Medical Society - Term 2 Update

Medic Maths

This term, Mr Hinks ran an interview Maths session. Medical MMI interviews typically involve stations on data analysis or practical maths questions which test an applicant’s mental maths ability or data and graph interpretation. Through this session we went through several model questions to see which approaches could be most effective as well as learning key strategies to apply on these questions.

Life as a resident Doctor in the NHS – Dr Laura

Laura came to one of our meetings to talk about life as a resident doctor. Laura started at St George’s Medical School in 2019 and graduated in Summer 2024. She then began her Foundation training at Medway Maritime Hospital. All newly graduated doctors need to complete a further two-year foundation programme before they are fully qualified. Laura explained what this involved for her. FY1 – General Medicine, Elderly, Urology FY2 – Emergency Medicine, Community Frailty, Paediatrics She explained to the group what a ‘normal working day’ may involve, what you can expect to do on night shifts and then we worked our way through some scenario questions. The aim was to try to think like a resident doctor. The session was really informative.

Interview practice For Year 13 students

This term has been all about interview practice. We have been working together asking each other interview style questions, having lots of group discussions on topical health issues, thinking about how we present ourselves at interview and trying to show interviewers our knowledge. All year 13 students applying for health courses which require MMI style interviews were invited to a mock MMI interview in school. We were able to take part in an afternoon full of interview practice. MMIs are representative of the interview process undertaken by most Medical Universities, so this well planned out afternoon has helped many of the medical/dentistry and other allied healthcare applicants to get a feeling of the process and strengthen their communication with critical feedback. Overall, taking part in this experience has helped us understand weaknesses and strengths and allowed us to work on communication skills. Whilst MMI afternoons were taking place, other Year 13 students, who are applying for health-related careers such as Pharmacy, Paramedic Science, Physiotherapy etc, were having one to one mock interviews with a retired Pharmacist. This opportunity to meet a very experienced health professional and be asked questions about why they are applying for these courses, to be questioned about their personal statements, what qualities do you think are required to work in ……was excellent preparation for future interviews.

The MedSoc students are very grateful for all time that was given up to help us prepare for interviews. Whilst Year 13 are focused on interview prep, Year 12 members have been listening to presentations from Year 13 students discussing the important steps in making a successful application. They have also been working hard on updating a new Medical Society Noticeboard outside the Science Labs. Look out for it next time you are passing. Merry Christmas from all in GGS Medical Society

Dharuv, Noor, Jennane, Mathesh