Can i get into Cambridge University for medicine with 4 A*s, 8 As and 2 Bs???
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Original post by brutuswood
Delighted to comment . I stress this is my personal view, others will no doubt see things differently, so be it. Young doctors are very much low grade shift workers in the modern NHS. Salaries will fall further. They are quite similar (age for age) to nursing now. The movers and shakers in society are not in health. I stress I don't regret my career.
There is a huge micro managing regulatory burden that I won't bore you with. Suffice it to say I sat on fitness to practice panels at the GMC ( latterly MPTS) until very recently and do know what I am talking about.
It depends what you want. Look at other careers and make your judgement. Medicine is becoming low grade generic health worker in the uk and status is falling off a cliff. (I am sure I will get more personal attacks for saying this!.)
Look at it with an open mind versus city careers, corporate careers from engineering degrees, etc. If you still want to do it bear in mind you are unlikely to be able to live a professional lifestyle in London. A new consultant , late thirties, who needs to live in central london in an acute specialty on say 80k can only afford a one bed ex council flat.( Compare with his city peer in everything from accountancy to actuary to law etc at that age in London) Go for it if it is your vocation but with an open mind. Huge numbers of young doctors realise it doesn't meet expectations and give up after F1 or 2 there is a lost tribe noone really knows what happens to.
There is a huge micro managing regulatory burden that I won't bore you with. Suffice it to say I sat on fitness to practice panels at the GMC ( latterly MPTS) until very recently and do know what I am talking about.
It depends what you want. Look at other careers and make your judgement. Medicine is becoming low grade generic health worker in the uk and status is falling off a cliff. (I am sure I will get more personal attacks for saying this!.)
Look at it with an open mind versus city careers, corporate careers from engineering degrees, etc. If you still want to do it bear in mind you are unlikely to be able to live a professional lifestyle in London. A new consultant , late thirties, who needs to live in central london in an acute specialty on say 80k can only afford a one bed ex council flat.( Compare with his city peer in everything from accountancy to actuary to law etc at that age in London) Go for it if it is your vocation but with an open mind. Huge numbers of young doctors realise it doesn't meet expectations and give up after F1 or 2 there is a lost tribe noone really knows what happens to.
Hmm interesting.
Getting into a city job is extremely difficult in itself - particularly in Accounting. As is excelling in law for example. But I guess it's the same wherever - medicine/dentistry is unbelievably competitive as is getting into uni studying medicine.
I understand what you're saying, a doctor is comfortable but doesn't necessarily mean he'll be on A LOT of money so to speak.
Thank you.
Original post by Ronove
Quoting muhammedk to make sure he sees brutuswood's reply. 
Thank you
Original post by muhammedk
Hmm interesting.
Getting into a city job is extremely difficult in itself - particularly in Accounting. As is excelling in law for example. But I guess it's the same wherever - medicine/dentistry is unbelievably competitive as is getting into uni studying medicine.
I understand what you're saying, a doctor is comfortable but doesn't necessarily mean he'll be on A LOT of money so to speak.
Thank you.
Getting into a city job is extremely difficult in itself - particularly in Accounting. As is excelling in law for example. But I guess it's the same wherever - medicine/dentistry is unbelievably competitive as is getting into uni studying medicine.
I understand what you're saying, a doctor is comfortable but doesn't necessarily mean he'll be on A LOT of money so to speak.
Thank you.
You are right, perhaps not a good analogy. There are lots of roles outside London that aren't as competitive as medicine and lead to just as good and normally better paid careers . The most successful people however don't generally work for others but have that entrepreneur gene that us public sector wage slaves don't!
There is a hell of a lot of dissatisfaction in UK medicine. Hundreds go to Australia every year (and normally stay). General Practice is increasingly unattractive (although that could change) and the typical medical student is most likely to train as a GP.However, these trends change with time; 20 years ago GP was the career of choice, partner in your own business with considerable autonomy etc etc not now.Again a lot have gone to Australia, more have taken early retirement and a lot work very ''part time'' (three days being equivalent to a normal working week). A hell of a lot give it up completely . Talk to juniors about their rotations around very large reasons, the way they are valued by the NHS (simple examples like they are at hospitals for short periods and have difficult getting a parking permit) and how they see their career compared with their equally able peers in other walks of life.
All I would say is do your research, talk to lots of both junior and senior doctors currently practising (both GPs and Consultants at senior level) to get a clear perspective and don't be side tracked into thinking that because it is very competitive at the entry stage it must be have very good prospects.
''reasons'' should read ''regions''....
Original post by brutuswood
......The most successful people however don't generally work for others but have that entrepreneur gene...
This.
It's the biggest wake up call for everyone. Some get it early on in life, but most daydream that exam passing achieves the same results.
Interestingly, Oxbridge does open a lot of doors to highly paid employment.
Whilst vocational course such as medicine are fantastic opportunities to develop oneself. I do think students should do themselves a favour and consider/plan doing something completely different (after they get Dr. after their name).
Ideally - work abroad as soon as possible.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04xngtp/billionaires-paradise-inside-necker-island
Besides all this though, if the OP really wants to go to Cambridge, then he needs to choose the course most likely to give him a place - and it may not be medicine.
Original post by Parent_help
This.
It's the biggest wake up call for everyone. Some get it early on in life, but most daydream that exam passing achieves the same results.
Interestingly, Oxbridge does open a lot of doors to highly paid employment.
Whilst vocational course such as medicine are fantastic opportunities to develop oneself. I do think students should do themselves a favour and consider/plan doing something completely different (after they get Dr. after their name).
Ideally - work abroad as soon as possible.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04xngtp/billionaires-paradise-inside-necker-island
Besides all this though, if the OP really wants to go to Cambridge, then he needs to choose the course most likely to give him a place - and it may not be medicine.
It's the biggest wake up call for everyone. Some get it early on in life, but most daydream that exam passing achieves the same results.
Interestingly, Oxbridge does open a lot of doors to highly paid employment.
Whilst vocational course such as medicine are fantastic opportunities to develop oneself. I do think students should do themselves a favour and consider/plan doing something completely different (after they get Dr. after their name).
Ideally - work abroad as soon as possible.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04xngtp/billionaires-paradise-inside-necker-island
Besides all this though, if the OP really wants to go to Cambridge, then he needs to choose the course most likely to give him a place - and it may not be medicine.
Parent help mentions Necker I note one Dr Holly Branson did F1 then didn't continue. She is registered without a licence to practice, I don't know what she does now but she isnn't an NHS wage slave....
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324354704578636380817533430
"Holly got her medical degree in 2007 and worked for a year in the neurology department of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital as a Junior House Officer. By then the glamour of life in hospital scrubs had worn off. That's when she decided to take a year off.
"It was my dad who said, 'Well, why don't you come work at Virgin,' " recalls Holly. "I did internships at all the businesses, and at the end of the first year I thought, Oh, I'm just not ready to go back. By the end of the second year, it was clear I was never going back."
It wasn't a seamless transition. Holly started out shy and unsure, shaky on the rudiments of business and not naturally keen on mastering them. "I'm taking courses in it, but I don't much like numbers," she confesses. Like her father, however, she's a plugger. She's already filled some of the holes in her business resumé, and she will surely end up filling the rest.
"She's got on and done it," says her father proudly. "She's already learned a lot more about the world than she would have as a doctor. Now she's going out on her own. She won't dress up in funny clothes or do any wing-walking like I did. She'll do it her own way."
Officially, Holly is listed as special projects manager at Virgin Management Limited. She also sits on the board of Virgin Unite, the incubator for the many nonprofit enterprises that occupy most of Richard's time and energy these days—a mix of causes that includes fighting fistula, enlisting notables like Desmond Tutu and Kofi Annan to tackle human rights abuses and promoting fuel-efficiency in the shipping industry, among many other things. Virgin Unite has the throw-it-against-the-wall zeal that characterizes Richard's for-profit business ventures, and like them is also underpinned by the conviction that a little entrepreneurial moxie can move mountains".
"Holly got her medical degree in 2007 and worked for a year in the neurology department of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital as a Junior House Officer. By then the glamour of life in hospital scrubs had worn off. That's when she decided to take a year off.
"It was my dad who said, 'Well, why don't you come work at Virgin,' " recalls Holly. "I did internships at all the businesses, and at the end of the first year I thought, Oh, I'm just not ready to go back. By the end of the second year, it was clear I was never going back."
It wasn't a seamless transition. Holly started out shy and unsure, shaky on the rudiments of business and not naturally keen on mastering them. "I'm taking courses in it, but I don't much like numbers," she confesses. Like her father, however, she's a plugger. She's already filled some of the holes in her business resumé, and she will surely end up filling the rest.
"She's got on and done it," says her father proudly. "She's already learned a lot more about the world than she would have as a doctor. Now she's going out on her own. She won't dress up in funny clothes or do any wing-walking like I did. She'll do it her own way."
Officially, Holly is listed as special projects manager at Virgin Management Limited. She also sits on the board of Virgin Unite, the incubator for the many nonprofit enterprises that occupy most of Richard's time and energy these days—a mix of causes that includes fighting fistula, enlisting notables like Desmond Tutu and Kofi Annan to tackle human rights abuses and promoting fuel-efficiency in the shipping industry, among many other things. Virgin Unite has the throw-it-against-the-wall zeal that characterizes Richard's for-profit business ventures, and like them is also underpinned by the conviction that a little entrepreneurial moxie can move mountains".
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