Time to revisit my 101 in 1001. I’ve been very quiet for a while. The stress of applications, interviews and persistent waiting has really gotten to me, more than I thought it would. I didn’t even want to publicly talk about the process, what had happened at interview or my thoughts on the chance of getting a place. I just didn’t want to jinx anything! Well… Problem solved.
I have an offer!!
I had an interview at St George’s in January which I felt went ok but I was in no way 100% happy with my performance. Of the 8 stations I faced, I completely messed up one (even asking him to repeat the question at least 5 times in the 5 minutes I had), struggled on another two and felt happy with three of them. The two questions I was expecting, the questions you are always going to get asked in a medicine interview, I seemed to gabble my way through. When asked ‘Why do you want to be a doctor?’, the reasons I had thought over and prepared the day before completely flew out of my head! Suddenly the well-reasoned ideas I had considered found themselves locked away in some unreachable expanse of my brain. Instead, for some reason, I thought it was the perfect time to start talking about my work experience and how that had influenced my decisions even though I was more than aware that I would soon be asked a question on just that! Pressure. I hate it.
But even so – I clearly said something right in more than one of the stations. This process of multi-mini interviews is designed to be scientific and not based on ones rapport with an intimidating interview panel, instead being based upon responses given to a range of people which are required to meet certain mark schemes. However, I’d like to think that connecting personally with the individual interviewers and getting across, even if not very fluently, the passion I have for the career actually has some influence. I firmly believe that, no matter how many bullet points they can tick off on their clipboard, just clicking with someone and appearing a friendly, confident person is going to affect the mark you are ultimately awarded for that particular station. And I think that is how I am in the situation I now find myself. I am by no means a genius who can talk for hours on all forms of intellectual subjects and I get flustered in stressful situations but I do get on with people. I find it relatively easy to walk into a new situation and just talk to people. I think I can relate to individuals old or young, from all walks of life and I feel that is a particular skill needed as a doctor.
The wait to hear back from SGUL has been agonising. In previous years, offers and rejections were released a week after the last interviews took place but not this year. The year I apply is the year that SGUL, normally the most organised of Universities, suddenly slows down. They took a long time to come back with a cut-off score for the GAMSAT. Then a long time to give out interviews. Next, everyone at interview was informed it would be a 4 week wait – even those interviewed 3 or 4 weeks before me! Then the interviews were extended into February and the time for their response came and went. Calling the University produced answers of “It’ll be a couple of weeks”, “Hopefully by the end of the month”, “Hold on, it will only be a few days”, until an email informed us they would make decisions in the last week of February and we would hear in early March. Scream!
So I put it aside, thinking the earliest I was likely to hear back was next week. Finally, on Tuesday, a round of rejection emails were sent out. I was beyond relieved that I hadn’t received one but, of course, my productivity immediately went out of the window. I have exams in just over a week and, strangely enough, checking my email and the medical forums every five minutes isn’t conducive to effective revision.
Come Wednesday, a round of offers were released. Still no email. Now my stress levels had peaked. It wasn’t March yet so the emails were coming out early (pedantic I know but frustrating nonetheless). Plus, we were told they would all come out at once and the process had, so far, been strung out over two days.
So Thursday. The chances of me getting any work done were now slim-to-none and, instead, I found myself refreshing my email every 30 seconds. Then a message appeared on one of the forums. Some had received a waiting list offer. Check my email – still nothing!! Until two minutes later when *ding* a shiny email appears entitled ‘MBBS waiting list deferred offer’. I immediately called my mum and broke down in tears the minute she answered. I think, through my garbled, choked up chatter, she got the gist of the message. Basically, if a place becomes available this year on the course then off I pop to London. If not, then I am guaranteed a place for next year (2013). Either way I’m happy as I have an offer. I’m actually going to be a doctor!
And that is my (extra) long-winded story. The thing I’ve wanted since the age of 7 or 8, that I strived for through school, through University and beyond has actually happened. I’ve always said that I could never imagine doing a career that wasn’t medicine and I firmly stick by that. It hasn’t truly sunk in yet and I can’t quite believe that in 6 months time I could be at University study the field I have always longed to work in and spent my life so far obsessing over.
As Cinderella said: “No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing. The dream that you wish, will come true.”
Yes. I just quoted Disney.
Scrubbing Up 
