Professional Guidance: Medicine

We believe that Concord is the very best place to gain insight into the medical careers. In a world of ever-growing competition for studying medicine, we are committed and confident in guiding and preparing our students for medical school. Every year, students leave Concord to study medicine, dentistry, veterinary studies other careers in the medical field.
Concord’s Medicine Support Programme provides students with support to make a successful application, gain insightful work experience and develop the core skills essential for a career in medicine.
Work Experience
Work experience for medicine encompasses many possible activities and is an important way to showcase that a student knows what a career in medicine entails. Concord students keep a reflective diary to document all of their work experience and draw upon this during their medicine application process.
Our programme aids students in gaining valuable work experience, including a MedSoc London Residential to the Middlesex Clinical Skills Suite, a day at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and a plethora of practical hands-on workshops throughout their time studying here.
Volunteering
Concord is committed to kindness and providing service to the community is a great way to nurture this. Medical schools value students who have engaged in volunteering as it helps them to build skills that are essential for a career in medicine. Popular forms of volunteering for Concord students include working in care homes for the elderly, orphanages or schools.
We provide many opportunities for students to volunteer in different ways, including joining Outreach Society- where Concord students raise money for worthwhile charities through direct action, or training to be a lifeguard at our College pool. Students might also choose to be a subject mentor/student listener, directly helping and supporting peers within the Concord community.
The Kenya Medicamp
Concord works closely with The Moving Mountains Trust to deliver the biennial Medical Society trip to Kenya, a perfect blend of medical work experience and volunteering.
Students spend over a week shadowing doctors in both private and public hospitals, attending and supporting health clinics in local schools and in communities. They have the insightful opportunity to teach health related topics in schools and experience different systems of healthcare.
Students can then undertake a physically challenging trek to the summit of Mount Kenya, which requires teamwork and resilience. The experience provides students with many examples to draw upon in their medical interviews, where they might be asked to provide evidence of their character and personal qualities.
Visiting and working in Embu was extremely heart-warming. It solidified my aspirations to be a doctor and gave me further inspiration to try and help people”
—Aurel, 6.2
Admissions tests and interview preparation
Admissions tests focus on assessing whether candidates have the range of mental abilities and behavioural attributes considered important for a career in medicine. Those who are successful at this stage must then negotiate interviews. At Concord, we recognise the crucial importance of both tests and interviews, so we provide a comprehensive programme of preparation and support. This includes BMAT and UCAT exam training and regular testing, as well as interview training (including a 30-minute recorded 1:1 mock interview with a GP, where students are provided with detailed written feedback and scores).
👨🏫 January`s Medic Monthly Lecture featured Dr. Gordon Dent, a senior lecturer in pharmacology at Keele University.
🧪 Titled "When poisons become drugs, and when drugs become poisons", the very informative lecture appealed to 70 students at Concord with interests ranging from medicine, to biochemistry, to neuroscience.
🙌 A big thank you to Dr. Gordon Dent for coming to Concord and sharing his insights with us!

👨🏫 January`s Medic Monthly Lecture featured Dr. Gordon Dent, a senior lecturer in pharmacology at Keele University.
🧪 Titled "When poisons become drugs, and when drugs become poisons", the very informative lecture appealed to 70 students at Concord with interests ranging from medicine, to biochemistry, to neuroscience.
🙌 A big thank you to Dr. Gordon Dent for coming to Concord and sharing his insights with us!
Any finally.... December - celebrating reaching 3 separate finals of the Imperial College Science in Medicine Teams Prize and winning 2! A well-deserved after party for all entrants who were fantastic 😍

Any finally.... December - celebrating reaching 3 separate finals of the Imperial College Science in Medicine Teams Prize and winning 2! A well-deserved after party for all entrants who were fantastic 😍
November - big focus for 6.2 on interview practice as the offers of interviews start rolling in! Thank you to the many alumni, local doctors, staff and Rotarians who have support and time

November - big focus for 6.2 on interview practice as the offers of interviews start rolling in! Thank you to the many alumni, local doctors, staff and Rotarians who have support and time
October - after an intensive personal statement-fest in September, October was time for a new Mentoring session, MMI training with Dr Penfold and interview lecture from F1 alumna Amy van Dongen

October - after an intensive personal statement-fest in September, October was time for a new Mentoring session, MMI training with Dr Penfold and interview lecture from F1 alumna Amy van Dongen
June - Pre-U Week with lots of intensive preparation on applications including a wonderful visit to Keele Medical School and a PBL taster session. A day wasn`t long enough!

June - Pre-U Week with lots of intensive preparation on applications including a wonderful visit to Keele Medical School and a PBL taster session. A day wasn`t long enough!
May - 6.2 graduation - time to convert those hard earned offers into reality with some serious study time! This year, a staggering 92% of 6.2 medics, dentists and vets gained offers - our greatest success yet!

May - 6.2 graduation - time to convert those hard earned offers into reality with some serious study time! This year, a staggering 92% of 6.2 medics, dentists and vets gained offers - our greatest success yet!
April - "Out with the old, in with the new!" One fabulous committee retires and a brilliant new team starts their term of office. Thank you to all who have served

April - "Out with the old, in with the new!" One fabulous committee retires and a brilliant new team starts their term of office. Thank you to all who have served
Reflecting on the 2024 MedSoc year - January at King`s College Hospital, London for work experience and some social time!

Reflecting on the 2024 MedSoc year - January at King`s College Hospital, London for work experience and some social time!
👩🏼🏫 In October’s Medic Monthly lecture, Medsoc was honoured to welcome a visit from Dr. Amy van Dongen, a Concord alumni who graduated from University of Manchester and is now an F1 Junior Doctor at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
🎓 Dr. van Dongen shared incredibly helpful advice about how to approach interview questions using acronyms like STAR and SPIES, and gave fascinating insight into what it`s like studying in medical school and working as an F1 junior doctor in the NHS.

👩🏼🏫 In October’s Medic Monthly lecture, Medsoc was honoured to welcome a visit from Dr. Amy van Dongen, a Concord alumni who graduated from University of Manchester and is now an F1 Junior Doctor at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
🎓 Dr. van Dongen shared incredibly helpful advice about how to approach interview questions using acronyms like STAR and SPIES, and gave fascinating insight into what it`s like studying in medical school and working as an F1 junior doctor in the NHS.
📋 Over the weekend, our 6.2 medics, dentists, and vet got the chance to attend an interview training session with a special guest, Dr. Penfold, an experienced GP and interview assessor who has been coming to Concord for over 10 years.
💼 On Sunday, we also had a mock Multiple Mini Interviews with 9 stations including roleplay and manual dexterity stations.
💬 “It was an extremely informative and enlightening session, and we learnt a lot of invaluable information. Many thanks to Dr Penfold!” - Rochelle, 6.2

📋 Over the weekend, our 6.2 medics, dentists, and vet got the chance to attend an interview training session with a special guest, Dr. Penfold, an experienced GP and interview assessor who has been coming to Concord for over 10 years.
💼 On Sunday, we also had a mock Multiple Mini Interviews with 9 stations including roleplay and manual dexterity stations.
💬 “It was an extremely informative and enlightening session, and we learnt a lot of invaluable information. Many thanks to Dr Penfold!” - Rochelle, 6.2
Thank you to everyone who came to see us at the Enrichment Fayre. We can’t wait to see the many new aspiring medics, dentists, and vets at our discussion groups and lectures starting next week! 🩺🦷🐾

Thank you to everyone who came to see us at the Enrichment Fayre. We can’t wait to see the many new aspiring medics, dentists, and vets at our discussion groups and lectures starting next week! 🩺🦷🐾
🏫 Earlier this week, our aspiring medics and biochemists got the chance to visit one of the top medical schools in the UK - Keele University School of Medicine.
📝 Students got to experience what a typical week in medical school looks like, from participating in PBL sessions, attending lectures, to doing lab work in order to explore different topics and issues surrounding a patient’s case.
💬 “This form of learning was much like trying to solve a puzzle or deduct a case. With various questions from PBL in mind, the learning experience became a treasure hunt for me. The entire Keele trip experience was truly fresh and fascinating.” - Mohan, 6.1

🏫 Earlier this week, our aspiring medics and biochemists got the chance to visit one of the top medical schools in the UK - Keele University School of Medicine.
📝 Students got to experience what a typical week in medical school looks like, from participating in PBL sessions, attending lectures, to doing lab work in order to explore different topics and issues surrounding a patient’s case.
💬 “This form of learning was much like trying to solve a puzzle or deduct a case. With various questions from PBL in mind, the learning experience became a treasure hunt for me. The entire Keele trip experience was truly fresh and fascinating.” - Mohan, 6.1