Entry requirements for Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM)

• Qualities and experience

  Applicants are expected to demonstrate a range of personal attributes and experiences that are relevant to medicine through their UCAS reference, the UCAS personal statement and in a web-based questionnaire that will be sent to all applicants in October after the UCAS deadline. A candidate’s interest in ScotGEM and their reflections on work experience will form part of the discussions at interview.

  Personal statement

  The UCAS personal statement should demonstrate:

  • a range of suitable personal attributes such as motivation, commitment, social contribution, teamwork and leadership, and excellent communication skills
  • an understanding of, and commitment to, medicine
  • achieved medically related work or shadowing experience.

  Reference

  Applicants who have studied at university at any point in the past three years (for example, an undergraduate degree, a Masters or a PhD) will only need to provide an academic reference as part of the UCAS application. This can be from an academic tutor or advisor of studies. Your academic referee should:

  • be up to date with your academic progress
  • have taught or supervised you in the last three years prior to entry to ScotGEM
  • comment on your academic performance, your attitude to study and your approach to working with others, including communication skills.

  Applicants who have not studied at university in the past three years will need to provide one of the following references as part of their UCAS applications. Any reference must be within the last three years. 

  • an academic reference (for example, Higher or A-Level). Your academic referee should:
    • be up-to-date with your academic progress
    • have taught or supervised you in the last three years prior to entry to ScotGEM
    • comment on your academic performance, your attitude to study and your approach to working with others, including communication skills.
  • a workplace reference. Your workplace referee should:
    • comment on your suitability for medicine
    • have managed or supervised you in the last three years prior to entry to ScotGEM.

  All applicants should note:

  • References from family members or close friends are not acceptable.
  • Academic references must come from an official higher education institution email account.
  • Workplace references must come from an official work email account.

  Web-based questionnaire

  The web-based questionnaire will allow candidates to:

  • explain why they are particularly interested in or suited to ScotGEM
  • give details about their medically related work experience.

  Work experience

  Before applying to ScotGEM, applicants must have work or shadowing experience in a caring or health environment. This experience could have been gained in hospitals, GP surgeries, nursing homes or local hospices, or by working with people who have ill health or a disability. The main aim of work experience is to gain insight into health and healthcare delivery and to allow candidates to make an informed choice before deciding to apply to study medicine.

  The Medical Schools Council's Selection Alliance has released guidance to help first-time applicants to medical school gain relevant experience during the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes information on online experience platforms, including Observe GP.

  ScotGEM does not credit the volume of work experience and discourages applicants seeking to acquire experience in excess of two weeks. The programme also does not encourage work experience in resource-poor settings where candidates may be exposed to risk or take up scarce staff time. Medically related work experience is not ‘scored’ but instead forms part of the discussions at interview. For this reason, applicants should aim to have recent work experience.

  ScotGEM reserves the right to require applicants to provide details regarding activities described on UCAS personal statements or the web-based questionnaire (such as contacts regarding work experience) and will investigate a number at random as well as any suspect claims. Misleading statements may lead to an application being rejected.

  Commitment

  Medicine is a profession that requires commitment. It is important that the choice to enter medicine is made with insight into where it might lead, the role of life-long learning, and with awareness that the course trains for professional practice.
  
  In considering the commitment involved in becoming a doctor, the following web pages provide important guidance:

  • Medical Schools Council
  • General Medical Council

• Fitness to practise

  Medical students are expected to behave with the utmost integrity from the very start of their training. It is therefore essential that you are able to fulfil fitness to practise criteria requirements based on the General Medical Council’s publication of Good Medical Practice, incorporating the points outlined in duties of a doctor.

  At the start of each year, ScotGEM students will be required to submit a signed ScotGEM student contract which indicates what is expected of professionals in training. This includes giving consent to being filmed as part of their training in clinical medicine. If a student’s conduct falls below acceptable standards, this could lead to a student being referred to the Professionalism and Welfare Committee or the Fitness to Practise Committee. The ScotGEM student contract is available to offer holders, in draft form, through Launchpad (online orientation which will be emailed to offer holders).

  The School of Medicine may raise concerns about fitness to practise as part of the procedures for admitting potential students. When considering applications, concerns about health or previous conduct may be considered at the time of application or prior to entry to the medical course. Concerns will be considered by the School of Medicine Professionalism and Welfare Committee, the University’s Disability team, or Student Support Services (see section 10 of University policy on fitness to practise).

  For more information please see the University policy on fitness to practise.

• Health, disability and reasonable adjustments

  A disability need not be a barrier to becoming a doctor. Applicants who have a disability or health issue need to consider what effect that disability could have on patients and colleagues and how it would impact on their capacity to function as a medical practitioner in an effective and safe manner.

  If you have a disability or health condition, it is important that you declare this when you apply so that any reasonable adjustments required can be put in place by the time you enter the medicine course.

  More information and details of who to contact for advice can be found in the disability section of the School of Medicine's handbook.

  For more general information, see:

  • HEOPS guidance for medical students
  • HEOPS guidance on adjustments for students training in regulated professions.

  Short films about health and disability can be found on the GMC website.

  See a short video about accessing support in the Medical School at St Andrews.

• Criminal record declaration

  Applicants to medicine degree courses at the University are required to declare any criminal involvement on application. Applications from students who have declared a criminal conviction are subject to the same academic selection process as all applications and will be assessed using the admissions process outlined in the University’s admissions policy.

  Applicants must tell the School of Medicine if they have been involved in criminal activity or convicted of a crime (even if conviction is pending after an application has been submitted, but before entry to the course). If a new crime arises, this must be disclosed as soon as possible. Where an applicant has disclosed past or pending criminal proceedings, these will be considered by the School of Medicine Professionalism and Welfare Committee. (See section 10 of University policy on fitness to practise). 

  Entrants to Medicine will also be required to pass a criminal record screening as part of the non-academic conditions of their offer. This involves joining the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. The scheme provides the applicant and the University with a live update of your fitness to work with regulated adults or children. In addition, students will be asked to declare any minor historical offences, warnings or cautions as well as any which are still pending.

  For more information, see PVG guidance or contact the ScotGEM office by emailing scotgem-admin@st-andrews.ac.uk.

• Plagiarism or fraud

  An application will not be considered if it is determined that the application contains false or purposefully misleading information or if information has been included that appears to have been copied from another source. See the University admissions policy.

• Occupational health and immunisation

  Entrants to Medicine will be subject to an occupational health check which includes a pre-entry questionnaire and screening.

  Entrants will be screened for tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV infection. All entrants are strongly encouraged to complete a course of immunisation against hepatitis B virus. Guidance is available to offer holders through Launchpad (an online orientation which will be emailed to offer holders).

  Infection with hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV does not mean that training to be a doctor is impossible, but applicants should consider at this stage whether or not this is the career option that they wish to pursue. Any entrant student who is found to be a carrier of hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV will require counselling as such a situation may place restrictions on the student's clinical training or practice following qualification. Applicants who have had an infection of this nature and wish to discuss this further before making a decision should email medsupport@st-andrews.ac.uk.

  For more guidance see the HEOPS standards of medical fitness to train.