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Do medicine without biology?

Hi
So some background info, during my younger age I never even considered doing medicine but the closer I get to applying to university , the more I realise I might want to do it. Problem is I decided my A levels as the following :
Physics
Chemistry
Maths
Further maths

Now as you can see, I don't have biology and I was wondering is it necessary for a undergrad degree course? Also in my GCSE's I had 6A*s, 7 As and one C in welsh cus I sucked at it :-P

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks
Reply 1
Original post by Rohaan
Hi
So some background info, during my younger age I never even considered doing medicine but the closer I get to applying to university , the more I realise I might want to do it. Problem is I decided my A levels as the following :
Physics
Chemistry
Maths
Further maths

Now as you can see, I don't have biology and I was wondering is it necessary for a undergrad degree course? Also in my GCSE's I had 6A*s, 7 As and one C in welsh cus I sucked at it :-P

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

This link has a lot of information

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medical_School_A_Level_Requirements

A lot of universities require Biology at least up to AS so it might be worth exploring the possibility of doing the AS (possibly next year if you are in year 12?)

There ARE a couple that don't seem to require it at AS though, so you can look at the information and decide your course of action.

Also, check the unis official sites to confirm the information as requirements do change from year to year.

EDIT: Also be wary that you are planning to drop a subject after AS, Maths and Further Maths won't be counted as two separate A2 levels by many medical schools.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by Rohaan
Hi
So some background info, during my younger age I never even considered doing medicine but the closer I get to applying to university , the more I realise I might want to do it. Problem is I decided my A levels as the following :
Physics
Chemistry
Maths
Further maths

Now as you can see, I don't have biology and I was wondering is it necessary for a undergrad degree course? Also in my GCSE's I had 6A*s, 7 As and one C in welsh cus I sucked at it :-P

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks


Like the poster above me has said, there are a few which don't need AS Biology. You may also want to consider doing AS Biology in your A2 year :smile:
Reply 3
As others have said, there are some medical schools which don't require biology. But if you gain a place, it will be harder as you'll be behind in biology - but not impossible. I do know a medical student with only AS biology, but we mostly have full A-levels in it.

So yes, you can apply - but it will be harder. It may be useful to mention in your personal statement that your decision for medicine was made later than most (but is still founded on a firm basis including work experience etc. and you're very keen) and so you didn't select biology A-level as you have and interest in all science. But since realising, you've done extra reading in biology (actually do this, perhaps do the AS course next year and drop further maths to lighten the load. Or could you drop Maths entirely and end up with a full A-level in Maths? If so, you could easily get two more full A-levels (Chem and Phys) and an AS, or even an A2 in biology as well if you push it. You'd have a lot of free time on the timetable.) But biology would better prepare you for medical school. It may be helpful to defer your application back a year whilst you gain work experience etc. to show you're committed - then your application will be stronger. Do speak to a careers advisor about this sort of stuff though, and most importantly, try to find out as soon as possible whether or not you do actually want to read medicine. It's a big commitment. The later you make the decision, the harder it will be for you, as many potential medical applicants have had a few years to prepare and get their applications looking good.
Reply 4
Some medical schools look for Chemistry more than Biology. My offer for entry in 2012 only asks for chemistry as part of it.

I was in the same position as you as I hadn't chosen Biology as an AS subject, but picked it up during the year and taught myself. I think teaching yourself could be a good idea as it shows various skills that can aid your application. My schools biology exam board was OCR and I found the course quite straightforward to learn. I didn't find it absorbing too much time from my other studies (I'm doing further maths as well).
As long as you are motivated to put the hours in learning it its not an impossible target. :smile:

I only decided to do Medicine during year 12 really, although it had always been floating around in my mind. If you're not sure, the thing I found that helped me a lot was just sitting down and really thinking about why you want to study Medicine. It sounds simple but it really made me decide exactly what I wanted to do and helped me focus my mind come interview time.

Hope this helps a little and good luck with whatever you decide to do :smile:
Reply 5
There are universities that don't require an A level in biology, but from my experience it's well worth having studied it.
Before starting my medicine course, I was under the impression that first year would be about getting everyone to the same level- for those of us with biology A level it would be an easy re-cap, and a good chance to catch up for those who don't. This was certainly not the case! The lecturers all assumed we all had the same level of knowledge and the small number of people who hadn't studied biology were putting in a lot of extra work.

In my opinion, AS maths and GCSE physics have been sufficient enough to get by on if you need to make some decisions on a final combination of subjects, but of course you should pick A levels that you enjoy and feel confident with.
Original post by Rohaan
Hi
So some background info, during my younger age I never even considered doing medicine but the closer I get to applying to university , the more I realise I might want to do it. Problem is I decided my A levels as the following :
Physics
Chemistry
Maths
Further maths

Now as you can see, I don't have biology and I was wondering is it necessary for a undergrad degree course? Also in my GCSE's I had 6A*s, 7 As and one C in welsh cus I sucked at it :-P

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks


I successfully applied to medicine this year despite my initial subjects being Chemistry, Maths, English Lit and History. All it meant was that I had to drop History in my second year and replace it with AS Biology, then apply strategically using my strengths. Send me a PM if you want to ask me anything else about my application :smile:

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