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Selection Procedure 2018-2019

A total of 410 places for first-year students will be available for the Bachelor’s degree programme in

Medicine at the University of Groningen/UMCG for academic year 2018-2019. All places will be

allocated based on a selection procedure!

N.B. The 8+ system has been abolished, so even with an average mark of 8 or higher for your final

exams, you must participate in the selection procedure. This brochure provides more information

about the selection procedure.

Selection: why?

For a number of years, the places for the degree programme in Medicine have been allotted through

selection. Research has shown that the students thus selected are quick and able students, while our

own experiences have also been positive. Moreover, in 2016 the law changed, requiring all available

places on a fixed quota degree programme be filled based on selection.

What do we consider important?

We find it important that candidates make a conscious choice for the degree programme in Medicine

as we shape it in Groningen. Also, students must have the qualities necessary to be a good student

now and a good physician later in life.

How can you prepare?

It is important to orientate yourself well with regard to the study programme and the competences

needed for a career in medicine. We expect you to have familiarized yourself with the Groningen

curriculum and to know why our programme suits you! We also expect you to be able to justify your

choice for one of our four learning communities. Further on in this brochure, we explain what we

mean by a learning community.

Applying for the selection procedure

You can apply for the selection procedure if your qualifications satisfy the national legal

requirements for admission to a medical degree programme. You can also participate if you do not

meet the requirements yet but will be taking your final exams this year in the right examination

subjects (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics) or if you can meet the requirements in

another way. You must satisfy all of the entry requirements by 15 July 2018 in order to be admitted

to the programme. It is up to you to request an extension of this deadline if the results of your final

exams do not become available until after 15 July 2018. You can find more information about

admission at http://www.rug.nl/umcg/education/medicine/selection_-admission-requirements-and-

deficiencies. If you satisfy these requirements and the Groningen programme is the one for you,

make sure you register for the selection procedure for the UG/UMCG degree in Medicine via

Studielink (www.studielink.nl) before 15 January 2018.

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Please note that you need a DigiD (if you officially live in the Netherlands) or a Studielink username

and password (if you do not live in the Netherlands) to log in to Studielink. It could take several days

to process the request for a DigiD username or a username and password. Be aware of this!

N.B. You may only participate in the selection procedure for the Groningen degree programme in

Medicine once.1

And 8+ candidates?

Even if you have obtained or expect to obtain an averagefinal exam grade of 8/10 or higher, you must participate in the selection procedure because the national 8+ regulation, i.e. the central lottery, was abolished last year.

The selection procedure

In the selection procedure, we look for candidates with ambition and talent, with the cognitive and

non-cognitive qualities required for success in the degree programme and in their future career.

In addition, we find it important that candidates match the specific characteristics of the Groningen

degree programme in Medicine. We will therefore expect you to have thoroughly orientated yourself

with regard to both your future career and the degree programme itself, including its four learning

communities.

The selection procedure: Saturday 17 February 2018 - Sunday 18 February 2018

If you have registered correctly in Studielink, we will send you an invitation to the selection process

on Saturday 17 or Sunday 18 February 2018 in Groningen. To be able to take part in the selection

procedure, you must attend the selection day in Groningen. We will not be able to tell you on which

of these two dates you will be expected until we know how many prospective students will be

participating.

During selection day you will be asked to perform various tasks and tests. You will have to do a lot of

preparatory work at home, such as studying material that will be included in a test, and a number of

other preparatory assignments. After you register in Studielink, we will send you instructions by

email. We will send the instructional emails on 10 and 17 January 2018. Thorough preparation for

the selection day will involve at least 60 hours of preparatory work.

The selection procedure aims to investigate which students best match our profile. These will be the

candidates who score highest on the various tests.

Our assessment of the tests starts with cognitive test 1 (about the materials sent to you in January)

and non-cognitive test 1. For candidates who score extremely low on the combination of these two

tests, we will not assess the other tests. This includes the portfolio with their CV.

1 Only if you fail your final exams in the year of participation will your application become void, allowing you to participate one more time. If you are registered for the Groningen degree programme in Medicine in Studielink on 15 January 2018, this registration will count as participation, even if you decide not to participate after all.

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These candidates will receive a ranking based on the results of the first two tests only and will be at

the bottom of the ranking list. Their chances of obtaining a place are reduced to almost zero.

For the other candidates, the other tests will be equally weighted. The portfolio to be compiled as a

preparatory assignment consists of an extensive CV including the final exam grades or the pass

grades from VWO 5 to VWO 6 (or equivalent to these last two years of pre-university education) and

counts as one of the tests. In the assessment of the portfolio, candidates with an average final exam

grade or pass grade above 8/10 (subjects Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and

Dutch/English) will be awarded extra points. Candidates who show demonstrable excellence in other

areas, e.g. sports, can score additional points in this test too. Although the other candidates will not

be able to distinguish themselves here, their experiences and merits may benefit them in the other

tests.

Only the work of those candidates who satisfy the admission requirements in the year of

participation will be assessed. Always check if you satisfy the requirements

(http://www.rug.nl/umcg/education/medicine/selection_-admission-requirements-and-deficiencies).

If you do not meet the admission requirements, you have to make sure you have a decision letter

from the University of Groningen Admissions Board about your admissibility before 17 February

2018. N.B. the admission procedure is a separate procedure! It is important to closely follow the

instructions for this process and to upload the requested documents to the system of Admissions

(Online Application System/OAS) in time. More information can be found at

http://www.rug.nl/education/international-students/application-procedure/ and

http://www.rug.nl/education/nederlandse-studenten/inschrijven/studies-met-een-numerus-fixus/.

The selection day

The on-site tests start early in the morning and will take up the greater part of the day. The day starts

with handing in your portfolio. The day will probably be divided into three or four blocks of about 90

minutes with a lengthy break between the tests. One test will be on the material you have to study at

home. Another test will ask you to provide your best solution to a number of situations. You will also

be asked to give your views on a certain development in healthcare and to answer a number of

questions about a reading text. In January 2018, after you register in Studielink, you will be sent more

information about the preparations for the day.

Sufficient time has been allotted to take the tests during the selection day. This means that no extra

time will be awarded to candidates with functional impairments.

Choice of learning community and ranking number

You will follow your UG/UMCG degree programme in Medicine within one of four learning

communities. More information about these can be found later in this document. During the

selection procedure, we ask you to choose one of these learning communities. During the selection

day you will be grouped per learning community. Ultimately, we will place a maximum of 120

students in each learning community.

For the 410 places, we look at students’ ranking for the degree programme, regardless of their choice

of learning community. Subsequently, we take into account the candidates’ community preferences.

Should more than 120 students choose the same community and be admitted to the degree

programme, which depends on their passing the final exams and actually claiming their place,

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candidates exceeding 120 will be placed in another community. Thus, if your ranking for the degree

programme in Medicine is lower than 410 and your personal number for your preferred learning

community is higher than 120, you may not be able to study in the learning community of your

choice. However, since April 2018 is too early for us to know whether everyone will be able to meet

the entry requirements in time, you may still be placed in your community of choice in the end.

Sometimes this does not become clear until August, when all the results of the final exams are in. In

April 2018 you will receive your ranking for the degree programme in Medicine and for the learning

community of your choice.

The four learning communities in the Groningen degree programme in Medicine: G2020

In September 2014 we started a new teaching programme, G2020. G2020 has four learning

communities, each with about 100 students. You choose in advance which community appeals to you

the most, and if you are selected, you will then follow your entire Bachelor’s degree programme

within that community. All communities lead to the same Bachelor’s degree certificate. After the

Bachelor’s phase, students from all four learning communities will enter the Dutch-taught Master’s

programme together, and if all goes well, you will leave university after six years as a physician

(basisarts).

Why learning communities?

We think that it is better and more motivating to study in a small community where you know all

your fellow students and lecturers, have joint interests and where active participation in the learning

process is expected of you. The communities give you the opportunity to delve more deeply into

subjects that appeal to you and thus develop a true academic attitude. The themes of the learning

communities have been chosen to dovetail with the way that care is expected to develop in the years

to come. We are thus preparing you in an optimum way to play a role in health care in 2020.

What are the four learning communities?

Many of the things that you will learn during your Bachelor’s degree in Medicine will be the same in

all four learning communities, i.e. general medical issues. The difference is in the deepening part.

When choosing the themes for the four learning communities, we took note of the (expected)

developments in care and the UMCG key priorities. You choose the learning community that

dovetails with your interests the best. In order to match the right student to the right community, it

is important that you study the focuses of the learning communities. Each focus determines the

angle of approach to deepening understanding of medical issues and varies from ‘broad generalist’ to

‘in-depth specialist’.

You can find more information about the four learning communities on our website

(http://www.rug.nl/umcg/education/medicine/learning-communities).

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2018-2019 MEDICINE SELECTION PROCEDURE: TIMETABLE

On 15 January 2018, by 23.59 Dutch Standard time at the latest, your application for the

selection procedure for Medicine in Groningen must be submitted to Studielink

(www.studielink.nl). Once we have received your application via Studielink, we will send you

an email on 10 or 17 January 2018 with your preparatory assignment for the selection

process on 17 or 18 February 2018. You should therefore make sure that your email details in

Studielink are correct. Remember to check your spam folder too!

After you have registered in Studielink, the Admissions Board of the University of Groningen

will check whether you are admissible to the degree programme in Medicine or whether

they need additional information to assess your admissibility. More information about the

admission procedure for candidates with non-Dutch previous education can be found at

http://www.rug.nl/education/international-students/application-procedure/ and

http://www.rug.nl/umcg/education/medicine/selection_-admission-requirements-and-

deficiencies. In a number of situations this will mean that you must have a decision letter

from the University of Groningen Admissions Board about your admissibility before 17

February 2018. N.B. The admission procedure is a separate procedure!

Saturday 17 February or Sunday 18 February 2018: the selection procedure on site in

Groningen.

We will announce the results of the selection procedure and you will receive your ranking

through Studielink no later than 15 April 2018.

The explanation of the results will be sent to all candidates by email. The results will be in the

form of a ranking list based on the final score achieved. Each candidate will receive from us

their ranking for a study place and a learning community number. There are 120 places

available in each learning community. If interest exceeds that number, candidates who have

obtained a place in the degree programme in Medicine based on their ranking may be placed

in a different learning community, preferably their second preference.

The University of Groningen will then offer you a study place for the degree programme in

Medicine through Studielink, based on your ranking. You then have ten working days to

either accept or decline this offer. If you do not accept the offer, your ranking for the degree

programme will immediately expire and be offered to another candidate. You will then no

longer be able to claim a study place in the Groningen degree programme in Medicine. We

will offer study places from April 2018 to the middle of August 2018. More information about

this procedure can be found at http://www.rug.nl/education/nederlandse-

studenten/inschrijven/studies-met-een-numerus-fixus/

If you have any questions about the selection procedure, please check the Frequently Asked Questions section on our website (http://www.rug.nl/umcg/education/medicine/) first. If this doesnot answer your question, please send an email to selectionmedicalbachelors@umcg.nl.