The difference we make
IMPACT
Compared to
of sixth form students on average in the UK
14.8%
of our 2022/23 students had an offer rate
54.2%
Volunteers
200+
of students who attended mock mini interviews got offers
75%
Current Schools
33
medical students in leadership positions
50
What the students say...
“My mentor, Molly, played a massive part in me getting my interviews and offers. Her consistent support from writing my personal statement to interview question support, really gave me the confidence and consolidated my understanding of the process. Molly was always there to support me, even when she was busy with her own work, and made the time to contact me and give thorough, genuine advice. She was also very supportive and thoughtful when discussing different aspects of the process. She was also realistic and gave me honest advice and suggestions when it came to things like writing additional forms some of my unis required. Overall, the Meet the Doctor sessions medics and me provided were really helpful for me. I got insight into doctors and their journey through medicine. These sessions I talked about in my interviews as they genuinely did give me insight into a medical career"
“The one-to-one sessions allowed the experience to feel personal and more comfortable. It was easy to ask questions and elaborate on queries etc.”
"My mentor provided me with more support than my college and form teacher did. I genuinely felt hopeless, but [mentor name removed] helped me structure out my thoughts and write a personal statement that was the best I could have possibly written!!"
"I loved the 1-to-1 support with [mentor name removed]. She helped me with my personal statement and we did interview practise that was so helpful. What I also loved was being able to talk about the process with somebody who had been through the exact same thing and been successful. Additionally the webinars are so cool and I’ve loved meeting the different types of doctors and getting an insight into their specialities (especially Sir Van-Tam that was SO cool). "
"The one on one help was very useful as personal weaknesses could really be fixed - something that is hard to get from school / on your own or in a group. Because people had already applied to medicine and knew the process, it felt easier to talk to them about as understand exactly what it is like."
"I have been so happy with all the help and info from medics&me and working with Antara has been great. For the first time since we started our 'MDV' programme in 2019, we had 1-2-1s with all students who were planning to apply for medicine and the resources that you sent were brilliant, especially about strategic applications.
Through the 1-2-1s we also were able to chat with the students about the mentoring and I was overwhelmed with how positive and worthwhile they have found the experience. Your mentors are taking time out of their busy schedules to help our students and I am so thankful for that. A lot of our students will be the first in their families to apply to university, and also will come from backgrounds where they do not have access to advice or guidance on this whole process, or info about the healthcare careers they are interested in. The mentoring has helped bridge that gap and we are all very appreciative of help offered, it's making a massive difference to their confidence and motivation as well which is great.
I am discussing with Antara about mock MMIs and am sending our Y12 cohort info about the meet the medic sessions which are great. Thanks for everything you've organised and set up so far, it's been brilliant!"
Priyanka Nayar
Teacher of Chemistry
Medics, Dentists & Vets (MDV) Co-Ordinator
Xaverian College
What the teachers say...
"Oldham is one of the most economically-deprived towns in the UK and Oldham Sixth Form College (OSFC) was set up to increase social mobility and provide more opportunities for its young people. As part of encouraging and helping its students to progress onto the most competitive degree courses, we established the Aspiring Medics’ Programme (AMP), 5 years ago. This has been very successful in explaining the processes to students and helping them understand what they need to do. It has involved ex-students throughout the programme to inspire and support current Year 12s and 13s.
However, we have not been able to provide students with 1-2-1 mentoring until we began to work with Medics&Me. From the very first Zoom meeting with Megan in June 2021, it was apparent that our 2 projects shared the same goals and could be aligned to the benefit of OSFC’s students. Despite Medics&Me’s team all being Medicine undergraduates, with many demands on their time, the efficiency, reliability and professionalism of all involved has been remarkable and praiseworthy. When Medics&Me say they will do something, you know it will happen, and to the best of their abilities - be that the mentoring or the extra opportunities that they have provided.
The mentoring itself has been of an impressively high quality - as can be seen in the feedback from students on the next page. The fact that students made these comments within an hour or 2 of my asking them for their thoughts, is testament to how positive an experience they have had, as collecting students’ comments is notoriously difficult.
We have been delighted with the support provided by Medics&Me and are looking forward to working with the team moving forwards and will, hopefully, find new and innovative ways to collaborate.
Thank you!"
Dr Richard Lee
Assistant Principal
OSFC
What the teachers say...
"The students have been able to further their understanding of the profession by attending the 'meet the medic' webinars and the mentoring and help with personal statements and UCAT prep has been invaluable. The students receive brilliant advice from the mentors, who have recently gone through the application process, so it is up to date and highly relevant. The mock MMI and feedback provided was also fantastic, the students were better prepared for online MMIs."