About Plymouth Medical School (2023 Edition)
Plymouth University’s medical course creates incredible doctors starting from day one, by focusing on professional and clinical development as early as term one.
They use technology to advance student’s knowledge of anatomy and clinical practice, whilst still sticking to the basics of in-depth patient contact and small-group work.
The environment that they create is friendly and motivational - they push you to be at your best performance.
University of Plymouth Interview Information
😊How does the University of Plymouth select candidates for interviews?
GCSEs: For a valid application, you need to meet the minimum entry requirements: 7 GCSE passes (must include English Language, Mathematics and two Science Subjects).
A-Levels: Prediction of A*AA – AAA (must include Biology and another science). There is no preference to those who have triple sciences or grades higher than the threshold.
Personal Statement: Not considered for shortlisting
UCAT: This is what Plymouth uses to shortlist candidates for the interview process. The cut-off score for Plymouth changes yearly as it depends on the number of applications, the performance of all UCAT candidates and how many places are available.
🧬What is the interview format?
Plymouth has been conducting online MMIs over Zoom for the 2021 and 2022 entry, and will be doing so for 2023 as well. It consists of 4 stations that have a single assessor in each. The online interview lasts 50 minutes and can vary from straightforward interview questions to role-play scenarios.
📆When will you get interview invitations?
The interview invitations should be sent out between November 2022 and February 2023.
👩💼When are the interviews usually held?
The interviews should be held between December 2022 and February 2023. Make sure to book an appropriate date for the interview with their online booking system once you receive an interview invitation!
📝What are the main topics I will be asked at the interview?
The university are looking for the following attributes which forms the basis of the questions asked during the interview:
Integrity
Honesty
Flexibility
Empathy
Leadership potential
Motivation and commitment
Communication skills
Ability to be a team player
Problem solving skills
Ability to demonstrate a suitable approach to life and people
Ability to know their limits, strengths and weaknesses
Reflectiveness
Insight into role of a doctor
☑️How will my interview be marked?
The interviews are scored on two scales – numerical and global judgement.
Global judgement scores are either yes, no or maybe in terms of whether the interviewer is happy for the candidate to be their future healthcare professional.
The numerical score is based on how well the candidate demonstrates the attributes the university is looking for, when answering the interview questions.
🏠How many applicants are there per interview (Home)?
In 2022, the university received 1445 applications and gave out 686 invitations to Home students – 2.1 applications per interview (47.5% chance).
🌎How many applicants are there per interview (International)?
In 2022, the university received 276 applications and gave out 84 invitations to International students – 3.3 applications per interview (30.4% chance).
Unfortunately, Plymouth has announced that they are unable to accept applications from International students for 2023 entry.
✨How likely is it that I will be given an offer after an interview?
In 2022, they gave out 299 offers from 686 interviews for Home students – 2.3 candidates per offer (43.6% chance).
In 2022, they gave out 23 offers from 84 interviews for International students – 3.7 candidates per offer (27.4% chance).
Plymouth University prioritises personality over academic achievements - making sure you showcase the skills necessary in becoming a good healthcare professional are key to demonstrate during interviews.
Read up on the four pillars of medical ethics and interesting cases that come up in medical news.
Also, prepare for the standard question of ‘why did you want to become a doctor’ - they like to surprise you with this at the start.
Think about the kinds of questions/tasks you might be asked regarding the different attributes listed above.
Check out our Medicine Interview Course!
Example Interview Questions
🔥 Motivation Interview Questions
Give an example of work experience that you have appreciated and lead you towards a medical career.
⚖️Medical Ethics Interview Questions
Ethical scenario involving patient autonomy - a patient has life-threatening lung-cancer but they don’t want treatment, however their family is pressuring them to do so.
A young woman suffering from AIDS comes over to your clinic and asks you to not inform her spouse. What will you do?
The day before your final exam, one of your family members passes away. How will you deal with this situation? How will you manage your studies in such a crisis?
A seven year old child is suffering from cancer. The child’s life expectancy is approximately five months. How will you inform her parents?
🤯Values and Skills Interview Questions
How do you cope with uncertainty?
The day before your final exam, one of your family members passes away. How will you deal with this situation? How will you manage your studies in such a crisis?
Give an example of a time where you have had to deal with a difficult situation.
Tell us how you dealt with...
What did you learn from....?
🏥 Work Experience Interview Questions
Insight into various roles within a multidisciplinary team - describe a time where you observed the roles in a multidisciplinary team and what the importance of those roles were/ how important teamwork was in that situation.
🏨 Teamwork Interview Questions
What can go wrong when working as part of a team? How can you learn from those mistakes?
💼 Problem Solving
I want you to explain to this person how to tie their shoelaces without using your hands.
🎭 Roleplay Interview Questions
Explaining to someone that their cat had died and how they’d break the bad news.
Plymouth University has digital anatomy tables which provide a realistic insight into the human body, which is based of real human cadavers. Alongside this, they provide access to C.Anatomy ‘21, which is an app that allows for at-home teaching and dissections. Aside from teaching, the variety of clinical placements offered in the first year alone provides students with a depth of knowledge of different fields, and prompts for good reflection skills early on. Most sessions are interactive and small group teaching with a lot of time allocated for self directed learning.
Plymouth University is your standard seaside town with a twist. Located five minutes from town centre (which hosts a variety of venues), the student accommodation starts across the road and hosts a variety of activities for students throughout the year. The hospital is located 30-minutes away by bus, which is paid for by the University; it’s quite nice to get out of the city sometimes and see the view from up on Derriford’s hills. All of the facilities such as the library, cafe’s, university GP centre/ pharmacy and sports centres are all located in the same area, which is convenient for students. Plymouth has a wide range of medical-based societies (such as GastroSoc, PsychSoc, NeuroSoc, GPSoc, etc) as well as the medic’s football, netball and hockey.
Students at Plymouth University are some of the friendliest people you can meet. Everyone is incredibly helpful to guide you to where you need to be, and people are always hosting activities on campus, such as karaoke days and the Thursday food market (with the best churros you’ll ever taste). There are societies for all interests such as Pokémon, anime, gaming, cooking/ baking, wilderness exploration and more - each hosts unique social events and competitions. The University encourages for the medics and non-medics to mix in, as well as hosting events with older medical students and other healthcare-related subjects such as nursing, dentistry and radiography.
The Plymouth Medsoc aims to provide academic support to medical students throughout the 5 years of Medical School. It provides interactive teachings throughout the year which are helpful for exams - they host AMK-specific teachings the week before the big exams to help with cramming. The Medsoc also collaborated with the other medical-based societies and radiology/nursing teaches. Notable events include the Medsoc summer and winter balls, as well as pizza nights (all you can eat Domino’s). It is a family-like social network for pastoral support, but also amazing socials and trips such as surfing and skiing
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