Introduction to the Foundation Centre
13:00
Finally a day off the Harry Potter costume! Today I had an IT induction & a Language test and, thats it!
So I have mentioned the Foundation Centre a few times. The Foundation Centre is a department at Durham which specialises in taking students who can't go directly onto the degree of their choice for various reasons. In my case, this is because I didn't complete my A levels at school, for reasons I won't bore you with right now. They also take lots of International students whose qualifications aren't the required level for study in the UK, and people who studied the wrong subjects at A level or in the International Baccalaureate.
Entry to Medical School is TOUGH. According to the fabulous wiki on The Student Room there are anywhere between 7 and 18 applications per place available, although each applicant will generally apply to 4 schools so there aren't necessarily that many individual applicants. Pretty much every one of these applicants will have perfect academic scores and reasonable UKCAT results (more about UKCAT later). And this is before the interview stage even comes into play.
So for applicants like myself, without traditional qualifications but lots of life and relevant experience, it is really difficult! There are Access to Medicine courses available, but they are few and far between, attract little financial support & offer no guarantees. The great thing with Foundation programmes is, generally, upon successful completion to a set percentage (at Durham this is 50% average) you are guaranteed progression to your chosen route. After lots of research I found Durham was the only University to offer the exact programme I needed, it was practically on my doorstep, and its an amazing institution!
So far I have only positive things to say about the Foundation Centre and its offerings. I may change my mind in exam week though ;-) Its given me the chance to pursue what I have always wanted - to be a Doctor.
TTFN
LouLou x
TTFN
LouLou x
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