[ChloeBazingaa]

Hi, I just wondered for any people who are biomed students or aspire to be, or you just have a good idea of what I'm asking, what grades did you get at GCSE and A-Level, or what are you expected to get, to get into this course?




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[kog]

biomed applicant here. GCSE's realy dont matter that much (maybe for Oxbridge? I wouldn't know) and the course is offered at so many univerisites, that you can just cheerry pick the ones you want after you get your AS grades based on what you got/what you think you can get/and a lower one as `back up`

Just be sure, if you plan on working in hospitals as a biomedical Scientist for the NHS, tha your course is IBMS accredited, otherwise you wont be able to work in a hospital after your degree, straight away.

I was predicted BBCc In Biol/chem/maths/physics(alreay having a C at AS Physics, but dropped it for A level) and welsh bacc, and had suitable work experience (week in a biomedical labs in a hospital in various parts, made for a good personal statement)

I applied to Queen Mary University of London, Cardiff University, Reading, Oxford Brookes, Liverpool John Moores. Got offers from all, and firmed Reading, as it looked a great university on the open day.Oxford Brookes for insurance as they gave me a nice offer of CC and the Welsh Bacc

Any questions, ask away, i'll try to answer to the est of my abilities

[ChloeBazingaa]

(Original post by kog)
biomed applicant here. GCSE's realy dont matter that much (maybe for Oxbridge? I wouldn't know)

I though they had a really big impact on offers because I've seen a lot of people on here saying how you haven't got a chance of you don't have about 7 A*s so I thought I'd ask actual biomed applicants to see if it was true because i know that i won't have that D:

(Original post by kog)
Just be sure, if you plan on working in hospitals as a biomedical Scientist for the NHS, tha your course is IBMS accredited, otherwise you wont be able to work in a hospital after your degree, straight away.

Sorry if I'm being stupid, but what is 'IBMS Accredited'? Are most of the biomed courses this, or only a few? If I did choose a one which didn't, then how would later be able to, what would I have to do to be able to?

(Original post by kog)
I was predicted BBCc In Biol/chem/maths/physics(alreay having a C at AS Physics, but dropped it for A level) and welsh bacc, and had suitable work experience (week in a biomedical labs in a hospital in various parts, made for a good personal statement)

Huh that's my exact A Level choices. though I'm unsure of Physics, as someone told me that uni's like a 'variety' so I should take a subject like English lit, which I have no idea if it's true or not :s
Wow, how did you get this work experience in a biomedical lab? I had a work placement with William Harvey for a week but that was much more varied and not specific to labs, and I've heard it's very difficult to get placements such as that, what did you do for the week, were you shadowing or taking part in actual experiments etc?

(Original post by kog)
I applied to Queen Mary University of London, Cardiff University, Reading, Oxford Brookes, Liverpool John Moores. Got offers from all, and firmed Reading, as it looked a great university on the open day.Oxford Brookes for insurance as they gave me a nice offer of CC and the Welsh Bacc

Wow, congratulations!

(Original post by kog)
Any questions, ask away, i'll try to answer to the est of my abilities

Hehe, I hope I haven't asked too many

Thank you for your help!



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[sukee]

I did Biomedical Science, it's not a course I'd recommend. The job prospects are poor.

[ChloeBazingaa]

(Original post by sukee)
I did Biomedical Science, it's not a course I'd recommend. The job prospects are poor.

Really? on here all I've heard is that there's endless job opportunities


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[sukee]

(Original post by ChloeBazingaa)
Really? on here all I've heard is that there's endless job opportunities


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Please let me know of them.

[noma5]

(Original post by sukee)
I did Biomedical Science, it's not a course I'd recommend. The job prospects are poor.

Was your course a sandwich course or just the usual 3 year degree?
If you don't mind me asking because I thought if you had some experience under your belt, you may be fine in terms of job prospects.

[kog]

(Original post by ChloeBazingaa)
I though they had a really big impact on offers because I've seen a lot of people on here saying how you haven't got a chance of you don't have about 7 A*s so I thought I'd ask actual biomed applicants to see if it was true because i know that i won't have that D:



Sorry if I'm being stupid, but what is 'IBMS Accredited'? Are most of the biomed courses this, or only a few? If I did choose a one which didn't, then how would later be able to, what would I have to do to be able to?



Huh that's my exact A Level choices. though I'm unsure of Physics, as someone told me that uni's like a 'variety' so I should take a subject like English lit, which I have no idea if it's true or not :s
Wow, how did you get this work experience in a biomedical lab? I had a work placement with William Harvey for a week but that was much more varied and not specific to labs, and I've heard it's very difficult to get placements such as that, what did you do for the week, were you shadowing or taking part in actual experiments etc?



Wow, congratulations!



Hehe, I hope I haven't asked too many

Thank you for your help!



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GCSE's really dont matter that much when applying to university courses (except for courses like medicine, where most applicants are pretty `perfect` and they need to narrow down the applications quickly)

I personally had 3 A's, 7 B's, C and a D.


the `IBMS` is the Institute of BioMedical Science, there the institute that `supply` (bad word, but you know what i mean) biomedical scientists to the NHS, so if the course isn't `IBMS` accredited, you wont be able to work for ther NHS straight after university (you can become IBMS accredited on your own, but tha's a bit of hassle and will leave you without a job for another year i imagine)

For your 4th A level, just do the one you feel you'll enjoy the most, personally i regretted dropping physics for maths, i feel i could have done better in Phyics this year, than the endless onslaught of equations of C3,C4 and S1. But that's all down to personal preference.

My offers basically stated `A/B` in Biology (depending on university) and `BB/CC` in Chem/Maths (depending on university) reading was based on points, and included my physics AS level.

As for job prospects, there's a bit out there you can do, personally i want to work in a hosptial with NHS, you could go into research, and many try to use it as a way of getting into post grad medicine (still strictly speaking undergrad though). And for employability of the course, check out http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/ but bare in mind, you'll see low figures, but many people go on to further study (masters/post grad etc etc)

For my work experience, i went to my careers advisor and asked for a few numbers to a local hospitals pathology department, and told them that i was interested in a biomedical science course and if I could have a weeks worth of work experience to get a `taster` of it, the lady was more than happy, and put me on to another person whom sent me various forms to fill in (who I am, state why i want the placement, confidentiality etc).

During the week I worked in various places, last day i was in Biochemistry, and had a go at all experiments where possible (ranging from working out the exact blood group of a person for a blood transfusion (of course the guy in charge was doing it as well, to see if I get the same result), to counting sperm :P (i was donned the `love juice bitch` for that morning), did various blood analysis, urine analysis and looking at bacterial colonies on petri dishes made from various swabs for any nasty infection (mouth and vagina mainly), also had afternoon in the coagulation department, and one of the guys tried to tell me about the `coagulation cascade`, interesting, but went way over my head :P

In the Biochemitry labs it was more loking at drugs themselves and the amount of drugs in a patient by various methods of analysing. Oh and also, for the whole week the canteen treated me as a employee and gave me discounts on my meal If it wasn't for the guys there, I wouldn't have known about the iportance of applying for a IBMS accredited course, as i hadn't heard the term before till then, they gave me a really handy leaflet with a list of unis that are accredited, been trying to find it for awhile now, will come back to you when I find it

It was a good week, just try and phone around, but start asap, I phoned last March, and my work xp placement began in September.

Good Luck!

[kog]

Ahh, here's a bit of light reading to know what the accreditation is all about

http://www.ibms.org/go/education-dev.../accreditation

http://www.ibms.org/go/education-dev...t:ibms-courses

and here's a list of universities that do IBMS accredited courses

http://www.ibms.org/includes/act_dow...te-degrees.doc

[WhatTheFunk]

(Original post by sukee)
I did Biomedical Science, it's not a course I'd recommend. The job prospects are poor.

So pretty much like every other degree


As long as you have C in both GCSE Maths and English that will be fine.
A-levels depends on the uni, mine asked for BBC- BBB but let people on with E's and D's

[kaypc]

(Original post by sukee)
I did Biomedical Science, it's not a course I'd recommend. The job prospects are poor.

can't you do grad entry into medicine??

[PrismaticCore]

(Original post by kaypc)
can't you do grad entry into medicine??

Grand entry medicine isn't something you can just stroll into.
It's pretty much as hard as getting in from Year 13 (some say it's harder).
Plus you have to fund an extra year of Uni before the NHS start paying for your course.
Basically...it's really not an ideal job prospect for people who don't want another ton of years of studying.

[ChloeBazingaa]

(Original post by kog)
GCSE's really dont matter that much when applying to university courses (except for courses like medicine, where most applicants are pretty `perfect` and they need to narrow down the applications quickly)

I personally had 3 A's, 7 B's, C and a D.


the `IBMS` is the Institute of BioMedical Science, there the institute that `supply` (bad word, but you know what i mean) biomedical scientists to the NHS, so if the course isn't `IBMS` accredited, you wont be able to work for ther NHS straight after university (you can become IBMS accredited on your own, but tha's a bit of hassle and will leave you without a job for another year i imagine)

For your 4th A level, just do the one you feel you'll enjoy the most, personally i regretted dropping physics for maths, i feel i could have done better in Phyics this year, than the endless onslaught of equations of C3,C4 and S1. But that's all down to personal preference.

My offers basically stated `A/B` in Biology (depending on university) and `BB/CC` in Chem/Maths (depending on university) reading was based on points, and included my physics AS level.

As for job prospects, there's a bit out there you can do, personally i want to work in a hosptial with NHS, you could go into research, and many try to use it as a way of getting into post grad medicine (still strictly speaking undergrad though). And for employability of the course, check out http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/ but bare in mind, you'll see low figures, but many people go on to further study (masters/post grad etc etc)

For my work experience, i went to my careers advisor and asked for a few numbers to a local hospitals pathology department, and told them that i was interested in a biomedical science course and if I could have a weeks worth of work experience to get a `taster` of it, the lady was more than happy, and put me on to another person whom sent me various forms to fill in (who I am, state why i want the placement, confidentiality etc).

During the week I worked in various places, last day i was in Biochemistry, and had a go at all experiments where possible (ranging from working out the exact blood group of a person for a blood transfusion (of course the guy in charge was doing it as well, to see if I get the same result), to counting sperm :P (i was donned the `love juice bitch` for that morning), did various blood analysis, urine analysis and looking at bacterial colonies on petri dishes made from various swabs for any nasty infection (mouth and vagina mainly), also had afternoon in the coagulation department, and one of the guys tried to tell me about the `coagulation cascade`, interesting, but went way over my head :P

In the Biochemitry labs it was more loking at drugs themselves and the amount of drugs in a patient by various methods of analysing. Oh and also, for the whole week the canteen treated me as a employee and gave me discounts on my meal If it wasn't for the guys there, I wouldn't have known about the iportance of applying for a IBMS accredited course, as i hadn't heard the term before till then, they gave me a really handy leaflet with a list of unis that are accredited, been trying to find it for awhile now, will come back to you when I find it

It was a good week, just try and phone around, but start asap, I phoned last March, and my work xp placement began in September.

Good Luck!

Wow, thank you so much!!

[ChloeBazingaa]

(Original post by kog)
Ahh, here's a bit of light reading to know what the accreditation is all about

http://www.ibms.org/go/education-dev.../accreditation

http://www.ibms.org/go/education-dev...t:ibms-courses

and here's a list of universities that do IBMS accredited courses

http://www.ibms.org/includes/act_dow...te-degrees.doc

Thanks again, this really helped to minimize my confusion

[BLineDisaster]

(Original post by sukee)
I did Biomedical Science, it's not a course I'd recommend. The job prospects are poor.

Well that's a load of *******s. Granted there won't be many opportunities with anything less than a 2:2, but otherwise there is plenty to do. From developing new drugs to managing a shop.

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