STEM SUSSEX

Olga Shuttleworth - Sussex Downs College in Lewes

Olga Shuttleworth is 33 and is currently at Sussex Downs College in Lewes, where she is studying the Access to Medicine course.

‘Earlier this year I was living in Essex and had just qualified as a Person Centred Counsellor. I heard that the upper age limit to go into medicine had been removed, but didn’t want to go back to college to do the A-levels I would need to pursue a medical career. I started to research Access courses, using message boards on the internet to find the best Access to Medicine colleges. Sussex Downs College was a top choice amongst students and had very high success rates.

‘After successful application to join the course, I moved to Brighton, which I started in September 2007. The Access to Medicine is designed specially for mature students. It covers all the science you need for medical school, as well as medical ethics, psychology and mathematics. I was worried about studying the sciences, as it is a long time since I did my GCSEs. However, all the sciences on the course are tailored to medicine and I am understanding better this time due to the high standard of teaching and the relevance of topics covered. At school I hated maths but here my teacher is so good - it’s a completely different experience of the subjects than I had at school! ‘My Access group has about 20 students aged between 22 and 40. The group is diverse with students from all over the UK and previous careers including a paramedic, a nurse, medical editor, journalist and an aeronautical engineer!

‘I have already applied to some medical schools, so hopefully next year I will be starting my five year training, the fist two years being general medicine and case-based learning. I think my background is influencing my future medical career choices. My experience of counselling has taught me about the importance of continuity of patient care. I have also worked for care associations, so I am used to dealing with people who are suffering from bereavement, stress or terminal illness. I am therefore considering specialising in oncology or geriatric medicine in the future. The Access to Medicine course is excellent preparation for medical school so I hope to seamlessly move from one course to the next. It would have been a massive jump from A-levels to medical school.’

About Access to Medicine

Access to Medicine is an intensive science-based one year full time course tailored to the require-ments of a medical degree, designed to provide an alternative route for non traditional students into medical training. It is a course for people who wish to retrain as doctors – they might have been unsatisfied with their initial career choice or who decided to study medicine after they had committed themselves to studies that did not constitute a suitable preparation for medical training. There are no formal academic qualifications required, but applicants need to demonstrate academic potential and the ability to achieve at a high level. The Access course has been tailored to meet the requirements of a medical degree.

BSMS (Brighton and Sussex Medical School) recognises our course and the entire cohort receives an initial interview before the course starts. This year 8 out of 21 students were offered conditional places. Most students that don’t secure a linked place after the initial interview are offered a 2nd interview by BSMS. Previous students from the Sussex Downs Access to Medicine course are also currently studying medicine at Hull/York, UEA, Southampton, Leeds, Keele, St Georges and Nottingham. Other Medical Schools that are prepared to consider applications from the SDC course include Kings College London, Glasgow, Bristol, Leicester/Warwick, Newcastle, Barts/Queen Mary London, Sheffield, Manchester and Durham.