Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

I am a Core Medical Trainee 2, after finishing my Medical degree as a postgraduate at Sheffield.
Currently I am working in the Department of Critical Care in Cheltenham. I have finished my membership to the royal college of physician's exams and am applying for registrar jobs.

-Daily morning ward round, then doing the jobs generated and reviewing patients.
-Talking to relatives and patients.
-Attending multidisciplinary teams, teaching and clinics.

The variety and interactions with patients.

High responsibility, difficult decisions and the lack of resources available.

Medicine is better surgery!

Communication and practical skills.

Health Care Assistant. I worked part-time for NHS Professionals for many years. The job involved general patient care and observation monitoring.

It was great experience as I got a lot of hands on work experience with patients and gained a better understanding of the nursing profession and how the NHS works. It has definitely helped me in medicine, and I would recommend it as a part-time job during studying as it is so flexible.

I worked as a Student Visitor for the GMC as part of their QABME assessments of medical schools whilst at medical school, and this gave me excellent experience in understanding education structure and quality assurance.

I am applying for Gastroenterology training and hope to start as a registrar in August.
Jobs are competitive and training numbers are low in the deanery I am applying to. I may need to think of a plan B and reapply the following year.

It is a long slog to do medicine after a degree and I have often referred to it as an endurance test. But it is possible, many people do it and I have been surprised at the number of post-graduate/ mature students I have met.

The financial burden is also tough, and will only get greater due to the increase in fees. The NHS is changing and therefore it is difficult to know what you are committing to by joining up now.

There is no rush to start and you should be sure it is something you really want. It is not glamorous and you get little reward, many other jobs can offer a better work/life balance and be worthwhile, challenging and be better paid. I sound pessimistic but I do enjoy my job and know I would not have listened if someone had have told me to reconsider before I started!

BMS will be useful, particularly if you learn your anatomy well! Enjoy the BMS course, enjoy being a 'normal' student, do the extra bits to make your UCAS form stand out (work experience, research, extra curriculum activities, etc) and if after the 2-3 years you still want to do medicine (many people in my BMS year changed their minds about it over time) then apply and prepare yourself to endure!

It can be tough in parts, but I have always thought BMS was way more intellectually challenging - I'm pleased I have done 'a real science' degree!

I am happy to be contacted to discuss any aspects.