Want to be a doctor, which degree?

Hi guys, I'm in my foundation year at Oxford cough Brookes university at the moment. Putting it simply, the dream is to become a research scientist, interested in motor neurone disease and cancer. I want to go on and get my degree, then masters and then a PhD. Below I have stated the degree choices and written the first sentence of information on the course, from the universities homepage.

I have 3 degree choices. Which one should I take?
Medical Science (BMedSC - Hons): "The Medical Science (BMedSc) degree allows you to study the function of the human body in health and disease at molecular, cellular and systems levels."

Biomedical Sciences (BSc - Hons): "A Biomedical Science degree from Oxford Brookes will put you at the forefront of health-related research and development. "

Human Biology (BSc - Hons): "Human biology is an exciting and rapidly developing area of study, involving the application of a range of biological techniques and knowledge to the life-science study of human beings."

Reply 1

x__justmyluck

12

Medical Science or Biomedical Sciences would probably be better than Human Biology for a career in the sort of research you talked about.

Reply 2

Democracy

20

Original post by connorwood

Hi guys, I'm in my foundation year at Oxford cough Brookes university at the moment. Putting it simply, the dream is to become a research scientist, interested in motor neurone disease and cancer. I want to go on and get my degree, then masters and then a PhD. Below I have stated the degree choices and written the first sentence of information on the course, from the universities homepage.

I have 3 degree choices. Which one should I take?
Medical Science (BMedSC - Hons): "The Medical Science (BMedSc) degree allows you to study the function of the human body in health and disease at molecular, cellular and systems levels."

Biomedical Sciences (BSc - Hons): "A Biomedical Science degree from Oxford Brookes will put you at the forefront of health-related research and development. "

Human Biology (BSc - Hons): "Human biology is an exciting and rapidly developing area of study, involving the application of a range of biological techniques and knowledge to the life-science study of human beings."

Slightly misleading title considering you want a career in non-clinical research as a scientist not a physician :p:

In all honesty, your undergraduate degree matters very little when it comes to a research career in the life sciences and those three courses will have a lot in common with eachother anyway. Look through the modules and pick whichever one you think will interest you the most, though there will most likely be a lot of overlap.

An undergraduate degree gives you (objectively speaking) very little depth of knowledge or research skills. As long as it's in some sort of relevant life sciences subject, you'll be fine for your long term goals.

When it comes to picking a masters degree or a PhD supervisor then you'll need to be more specific and pick something more relevant to your research ambitions.

Hope that helps :yy: