About UCLan Medical School (2023 Edition)
The UCLan School of Medicine, being fairly new, offers outstanding teaching in state-of-the-art facilities and a welcoming, multicultural environment.
They help develop expertise in practical areas, including clinical, communication, observation, teamwork and leadership skills.
The School of Medicine is ranked as the Top Medical School in North West England, emphasises how they have not only incorporated modern methods of teaching but are also responsive and supportive to student feedback to continually improve and enhance our learning experience.
University of Central Lancashire Interview Information
🔍 How does Central Lancashire select candidates for interviews?
Candidates must meet the academic grade requirements to be invited for interview:
GCSE grades
GCSE grades are not considered in the selection process.
A level grades
AAA at A2 or equivalent level, including chemistry and at least 1 other science subject.
Admissions tests
No admissions test is currently required, although it is worth checking this on university website at the time of applying.
In addition to this, non-academic criteria are considered when selecting applicants to progress to interviews:
Personal statement
Evidence of experiences you have had which will best prepare you for studying and practising medicine may increase your chance of being selected for an interview.
🧬 What is the interview format?
The format of the interview is in an MMI. 8 stations, each around 7 minutes with a 1-2 minute pre-reading time and 5 minutes for answering the station.
Information is written on a sheet of paper.
🧑🎓 What to expect on interview day?
During the interview if you do not understand, don't worry, ask the interviewer to repeat or rephrase the question. Remember, it's fine to take your time and it's always good to prepare some questions to ask at the end. If the interview is in Preston it will be held on campus after which a student tour for the campus and accommodation will be provided. The dress code regardless is professional formal clothing.
📆 When will you get interview invitations?
From early November.
👩🏫 When are the interviews usually held?
December to April.
📝 What are the main topics I will be asked at the interview?
MMI is popular among many medical schools and are designed to test soft skills required as a doctor, such as empathy, resilience and compassion. Stations may include:
Role-play stations
Role-play stations are designed to test your ability to communicate, especially in difficult situations. More often than not these type of stations are based on a non-medical scenario, for example being asked to break bad news about your neighbour’s goldfish dying whilst they were away on holiday, or crashing your parents’ car whilst out driving.
Professional judgement stations
These stations are designed to assess your moral compass and see how you deal with difficult dilemmas, such as whether to share confidential information about a patient with a colleague when unsure of treatment, or whether to report a consultant discussing confidential patient information in a lift where other patients were present and could hear.
Prioritisation stations
Similar to the professional judgement stations, these test your ability to make difficult judgements using both your knowledge of medical ethics and your own personal judgement, such as the health of the mother versus the foetus in challenging labour cases.
Instruction giving stations
In some of the stations your ability to effectively communicate a set of instructions, such as explaining to the interviewer how to tie their shoelaces.
Academic stations
Stations may also be more academic, such as testing your ability to solve mathematical or logical problems, or data interpretation problems, or even PBL (problem-based learning) cases to solve.
☑️ How will my interview be marked?
Candidates are scored from 1 to 10 after interviews. This scoring is based on how effectively you are able to adapt to different scenarios and communicate to the interviewers, whilst demonstrating the key values they are looking for such as empathy and compassion.
🏠How many applicants are there per interview (Home)?
32 applicants per place
🌎 How many applicants are there per interview (International)?
10 applicants per place
✨How likely is it that I will be given an offer after an interview?
For the 2019/20 cohort there were 1634 applicants, of which 707 were invited to interview, and 312 offers were given. Therefore the success rate is 1 in 5.
Read up the GMC's Good Medical Practice PDF. Make a list of potential interview questions and practice them in an interview-style with a friend or teacher.
It is important to learn how to manage stress, read the question prompt at least twice and develop your non-verbal communication skills.
Reading up on the 4 medical ethics principles is also essential for any MMI.
Once you have all this knowledge you can apply it through Good Medical Practice in Action, it will help you outline what doctors should do at crucial points in the process.
Check out our Medicine Interview Course!
Example interview questions
🔥 Motivation Interview Questions
Why do you want to study medicine?
Why did you choose UCLan?
What do you know about UCLan?
⚖️ Medical Ethics Interview Questions
You are practising COVID-19 vaccinations in pairs. Your pair confessed that they have Hepatitis B but it is safe because you are wearing gloves. How do you manage the risk and what procedure would you follow?
There is a kidney transplant and three possible matches. A 60 year old retired teacher, a 40 year old mother of three (against taking medication) and a 25 year old drug addict. Who would you suggest takes the transplant and why?
🧍Values and Skills Interview Questions
Identify 3 skills you think you have acquired over a period of time that would be useful as a medical student/physician. (Why should we choose you?)
🏥 Work Experience Interview Questions
Is there any experience you have gained that you would like to share with us? Why did you choose this experience?
📰 NHS Interview Questions
What do you know about the NHS?
Is there something you would like to improve on the NHS, and why?
Do you plan on working in the NHS in the future and why?
📻 Current Affairs Interview Questions
How has the NHS coped with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic?
Myths and fake news about COVID-19 can cost lives. At Least 800 people may have died around the world because of corona virus-related misinformation, what are your thoughts on this?
🤝 Teamwork Interview Questions
Have you ever worked in a team before?
What do you think is necessary for a team to function effectively?
🛠️ Problem Solving Interview Questions
What would you include in a leaflet about heart disease/COVID-19? What are the expected outcomes? What are the benefits of doing so?
You are the head of the department and are low on a budget. What would you do to provide quality patient care?
🎭 Roleplay Interview Questions
Your patient has cancer and there is a treatment that takes 5-7 years. However, the patient refuses because it is too toxic. What would you do as a General Practitioner?
You are a student doctor and your cousin is pregnant for the first time and is due in 3 months. She is suspicious of medical staff and wants a home delivery. She asked you to help. What would you do?
The course is designed specifically for graduates, with the integration of clinical placements and small group case-led learning. Graduates to draw on each others strengths and learn from one another. The course is very flexible, you can make up your own day and direct your own learning. It provides early induction into clinical environment. They encourage patient contact from first year which gives you an opportunity to practice histories and hone your examination skills. The medical school covers eight specialities that are some including: psychiatry, acute medicine and child health over the period of the 4-year course.
The thing about Preston is that the campus is embedded near the town-centre, making the whole area very student-friendly. The campus, student accommodations, train station, shopping malls, restaurants, gyms and parks are all commutable by walk and takes about 10-15 minutes maximum. If you are looking for an adventure over the weekend, the location of Preston allows you to access big cities like Manchester and Liverpool which takes less than an hour by train or even remote scenic areas such as the Lake District! UCLan offers free gym membership and access to indoor sports at Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre and outdoor sports at the UCLan Sports Arena, our website has details of over 150 sports and volunteering opportunities you can get involved in as a University student.
At UCLan we have around 70 different societies for you to get involved in. The different societies run by various students cater for different interests and all of them try to incorporate social events into their calendars. From political and campaigning groups, to expressing your creative passions, trying new hobbies or meeting people who share your nationality/religion, joining a society is the perfect way to meet like-minded people and get involved in social activities with both medics and non-medics. It doesn't matter what your interests are, there is always a social guaranteed for you here at UCLan. The Medical society holds an annual medical ball, quiz nights, sporting events and other fun activities.
UCLan Medical Society (aka UMS/MedSoc) is the School’s oldest society. It is renowned for organizing the annual medball, international evening where different cultures are promoted with either cuisine or perfomances, a sports day to showcase different skills that the medics bring to the table in athleticism. Besides these big events, the UMS also hosts a lot of freshers events (stethoscope ceremony), quizzes throughout the year with amazon prizes, custom fleeces and hoodies, all with the aim of building a sense of community amongst the medics. A Clans system is also in place where seniors mentor their next year juniors and it is a system that ranges for the medics across all 5 years in our medical school. We have a lot of information about the medsoc on instagram ( uclanmedsoc ) and facebook ( UCLan Medical Society ) including our very own student well-being support also accessible via the instagram page.
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