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Serious advice desperately needed for graduate entry courses and my future!

Hey guys, I made an account on this forum purely for this post and would greatly appreciate if anyone can give me some advice on my current situation.

I went to uni to study podiatry. I graduated in the summer of 2015 and have since been working as a podiatrist in the NHS. I am now feeling very unhappy with my career decisions as what I do is very different to the dream the lecturers sold to me when I went for my uni open day! The reality of it is that I spend the majority of my days cutting toe nails. I did not spend 3 years in uni training to cut nails. While I do accept that there are specialisms in podiatry that I can peruse, the end goal does not seem worth pursuing.

I have really made my mind up that podiatry is not the profession for me. This is due to several factors including work satisfaction, respect for the profession and realistic salary goals.

I am fairly new to my profession and I know I should trust my gut feeling that I need to change. If I am feeling this unhappy with my career at such an early stage I cant imagine what it would be like in 10 or 20 years from now.

I have always wanted to go down the medical or dental route but did not have the confidence at 18 to go for it.

I have made the careful decision that the next stage for me has to be retraining into another profession that I know I will be more satisfied in.

I made the decision to go down the Dental Surgery route but I have some serious barriers in my way very early on.

I would love to go onto a graduate entry Dental Surgery course but have found that it is horrendously competitive. I see that liverpool university only accepts 5% of the applicants onto its course. While I do feel more confident I must be realistic in saying that I am not in that top 5%!

I hold a 2:1 degree in BSc (Hons) Podiatry and also a BTEC in applied science with D*D* (double distinction star). Correct me if I am wrong but I believe this is something like 280 ucas points. The issue I face is that a lot of dental courses only accept the traditional A levels and even request AAA with chemistry and biology.

While I have actual work experience in the NHS working with patients in community and a hospital setting. I still feel that I will fail at the very first hurdle by not getting the required entrance requirements.

My second problem is that if I did decide to go for an undergraduate degree I would be competing with all the brilliant students who have just come out of private education with AAA's in science. There is also the matter of having to pay £9000 a year for a second undergrad course which I would not have if I did a graduate entry programme.

Does anyone have any advice on what my next steps should be?

I know podiatry is not for me and I know I would be much better suited to dentistry. Just wondering if this is a realistic goal based on my qualifications.
Wouldn't it mean if they want Chemistry and Biology and you dont have it, then you need to get it? Contact the Unis you might apply to and ask their advice as to entry. A levels are cheap compared to a year in Uni. get what they have and you dont have to worry or see if they have a foundation year.

Besides the academics above, then your main problem is funding.

Its ood you have made a choice in your head, but now you have to fill in all the dots between where yiou are now and where you wnat to be. be Prepared for a fight, but its no harder than the many people trying to do medicine on these forums. be sure its dentistry you wnat to do.
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/bds_dentistry_graduate_entry.php

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/dentistry-graduate-professional-entry-bds.aspx

These two are the only ones without a-level requirements. Have you thought about becoming a Doctor? Graduate entry medicine.
Original post by 999tigger
Wouldn't it mean if they want Chemistry and Biology and you dont have it, then you need to get it? Contact the Unis you might apply to and ask their advice as to entry. A levels are cheap compared to a year in Uni. get what they have and you dont have to worry or see if they have a foundation year.

Besides the academics above, then your main problem is funding.

Its ood you have made a choice in your head, but now you have to fill in all the dots between where yiou are now and where you wnat to be. be Prepared for a fight, but its no harder than the many people trying to do medicine on these forums. be sure its dentistry you wnat to do.


The problem is some medical schools won't accept A-levels taken outside Sixth-Form/College period because you're at a different level by then. Plus they'd be doing just 2 a-levels in a year - not to mention these are science A-levels and the labs cost like 250-500 pounds each.
Original post by High Stakes
The problem is some medical schools won't accept A-levels taken outside Sixth-Form/College period because you're at a different level by then. Plus they'd be doing just 2 a-levels in a year - not to mention these are science A-levels and the labs cost like 250-500 pounds each.


Youve made a choice, now you have to get on with it. If the task is too big then dont do it and choose seomething else.

If you wnat to become a dentist that much, then get on with it.

1. Do some research and find out which dentist schools you stand a chance at . You arent interested in the ones who arent interested in you. I find that an unusual policy, but i will take your word for it. unusual becayse it precludes mature candidates who apply at a later stage.

2. How is £250-£500 an issue big enough to put you off when doing a new degree is going to cost you £15-20k a year?

You need to rethink how commited you are and how much you really want it. Not seeing it at the moment. I dont see what you say as problems, they are just minor obstacles.
Original post by 999tigger
Youve made a choice, now you have to get on with it. If the task is too big then dont do it and choose seomething else.

If you wnat to become a dentist that much, then get on with it.

1. Do some research and find out which dentist schools you stand a chance at . You arent interested in the ones who arent interested in you. I find that an unusual policy, but i will take your word for it. unusual becayse it precludes mature candidates who apply at a later stage.

2. How is £250-£500 an issue big enough to put you off when doing a new degree is going to cost you £15-20k a year?

You need to rethink how commited you are and how much you really want it. Not seeing it at the moment. I dont see what you say as problems, they are just minor obstacles.


I'm not OP lol
Original post by High Stakes
I'm not OP lol


lol ok, they all merge into one.


It still stands though, she just has to find out which might be interested and that means research and considering its going to mean respeding tens of thousands, then a few hundred quid for lab fees is minor.
For graduate entry anything, there probably isn't a 'typical' entry route. So the university will consider each individual application on its own merits. This includes qualifications and academic references, but also experience and professional references.

So: you have a top grade in applied science BTECH, a science 2.1 degree in a healthcare discipline, and a year's experience of working in an NHS setting. Write that up, presenting yourself as the ideal candidate for graduate entry dentistry & applying your current experience to the entry requirements for the courses. Then send an email to the course administrators of your target universities, enquiring as to whether you are a suitable candidate to make a viable application (and if not, ask why, or what you could do to strengthen your application).

This sounds easy but of course it isn't - it requires a lot of thought and research.

It's pretty unlikely at this stage that they will ask you to take A levels - you're well past that (and need to position yourself as a healthcare professional not a school leaver). But they might flag up your lack of experience in dentistry - is there any way at all that you can gain some experience within your NHS trust, or even consider applying for trainee dental nurse positions, or using any other contacts that you can think of to begin to demonstrate a commitment to dentistry?

It does come across as if you're scared of putting in an application and being one of the 95% who don't get a place - so stop thinking about it as 'making an application' and start thinking about 'things I can do to prepare to make a better application.' All the research you do towards that will help you consider alternative routes out of podiatry even if it doesn't ultimately lead to dentistry.
Original post by Jantaculum
For graduate entry anything, there probably isn't a 'typical' entry route. So the university will consider each individual application on its own merits. This includes qualifications and academic references, but also experience and professional references.

So: you have a top grade in applied science BTECH, a science 2.1 degree in a healthcare discipline, and a year's experience of working in an NHS setting. Write that up, presenting yourself as the ideal candidate for graduate entry dentistry & applying your current experience to the entry requirements for the courses. Then send an email to the course administrators of your target universities, enquiring as to whether you are a suitable candidate to make a viable application (and if not, ask why, or what you could do to strengthen your application).

This sounds easy but of course it isn't - it requires a lot of thought and research.

It's pretty unlikely at this stage that they will ask you to take A levels - you're well past that (and need to position yourself as a healthcare professional not a school leaver). But they might flag up your lack of experience in dentistry - is there any way at all that you can gain some experience within your NHS trust, or even consider applying for trainee dental nurse positions, or using any other contacts that you can think of to begin to demonstrate a commitment to dentistry?

It does come across as if you're scared of putting in an application and being one of the 95% who don't get a place - so stop thinking about it as 'making an application' and start thinking about 'things I can do to prepare to make a better application.' All the research you do towards that will help you consider alternative routes out of podiatry even if it doesn't ultimately lead to dentistry.


Very good post and agree completely with that approach. Including doing the research, making your application better, getting experience as a dental nurse and pitching yourself as a trained professional with experience.
oops double post.
Reply 10
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Jantaculum that was the perfect piece of advice I was looking for. Thank you again!

I will take this on board!

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