Insight into College of West Anglia’s Access to Medicine (HE) Course
Committing to an Access to Medicine course? There are so many out there, so how do you know which one to go with? I’ll be discussing why College of West Anglia is the most successful course provider in the UK. Find out about the course structure & what it’s like to study there!
Why is College of West Anglia the most successful?
🥇The highest progression into medicine rate
College of West Anglia’s Access to Medicine course was established in 1993 and has since sent hundreds of students to medical school. Students have received offers from Cambridge, King’s College London, Edinburgh and Bristol; some of the most globally prestigious universities. Between 1993 – 2002 the progression rate into medicine increased to 85% and is now ~95%, the highest out of all UK course providers.
💸 The only college that provides financial support
One criticism is that providers often over look the financial side. Many mature students, in order to attend classes will have to reduce their working hours. While many providers have tailored their programme to run flexibly 2-4 days a week to suit the working lives of mature students – CWA remains the only college that provides financial support.
- Accommodation £4,100 – Contribution to rental costs if you re-locate to the area.
- Travel Bursary £1,500 – Contribution towards travel costs.
- Consumables £250 – Contribution towards stationary or electronic learning devices.
- Stationary £30 – Can be used towards any stationary (pens, notepads etc) required.
- Printing Credit £30 – Can be used towards any printed materials you need.
- UCAS Payment £27 – You can be reimbursed for your UCAS application.
- Interviews – Contribution towards any travel to university interviews or open days.
- Financial award letter may be used as proof to receive a free UCAT examination.
- Letter confirming student status so you do not pay council tax.
🩺 The only FE college to teach clinical skills & have access to an Anatomage dissection table
Extracurricular enrichment is provided. You’ll have the opportunity to learn clinical skills, simulations and virtual dissections. Needless to say, having early access to these facilities is beneficial and you could use these as work experiences to bolster your application! Continue reading to find out more →
Course structure and content
Colleges approved by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) follow a similar course structure but there will be some minor differences so it’s important to research. During the course, you’ll learn A-Level (Level 3) content just as any other student who has applied to medicine. This is important because you’ll be brought up to the same level of knowledge as your cohort. You don’t learn the whole 2 year A-Level syllabus within 9 months, you only learn what is relevant to medicine.
Graded subjects
Human Biology
Unit 1: Introduction to Biology
- Biological organisms, structure and function of organelles.
- Biological molecules
- Assessed through a 1.5 hour closed book exam
- Biological molecules and enzymes
- Biochemical respiration and anaerobic respiration
- Stem cells
- Mitosis & Meiosis
- Inheritance and Genes
- Assessed through a practical exam followed by a written assignment
- 1.5 hour closed book exam
- Respiratory
- Cardiovasular
- Nervous System
- Endocrine
- Gastrointestinal
- Immune System
- Oxygen Dissociation Curves
- Assessed through a 2.5 hour closed book exam
Chemistry
Unit 1: Introduction to Chemistry
- Atomic structure, chemical formulae, equations + periodic table,
- Ionisation energy, mass spectrometry and more.
- Assessed through a 1.5 hour closed-book exam.
- Ionic, covalent and electronegativity bonding
- The ideal gas equation, moles,
- Infrared spectroscopy and more.
- Assessed through a practical followed by an assignment
- 1.5 hour closed book exam
- Kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases.
- Le Chateliers Principle, Hess’s law and more. Y
- Assessed through a practical followed by a written assignment
- 1.5 hour closed book exam
Medical Physics
Physics is covered a little differently, there are 9 units in total taking around 8 months to cover. You’ll cover the following topics: (i) Human movement & energy conversions; (ii) Pressure; (iii) Radioactivity; (iv) Waves; (v) Light and the human eye; (vi) Sound & Hearing; (vii) Principles of Electricity and (viii) Medical Imaging. You’ll be assessed at the end of the year with a practical and a closed-book exam.
Research Project
You’ll be asked to complete a research project due towards the end of the year. It can be on any topic you’re interested in and you can design it in any way you’d like. This is similar to an Extended Primary Qualification (EPQ) which is a dissertation created on the basis of independent research. Research is incredibly important throughout medical school and during your career as a doctor so it’s beneficial to be given the exposure, resources and opportunity to complete research. You may even get your paper published!
Ungraded subjects
Epidemiology
Covers patterns of human disease from Cholera to HIV/AIDS. You’ll be required to complete an assignment on a topic given to you (in 2022 this was HIV/AIDS and it’s prevalence around the globe). You will also be required to complete an end-of-year exam graded at pass/fail.
Numerical Data and Statistics
Covers basic Maths GCSE content all the way through to Level 7 Statistics! These classes cover various statistical methods you’ll see at medical school such as Pearson’s Coefficient, Spearman’s Rank and T-Test’s; all of which you’ll use during your own research project towards the end of the year (and during medical school).
Professional Behaviours and HE Study Skills
As a medical student (and doctor) you’ll have your own portfolio where you’ll document your reflections for your own professional development. During the course you will have dedicated time to focus on reflective writing to emulate the portfolio-style journal to help prepare you for life at medical school. During study skills, you’ll prepare presentations and an essay (non-graded) on medical ethics on a topic of your choice to showcase your writing ability.
Dissection & Clinical Skills
Clinical Skills
During medical school, you’ll hear the term ‘clinical skills’, these refer to your ability to apply medical knowledge in a practical setting. This could be through taking blood samples or interpreting scans such as X-Rays. Clinical skills are examined in medical school through OSCE’s (Observed Structured Clinical Examination) to ensure you’re competent and safe enough to perform these procedures on patients. The College of West Anglia hold mock OSCE examinations to give you a feel for medical school and also provide medical teaching.
Some of the clinical skills you could learn at CWA:
- NEWS2 (National Early Warning Score) interpretation and how to use it
- X-Ray interpretation – find the location and structures and how to interpret them
- Chest auscultations – how to perform them, the rationale and respiratory decline
- Airway management – signs/symptoms of full/partial obstruction and how to manage
- Abdominal assessment – auscultate, palpate and percuss the four quadrants
- Nasograstic tube insertions – insertions and how to identify if inserted correctly
- Intramuscular / subcutaneous injections – perform injections in both sites and rationale
- Venepuncture – perform venipuncture using various needles such as butterfly’s
- Major haemorrhage – group scenario, learn to control bleeding and perform ABCDE
- Spirometry – perform spiromtery and peak flow test and learn how to interpret
Anatomage Dissections and Virtual Reality
Medical schools around the world heavily rely on dissections during pre-clinical years to help understand the biological processes, structure and function of the body.
CWA is the only FE college to have access to an Anatomage table. The Anatomage Table is the most technologically advanced 3D anatomy visualisation and virtual dissection tool for medical education and has been adopted by the majority of medical schools around the globe.
The college offer virtual reality and simulated mannequins to emulate treatment of patients which can be applied to real-world scenario’s. The mannequins provide an opportunity for you to develop skills by recreating authentic clinical situations (they’re also used in medical school!).
- Laerdal SimMan 3G+ replicates physiological functions such as breathing + convulsions
- TraumaMan simulates treatment of a trauma patient including haemorrhage
- SimMom simulates labour, including manual delivery, shoulder dystocia + haemorrhage
How many days a week will I be at college?
Access courses require a physical presence at the college, usually 2-4 days per week. CWA realise that mature learners make up a large proportion of the cohort and have therefore tailored their course to be delivered over 2.5 days per week (one half day and two full days).
If you’re a recipient of funding… you must ensure your attendance is as close to 100% as possible. If you drop below the minimum threshold you run the risk of losing access to funding. Below is a timetable from 2023 →
Course Intensity
Despite public opinion, access courses are not an easy route into medicine. They’re purposefully designed to be rigorous so you meet the same standard as any other candidate that is applying to medical school. The intensity of the course is the hardest part to adjust to, so it’s important to know this before committing. The volume of content you have to learn in a condense amount of time is what makes it the most challenging.
You will have the following:
- 8 closed-book exams
- 1 open-book exam
- 4 practical exams with additional 1500 word reports each
- 1 study skills essay
- 1 study skills oral presentation
- Reflective learning journal
- Research paper 3000 words
This averages at around 3 exams or assignments due every month on top of classes and self-directed study, so you can imagine how intense it is trying to juggle everything! But, it’s absolutely possible to hold down a job, have a social life and still receive all distinctions.
SUCCESS STORIES
from the COLLEGE OF WEST ANGLIA
Other resources
- Apply to CWA Access to Medicine Course
- From Finance to Medicine | Follow Awais’s Medicine Journey on TikTok
- Nurse Belinda – Access Course | Timetables, Modules and Intensity
- Rebecca Bradford – Access Course Q&A | Manchester
- Margaret Humphrey’s CWA experience
- Balancing work while studying on an Access Course
