Outside the Box: Letter to my son
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Dear Al.

Congratulations. Subject to achieving your predicted grades, you have won a place at medical school. Countless hours spent volunteering, shadowing doctors (both here and abroad), and making your 4000-character personal statement stand out from hundreds of others, have paid off.

We have done the high-fives, the celebratory meal, and the phone calls to your proud grandmothers. We have started a spreadsheet to work out how, as a graduate entrant, you will find the money for your fees, rent, living expenses, and books, even with help from a parent in receipt of a Clinical Excellence Award. The figures stack up, but only just. …

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