If you're new here, I'm Loveleen a King's College London medic. As someone who had no doctors in the family I understand the struggles of navigating the medicine application process. I'm here to help you along the way so you can achieve your dream of studying medicine! I also love helping out aspiring medics, by sharing the hidden getting into medicine curriculum as someone who received 4/4 post-interview offers.
My aim is to create a community of supporting aspiring medics and making the medicine application process feel as accessible as possible. Therefore I always encourage discussion within the community. I love hearing from you and what your concerns are.
This is why I've created this google form, which is completely anonymous. If there are any questions, content or products you want to see from me, you can let me know directly!
And you can find the answer to any questions you've sent me on these newsletter editions or videos on my social media pages!
Unlock Your Academic Potential
Whether you’re going into Year 13 or just starting sixth form, it can be tricky to navigate revision and manage your workload. In this week’s newsletter, I’m including some tips that I used to help me when starting sixth form and getting through it!
Pre-reading
This is definitely one of the most underrated yet impactful techniques you should be including in your study schedule. Pre-reading is when you begin to review and learn content before you have actually learnt it in your lesson. This is highly beneficial as a process called priming occurs. Exposing yourself to the content before covering it in your lesson forces your brain to begin questioning and understanding the content, as you have repeated exposure to it. As a result, when you learn the content in lessons, your brain is much more easily able to understand and grasp these concepts due to prior exposure. So do you need to spend hours learning before your lesson? No, you just need to expose your brain to some of the content before the actual lesson. And this can be done in less than 10 minutes. Just skim-read your textbook pages, watch a video or review your lesson slides. The aim of pre-reading is not to completely learn the content. Instead, the aim is to gently introduce and expose yourself to the content, so your brain is primed for more learning!
A good note-taking system
It is important to have a solid studying system and note-taking method to help you stay on top of content. To help you work smarter instead of working harder, here is my active recall format of making notes. This is the note-taking technique which transformed my grades. If you make hand-written notes split your page vertically, and in the left column, phrase your subheading as a question. Then, in the column next to it, write the content. If you make digital notes, you can do the same structure, or you can design flashcards automatically using websites such as Notion and Quizlet. This small change creates a powerful mental shift, as writing your subheading as a question subconsciously triggers active recall. Your notes stop being a passive read-through and instead become a built-in quiz.
Managing UCAT with sixth form
Studying for your UCAT is already stressful enough. Then add school on top of it. If you’re in the situation of studying for your UCAT whilst in school, it can be difficult to keep up with both and still perform well. For anyone in this situation, here is my advice on how you can structure your days. During the day whilst in school, aim to complete as much of your work as you can. Make all your notes, your revision resources and do your practice questions in your lessons. If you still have any work left over use your frees for this. However, if you can do most of your work in lessons, then use your frees for UCAT questions and reflection too. Then at home focus solely on UCAT preparation by doing your mock exams and reflections. This is definitely difficult to manage, so remember to take regular breaks and keep up with hobbies to give you are break from studying!
Get Ahead With Your Academics
Let’s be honest. Applying to medicine is a lot. Between UCAT prep, drafting (and redrafting) your personal statement, arranging work experience, keeping up with extracurriculars, and then interview prep on top of it all, something has to give. Usually, it’s your A-levels that end up squeezed in around everything else, which is exactly the one thing admissions teams won’t let slide.
I know this because I was exactly where you are. Last year I sat all 4 of my medical school interviews within 10 days, straight after two weeks of mocks. So I get how hard it is to keep your grades where they need to be when everything else is competing for your time.
That’s where I can help. I offer A-level Biology and Chemistry tutoring (OCR and AQA) in small groups of 2-3 people, so sessions stay interactive and focused rather than just talking at you. It’s £25 an hour, and I’ve been tutoring for coming up to 3 years now, helping students consistently hit their target grades.
If you want one less thing to worry about while you focus on the rest of your application, email me at loveleenj241@gmail.com and let’s get started.
Getting Ahead With Interviews
And if you’re looking to get ahead with your interviews, I am hosting a FREE interview webinar where I will teach you how to revise for interviews. Sign up to one of the available dates using the link below!
Does Your UCAT Limit You?
To help you, I’ve created a general guide of some low, mid and high UCAT universities. Access the university guide using the link below!
One request I had was relating to UCAT. I post lots of UCAT tips across this newsletter and my socials! I have some quick tips on Tiktok and Instagram. And for more in-depth advice check out my long-form videos on YouTube or some of the older editions of the newsletter!
In regards to super-curriculars, I have the perfect way for you to work out what medical schools want from you. Universities aren't looking for you to already be a doctor. They want individuals who have the skills needed. So whatever super-curriculars you are doing, you need to be developing those specific skills. And you can find the full list by searching up 'MSC Core Values and Attributes Document'. This has a list of all the skills medical schools are looking for from you. So do experiences that develop those. For example, I worked with a committee presenting medical topics every week for about 4 months - I developed leadership, teamwork, communication, presentation skills and confidence!
Another question I had was on how to make a strategic application. As a hint, next weeks newsletter edition breaks down the exact steps you need to follow!
And finally, regarding A-level resits. My advice is to make sure you do your research. By calling up the university admissions team directly or going onto their website, you can get all the information about their criteria. I also recommend focusing heavily on exam technique as part of revision.
Hope this helps and as always feel free to drop any questions in the form :)
I'm Loveleen, a medical student at King's College London and I remember being an applying student feeling confused by the entire process. I had no doctors in the family, yet went on to achieve a top decile UCAT score and 4/4 medicine offers. I'm passionate about helping other aspiring medics, so I work really hard to create the resources I wish I had in your situation.
Check out my website for my UCAT Crash Course and my Ultimate Medicine Interview Course, where 100% of my students who reached interview stage secured at least one medical school offer. Secure your spot to achieve your dream of getting into medicine!
And as a tutor for nearly 3 years, I help students in GCSE and A-level biology and chemistry, to secure their dream grade! As someone who got A*A*A I teach you all the content and exact revision methods to make studying feel easier, especially if your managing multiple aspects like interviews, UCAS applications and interests. Email me to book a place as there are limited slots.
📸Here are the links to each of my social media pages, so make sure you follow! In all, I detail the advice and tips you need to help make your application to medicine so much easier! If you ever need any help, feel free to reach out to me at loveleenj241@gmail.com
