[nonamesleft]

Hi everyone, I really need your help!

So I am now going into year 13 this year, studying PE, Biology (probably dropping this) ICT and Pyschology.
Since year 8 i've had my heart set on becoming a doctor but unfortunately I became ill with glandular fever over my GCSE's so didnt acheive my full potential getting 6A's, 2B's and 3C's. Not bad I know but pretty bad in comparison to what I could have got. After my results I realised medicine was out of the question so thought I would direct my subjects with the aim of becoming a PE teacher. I have a great love for sport and am heavily involved in the department at my school becoming Sports Prefect this year.
At the back of my mind though, I have always felt disappointed with myself for my grades and still have a passion for medicine.
However, I have had an amazing and live changing summer trip where I met quite a few medical students. It really sparked my passion again for studying medicine.

I am debating whether to start 6th form again doing the necessary subjects for my course and perhaps retaking some GCSE sciences. OR do I just continue in the sports route?!?

Please help me put into perspective whether this is a good idea or not am I just asking way over the odds?
I just really want to study medicine, its a passion of mine and have made so many friends that are hopeful doctors, I want to be one of them!!

[Democracy]

(Original post by nonamesleft)
Hi everyone, I really need your help!

So I am now going into year 13 this year, studying PE, Biology (probably dropping this) ICT and Pyschology.
Since year 8 i've had my heart set on becoming a doctor but unfortunately I became ill with glandular fever over my GCSE's so didnt acheive my full potential getting 6A's, 2B's and 3C's. Not bad I know but pretty bad in comparison to what I could have got. After my results I realised medicine was out of the question so thought I would direct my subjects with the aim of becoming a PE teacher. I have a great love for sport and am heavily involved in the department at my school becoming Sports Prefect this year.
At the back of my mind though, I have always felt disappointed with myself for my grades and still have a passion for medicine.
However, I have had an amazing and live changing summer trip where I met quite a few medical students. It really sparked my passion again for studying medicine.

I am debating whether to start 6th form again doing the necessary subjects for my course and perhaps retaking some GCSE sciences. OR do I just continue in the sports route?!?

Please help me put into perspective whether this is a good idea or not am I just asking way over the odds?
I just really want to study medicine, its a passion of mine and have made so many friends that are hopeful doctors, I want to be one of them!!

Your GCSEs appear to be fine* for many medical schools (except the ones which place a lot of emphasis on GCSE results - so just don't apply to those places). I wouldn't retake GCSE science.

This page is pretty useful:

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

*Unless your Cs were in maths/English language. That might make things trickier, though still not impossible.

Though lack of chemistry/biology A2 would pose more of a problem...have you looked into foundation courses perhaps?

[nonamesleft]

(Original post by Democracy)
Your GCSEs appear to be fine* for many medical schools (except the ones which place a lot of emphasis on GCSE results - so just don't apply to those places). I wouldn't retake GCSE science.

This page is pretty useful:

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

*Unless your Cs were in maths/English language. That might make things trickier, though still not impossible.

Though lack of chemistry/biology A2 would pose more of a problem...have you looked into foundation courses perhaps?

Hi Democracy,

Thanks for the link. Luckily my C's were not in English or Maths so that is ruled out.

I could potentially keep biology but would rather not for a few reasons.
Would a foundation course be sufficient?

Thanks nonamesleft

[tory88]

(Original post by nonamesleft)
Hi Democracy,

Thanks for the link. Luckily my C's were not in English or Maths so that is ruled out.

I could potentially keep biology but would rather not for a few reasons.
Would a foundation course be sufficient?

Thanks nonamesleft

If you don't want to do biology A level for any reasons to do with interest or difficulty, do you think it's a wise decision to study medicine anyway?

[nonamesleft]

(Original post by tory88)
If you don't want to do biology A level for any reasons to do with interest or difficulty, do you think it's a wise decision to study medicine anyway?

It's nothing to do with interest as the subject is a keen interest, I do find the subject challenging but I am predicted a B at AS. Mainly a case of conflict with teachers and class size

[RollerBall]

(Original post by tory88)
If you don't want to do biology A level for any reasons to do with interest or difficulty, do you think it's a wise decision to study medicine anyway?

I dropped biology at AS, it was boring as sin and thus was my hardest AS level.

I'm now a third year medic.

Jus' sayin'

[vxrz]

Biology is not actually a prerequisite for medicine at most universities. It just happens to be appreciated more than other A-level subjects. Chemistry is the must have, not biology.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my LT26i

[Helloworld_95]

(Original post by vxrz)
Biology is not actually a prerequisite for medicine at most universities. It just happens to be appreciated more than other A-level subjects. Chemistry is the must have, not biology.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my LT26i

However the uni's which are going to be open to him because of his GCSE's are the ones which place more emphasis on A levels.

I'd say either look into a foundation year if you're going to be dropping Biology or think about graduate medicine which will give you more time to think about if you'd like to be a PE teacher

[tory88]

(Original post by RollerBall)
I dropped biology at AS, it was boring as sin and thus was my hardest AS level.

I'm now a third year medic.

Jus' sayin'

That's interesting, although I imagine you're more an exception than a rule amongst your classmates? Do you enjoy studying medicine now? I too dropped biology at AS because I found it bland and unfocused, but then I'm not a medic.

[Democracy]

(Original post by tory88)
That's interesting, although I imagine you're more an exception than a rule amongst your classmates? Do you enjoy studying medicine now? I too dropped biology at AS because I found it bland and unfocused, but then I'm not a medic.

Well medicine =/= biology anyway. Much less A level biology which covers a lot of boring stuff like plants and ecology which are totally unrelated to medicine.

[r-mc159]

medicine foundation courses are for people who haven't done the typical all science a levels required for the 5 year course, its the same but with one extra year, so you'd do one year of biology, maths and chemistry (with a bit of difference between med schools) and then start the normal medicine 5 year course. a girl in the year above me at college did this at sheffield after a levels in bio, psychology and sociology and loves it. you'd graduate as a doctor afterwards like the normal course too but obviously you'd need to want to do medicine still even if you dont need so many science/maths a levels, still something to consider though instead of doing sixth form all over again

[RollerBall]

(Original post by tory88)
That's interesting, although I imagine you're more an exception than a rule amongst your classmates? Do you enjoy studying medicine now? I too dropped biology at AS because I found it bland and unfocused, but then I'm not a medic.

I don't know many medics who liked biology at A level. There's too much ecology/plant BS in it. Medicine isn't really much like biology, it's more like chemistry with a **** load of acronyms. Well, really it's just learning the names of receptors and ligands and cascades and lists and crap basically.

[tpxvs]

(Original post by tory88)
If you don't want to do biology A level for any reasons to do with interest or difficulty, do you think it's a wise decision to study medicine anyway?

I didnt do any biology at all, ever (unless you count "science" with all three components at GCSE). I am a current medical student. So it is definitely possible People do tend to question my lack of biology but it wasnt that i didnt like it but rather there was so many subjects id happily have done at AS, i just chose 5 that happened to not include Biology as i didnt know then I wanted to be a doctor. I would say though, for those people wanting to apply to medicine who havent yet started their A-levels, take up biology - at least to AS, purely because you have more university application choices.

[georgekwok]

(Original post by tpxvs)
I didnt do any biology at all, ever (unless you count "science" with all three components at GCSE). I am a current medical student. So it is definitely possible People do tend to question my lack of biology but it wasnt that i didnt like it but rather there was so many subjects id happily have done at AS, i just chose 5 that happened to not include Biology as i didnt know then I wanted to be a doctor. I would say though, for those people wanting to apply to medicine who havent yet started their A-levels, take up biology - at least to AS, purely because you have more university application choices.

hi tpxvs,

since u didn't do biology in year 12, I'm in the same situation as you. Having been accepted to medical school, would it be wise to revise biology? I did IB and apparently the only non-human stuff in biology is ecology and evolution, plant science, photosynthesis and ecology and conservation.

Would revising IB biology give me more of an advantage/make medical school easier? Thanks.

And to answer OP's question, I think chemistry is a vital subject to study in A levels or IB, unless you're doing foundation course, but with that I think u need very good grades to eliminate competition. Applying medicine without biology isn't impossible. Either pick up both bio and chem, or don't take neither.