A SUCCESSFUL city doctor has revealed he was turned down from all five medical schools he applied to and only secured a last-minute university place when someone else dropped out as he battled to fulfil his dream to become a medic.

Dr Jason Seewoodhary, GP at Barbourne Medical Centre in Worcester, has shared his story in the hope that it will encourage more people to look at medicine and nursing as a future career - especially with a new medical school set to be built by the city’s university. The city doctor, who admitted he was told by teachers that he was not clever enough to study medicine, said nobody should be put off wanting to enter the profession through fear of elitism or that they are not good enough.

“You don’t have to be ‘clever’ to be a doctor and you don’t have to be cut from a certain cloth either - you just need a willingness to learn, have a genuine interest in people and be kind - that’s all,” he said.

“Medicine does stretch you to the limits from making ethical life and death decisions to vaccinating patients against Covid to undertaking cutting edge research, however, you’ll be well trained and supported, which brings out the best in you. You will love every second of it and it will be the best decision you make. Try and get some work experience at your local hospital or GP Surgery, volunteer with Covid vaccination projects and ask your GP to address school assemblies and careers fairs.”

Dr Seewoodhary said he had always wanted to be a doctor and when he realised dreams of opening the batting for England would never be fulfilled he turned to studying medicine.

He was rejected without an interview from all five medical schools he had applied to, despite having the required A-Levels, and despondently accepted the decision. All but ready to study chemistry at University College London, a late Friday night phone call from Cardiff University Medical School about a couple of students who had deferred entry led to a rush to Wales for an interview the very next day and by Monday morning, the young prospective doctor had started his studies.

"There are other advantages to being a doctor - you’ll never be unemployed, you earn well, you can work anywhere in the world, you’ll never be bored at work, the work is diverse and you never stop learning,”

Dr Seewoodhary added. “What I learnt in medical school 23 years ago is outdated now; keeping abreast with daily advances in medicine is very important.” Plans for a multi-million-pound state-of-the-art training facility for medical and health professional students in Hylton Road in Worcester were put forward by the University of Worcester last year.