Just a line...

Just dropping by to say that i will be writing about Gamsat, in the next few days. With the Christmas period though i am working alot and right now i have a stonking head ache.

Gamsat info soon i promise!

Fairwell
Tray
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Where it all began...

Here is my blog about my journey to Graduate Entry Medicine I will refer to as (GEM). I am writing it to assure people in this situation that they are not alone and that there is someone out there freaking out just as much. I will ramble and I will write personal concerns but I will write about the technical side of applying for Med school as well so please if you are interested in this stay with me. I will get there it is all just very new to me at the minute.

So firstly a little about me? 

I am Tray to most people that know me well enough to know I hate being called by my actual name, I am 23 years old soon to be 24, a graduate of History with Archaeology from the University of Bangor and I want to be a doctor. Simple enough it seems, until I opened up this can of massive worms and realised that just because I now have a degree it does NOT mean that I can walk into anything I want. Originally, when I made this decision I thought; 'Great, all I have to do is ring a few unis and see if they accept someone with a non-science related degree'. 

In all my arrogance and naivety I thought that they would snap me up because 'I know Higher Education'; I have done it and been relatively successful at it. Not only that my degree is not entirely academic there is science involved in Archaeology and practical skills. I thought it was a sure thing. But then I read, and read and read and became educated by the Internet and soon came to realise being a graduate trying to get into Medicine is more restrictive that being fresh out of college. For one thing only a handful of universities even accept graduates. Secondly, even less accept people that chose not to do science as their degree. MY BAD!

 It has taken me over 2 years of umm-ing and argh-ing over this decision. First I wanted to do my masters in Forensic Archaeology, then I wanted to be a teacher, then a midwife and now I have finally settled and realised that what I want to do it the thing I have always wanted to do. The thing I forgot about because I thought I would never accomplish such a fete. But you know the old saying, you have to try to find out. So here it goes. Here I am trying, trying to know where to start.

So after a substantial amount of reading and a massive wake up call from my good old friend Google i now know that i have to study....HARD! That is before i even get into medical school.

So my first issue which is actually personal, like most graduates I have responsibilities to uphold. I have a boyfriend, I have two dogs, I have a mortgage, I have a job and I have debts (from buying my house and student debts). I have good debts really. 

The issue is I live in a little town in North Wales. Anyone interested in GEM knows that Bangor University is not a Medical School, this is an issue. I have chosen to apply to Nottingham University for 2015 entry. This is logical because it allows Graduates in to the medical school, and my parents live in a little town about 45 mins away from Derby hospital where I would be studying if I get into Nottingham. This, in theory would allow me to give money for the bills and mortgage back home with my boyfriend, but also give some money to my parents for allowing me to stay with them or my older brother who lives just as close as my parents to Derby.

(1) This would mean I have to leave my boyfriend for extended periods of time in order to study at a University a significant distance from him. Which feels impossible because we are joined at the hip, we went to high school together, college and university and now we have lived together the entire relationship never spending more than a week away from each other in total. Also I am the only driver so if my schedule would allow it I would have to drive there every weekend because I doubt he could bring the dogs on the train alone. Plus if I own a house i want to live in it occasionally.

(2) My other option is we rent our bought house out, and use the money to rent somewhere in Nottingham, but he would have to give up his job and I don't want him to do that.If we both moved we couldn't live with my parents because they live in a 2 bedroom bungalow and have a tiny dog that hate my 2 massive dogs. We couldn't live with my older brother because he lives in a 2nd floor flat which has no garden and would mean walking the dogs a ridiculous amount of times everyday. This also seems purely selfish of me because i want to have my boyfriend close to me.

(3) Or we could sell the house and move to Nottingham or close to my mum and dad. Which seems a massive risk with the current economy and that we might not get another mortgage plus we have to consider the reason we bought a house in Wales is because we love the mountains and the peace. Again extremely selfish. 

(4) Try for ST. George's in London as a second choice university for GEM, and if I get in there and not Nottingham I have a worse situation to deal with regarding long distance.

I have 70 percent of my self invested in option 1 but this in itself brings up further questions and risks. The bottom line is in all scenarios I am being selfish, but I feel I am being selfish now for our future. But the decision doesn't have to officially be made until I have that acceptance letter, so i guess it can wait.

So this is issue one, my next issue is studying for GAMSAT, the test that has to be taken for Nottingham and St George's. Bloody hell!!!!!

But I think this post is too long now and you see my dilemma, so I will post again later or tomorrow regarding the more technical side of GAMSAT and my fears etc.

Fairwell 

Tray

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