This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

She really wants to do medicine... but she isn't good at science.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 20

RollerBall

Perhaps tell her about other healthcare proffessions, Nursing etc.

Reply 21

Casshern1456

Is she an example of someone who has good dreams but not willing to work for it. :closedeyes:

Reply 22

EM(Lin)

ZOMG!

We have a careers advisor, so I might tell my friend to go and see her and ask about entry requirements for medicine.

I'll talk to her about the grades she needs again on Monday... if grades or careers choices comes up, because if I bring it up I would end up sounding that a total cow.

I know what you mean- my friend and I were going crazy last year trying to get another friend to take A Levels she actually had a chance of passing... (as it turns out she's got into a prestigious stage school, but that's beside the point :p:

). It's difficult to know how far to go :frown:

Good luck!

Reply 23

MathsHamster

One of my friends really wanted to be a vet with those sort of grades, but she failed Year 12 and had to retake the whole year. Even now I don't know if she is still aiming for vet school. Your friend needs a reality check before it comes to this; if she is unlikely to get in now, she will be even more unlikely to get in once her unis find out that she failed a year.
Talk to her and see if there is something she'd rather do instead of medicine, something that she enjoys rather than something she thinks she ought to do.

If she can get onto a degree course for something like pharmacy, human biology etc. and does well she can get onto a four-year post-grad medicine course and could still become a doctor. It depends whether she will do well at a degree or not.
Otherwise, why not try to tempt her to do nursing or midwifery? It is still in healthcare and she will probably enjoy it more. They are still responsible professions and require common sense as well as intelligence, but whereas for medicine she will not get accepted without straight As, she can train to be a nurse with Bs and Cs at A level.

Reply 24

Revolution is my Name

Why the hell are you trying to help her get in to Medicine? I'm sure even if she can weasel out of the GCSE requirements, then she'll do badly at A Level Sciences, and then if she can weasel out of the requirements for that or whatever and get into a foundation degree, then she'll do badly at the degree level stuff. So you'll just be prolonging her failure.

Reply 25

rmod

9a3iqa

Women shouldn't even do medicine, stick to nursing (or cooking)

AHaaaaaaaa how about no, get out now before an army of female medics descends and attacks you.

..In reply to this thread, I think nursing is a really good suggestion for your friend, as if she's not good at science a) she most probably definitly won't get into medicine and b) in the almost impossible event she does get in, if she cant pass science gcse, then learning preclinical medicine, which is hard, seems a bit out of the question, she wouldnt be able to complete the degree which would just be a waste of her time and money.
Show her allllll the other options for careers in healthcare there are, she'll find something she's interested in there im sure, because there's loads!! Good luck :smile:

Reply 26

_anum

Bslforever

Gently tell her that its not for her. Its best to get it out now so that she can choose realistic A levels and end up in a good uni course. With those grades, getting a med placement is pretty much impossible.

yeah agreed.... if she choses the sciences now, she'll get quite a shock when starting college next yr as she'll realise that there is a quite a big difference from gcse to a level.... she'll just end up hating the subject specially as you have like twice the amount of work and lessons next yr... she she chose the subjects which are right for her, and yeah not heard many people getting into medince/dentistry with D's in biology :s-smilie:

Reply 27

9a3iqa

rmod

AHaaaaaaaa how about no, get out now before an army of female medics descends and attacks you

Female medics? That is more than blasphemous.

Reply 28

jbyrne1989

ZOMG!

Sorry this is long... Feel free to skim. :p:

I have a friend who wants to do medicine but the thing is... she isn't very good at science and I suspect she is doing it for the wrong reasons aswell.

She does additional science at GCSE and resat the entire of the last module (Chem. Phys and Bio) in order to improve her grade (I think she got Ds) and her resit results? Those same Ds but this time they brought a U along with them :frown:

She was upset about this as she thought the exam went well... it obviously didn't. She told me she revised a lot aswell... I made no comment. She's also said she can't afford to fail science because everyone in her family does medicine and so should she. This is when I started to think she wasn't doing it for the right reasons.

I don't think she can survive A level science, if she can't manage to scrape a B GCSE! I tried to make her think about other subjects she was good at but she won't have it, she says she isn't good at anything (she's mainly a C/D grade student, which okay because a C = a pass but for medicine? I dunno if that's going to get her anywhere :confused:

).

I'm really not trying to bash her here. I'm just concerned, I don't want her to get her hopes up or find herself stuggling with A level science (which I'm 99% sure she will). I don't want her to waste her options!

Is there any advice I can give her? I've heard about foundation medicine courses or something like that... Or are here grades too low for this? Shall I just leave her to it? Or continue to try and pursuade her to do something else?

(gosh, I hope I didn't just sound like a complete bitch.)

Put grades aside, because exams can be resat and redone etc. Get her to do some volunteer work, you said her parents are Doctors? She should get some volunteer work there and also in a caring environment such as a nursing home.

After ask her if:
1. Shes willing to spend the next 8 years in full time study.
2. Whether she would be comfortable caring for people of all ages for the 40 years after.
3. Most importantly did she enjoy it? If not she will find it hard to motivate herself when the going gets tough, and it will get tough.

If she can honestly answer yes to all 3 then I say she should go for it. And besides if someone really wants something they'll do it regardless of what anyone else says. For example my dads an Accountant and has tried hard to convince me to stick with Accounting, but I know after I grad I want to do GEM.

Reply 29

_anum

9a3iqa

Female medics? That is more than blasphemous.

:O what century are you living in! :p:

Reply 30

rmod

9a3iqa

Female medics? That is more than blasphemous.

good luck with that attitude when you're old/ill/helpless and have no other option but to put your life in the hands of a female medic. She may just 'accidentally' slip up... :smile:

Reply 31

Single Malt

rmod

AHaaaaaaaa how about no, get out now before an army of female medics descends and attacks you.

With women making up the bulk of medical school admissions this is a distinct possibility.

Reply 32

9a3iqa

rmod

good luck with that attitude when you're old/ill/helpless and have no other option but to put your life in the hands of a female medic. She may just 'accidentally' slip up... :smile:

Hopefully it wouldn't be a woman, otherwise I would be dead either way, probably by being ran over when she misses the parking lot

Reply 33

skipp

I reckon she's going to end up pretty unhappy if she keeps chasing after medicine, she's obviously not strong at sciences, so she's going to struggle even if she even gets on to A level science courses...maybe she should start looking at her own strengths and what she enjoys, rather than what her family are good at...

Reply 34

Emmalouise1990

I got an A* in Biology and A in Chemistry and Physics at GCSE and i'm struggling with A Levels,so I wouldn't recommend going down the Medicine route if your struggling to get even a B at GCSE Science.I hope that doesn't sound too harsh, but it is probably best to steer her in a different direction towards something she is good at and will find more rewarding.

Reply 35

Bslforever

rmod

good luck with that attitude when you're old/ill/helpless and have no other option but to put your life in the hands of a female medic. She may just 'accidentally' slip up... :smile:

:rotfl: i can see it now.

"Doctor, i've been having headaches all week, what should i do?"

"hmm, looks like you need a vasectomy" :biggrin:

Reply 36

ZOMG!

Revolution is my Name

I'm trying to deter her from the idea of medicine, not help her. Did you not read anything I posted?
Your speaking as though I have control over what she does. :rolleyes:

Reply 37

ZOMG!

jbyrne1989

About her parents being doctors... All she told me was that 'everyone in my family does medicine'. I found that a little hard to believe, as, like me, she isn't the most... well off person ever and we do all presume that most doctors receive quite a nice pay check at the end of the month.

About point number 3, its hard to believe someone has a real passion for science when they are constantly getting Ds, no? I understand she may acually like it but it does seem as though she is trying to force herself to like it.

In regards to the part highlighted in bold, yes, that's true but then again I don't think she'll make it onto the A level science course so...

Reply 38

candytreeman

Look after your own grades and leave her alone. Going from Cs to A*s isn't unheard of by any stretch. It is equally as common as a straight A student doing poorly.

She has to pursue it, and will realize if she really can't do it. Her tutors will step in once she gets to the "going to a level" stage, and will tell her she can't do it.

Reply 39

carcinoma

ZOMG!

I'm trying to deter her from the idea of medicine, not help her. Did you not read anything I posted?
Your speaking as though I have control over what she does. :rolleyes:

Its very simple, explain to her that the entry requirements for the standard medical courses are at least 7A*-C with Bs in English, Mathematics and Science.

If the does not believe you, tell her to look up the minimum entry requirements for medicine.

Then tell he she may be able to do a Foundation Programme non science A Levels first or via a Widening Access programme with Science A Levels.