That would be great!! Also, we should definitely collaborate soon - your videos are super useful and I'm sure my audience would love to hear your perspectives/opinions/ideas/ Thank you for the support!
Are you expected to have this much medical knowledge outside of A level/AS level syllabus when you come to interview, e.g. about vagus nerve ? Thank you so much really good video
+Nat Bishop You just need to know your syllabus really well - Cambridge interviews are tailored to what you have learnt at school!! So please don’t worry too much - remember, Joe has been through a term of Cambridge so his answers are naturally more detailed! Will try and make more videos of this type, thank you for the support ❤️😊
I enjoyed the video but you are both wrong on the brain anatomy question. Hypothalamus is part of the diencephalon which is above the brain stem and inferior/ deep to the cerebrum. The brain stem is composed of the midbrain, pons, and medulla.
Whaaaaaat I’ve never heard of a vagus nerve at A level also never heard of half of this stuff honestly I’ve even looked through my textbooks thinking I’ve missed something. If this is what Cambridge wants I think they are expecting too much.... no A level student knows much of this stuff honestly.... Great video but I’m afraid Cambridge is off my list. 1 I’m a shocking drawer my trees look like a broken slinky 2. Too much medical details that no pre medical school student would know Also ethics section is not covered at all Im on my fifth injection of a mab now and that’s a monoclonal antibody specifically targeting my asthma phenotype So glad to see this in here
Don't worry, the content of the questions asked varies depending upon what you've learned at school. Before your interview you have to fill in a form stating what topics you have studied and the questions are then appropriated decided. Although the scientific content of these questions may not be representative of those asked at interview, the style of questions asked are very similar to this as in they'll set you a problem and together, with help from the interviewer you will work through it.
Faheem Bhatti I did wonder this just had me in tears.... like I don’t know what this means hahaha. Very in-depth knowledge here though. But I guess it shows you why Cambridge is so tough to get into. Thank you for the reassurance
Thank you for uploading this video, it is very helpful. I have just finished year 11 and plan on applying to Oxford or Cambridge to do medicine. Have anyone got any extra tips on how to make my application stand out and things I should start doing now to prepare myself? Advice would be much appreciated.
B... no 17 year old A -level student has studied about the Brain at this stage in the course. Would we really need to know this or it is because he mentioned it in his personal statement? If it 's the latter, should I be very careful about what I say in the interview, in case they pick on a specific key term?
If interviewers are going to ask you such questions, they will usually ask because you've mentioned something of interest before in a personal answer to key questions, or in written submissions such as your personal statement and SAQ. Please remember, interviewers don't expect you to know everything, just know everything you have done so far at school and any interesting things you've seen on work experience in lots of detail, and apply these details/concepts to the questions they ask you at interview. That way, everything should go well ☺️
It's interesting how different the course contents are for biology at a-level in England and human biology at higher in Scotland as we learnt the basics about the brain at national 5 (equivalent to GCSE) and we learn about all the aspects of the heart in this video and all the aspects of the brain mentioned in this video at higher.
Aha yes that's true, Joe is extremely bright! Remember though, his answers are slightly above what would be expected from a 17yo at interviews, because Joe has been through a term at Cambridge already!!
Glad to hear it's useful :D Remember though, put as much effort as you can into all the subjects (even non-science) that you're taking, particularly into those you like less!! That way, smash your GCSE-level exams and once you begin A-Levels/IB, you can specialise in the sciences!! Thanks for the support! :)
+ Senthooran Kath In terms of the material discussed, everything except the stuff on the brain is on my syllabus. Does this mean that I wouldn't be asked to draw a diagram of the brain and explain its functions in an interview?
Hello, sometimes, it is very difficult to predict what they'll ask. Ideally interviewers will ask you questions that you'll be able to tackle using prior knowledge that you have acquired from your GCSE/AS/A2/IB courses. Some questions may initially come across as being quite abstract, but remember, in these situations try to go about solving such problems using your existing knowledge. Doing this is usually a very good approach. Remember, you can expect interviewers to ask about anything you've written on your personal statement/SAQ in quite some detail, as they simply expect you have researched topics that you have been interested in enough to have mentioned on such documents. Also, if you mention any memorable experiences or any disease/conditions in key medicine questions such as 'why medicine' etc, you could expect them to ask you further questions based on what you have mentioned.
During the mock interview, I asked Joe to expand on the brain as he had mentioned in his answer a specific part of the brain related to a complex surgical procedure. As an interviewer would be, I was curious to hear if he had done any further reading/research into the background of his sister's procedure.
This video was really insightful! I was wondering though do they usually ask you to draw diagrams? And what do we do if we don’t know what they look like? Because we don’t learn the structure of an antibody
exactly! some medical schools don't require biology, but all require chemistry... some assume you'll be able to get your head around the biology aspect of medicine whilst studying. although, best to check the website of the course you are looking for to be super sure
Very late to the party here but I didn't do biology at A-Level, am I going to need to teach myself some A-level biology or will I get by with GCSE level stuff?
Cambridge interviews are not knowing about the answer before you get to the interview. It’s all about being able to work through a problem, explaining your thinking and having the flexibility to think in multiple ways about one topic 😊 Even if you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world - acknowledge your mistake, admit your mistake before trying to answer the question again with a different approach and reasoning!!
Where I am from we have to learn the brain in detail in Year 11 (all the cranial nerves, PSy and Sy control, etc) Should I go into detail should I be asked at my Oxford interview?
Needs more enthusiasm, he's basically reciting a text book, these questions ponder tour enthusiasm, and linking these ideas to your fascination and other areas of biology and biochemistry,the student should most importantly have a clearer and consistent voice. Other than that the expressions used were exemplary.
Great constructive feedback! I think Joe did really well, although it seems like he's reciting a textbook, he was hitting most of the relevant points interviews would expect to hear so in that sense he smashed it!
If you're interested in medicine, you'll be able to speak about topics that you have come across that interest you... someone who isn't interested will struggle to, as they simply haven't had in the initiative to read into/around the subject
@@SenthooranKath I'm in year 11 right now so ive still got time xD. I do read the occasional medical article however with gcses it's been a real struggle to sit down and read. Definitely over this summer I want to do something associated with medicine like go on a course.
+Elliott Hardy Hi Elliott, unfortunately we strictly aren’t allowed to share specific interview information, due to privacy and equal opportunity reasons, which I am sure you appreciate. If you’ve got any more general questions, please ask by all means here!! Best wishes, Senthooran
@@SenthooranKath I am a student from Bangladesh and I've just completed my High School and I want to get into the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. Does Cambridge University offers scholarships to the International students? Can you please give me some of your precious time and guide me through this? Actually the procedure of our country and UK is very different. That’s why I'm struggling a lot to find my way out.Thank you again.
He was being honest, he didn't know the answer of butter but his honesty in an interview is very important as the interviewer can easily catch out someone who is just waffling. If he just guessed a random answer it would probably lower his score. (I mean milk is quite an easy guess)
Interesting point - I don't think it does discriminate. I'll make a video on it soon. You make a good point though, as a medical interview requires a solid bedrock of knowledge along with a good ability to vocalise your thoughts. Good communication skills are key for a good medical interview - this is a skill anyone, wealthy or poor, can develop before their interviews.
What really concerns me about Gen Z is most of them have never touched an Airfix kit or something like Meccano. Their mechanical hand to eye skills are appalling, unless on a keyboard or joystick. Training them in surgery skills is like asking a baboon to operate a chainsaw.
