Re-Applicant Back Up Choice - Sensible or Suicide?

It depends, would you be using your back up as a route to graduate medicine further down the line, or just as a separate degree which you intend to follow for the rest of your life? Natural Sciences is obviously a hugely demanding course and would look good on a medical application later in life, but biomedical science is also a very standard graduate-applicant course and would also be fine. In terms of career prospects I would historically say that biomedical science is a degree that leads to a set route of progression career-wise, and that if you get a good biomedical science degree you could go down the lines, very easily, of becoming a biomedical scientist in industry. Natural science tends to be for very clever people like yourself who have wide-ranging interest in science as a whole, as opposed to a specific route -- though I know you do specialise later on.

TL;DR: If you're looking to study medicine and that is it, I'd say stick biomedical science down as your 5th option. Admissions tutors for biomedical science are very used to medical personal statements. If you're into just doing something else, I'd say it's also an equally good option there too.

As a biomedical science graduate I would advise against putting it down as your 5th choice, the job prospects are very poor and it's quite a boring degree.

Ring up the admissions tutors and find out whether they would accept another, specific, PS for NatSci, as some courses allow you to send another PS in

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Ring up the admissions tutors and find out whether they would accept another, specific, PS for NatSci, as some courses allow you to send another PS in

^This. I rang up the Imperial Chemistry department and explained that I wanted to apply, but with a medicine PS and they said it was fine if I submitted a separate PS for Chemistry specifically.

I have heard this from various people, which is another reason why I'm dubious; if I can't then go on to do grad medicine, what will I do with a biomed degree? I know someone with a biomed degree and the company he works for has just made half their workforce redundant and he doesn't know where he'll go if he is :/

Edit: Thank you both for your help

May I ask how you go about doing this? As in, do you apply as normal and then they send a request for a subject-specific PS?

I'd really take that with a pinch of salt! I do biomedical science and it's definitely not a boring degree with bad job prospects, especially if you're at a good University. If you do a placement year and get your IBMS portfolio and registration sorted, you can start in a job pretty quickly with a good starting salary. Furthermore the content is similar to the pathology side of medicine -- not as in depth, certainly, but I still find it very interesting. It's also a very good degree if you want to consider graduate-entry medicine as I am. The career progression as a biomedical scientist is good; your starting salary if you are already registered with IBMS is great, and if you stick around and work hard you can progress to senior levels within a few years. Ultimately you can work your way up to Band 8 in the NHS and around £50,000 a year.

It's not a bad degree.

EDIT: My point is, compared to NatSci, it's very good. Where does NatSci lead? Yes it's a great, intensive degree but it doesn't have an inherent career progression pathway like biomedical science does. If you're after a career, biomed is certainly better.

I'll admit, perhaps I was being a bit harsh on the degree and was just going by the experiences of someone I know :P
I'm not saying it's a bad degree at all! More that I don't think I would enjoy it as much. I've looked at it in prospectuses etc. and for whatever reason don't find myself to be overly enamoured by the idea of it. I like the idea of majoring in a particular science whilst also studying others to a lesser degree, as in NatSci.
As for careers afterwards, something lab-based would be my idea of hell and I'd probably attempt to become a secondary school science teacher if I completely failed at getting into Medicine.

I'd really take that with a pinch of salt! I do biomedical science and it's definitely not a boring degree with bad job prospects, especially if you're at a good University. If you do a placement year and get your IBMS portfolio and registration sorted, you can start in a job pretty quickly with a good starting salary. Furthermore the content is similar to the pathology side of medicine -- not as in depth, certainly, but I still find it very interesting. It's also a very good degree if you want to consider graduate-entry medicine as I am. The career progression as a biomedical scientist is good; your starting salary if you are already registered with IBMS is great, and if you stick around and work hard you can progress to senior levels within a few years. Ultimately you can work your way up to Band 8 in the NHS and around £50,000 a year.

It's not a bad degree.

EDIT: My point is, compared to NatSci, it's very good. Where does NatSci lead? Yes it's a great, intensive degree but it doesn't have an inherent career progression pathway like biomedical science does. If you're after a career, biomed is certainly better.

Did you neg rep me? All I said was having done biomedical science, I didn't enjoy it because I was more interested in the clinical aspects and patient interaction. I went to a very good university and my course was ranked 4th in the table. I do find lab work extremely tedious and boring and am glad I wasn't on an IBMS accredited course, I probably would have killed myself.

May I ask how you go about doing this? As in, do you apply as normal and then they send a request for a subject-specific PS?

No I didn't negatively rep you, check your 'My TSR' page to find out who did.

No I didn't negatively rep you, check your 'My TSR' page to find out who did.

That's all very well and fine for you, but then perhaps you shouldn't have studied biomedical science? It is not a clinical course for patient interaction, it is a diagnostic course (as you've experienced) focused on the diagnosis of disease through laboratory work.

I don't think it's fair to alter the opinion of others just because you wanted a clinical course, and when biomedical science clearly isn't a clinical course! Obviously you'll find it boring if that's what you want.