A guide to all the requirements for GEM
Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) are accelerated programmes and as a result are only open to graduates. There are a handful of medical schools who offer graduate entry programmes in the UK and some of these require graduates to have a degree in biosciences, whilst others are more flexible and allow graduates from any discipline.
As with undergraduate entry for medicine, GEM can have GCSE and A-level requirements as well. These vary by medical school but you will often need a minimum of grade B in GCSE Maths and English. A-levels vary – some require you to have three A-levels above a minimum grade (e.g. Liverpool require BBB at A-level including chemistry), whilst others do not look at A-levels (e.g. Nottingham).
Most medical schools offering GEM require a minimum of a 2:1 in either a biosciences degree OR any degree depending on the medical school. For example, Liverpool require graduates to have a good 2:1 honours degree in a Biological, Biomedical or Health Science Subject, whereas Swansea allow a 2:1 in any subject, a merit with an integrated masters degree, or a 2:2 and a postgraduate masters or PhD. There are currently 14 medical schools in the UK which offer GEM. Of these, 9 allow applicants of non-science degrees. Nottingham will also allow graduates to apply who have a 2:2, and a third if you have a masters or PhD.
Some medical schools will require you to sit the Graduate Medical Schools Admissions Test (GAMSAT), a test which was first used in Australia for entry to medical school, but now also in the UK. It is designed to test skills you will have developed throughout your previous study, covering biology, chemistry and physics knowledge, problem-solving, critical thinking and reasoning and ability to write effectively.
Six medical schools which offer GEM require you to sit the GAMSAT – Liverpool, Nottingham, St George’s, Swansea, Cardiff and Dundee/St Andrews. The GAMSAT is a much longer test than the UCAT/BMAT, lasting a whole day. There is also no limit to the number of times you can sit the GAMSAT – you can sit it twice in March and September. This means you can pick the highest score and use that for your application.
The GAMSAT is by no means an easy test and requires a lot of preparation. There are three sections to the GAMSAT:
Some medical schools require you to sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) instead, similar to undergraduate entry. These are Barts (QMUL), Birmingham, King’s College, Newcastle, Sheffield, Southampton and Warwick. The UCAT is a 2-hour multiple choice test which assesses a range of skills including problem-solving, communication, maths skills and interpersonal skills. More information on this can be found in the UCAT section. The UCAT is obviously a much shorter test than the GAMSAT and out of the two the easier one to prepare for.
There is just one medical school which requires the BMAT for GEM, Oxford. Cambridge does not require any admission test, although if you are also applying for their undergraduate entry medicine then you will have to sit the BMAT. Otherwise, they require you to fill out an additional Graduate Course in Medicine form.
As with undergraduate entry, GEM requires you to have done work experience in a caring-role or directly observing healthcare professionals so you have insight into a medical career. If you have already done this in the past however, it might be good to try something different this time.
Graduates will have had more opportunities than school leavers to undertake work experience. If you worked for several years in the healthcare field then you will already have a wealth of experience in this sector. It might be worth volunteering instead to broaden your application. Similarly, if you have already done a lot of volunteering then you could consider finding GP/hospital work experience. If you are aged over 18 it should be easier to obtain hospital work experience, because some NHS trusts require you to be 18 or older.
Any form of work experience can be valuable, particularly for GEM where you really have to stand out; it doesn’t necessarily have to involve direct patient contact. If you have had experience in research, working in a clinical environment but not necessarily with patients, publishing papers etc. all this is still extremely valuable.
As a graduate you will also be older and have more life experience – not just opportunities to have done volunteering, work experience or employment, but also with personal experiences. If you can relate this to medicine then it can be a useful thing to mention at interviews.
Posted by Nathan