Medicine Super Curricular Activities

When it comes to applying to study medicine at university, academic excellence is only part of the picture. With thousands of highly qualified applicants competing for limited places each year, admissions tutors are looking for more than just top grades - they want to see genuine motivation, intellectual curiosity, and a clear commitment to the field. This is where super curricular activities come in. Whether it's reading books to broaden your medical perspective, completing online courses in biology or ethics, or undertaking work experience, these activities play a crucial role in helping aspiring medics stand out. 

Get in-person work experience to test your vocation 

Work experience in a caring or service role is now required by all medical schools, but that is not necessarily the only reason you should take it. The Medical Schools Council values work experience because it helps you ‘understand the realities of working in a caring profession’ and because it develops the ‘values, attitudes and behaviours essential to being a doctor’.

There are plenty of different options available for gaining work experience, and you should look to undertake a wide range of placements to help ensure you gain a broad understanding of medicine in different contexts. You could shadow a General Practitioner or another medical professional - but there are also other ways to gain valuable experience. You could work in a retirement home or hospice, and see what medical care is like for older or terminally ill patients. You could work in a pharmacy, and gain a better understanding of their role. Healthcare is a varied area of activity, and understanding how medical knowledge is applied across a range of different settings will stand you in good stead. 

 Opportunities will vary locally, so prepare a short CV and make contact directly. The British Medical Association and Royal College of GPs both have helpful pages of advice (follow the links).

Attend medical summer schools to confirm your interest in the subject

There is a wide selection of summer schools available from providers of varying quality. When searching, look especially for those run by medical schools themselves with current practitioners in clinical settings. Some places will be limited to applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds, and some may be paid opportunities. Here are two reputable examples:

• Imperial College London’s Medicine and Life Sciences Summer School: Practise research techniques through practical experiments and data analysis. Gain clinical skills through workshops at St Mary’s Hospital in London.
• Liverpool University, Lancaster University and Edge Hill University’s North West Medical Year 12 Summer School: A blend of online sessions and residential visits to these three universities’ medical schools. Try problem-based learning alongside team- and case-based learning. Clinical skills and anatomy teaching sessions too.

Take online courses to deepen your understanding

• Study Medicine: Applying for Medical School and Becoming a Medical Student (University of Glasgow on FutureLearn): Maximise your chance of a place and discover what it’s like to be a medical student.
• Virtual Work Experience (Brighton and Sussex Medical School): Self-reflective introduction to the NHS and the six different medical specialisations.
• The NHS Explained (The King’s Fund on FutureLearn): Understanding the structure and inner workings of England’s healthcare provision.
• Global Health: An Interdisciplinary Overview (University of Geneva on Coursera): Concepts, trends, governance and innovation in current public health challenges.
• The History of Medicine (University of California, Santa Cruz on Coursera): Interdisciplinary perspective on the treatment of disease over time.
• Introductory Human Physiology (Duke University on Coursera): Study the nine organ systems with application to real-life situations and medical conditions, including virtual reality journeys through the human body.
• Vital Signs: Understanding What the Body Is Telling Us (University of Pennsylvania on Coursera): Exploring the anatomy and physiology of heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, respiration rate and pain.
• Causes of Human Disease: Transmitting and Fighting Infection (University of Leeds on FutureLearn): Learn about pathogens, immune response, antibiotic resistance and the eradication of disease.
• Introduction to Randomised Controlled Trials (University of Birmingham on FutureLearn): The process of expanding knowledge in evidence-based medicine.
• Drug Origins (University of Birmingham on FutureLearn): The nature of medicines, their often accidental discovery, and how they actually work.
• Bioethics: The Law, Medicine and Ethics of Reproductive Technologies and Genetics (Harvard University on edX): Apply ethical and legal reasoning to insights from current experts and medical practitioners. It is from a US context, but the principles are widely applicable.

Watch documentaries for frontline insight

• Junior Doctors: Your Life in Their Hands (2011-2013): Newly qualified medics working on hospital wards for the first time.
• 24 Hours in A&E (2011-): Long-running documentary work following patients and staff in British A&E departments. Now on series 35!
• One Born Every Minute (2010-2018): Fly-on-the-wall cameras candidly capture the drama and emotion of a maternity unit.
• GPs: Behind Closed Doors (2014-2020) Another fly-on-the-wall observational documentary. Each episode follows one week in a local doctors’ surgery.
• Surgeons: At the Edge of Life (2018-2025): Five series following surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre staff and patients and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
• The Surgeon’s Cut (2020): Four innovative surgeons profiled. Insights into procedures, technology and personality.

Listen to podcasts to brief yourself on current issues 

• Medicine and Science from the BMJ: British Medical Journal coverage of news and current issues
• NHS England Podcast: Commentary on NHS policy and practice.
• The King’s Fund Podcast: Think tank analysis on health policy and developments.
• BMJ Best Practice Podcast: Interviews with clinical experts about the latest scientific developments and medical evidence.
• The Geeky Medics Podcast: UK-centric discussions with advice for current and prospective medical students.
• Life After the Letters: Two friends reflect on working life as a junior doctor in the NHS.
• Bedside Rounds: “A storytelling podcast about medical history and medicine’s intersections with society and culture.”

Read to broaden your perspective 

Memoirs 

• Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh (2014): Offers a candid look at the ethical and emotional challenges encountered by a neurosurgeon.
• Dear Life: A Doctor’s Story of Love and Loss by Rachel Clarke (2020): The experiences of a palliative care doctor.
• 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks (1985): Empathetic stories of patients suffering various neurological disorders.
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016): A moving end-of-life memoir looking back at a short life in medicine.
• Trust Me, I’m a (Junior) Doctor by Max Pemberton (2008): Blog-style journey through Max’s first year as an NHS doctor.
• This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay (2017): By turns laugh-out-loud and tearfully moving, this is the brutally honest diary of a junior doctor in the NHS.
• War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line by David Nott (2019): Chronicles the experiences of a trauma surgeon in conflict zones from Bosnia to Syria.
• The Appointment: What Your Doctor Really Thinks During Your Ten-Minute Consultation by Graham Easton (2016): Intimate account of how a GP manages high demand and professional decisions.

Medical Ethics

• Medical Ethics: A Very Short Introduction by Tony Hope (2004): A primer of key moral issues at the core of medicine.
• Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande: Considering the imperfect ethics of quality of life versus sustaining life.

Critical viewpoints

• Bad Science by Ben Goldacre: A tough look at scientific research and the media’s reporting of it.
• The Patient Will See You Now by Eric Topol: How technology should transform healthcare and the doctor-patient relationship.
• The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (2011): Case studies of medical outcomes improved by adopting a simple checklist.

Prepare for interviews

All medical schools will selectively interview applicants before offering them a place. There are two main types of interview: broad ‘panel’ interviews with a range of questions,  and ‘multiple mini interviews’ (MMIs) each with a different focus. Some medical schools might even have additional ‘group’ interviews where you discuss a topic with other applicants. Whatever the format, interviews are likely to take place online rather than in person. Expect to be asked about your medical work experience and personal attributes. It’s important to read up on the particular approach taken by the schools you have applied to, and to prepare accordingly! 

Much of the above is useful preparation for a well-informed interview performance but here are some more ways you could prepare over the summer holidays:

1. Research common interview questions
2. Practise speaking in well-structured answers using the STARR structure: situation, task, action, result, reflection.
3. Revise core knowledge from Biology and Chemistry A-Level (or equivalent)
4. Take opportunities to practise (and reflect on) communication, empathy, teamwork and leadership.

UCAT & Medical School Admissions Tutors

If you'd like further information about applying to Medical School do contact us. We work with a range of tutors who have experience preparing students for the UCAT admissions test, super curricular learning and mock interview preparation.