How I Was Offered Admission To Study Medicine And Surgery in OOU

Studying Medicine and Surgery has always been my dream and a reality per se. The journey so far has been quite rough and filled with potholes but still I survive! Before I was admitted two years ago to study medicine at Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), I tried about three other universities.

Firstly, it was the prestigious University of Ibadan in 2014. The result wasn’t all that bad though since I scored 61% but unfortunately for me, the university fixed the cut off mark for Medicine and Surgery at 80%. Wow! I still had the vibe to put up for another JAMB (UTME) and probably get in the following year but all to no avail.

While my quest to study Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria proved abortive, I enrolled into one of the renowned Advanced level school in Ibadan hoping that maybe I could get a shot at direct entry. Yet, this was a dead end; you would wonder why there was so much gridlock on my way just because I wanted my desired course.

Two years ago, I went back to the score board to check what I wasn’t doing right and I figured my style and technique in studying was nothing to write home about. Hence, I drafted a plan for study and ensured I followed it to the best of my ability and interest.

My Preparation tips for JAMB (UTME)

– Study for 3 hours uninterrupted, solve past questions on aspects I already covered and ensured that I used my textbook to grade and assess my level of assimilation

– Reduced the amount of time I spent on easy topics and paid more attention to the technical and lengthy ones.

– I always made sure I got someone to help me out with the problems I couldn’t solve and made sure that I was satisfied before moving on to other question.

– Since, the exams were going to be CBT (computer based), I always made sure I timed myself while solving past questions giving a + or – time to complete a task.

– I attended tutorials, though I wasn’t frequent because I discovered the bulk of the work depended solely on me and not the number of classes I graced. Don’t skip classes all the same.

It wasn’t novel to me when I got 270 in UTME when the results were out and this was what I did after. I studied the way students were admitted the year before and figured scoring more than 250 was a starter hence I aimed for 280 but u can clearly see I fell below quota. So I had to strategize in order to come up with what and what not to do to ace the Post UTME well.

My Preparation tips for OOU POST UTME

– I downloaded a series of CBT software, got past materials concerning the exams from a friend, streamlined my reading to areas I felt was going to be frequent. For instance, moment, force and Light waves are inevitable in OOU Post UTME exams. I focused more on those areas

– I paid attention to the major subjects covered in the past post UTMEs. Although, OOU can set questions on current affairs and even general studies but it was rare. The UTME combination was absolutely the best option.

– Also, each time I took part in an online practice test regardless of whether the answers computerized would be right or wrong, I always made sure that I was being smart in my reasoning since it was objective questions in all! Thorough and critical thinking came into play since I’d need a lot of it in the D-day.

– Lastly, I made sure that I interacted with other friends writing that exam too, we solved problems together. Trust me; it’s a quick way to scale through your syllabus with little or less effort. Point out your difficulties and leave no stone unturned. Probably because I didn’t really get difficult areas during the UTME was the reason I didn’t score too high.

Well, the result was out and I had 68%, for a split second I was head over heels with the score and so I paused to calculate the final aggregate score.

OOU Grading System for Admission

OOU calculates it this way (it changes once in a blue moon though)

Your UTME score divided by 8

Then, your Post UTME divided by 2

Then add up the result of both.

E.g 270/8 = 33.75

68÷2 = 34

Total = 67.75 ~ 68%

Well, cut off marks are determined by the highest and lowest scores: merit, environmental and quota are also fixed. When the cut off mark was set, 68 was the cut off mark for non-indigenes, 66 for indigenes. This score felt low at first but I figured the post UTME really drained the certainties of people getting 80s and 90s hence highest was on a 70+. Luck right? Without mincing words, OOU places more emphasis on their exam than UTME note that!

Read: OOU Courses and admission requirements

Basic Requirements for Medicine and Surgery in OOU

• For O levels, you don’t need much. You just need a minimum of credit in five core subjects: English Mathematics, physics, chemistry and Biology. That’s basically all.
• JAMB subject combination for Medicine in OOU: English, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology

Author : Lamina Ifeoluwa (A Medical Student in Olabisi Onabanjo University and he is a seasoned writer who wrote “The true Memoirs of a Young Medic”