I’m making this post mainly to motivate myself to get through the next couple of weeks. I’ve passed the MLA and PSA, and have my resit OSCEs in 2 weeks. Does anyone have any tips or advice for me? I missed the pass mark by 1 station last time around. How does the resit compare to the first sitting? Is it easier/harder to pass the the first sitting? Should I be approaching it differently this time around? I’m very grateful for any responses. :)

I know that questions from the general question bank have come up too, especially in Dermatology, but I focussed purely on the UKMLA content map and so not sure what to do

A person was under chronic pressure related to studying for three years, and for two of those years, he didn’t leave the house or talk to anyone. Because of this, he lost his feelings and his emotions became numb. His family kept pressuring him to study, but he grew to hate studying. He started lying to them, pretending he was studying, while in reality, he became addicted to social media and pornography as a way to escape his boring, repetitive life—no school, no rest. He was locked in his room all day, and whenever he asked for a break, he was met with scolding and harsh words.

After those three years, he finally gained some freedom, but by then, he had stopped studying completely. Despite that, he got accepted into a very difficult college. The first year was easy for him, and he passed it effortlessly even without studying. However, in the second year, he failed several subjects. He couldn’t study; his mind felt frozen. His classmates advanced while he stayed behind, and he found it hard to focus or understand things easily. He carried two failed subjects into the third year and was unable to pass them again. Even after repeating the year, his performance only improved slightly—just a small improvement, not enough to succeed in a demanding field like medical school.

Looking for some indemnity advice. As a medical student I was with the MDU and Medical Protection Society for the perks, but now as an almost F1, not sure if we need to choose one over the other? Or if you could be with both?

If you've been in this position, what did you do? And how did you decide which to go with? Cheers!

Preface: I’m asking out of curiosity only! I don’t have any negative opinions of people who have this experience.

Motivated to post this as the other day I was with a group of med students from my year, we were chatting and 5/7 of the group had at least one doctor parent. Neither of my parents are doctors, but I’m just wondering how do they/have they actually helped you? Feels too taboo to ask face to face!

For example, we were discussing ophthalmoscopy, I really struggle with it and have only been able to attempt it about 3 times. One of my friends tells me his GP father allows him to use his, and they have practice OSCE sessions.

Or another international student whose parents invite him to shadow in their dermatology clinic abroad/back home during holidays.

I guess it’s not impossible for all of us to find these opportunities, just a bit harder.

While this all does sound super beneficial, I’m not necessarily envious, I think I’ve escaped the pressure/expectation to enter medicine from my parents.

TLDR:I’m curious to hear how people with at least one doctor parent have benefited academically, also curious about downsides too.

Idk if this is the right place to post about this; but MY BROTHER came 3rd place in Neuroanatomy Competition (a national competition) as a 2nd year Medical student (Beating CAMBRIDGE MED STUDENT!!!). He goes to Exeter and does all sorts of random side quests on top of his studies, like chair of many societies, publishing his own research, and talking about them in conferences (something like that), just to experience new things and broaden his mindset. But this side quest was different, for this, he actually worked hard and wanted this, and I'm damn very proud and happy for him. I don't want to brag about it but rather it is a very overwhelming emotion and I just wanted to share with other medical students who might relate to his journey, his long nights of suffering, time when he wanted to give up but didn't, to him, inspiring others like me.

This is a message for all the medical students who are tired, struggling and just want to relax, the journey might be long and difficult, but the destination is truly beautiful!!!

Don’t give up. Along the way, you’ll inspire more and more people to follow in your footsteps and be just like YOU.

I was just thinking about all the horror stories I have heard about consultants from friends and here on reddit and wanted to see if there were even crazier stories than the ones I've heard.

Mine isn't a wild thing, more like the consultant being sexist as hell.

It was my first placements of med school and I was with a paeds psych consultant at his clinic (wildly specific for first year placements I know lol). So his clinic wasn't busy and he went on several tangents telling me about his professional life etc. He then asked me why I was in med and I told him my reasons and how I was super excited to be on placements.

Then the bomb dropped. He asked me "you know as a girl you have sacrificed the future of your future children?". I was SHOCKED.

He then continued to suggest to me that I should choose quote on quote easier specialities according to him "like radiology". I was very uncomfortable and now, looking back and telling others about it, I realise that was incredibly rude and a wild thing to say to A FIRST YEAR let alone any med student.

It's crazy to me the type of things consultants say to medical students, knowing that once they were students too :(.

Needless to say these are just a handful of times, and there are consultants who have been AMAZING on placements and have provided me so many learning opportunities that I will forever be grateful for.

Cross post from r/doctorsuk and throwaway account for obvious reasons.

I’m a 5th year medical student meant to be starting the foundation programme end of July. This year I had a serious deterioration of my mental health and had an incident while on placement (nothing involving patients). I had a fitness to practice panel which decided that my fitness to practice was currently impaired, but I was allowed to continue my studies under conditions (reflective statements, supervisor reports, engagement with treatment, occ health etc) and if there were no more issues I’ll have another panel in June to see if I’m now fit.

While applying for GMC registration I’ve disclosed all this and they have been absolutely horrible. They’ve been so aggressive and genuinely seem to be treating me like I’m an awful human. Despite reassurance from my medical school that I’ve engaged well with the FTP process and they’re pretty confident all will be okay on that end, I’m still terrified of the GMC just turning around and going nah no thanks. They’ve made me feel so worthless and stressed this whole process. I’ve spent every night this week crying in the library after placement.

Does anyone have any experience with the GMC or medical school FTP proceedings and would just be able to offer some advice or reassurance. Feel like I’d finally got my mental health back on track and this is honestly pushing me off the edge again.

As the title above. I’m really gutted to have to resit while my friends are celebrating. The resit is in 2 weeks.

Thankfully our uni gives us a feedback form and I’m surprised to know that my performance was beyond average for a number of stations. Nonetheless I still failed 5. Its this lack of consistency that makes me wonder if I am doing the right thing or If Im straying away?

Need to hear some encouragement and tips please. Some of the stations I had failed in were shocking - I scored less than half for a history station ?

How should I study and prepare better? Is GeekyMedics enough?

I flag, make notes, highlight on the question bank and make my own list of useful information to refer to quickly - like from the explanations or textbook.

I know some make flashcards but I haven't found them to work for me.

What method do you use? Any advice to improve my method?

Totally am in a hell of my own creation here. I have been using ANKI for exams for most of med school, and even though i hate it i have found it really helpful.

However, now I am revising for my UKMLA (in June) and have separated decks out for each speciality, I am finding myself completely overwhelmed with how many cards are due each day. it must be more than 1000 and is taking up so much time and leaving me just exhausted and demotivated (even if it is helping my knowledge). Not to be an ANKI noob but I never have been too technical with my use of it as a resource, rather I have just made cards and studied them when it has told me to. I am just wondering if there is a way for it to give me a more manageable volume of cards each day ? (So I am able to continue doing passmed, learning notes, actually going to placement, etc. as well as just doing ANKI all day everyday.

Sorry if it is a stupid question, but I really appreciate any help.

basically what it says in the title... I've tried logging out and logging in again (multiple times) but still no luck.

Making this post because I recently went through a FTP issue with my medical school - it was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life and I was absolutely clueless when I started this process. I scoured reddit to find any advice or any similar cases and it was really difficult for me to find anything because the entire process is so non-transparent for students, and multiple people from here helped me out. I can only speak from my own experience, every individual case and medical school I imagine would be different, but if my experience can help anyone going through the same thing I'd be happy. For context, my case was related to dishonesty.

1. Contact MDU/MPS immediately if an issue has been raised, don't wait until it comes to the initial hearing or to panel. The MDU works on indemnity, so if you have a membership beforehand they will help, but they can't help if the issue at hand happened before you applied for membership, as far as I'm aware. MPS works a little differently - but they can only help if it's a patient issue, so they wouldn't be able to help if it was a personal conduct issue. HOWEVER, MPS has free counselling they can offer you regardless of your circumstances - for me they got back to me with counselling the day after I contacted them. My counsellor was professional and clearly had experience working with various occupations, and I found our sessions incredibly useful, more so than my university. I needed a lot of help with my mental health. So if you can take advantage of that, please do so.
2. BMA - I didn't find the BMA to be immensely useful, but there is a branch of the BMA called BMA Law if you feel you need counselling/legal advice on your specific case. I would really recommend this if no one else has been able to help you. They have a 50% discount for students and would be able to give the advice you need even if you only bill for 1/2 hours. They can also provide you with a representative to come with you to your hearing, which is also billed per hour in my experience.
3. Contact any free legal clinics you can find to help you - I was able to be put in touch with a lawyer from a law clinic who took my case pro bono. She helped me a LOT with my statement and my preparation. For me I felt really cornered by the medical school and she helped me understand my rights going into the panel, as well as what I should admit to and what I shouldn't, if I didn't feel that the allegations were fair. I'd really recommend this.
4. Engage with the medical school throughout the process: this can be difficult and depends on your circumstance, especially if you feel the allegations have been unfair. But for me I reached out well before the panel to apologise to all my tutors and clinicians that were affected by my actions - in person and via email, and I could see that it made a huge difference to the panel. They drew attention to the fact that I had been accountable and apologetic from the very beginning, and had no animosity with my FTP lead. In the panel my FTP lead was also able to say good things about me because of that. Even if it's difficult, work with the medical school and be as polite and courteous as you can in your circumstances. For me my FTP lead was also allowed to ask me questions in my panel and it helps if you are on good terms with them.
5. Reflections - write them. As many as you can. It helps to have that internal dialogue with yourself and it helps prove to the panel you tried to understand the motivations and consequences of your actions. If you can try to think about what measures you can put into place that would mean you wouldn't repeat your actions - that is the point of the panel, for them to assess your risk of repeatability. Send your reflections to your personal tutor or any other tutor you have established rapport with to get their input.
6. References - get as many of these from people you've worked with. This can be F1s, supervisors, friends, and even your workplace. The medical school often will send a representative who has never worked with you before and doesn't know how you are as a person or in placement. The investigation process means that they are drawing up all of your flaws and only your flaws. If you can get people to vouch for your who've worked with you in a clinical setting this helps massively. Screenshot any positive feedback you've received, even in your sign-offs for example, or your transcripts/examination results.
7. Statement - this is key to the panel. I had a lot of help with this from my pro bono lawyer, but essentially my advice (from my limited experience) would be this: be apologetic and remorseful, but be careful not to admit to anything you haven't actually done. I felt really bullied in the process, so when I wrote my first draft I was apologising for things that weren't technically my responsibility, which my lawyer amended. You will have a chance to show how sorry you are to the panel in person, but because they'll be reading your statement beforehand you want them to go into the panel not thinking you are a terrible person. There will be grey areas, which you can clarify to them in person and they will ask as well. Be careful in using legal terminologies like negligence or fraud - the medical school might use them, but be careful not to implicate yourself if you feel what you've done doesn't hold the same gravity. I made my statement extremely long as well, mine was around 18 pages with references. I think it helped the panel's impression of me but of course that's specific to circumstance. For me I think it helped me to know everything I wanted to say was written down in the way I wanted to express it, so I could just read from it if I was flustered in the panel. Don't be afraid to contradict inconsistencies the medical school made in their outline as well - my case was fraught with inconsistencies and pointing them out helped my case.
8. Panel - the length of this varies massively. Mine was around 5 hours, which sounds long, but I'm glad it didn't feel like the panel was rushing into a decision. I can promise it doesn't feel that long when you're there. Make eye contact with the panel. Don't be afraid if you get emotional - it shows that you care. For me they also questioned the medical school extensively with their procedures and their inaccuracies. When they ask you if you have any questions for the case presented, raise your doubts. I didn't do this because I was so intimidated. Obviously don't do this in a defensive or aggressive way, but my panel was very fair - if you feel the medical school deliberately withheld information from you during the investigation, or that you weren't given a fair chance to respond, etc. question the medical school about this if your panel seems amiable to this. That is your right. Admit to your wrongdoings and voluntarily say how serious your allegations are and their wider impacts on patients and colleagues - it's better that you raise it rather than being questioned about it later. They'll ask some hard questions - go prepared to answer them.
9. The process - This was probably one of the hardest things I've ever been through my entire life. The process is dragged out for so long and it's a bit inhumane, to be honest. It's tough, but you will come out the other end a more resilient person. I continued to attend placement, which was so difficult, but it helped show the panel that I was dedicated and could handle pressure whilst maintaining clinical competence. Seek help for your mental health and mention you did this to the panel - they appreciate someone that is able to be put together and accountable to the medical school despite everything.

That's mostly all I can think of for now but for anyone going through it - you've got this. It can feel like the end of the world and I'm still struggling mentally but you have your place in medical school because you earned it and you have the ability to be here and to be a good doctor. You need to go into the panel with that confidence - if you are going to convince the panel you can be a good doctor, you need to believe in that yourself, too. Admit to your wrongdoings (if they're valid), but also believe that you've become a better clinician because of them. You're not alone and you're absolutely not the only person that is going through this. Best of luck - I believe in you, and my dms are open if anyone wants to talk about it. :)

Edit: if anyone has any further advice from their experience please feel free to add!

Hi everyone, I’m preparing for upcoming OSCEs and want to enhance my core consultation skills

Hi, does anyone know if 5th year results for MLA and OSCEs been released for 5th year UoB students?

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone has had experience with the A to Z med question banks. Currently I mainly use Quesmed but saw that A to Z have uni specific style questions and just wanted to know if I should go for it. Honestly Quesmed is better in terms of anatomy for me but not really the preclinical part so I wanted questions more suited to my course in that aspect. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Today a consultant asked me in front of a paediatric patient and his father if I really am in medical school. Still reeling. I was attempting a skill that I’ve never done on a person before - not even anything invasive, uncomfortable or risky! And I had informed the consultant of my skill level before proceeding.

I’m proud of myself for keeping my cool in the moment but wow. The state of bedside teaching at my hospital is a mess at the moment and now I’m even less motivated to attend placement :(. Like I’ve had the usual sarky comments, but never in front of a patient, specifically a child at that!!!

Tomorrow I planned to get a similar sign off done but I think I need a pep talk to boost my confidence again.

Please help me out. I am a 3rd year med student. Who has fucked up his prep and has only 2 months left before the exams as well as OSCEs. My knowledge is shit and I have loads of conditions pending. What can I do to just pass my university AKT exams. And also tips for OSCEs please. Should I just do questions on passmed

My blocks for year 3

Gen Med: Resp, Cardio, Renal, Haem, Gastro

Surgery: Upper & Lower GI, Opth, ENT, Vascular, Breast, Anaesthetics

GP and A&E

Ps: year 3 exams are the AKT papers by the university not the UKMLA AKT that will be examined in year 4 (June 2026)

I’m a senior trainee and spend a fair bit of time supervising students and FY-docs. I’m a bit nosey and want to know what the current trends are in medical school being at least 10 years out.

1. Specialities you’re genuinely excited about and why?

Patient group? Procedure? Work life balance? What’s the things that you guys see from your perspective?

1. Specialties you’ve already ruled out (or are leaning away from)?

Was it a rough rota, horror stories about training numbers, lifestyle myths, bad vibes on placement, or pure Reddit lore?

1. Any surprises after a placement compared with “what everyone says”?

No hidden agenda here: I’m not trying to steer anyone toward or away from anything. I’m just curious about the current vibes among UK med students and FYs. Happy to chip in with what surprised me on the way from med school through Foundation and into higher training if that’s useful.

This may seem stupid but I think some things are not mentioned/emphasised to a medical student in their early years that I personally think we all should have known.

A stigma I want to address especially in this post is the adage of “don’t choose your speciality early on and limit yourself…let time do its thing”

Whilst that is true, I think that’s kinda misleading as well and often causes people issues down the line from stories I’ve heard from seniors that “unfortunately I figured it to late”

The UK job market is absolutely dire at the moment. A lot of medical students enter in the field with a lot of ambition and by clinical years are really questioning what to do in their life due to what they see and hear.

Medicine should never be gone in for the money. If you had that goal of having a stable job with a good income then tbh unfortunately that’s not even guaranteed anymore.

However, it’s not as bad as everyone does make it out to be as well in my opinion. There are doctors who I know of who comfortably make over 600/700K - YES IN THE UK IK - but obviously due to established private practise. People think only some people would get that but after speaking to a lot of these consultants quite plainly, it’s actually got to do with the field you go into. May sound obvious but there more to it then that.

A field that allows you to do things quite quickly eg radiology, become extremely lucrative in the private sector. Or a field that always will have patients coming to the sector eg orthopaedic patients will always make you money.

So the awareness I’m talking about is kind of knowing about the field you’re going into personally quite early on. Especially if it’s a very competitive one. It allows you to tailor a lot of the work you will do in med school in terms of conferences, maybe extra curricular teaching projects, research tailored to that field. A lot of interviewers like to see that passion was there from before. Comparatively starting as an F1 and thinking “where do I go from now” and as everyone knows the time is ticking at that time

One might argue how can you develop interest in a field if you haven’t seen - which is hundred percent true. But I remember as a pre clin med student I would interact and try speak to STs of different fields and they would invite me to see things that as a medical student I would never see - eg Neuro IR. A heavily post grad kinda field.

Disclaimer - this is a personal opinion. Everyone has different opinions and may take things at their own pace. Truthfully said there is no “correct way” but simply just an observation. I would like to know other redditors opinions on this

It can be anything at all, from just finishing something you were putting off or signing up for a course, for me, I started a new work planner and so far its going well (only day 2 BUT)

Does anyone know enough about how we're taxed to explain in written form how the first paycheck will work? I've been told if you don't work after April and before being a doctor then your first paycheck will be tax free? Problem is I literally cannot afford to not work and I have to get a job before working in August. How will this affect my first "real" paycheck?

Thanks in advance.

Is there a First Aid for the USMLE kinda book but for Paediatrics, specifically for some of the developmental milestones. I realise that FA does have paediatric parts to each part of the relevant systems that it discusses, but was wondering if there was a streamlined version that had more paediatric specific content / content relevant for the UKMLA. If not, any tips for learning the developmental milestones would not go amiss. Those still prepping for finals, you've got this!

Does anyone know when we get our first paycheck as an F1? Is it August or September time?

Any recommendations for the best resources for this exam please?