This student applied in the 2020/21 application cycle and therefore the selection process at Sheffield may have changed since then. You should read all the information a University sends you about the selection process to get the most up to date details!
Remember to check out the glossary at the bottom of the page for our explanations of all the jargon we medical students like to use!
More about this student
Gender: Woman
Ethnicity: Chinese
I went to an international fee-paying school.
Our Summary
Course: Standard Undergraduate
Online panel interview
Admissions Tests: UCAT
Recommended Resources:
Medify
UCAT Practice Papers
Before I made my application…
When did you decide you wanted to apply for medical school?
Year 12.
How did you choose what medical schools to apply to?
I looked at the type of course and the fees.
What types of work experience did you do?
GP surgery, Care work (e.g. in residential care), Online work experience
How much work experience did you do?
I did placement in a GP clinic for 4 hours every weekend for a couple of months
How did you find your work experience opportunities?
Through asking someone I knew to take me on
During the application process…
What admissions test did you sit?
University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT): https://www.ucat.ac.uk/
How did you prepare for your admissions test?
I started preparing a month before and I would do 1-2 hours of practice questions on Medify every morning.
What type of interview did you do?
Panel: This type of interview is a ‘traditional’ sit down interview where you’ll be interviewed by a group of people, usually academic tutors and doctors. This differs from an MMI interview, which is based around ‘stations’ which have themes or scenarios attached to them.
How did you prepare for your interview?
The University of Sheffield gave us access to the interview questions in advance so I came up with answers to them and memorized them. I also did a paid interview course with The Medic Portal.
What happened in your interview?
I was asked a few questions about my experiences and how they would relate to me being a doctor and also a few ethical questions.
Glossary
Clinical work experience: Not every student will complete clinical work experience before they apply to medical school. Don’t worry, this is not required to be able to apply. You can use non-clinical work experience (e.g. a caring role, like in a care home) or even reflect on paid work you’ve done (e.g. in customer service) in a productive way. See our guide to this here:
Tuition fees: universities charge money for you to study. You can pay tuition fees directly to the university, but most UK students take out a Loan with the government (via the Student Loans Company). For students who were born in or have right to reside in UK, your fees are usually much less than for international students.
Medify: Medify is a popular website which provides resources for helping you prepare your medicine application. Medify has some free resources online but some are paid-for. There are good, free alternatives for preparation available online, so check out our subject guides and the university websites for details.
Paid-for resources: Some students choose to pay for courses either online or in person to help them prepare for admissions tests and interviews. There is no evidence that they give you an advantage. There are good, free alternatives for preparation for admissions tests and interviews, and some offer bursaries and discounts to students who come from low income families. Check out our guides and uni websites for more details.
The Medic Portal: The Medic Portal is a popular website that provides resources to help you prepare your medicine application. The Medic Portal has some free resources online but some are paid-for. There are good, free alternatives for preparation available online, so check out our guides and the university websites for details.
