Dundee Medical School: Overview

Situated within the acclaimed Ninewells hospital, which is also one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe, Dundee Medical School offers its medical students many clinical opportunities through its location, an integrated course and early patient contact. With very high student satisfaction levels and high-quality research coming from under's Dundee University researchers' keyboards, it’s no surprise that Dundee Medical School has been ranked number 1 in the Complete University Guide 2021!

Although Dundee is a fairly small and quiet city, the nightlife offer and imaginative DUMS societies at Dundee, make the social aspect of studying at Dundee an enjoyable experience, whilst being cheaper and less overwhelming than living in a large metropolis.

Pre-interview Selection:
🔢 How does Dundee select students for interviews?

GCSEs + Predicted Grades: GCSEs and predicted grades (combined) account for 60% of the total score (40% for graduate students) when shortlisting students for an interview.

Personal Statement: Although the personal statement is not graded or scored by Dundee in the shortlisting process, it may be discussed during the interview.

UCAT: Dundee Medical School does not set a UCAT cut-off score and gives 40% weight (60% for graduate students) to the obtained UCAT score.

📊 What is the lowest required UCAT score to get an interview at Dundee?

🇬🇧 Home Students: For 2022 entry, the lowest UCAT score to get an interview at Dundee was 2270.

🌍 International Students: For 2021 entry, the lowest UCAT score that got an interview at Dundee (for international students) was 1980, while the median score was 2475.

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📤 When does Dundee send out interview invitations?

For 2024 entry, Dundee will most likely send out interview invitations between November 2023 and January 2024 giving students 2-3 weeks' notice.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 How many candidates get interviewed for Medicine at Dundee?

🇬🇧 Home Students: For 2022 entry, 1809 students applied from the UK, out of which 696 (38%) have been offered an interview at Dundee Medical School.

🌍 International Students: For 2022 entry, 418 students applied from abroad, out of which 196 (47%) have been offered an interview at Dundee Medical School.

💡 How To Prepare for Medicine Interviews at Dundee?

Preparing for medical school interviews requires more than just reading an article or doing a mock interview. It requires intentionality, structure and commitment. Luckily, with Medfully it is simpler and more efficient than ever:

Interviews at Dundee (2023 Entry):
🗓️ Dundee Medicine Interview dates:

Medicine interviews at Dundee are typically conducted between December and January of the given application cycle.

🚀 TOP Tip: Don’t plan holidays during the interview season (except for bank holidays). If your interview will fall during your holiday, Dundee Medical School, unfortunately, won’t give you the opportunity to reschedule the interview.

💬 What’s the interview format at Dundee?

Pre-Covid (2020 entry and before):

• MMI format
• 8-10 stations, each lasting 6-7 minutes
• One interviewer per station

Online Interviews (2021 and 2022 entry):

• Conducted via Blackboard Collaborate
• Something between an MMI and a panel interview
• 5 scenarios are discussed → Each lasting 6 minutes + 1 minute reading time in-between the scenarios
• The interview will assess your ability to think critically and on your feet, your communication skills, teamwork, work experience and commitment

2023 and 2024 entry: 

• Mix of online panel interview and face-to-face interviews held at Ninewells Hospital Dundee
• Read more about the current interview format here.

🏆 How likely is it I’ll be given an offer after an interview at Dundee?

🇬🇧 Home Students: For 2022 entry, 696 UK students were interviewed at Dundee, and 312 (45%) were offered a place to study medicine at Dundee.

🌍 International Students: For 2022 entry, 181 international students were interviewed at Dundee, and 57 (31%) were offered a place to study medicine at Dundee.

💅 What to do before the interview at Dundee Medical School?

• respond to your interview invitation within 5 days of receiving it
• find and bring your ID to the interview
• plan your journey - if you are invited for an in-person interview and have to travel from far away, make sure to arrive in Dundee a day or two in advance so that you can be fresh on the day of your Dundee medicine interview
• prepare a formal interview outfit in advance, try it on and see if you feel confident and comfortable in it
• increase your confidence and interview knowledge by preparing using Medfully
• relax - Dundee medicine interviews are an opportunity for the admissions team to learn more about you, they aren’t there to eat or bully you

⏳ How long does it take to hear back from Dundee?

You will only hear back from Dundee after all interviews are completed, which is most likely February/March 2024.

🧠 Dundee Medicine Interview Questions:

According to Dundee Medical School’s official website, questions at the Dundee medicine interview will revolve around the following topics (in bold):

Critical Thinking:

• If you could choose to allocate an additional £20 million to either of the following areas of healthcare, which one would you choose and why? Cancer research, mental health, Covid-19 research, palliative care, prolonging life research.
• You are a 3rd-year medical student. Together with a group of your classmates you've been working on a presentation on the impact of different calcium sources on hip fractures in older adults. As you prepare the setup you realise you forgot to save your part of the presentation. How would you approach your group’s leader to discuss the issue with them?
• Imagine you are the head of the surgical department in a hospital. There are two patients, A and B, both requiring an urgent liver transplant, but there is only one viable liver. Patient A is a 32-year old social activist, with a drug abuse history. Patient B is a 78-year old woman, who takes care of 3 children, whose parents died in a car accident. How would you allocate the liver and why?

Communication Skills:

• You were supposed to take care of your friend's cat, while they were on holiday. A few hours before your friend was meant to come back, you realised you forgot to close the front door and the cat went missing. You tried looking around the house but to no avail. Your friend Max (the interviewer) just arrived home. Break the news to them.

Teamwork:

• Tell us more about your experience playing in your school’s basketball team.
• How would you approach a friend who is feeling very low, because they didn’t get to medical school?
• Being a doctor is a lot about being a good team member. What do you think makes a good team member, and how do these attributes differ from those of a good team leader?

Work Experience:

• Has anyone ever tried to dissuade you from applying for medicine? What convinced you to do otherwise?
• What was the most important thing you learned about being a doctor through your work experience?
• What are the largest challenges GPs face in their work? How do these challenges differ from the hurles faced by hospital doctors?

Committment To Medicine:

• Why would you like to study medicine at Dundee?
• What are your ways of coping with stress?
• Why would you make for a good doctor?

🚀 TOP Tip: Have a hard time answering any of the above questions? You’ll find insider tactics to tackle all of the above questions and formulate convincing and structured answers at Medfully - The Best Medicine Interview Preparation Resource.

Please note that these aren’t questions that have been asked at Dundee in past years. Publishing such information would be against Dundee’s policy. The above questions are adjusted for the interview style at Dundee Medical School and are meant to give you a broad sense of the questions you may face.

✅ Dundee Medical School Interviews: 4 Tips

Know the GMC’s Good Medical Practise Guidelines Inside Out

The NHS Constitution outlines what the patients and staff working in the NHS can expect from the NHS and what the NHS expects in return. Reading it will help you understand what values and rules all NHS workers have to abide by.

GMC’s Good Medical Practice sets out guidelines for doctors working in the NHS and will help you understand what it means to be a “good doctor”. These documents aren’t the easiest reads, but reading them carefully and analytically will certainly help you with answering questions about medical ethics and the NHS.

Medical Ethics Are Your Best Friend:

The famous four pillars of medical ethics (beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice) serve as a helpful foundation to answer almost any interview questions related to ethics. You can dissect many ethics questions. Not only will this help you break down the scenario, but will also add structure to your answer. Therefore, make sure you understand what each of the terms means and practice a few ethical questions to learn how to apply them.

Learn About NHS Scotland:

Although not stated explicitly on the website, questions revolving around NHS Scotland may pop up in your Dundee medicine interview. Make sure you understand how it differs from NHS England and the NHS overall, what it means that the NHS is devolved, as well as the pros and cons of the devolved system.

All of that information you can find in our distinguished interview knowledge bank written by doctors and medical students from top UK universities.

Demonstrate How Passionate You Are:

Your motivations to study at Dundee always exude enthusiasm whenever talking about medicine or your work experience. But don’t just say how excited you are to join Dundee Medical School - show it too. Demonstrate how passionate you are through smiling and body language. Remember that actions speak louder than words!