We’ve designed this course to offer 4 days clinical experience to prospective medical students plus 1 day interview and personal statement training delivered by The Medical School Application Guide (The MSAG). Students are taught in small groups of 8-10 under the direct supervision of experienced clinical staff and medical researchers.

The Medical School Preparation Course lasts for 5 consecutive days during school holidays from 9:30am-4pm.

This course has been designed in partnership with The Medical School Application Guide (MSAG), a leader in Medical School Entry Preparation. The MSAG are also available to support students with Medical School interviews and applications during or after the course.

The course content aligns with A-level Biology syllabus and makes an ideal summer school for year 12 and year 13 students who are hoping to study medicine in the future.

Course Content

The state of the art clinical training centre is separated into clinics and laboratories, students will rotate around the different areas gaining skills in the specialists areas below:

Ophthalmology & Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic (1 Day)

• Visions – Snellen chart and colour vision
• Visual fields testing and blind spot assessment
• Direct ophthalmoscopy
• Stereopsis
• Direct and indirect light reflex
• RAPD
• Eye muscles testing
• Eye injuries
• Ear examination
• Otoscopy
• Weber’s and Rinne’s test
• Nose and mouth examinations
• Nose bleeds

Pathology and Epidemiology Laboratory (1 Day)

The BioGrad Clinical Centre contains its own laboratory where students perform techniques in pathology and epidemiology.

Students have the opportunity to learn the below techniques:

• Perform your own blood typing for a blood transfusion in an emergency setting
• Analyse sputum for respiratory patients for infectious agents SARS and TB

Respiratory Clinic (1 Day)

The respiratory clinic contains 5 ‘GP bays’, each complete with patient assessment bed, PC, spirometer and blood oximeter. Students are provided with their own clinical coat and stethoscope that they can keep at the end of the course.

Students will be taught how to perform the below during their time in the respiratory clinic:

• Head to toe patient assessment
• Auscultation of lungs (clinical examination of lung sounds for disease diagnosis)
• Palpation and Percussion of the lungs
• Blood oximetry analysis
• Spirometry for assessment of lung function and diagnosis of COPD and asthma

Cardiovascular Suite (1 Day)

The cardiovascular Suite contains 5 assessment bays each with it’s own ECG machine, exercise bike and sphygomomanometer.

Students have the opportunity to learn the below techniques:

• Manual assessment of blood pressure
• Perform and analyse an Electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Analysis of sports performance using cardiovascular function as a measurement
• The use of relaxation techniques in the NHS

Medical School Application Strategy (1 Day)

Help with medical school applications, personal statements and interview preparation delivered by theMSAG, the day will include:

• How to build a strong application
• Comparison of UK medical schools
• Where should I apply?
• UKCAT/BMAT success plan
• Personal statement workshop
• Interview practice

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

BioGrad is an Approved Activity Provide for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. This course may be used as your Duke of Edinburgh Gold Residential Award, which can be signed off by the course leader on the final day.

Please provide your Duke of Edinburgh Award number on your registration form at the time of booking your course.

Students using this course for their GOLD residential must stay for at least 4 nights in dormitory accommodation.

UCAS References

Students who wish to use this course as work experience to support university applications may request a reference to be sent directly to their school/college. These references are signed off by the course leader after obtaining feedback from staff teaching during the course. These references help your teachers to create your UCAS reference.

Please provide the name of your school on your registration form at the time of booking your course.

Certification

Students are provided with a certificate of attendance at the end of the course.

Photographs

We will happily take photographs of students working in the laboratory and clinical centre which often serve as excellent profile pictures for work related social networking (such as LinkedIn).

Students are asked not to take photographs of other attendees or staff without consent. Students under the age of 18 years old must provide the completed photo/video consent form on the first day of the course (sent to all students in their course registration confirmation) if they wish to have photographs taken for use on professional networking sites or social media.

Course Leaders

The course is designed and delivered by experienced Dr’s and nurses working in the NHS and medical researchers from Public Health England and the Institute of Environment and Health. The course provides clinical and medical training to support university applications and enhance understanding of the A-level biology syllabus.

The course is taught with a very low student to tutor ratio (a researcher for every 8-10 students). This also allows students to spend as much time as they need to practice techniques until they are confident. We allow students to make (safe) mistakes and correct their own work so that they learn from their own mistakes and we encourage students to try different approaches to solve problems in the clinical and laboratory setting.

We have links with many companies who recruit interns and graduates based on our recommendations and our partner, The MSAG, has a 98% success rate at getting their students accepted into medical school. Our laboratory and clinical environments are very informal offering a relaxed and enjoyable environment for students to learn in.

Clothing and Equipment

Students are advised to wear comfortable clothes and shoes (ensuring legs and feet are covered when in the laboratory, and that the upper arms/top of chest are accessible for clinical analysis). We advise layered clothing to maintain coverage at all times, plus allow for removal of layers under lab coats when in the laboratory.

All personal protective equipment is provided during the course and students receive a clinical lab coat and stethoscope to take away and use in future studies, however it is expected that students will bring a note book and stationary for recording their results. Students who wish to take away their ECG and Spirometry results are welcome to bring a laptop or tablet as all software can be downloaded during the course.

Pre-requisites

Students attending this course are expected to be studying a minimum of A-level biology, however we have a range of students from A-Level to graduate scientists attend.

Groups

Schools, colleges, universities, distance learning providers and DofE centres can book a bespoke course for groups of 20 – 60 students per week. Full board options are available including evening activities. Please contact info@biograd.co.uk for availability.

International groups may take advantage of our collaboration with Liverpool School of English, booking a 2 week course with English tuition, full board home stay, transfers and insurance. Please contact info@biograd.co.uk for availability.

Food

Students have an hour for lunch each day. There are many places to purchase food and drink within walking distance of the Science Park, including the City of Liverpool College, Subway, Tesco’s, Costa, The EveryMan theatre and many small sandwich/coffee shops. Students wishing to bring their own food have access to a fridge and microwave during the course, plus a break room containing vending machines, a pool table and sky TV on-site.

Students who are attending as a residential course can make the most of their evenings by exploring the huge range of restaurants within walking distance of the Art House Hotel.

Luggage

The BioGrad facilities and The Art House Hotel both have secure facilities for storing luggage on the days of arrival and departure. During the rest of the week students will be asked to store their belongings in locked cupboards opposite BioGrad Student Services (Outside of the laboratories and clinical training rooms) during the training sessions.

Further Information

Accommodation

Evening Activities

BioGrad Facilities

Meet the Team

For further information please contact us using this form or email us at info@biograd.co.uk.

Course Payment:

All payments are taken securely with PayPal. All major debit and credit cards are accepted so you don’t need a PayPal account.

There are four payment options available:

• Pay in full at the time of booking
• Pay in 2 - £174 deposit with the remainder due 28 days before the course commences (only available if booking more than 28 days in advance)
• Pay in 6 - 6 monthly payments of £116 (only available if booking more than 26 weeks in advance)
• Pay in 12 - 12 monthly payments of £58 (only available if booking more than 54 weeks in advance)

There is no charge for early payment, which can be made via PayPal at any time.

Means tested bursaries available for students attending BioGrad Partner Schools. See our bursary page for further information

AVAILABLE COURSES

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