Thinking about medicine?

Are you considering studying medicine and want to know more?

Below we've listed some useful websites and pages that can help provide more information. The recommendations came from Megan Sutherland, who did work experience in NES and who wants to do medicine.

About applying to medicine 

• NHS Health Careers has a good section on studying medicine. It has extensive information on studying medicine from choosing a medical school, sitting UKCAT, and how the teaching is delivered to help choose the right university. It is easy to navigate and find the information you need. There is also a section on medicine as a career, with info on training and options for specialties.
• The NHS Scotland Health Careers site also has useful info and when you are thinking about the fifth choice or plan B option on your UCAS form, has information on other roles in an accessible easy to follow format.
• The British Medical Association (BMA) guide has information for people thinking of applying to medical school. There are also links to medical schools and advice on how to apply.

Scottish Medical Schools:

• University of Aberdeen
• University of Dundee
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Glasgow
• University of St Andrews

Deciding on a specialty

The medical Royal Colleges all have sections on their websites for careers and information about the specialties they cover. You can google the specialty you are interested in but many of the most informative ones are listed here:

• Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh have a comprehensive section on careers and becoming a physician, including videos of current trainees.
• Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh for their take on careers and options for aspiring surgeons.
• Royal College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology has a big section on the specialty, including a quiz to see if it is for you.
• Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has a section specifically for school students to find out more.
• Royal College of Psychiatrists for a view of psychiatry - take the quiz and see if you are suited!
• Royal College of Anaesthetists has a careers section covering what options are there for anaesthetists and how to train
• Royal College of Emergency Medicine also advises on becoming an EM consultant.
• Royal College of Pathologists guides to the different specialties in pathology.
• Royal College of Radiology guide on being a radiologist and career pathways.
• Royal College of General Practice has a guide called "So, you want to be a GP?"

Case studies

It is useful to read through from the perspective of someone already in the work environment, so it helps to give an insight into what the roles can offer and if it would suit you.

• Scottish Medical Training
• NHS Education for Scotland
• Health Careers

After university

Useful information on the Foundation training stage after university and going on to train as a GP or a consultant. It is easy to understand these sections to get an idea of what happens in the early years of a medical career. It also shows where foundation training can be done and what choice of locations there are.

• Scottish Medical Training - foundation
• Scottish Medical Training - how to apply to foundation
• You can also see the variety of specialty training programmes and their locations. Scottish Medical Training - Specialty programmes

This page was last updated on: 21.06.2021 at 14.57