First ICSM open day attracts brightest pupils
The first open day for the new Imperial College School of Medicine on Tuesday attracted 600 prospective medical students from some of the best schools in the country.
Visiting sixth-formers were welcomed by the ICSM’s new Principal, Professor Chris Edwards, in the Great Hall. Prof Edwards immediately began by highlighting the potential of the new school, which will inherit the research excellence of the National Heart and Lung Institute and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, and the proud tradition of the two undergraduate medical schools at St Mary’s and Charing Cross Hospital.
This was followed by an overview of the new curriculum, which Dr Rory Shaw, Rector of the Medical Education Unit, claimed was "Out with the worst of the old, and in with the best of the new".
Dr Shaw allayed fears that prospective medical students might be used as "guinea pigs" for a new course, explaining that the new qualification had been designed with considerable input from current students, whose curriculum already incorporates part of the new course.
Dr Stan Head, Admissions Tutor, went on to explain the selection procedure. Throughout his talk, he repeatedly stressed the need for candidates to be good all-rounders in order to gain admission into the prestigious new medical school. Dr Head illustrated the highly competitive nature of the process using entry statistics from last year. Of 5,000 applicants to St Mary’s and Charing Cross, only 1 in 5 were called up for interview, and only 1 in 12 received an offer. Immediately afterwards, Dr Head talked the prospective medical students through two admission interview case-studies, in an attempt to demystify this most dreaded part of the selection procedure.
Finally, brief presentations were given by Eric Allsop, Sami Ansari, and Nitesha Singh, Student Union presidents of Imperial College, St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, and Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School respectively. Together, they emphasised the extensive recreational facilities provided for students by the College and drew attention to the sports teams, clubs and societies that the medics could enjoy within their own Constituent College Union.
Dr Shaw then fielded a brief question and answer session concerning the new curriculum. Questions related to other aspects of the course, particularly those pertaining to present medical students, were answered during the rest of the day while prospective students were taken on a tour of the South Kensington campus. This was followed by a visit to the two main teaching hospitals, St Mary’s and Charing Cross. At St Mary’s Hospital, the large party of sixth-formers learned of the proud tradition of the hospital and its medical school in sporting achievements and other activities during a talk by Mr Robin Touquet, a consultant surgeon in accident and emergency.
The open day was jointly organised by the ICSM and the Student Unions of Imperial College, St Mary’s Hospital Medical School and Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School. Some preparations on the South Kensington campus were a little improvised, the ICU executive having been informed of the event only the night before. However, most of the visitors, including the tutors who accompanied their students on the open day, made the most of the the opportunity to chat to the medics. The principal concern expressed by the prospective students was that their less than outstanding GCSE grades would jeopardise their chance of winning a place at the medical school, and that they might not have chosen the correct subjects at A-level to study medicine.
