[Besakt]

This is going to be me in 8 years time.

[xxxchrisxxx]

You are only 26. Look further afield. The booming economy of Australia? How about Canada? The US is probably out of the question as they are in as deep a **** as us. Maybe try biotech hubs in Asia? Singapore? China? Pharmaceutical sales if you are not into research? I know people (Oxbridge grads) moving to Brazil for fairly entry-level jobs.

[Queen Ducky]

Have you looked abroad for work?

Ireland has a lot of positions opening up in the Biomed field Seriously, most pharma companies etc have bases in Ireland

Whatever you decide to do, Good Look! Xx

[jakehoward1]

There is a saying "with hardship comes ease".
Keep your chin up buddy, it'll all work out.

[Anonymous]

(Original post by redferry)
Penicillin was discovered by one man. One person in research has the power to change the world. No I don't want to be a doctor, I set my sights higher than that, on making a bigger difference in the world *shrug* We will see if I get there. Probably not the rate at which this planet is going down the ****ter though.

I don't know, some things just aren't meant to be, surely a job in research/as a nurse/physio would be preferable to doing nothing with your life?

I don't really think you have any right to slate other peoples dreams. This man obviously wanted to be a Doctor and there is still chance for him.

As a medical applicant, I found your comment extremely rude. Just because you don't want to do it doesn't mean other people don't! Also to say you have your 'sights higher than that' is so offensive and I personally can't see anything more admirable than dedicating your whole life to helping people however I do see things that are equally admirable like nursing, medical research and physiotherapy but these are extremely different careers to medicine. If you want to make a difference in the world then medicine seems like a good start to me.

Also, yes penicillin was originally discovered by one man but actually it was Florey and Chain and their team that discovered how to use penicillin on a larger scale and administer it to patients.

[redferry]

(Original post by Anonymous)
I don't really think you have any right to slate other peoples dreams. This man obviously wanted to be a Doctor and there is still chance for him.

As a medical applicant, I found your comment extremely rude. Just because you don't want to do it doesn't mean other people don't! Also to say you have your 'sights higher than that' is so offensive and I personally can't see anything more admirable than dedicating your whole life to helping people however I do see things that are equally admirable like nursing, medical research and physiotherapy but these are extremely different careers to medicine. If you want to make a difference in the world then medicine seems like a good start to me.

Also, yes penicillin was originally discovered by one man but actually it was Florey and Chain and their team that discovered how to use penicillin on a larger scale and administer it to patients.

But imagine being part of that, that is an incredible achievement.

I just find it a shame just how many people waste their time struggling to get into medicine when they could be using their (obviously high) intellect to do other, just as useful, things.

It is such a waste of talent.

[redferry]

(Original post by Anonymous)
I don't really think you have any right to slate other peoples dreams. This man obviously wanted to be a Doctor and there is still chance for him.

As a medical applicant, I found your comment extremely rude. Just because you don't want to do it doesn't mean other people don't! Also to say you have your 'sights higher than that' is so offensive and I personally can't see anything more admirable than dedicating your whole life to helping people however I do see things that are equally admirable like nursing, medical research and physiotherapy but these are extremely different careers to medicine. If you want to make a difference in the world then medicine seems like a good start to me.

Also, yes penicillin was originally discovered by one man but actually it was Florey and Chain and their team that discovered how to use penicillin on a larger scale and administer it to patients.

But imagine being part of that, that is an incredible achievement.

I just find it a shame just how many people waste their time struggling to get into medicine when they could be using their (obviously high) intellect to do other, just as useful, things.

It is such a waste of talent.

[Ric_94]

Have you thought about moving to another country?
Studying in Spain is quite cheap and you'll probably get accepted. (But I'm sure there is still LOTS of opportunities in UK for you)
Anyway, courage! You has got quite far, don't give up
If you feel like talking or just bored PM me

[Sherbet]

(Original post by Silkysam)
Yea and the reason is that the number of Medicine undergraduate places is capped to 8000 a year. If it wasn't capped then medicine would be no where near as competitive as it is.

That's true and I suppose it's good once you get an offer, other courses are really competitive like physio but it can be really hard to get a job once you graduate.

[Sherbet]

(Original post by redferry)
But imagine being part of that, that is an incredible achievement.

I just find it a shame just how many people waste their time struggling to get into medicine when they could be using their (obviously high) intellect to do other, just as useful, things.

It is such a waste of talent.

True, but I want to work with people and help them, I want to SEE that I can make a difference even if I'm not revolutionary and I don't change the world or help everyone.

I don't want to be stuck in a lab, I love the idea of learning clinical skills and seeing how a disease manifests itself in someone and how everybody works differently. It's not all about the science for me, I'd be useless in a lab haha.

[Sherbet]

(Original post by Anonymous)
I don't really think you have any right to slate other peoples dreams. This man obviously wanted to be a Doctor and there is still chance for him.

As a medical applicant, I found your comment extremely rude. Just because you don't want to do it doesn't mean other people don't! Also to say you have your 'sights higher than that' is so offensive and I personally can't see anything more admirable than dedicating your whole life to helping people however I do see things that are equally admirable like nursing, medical research and physiotherapy but these are extremely different careers to medicine. If you want to make a difference in the world then medicine seems like a good start to me.

Also, yes penicillin was originally discovered by one man but actually it was Florey and Chain and their team that discovered how to use penicillin on a larger scale and administer it to patients.

Hang on a sec I said he should give it another try I never said he shouldn't be?
I never said I was aiming "higher", I really admire nurses and I seriously considered applying for it, I did work experience and talked to tons of nurses who said I wasn't suited for it and should apoply for medicine instead.

I fully understand the value of the MDT, doctors couldn't do 10% of what they do without nurses, physios, OTs, receptionists, porters, HCAs, cleaners, managers, social services, charities etc. I'm saying I want to go into medicine and not one of these other fields, not that they're rubbish just that medicine is the most "academic" and it offers more of what I'm looking for than nursing does.

[kka25]

(Original post by *pitseleh*)
are muddling by in jobs they don't really enjoy, and hatching plans to do something they like better.

Lol. Mine as well

[giella]

The thing about graduate entry medicine is that the medical schools expect to see something quite special about the graduate entrants. I know people who've done it and people who've tried to do it and I've even had the opportunity to do it myself, even though I turned it down.

The thing that separated people who did get in from those who didn't was the level of personal achievement they had in their lives. It's actually the same thing that separates school-leavers as well but with graduates the medical schools expect to see a little more.

You're 26 and still pining about medicine. Apart from confirm your interest through work experience, what else have you actually done with your life that shows a true ability to work with people and get the best out of them? If you have that, then you need to push it on your PS. If you haven't got that, you need to get it and take your life off hold as well.

Frankly I would say get out of the traffic jam that is the medicine application phase and do something else with your life. You're probably just not at the right stage of your life to get there. If you really want to get there, be prepared to take a longer route and you'll be able to navigate another route into it. You want to work with people, be a teacher or a nurse or something.

It's platitudinous to say this I know but life is about the journey, not the destination. Why not pick a more scenic route and maybe you'll find some pleasant stops along the way?

[mrgamer98]

Might aswell jump off a cliff, your life forever more is going to be purree failure.. idiot

[BeanofJelly]

You could train as a Physician Assistant.

You would use your degree (they are all science graduates or qualified health professionals), and they're taking on more and more of what used to be solely doctors' clinical skills.

They may not do everything that a doctor does but their training is also much shorter. What they learn is very similar to general medicine and the course is certainly academically rigorous.

NHScareers - Physician Assistant



In any event - you're probably a high achieving individual, and don't forget that just because you didn't get into medicine. If Physician Assistant (or another medical profession - paramedic, nurse, midwife) is too close for comfort, there must be other science jobs (try NewScientist) or you could consider teaching.

You're only 26 there's still plenty of time for you fit in an interesting and fulfilling career into your life

[Chillaxer]

Pull yourself together. It's still all there for you. Some people would love a career in research in biomedicicine, in fact some of the cleverest medics do research instead of being docs. But even if yuou don't want to do that, you've got to put the whole thing in perspective. I've known someoe who was an accomplished doc, attractive, got all the money, seeming confident as hell etc, can't have children. Other people get health problems. Painful for them and they may well envy that fundmental human thing that others have. Things aren't always as they seem on the surface. I've known Cambridge graduates can't get much of a job. Appreciate what you've got as a human being, reconnect with humanity, get some hobbies, travel, open your eyes, meet someone of the opposite sex etc. No-one's life is perfect, and in a few years your worries might switch from career to relationship/kids. Why not pre-empt that a little?

[Bigjay]

What makes a fantastic career is what u make out of it. I have life long ambition but been unsuccessful to get into my desired course for few years now but I'm enjoying my life not worrying about the my next application and interviews.

[Dirac Delta Function]

(Original post by Anonymous)
Studying medicine was a lifelong ambition for me. I worked SO very very hard at school and got great results, however, I was rejected. Due to family/teacher pressure I ended up doing Biomedicine, hoping it would lead the pathway to graduate medicine. That didn't work out either.

Now, 8 years later, I am 26, unemployed, and living with my parents. I barely have a social life because I can't afford to go out. I spend most of my time job hunting. I have only managed to get low-pay, frankly, rubbish jobs. Biomed-related jobs are over-subscribed and most are research positions, which I have no interest in. I really regret study Biomed.

I am still friends with people from my college, who are now doctors. They are all very busy with their careers, moving into apartments, buying cars etc. I am happy for them. But at the same time I feel a lot of resentment and disappointment that my life didn't turn out that way. Part of me doesn't want to be friends with them, because they are a constant reminder of what my life could have been like.

I really need advice and motivation. I am thinking of getting into nursing and other healthcare professions. I just feel so de-motivated because it feels like whenever I work hard towards something my hard work never pays off. Just feel like such an awful failure...

TLDR: rejected from Medicine 8 years ago. Did Biomed. Unemployed and living with parents. Loser.

There are absolutely loads of people in this position. The economy is in one of the worst states its ever been in and house prices are still far out of reach of most people, especially given that they want large deposits these days.

So, chin up, keep trying you'll get something eventually.

[catoswyn]

(Original post by redferry)
But imagine being part of that, that is an incredible achievement.

I just find it a shame just how many people waste their time struggling to get into medicine when they could be using their (obviously high) intellect to do other, just as useful, things.

It is such a waste of talent.

Its interesting if you read Florence Nightingale's biography. Your comment reminded me of her. She got dead p****d off with everyone wanting to be a doctor.. especially women. Not because she thought women shouldn't be doctors but because there were enough doctors already but a dreadful shortage of nurses. Being a very practical type of woman she thought it best to go where there was most need and saw it as selfish/self-engrossed to choose a pathway already crammed with excellent people!

[Toaster Leavings]

(Original post by catoswyn)
Its interesting if you read Florence Nightingale's biography. Your comment reminded me of her. She got dead p****d off with everyone wanting to be a doctor.. especially women. Not because she thought women shouldn't be doctors but because there were enough doctors already but a dreadful shortage of nurses. Being a very practical type of woman she thought it best to go where there was most need and saw it as selfish/self-engrossed to choose a pathway already crammed with excellent people!

The most annoying thing about doctors is this idea they are supposedly overflowing with altruism and philanthropy when it's quite clear if they weren't paid well (i.e. driving swish cars, buying houses like the OP mentioned) very few would bother pursuing it. At least lawyers or hard-nosed business types don't disguise the fact they are in it predominantly for the status and moolah.

My Dad was in medical research (immunology) and was paid modestly compared to a doctor's wage despite the advances he achieved. My sister works in cancer research (funded by the charity) and gets paid less than £20k, not as some lab tech doing standard procedures or setting up experiments, as a proper researcher. Oh well. Misplaced priorities as usual.