors in advance, to discuss things with them.
The Project
well, maybe a brief course overview first... Intercalated BSc's generally comprise four course units, in other words, four areas of specific study within the subject. most of the BSc's on offer here have optional units or half units, which allow you to choose which direction you want the BSc to go in. but whether you get a choice in the units or not, most are now 4 course units.
The BSc Project is a major part of most BSc's. Depending ont he course, the Project is worth up to half of the entire BSc (2 units). for this reason, it is important to choose a project carefully, and make sure it's something you are really interested in.
The most ideal way of doing this is to think up a project you want to do in advance, find someone who will be your supervisor and then get into a BSc that is related and agrees to take you. If you have a potential project and supervisor, the last part is easy. This CAN be done, but is very rare.
The more usual way is to get accepted onto a BSc course, and then see what projects are on offer. make sure you get in quick, because you need a project you are interested in with a supervisor you can get on with and learn from. There usually follows an application/ interview process...
Course units outside of those offered by your subject BSc
As I mentioned earlier you can do up to one course unit outside of those offered by your BSc. Of course, this needs the approval of the BSc tutor, and acceptance onto the other course unit. In some cases, this is not a problem... doing a physiology unit in your pharmacology BSc for instance. However, occasionally there are clashes with timetables, ets. again, working it out in advance is the best way if you plan to do this.
Just to add that you should not limit your choices if you decide to do this. For example, learning a foreign language in the UCL language centre counts as one course unit. Or there was one brother who did a bit of Indian Architecture along side an immmunology degree...
When is the best time? What about Clinics?
This is something that many have asked. when you are in pre- clins, it seems that the logical thing is to do a bsc, and then do all of your clinics in one go. This is another med school myth, again grounded in the truth of the old course.
In the old course, after two years of Clinics, you sat your written finals, and then after your elective and final year, you only had your practical finals. In the new course, you sit 'finals' papers in years 4 and 5 also, but they are structured differently, i.e. systems based. and it's still not clear how much, if any, year 4 grades count towards your FINAL mark; anyway, there are written and practical finals at the end of year 5.
When I found myself doing a clinics first, there was a clear difference betwewen those that had done BSc's and those that hadn't. I guess the ones that had were a year older, a bit more mature, and new how to look things up. So these are possible gains to doing a bsc first. However, clinics are nothing like BSc/ pre clins. you don't get long holidays, for a start. and the style of study is very different. So given that your second year clinical grades affect your finals, you obviously want to have done a bsc before the second year clinics.
I personally would recommend doing a BSc after one year of clinics. This way, you experiance clinics, you see what has to be done, and how. then you do a bsc, which tends to be followed by a 3 months holiday, during which time you can go over all that stuff you didn't learn in the first 3 years- properly, this time.
Also, having done a year of clinics, you may find your interests have changed. And a clinical application is supposed to get some favour in the applications process- certainly there are some BSc's that stipulate that clinical students only will be considered... or atleast there were when I was applying.
having done the long hours of clinics, I think ppl make better use of their time during and immeadiately after a BSc too.
The final advantage I will mention is that you start your second year clinics refreshed. First year clinics finish 2 or 3 weeks before second year clinics start... this will be the first time you have a year that long, and doesn't leave much time to recover if things have gone badly. On the other hand, entering after a 3 month break means you should be completely revitalised
For those of you who wish to go for a MBBS PHD course, you start off with the bsc, and then apply during that year. For you guys, I would recommend the BSc straight after pre clins. the way that course is structured, you do the phd at the same time as your clinicals. Although entry to it is possible from any ofthe other options too, starting a phd so late in your med. school career can mess things up a little, and also the course does appear to be designed for the pre-clin- bsc entry route.
Anyway, thats enough from me for now...
wasalaam,
NMA
..and also, what kinda Bscs are there to choose from???.....and the whole application procedure....is it long?are there limited people allowed on each Bsc??...
