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Pharmacy or Medicine????!!!!

Basically guys I've got a place on the Pharmacy course at Manchester, and although id be willing to carry on with the course for the current year, am left in a dilemma as my heart has always been into medicine and the fact that i received AAB for A-Levels this year has allowed my mind to stray. So i was wondering if anyones been in this position?? or if anyone can give me sum good advice as to whether i should withdraw and apply for med?? or am I too late in thinking that i could still be in with a chance?

Reply 1

pharmgirl

Well I know a few people like myself who have gone onto switch professions, but only after qualifying. I do no someone though who switched from dentistry to pharmacy half way through, qualified as a pharmacist, worked a few years and then went back to uni to do medicine..... Its possible but I would pass the current year (to show its not an academic problem), then get plenty of work exp and reapply. If your heart is in medicine, you should go for it, but beware that you will have to defend your committment to medicine having started out with another profession. When I decided to apply for vet science having been a pharmacist for 10 years, I had an answer prepared!

Reply 2

chester.

You will probably regret not going for medicine if that's where your heart lies... :confused:

You could ask the relevant people at Manchester if it's at all possible to transfer onto the Medicine course- I'm assuming you have appropriate A-Level subjects i.e. Biology and Chemistry??
You're far from too late!! The worst that'll happen is you withdraw from Pharmacy and reapply now for Medicine 2008...easy enough! Furthermore, with A-Levels already achieved you will (hopefully) receive unconditional offers... :biggrin:

Reply 3

aSian_cUtY

You have got AAB for Alevels. If I was in your position, I would reapply.

Reply 4

Warrior King

With grades of AAB and a clear desire to study Medicine, I would advise you (the OP) to decline your Pharmacy offer and take a year out to reapply for Medicine. This way you could do some more work experience/voluntary work to strengthen your application and hopefully get an offer.

Reply 5

rolldeep786

chester_2005

You're far from too late!! The worst that'll happen is you withdraw from Pharmacy and reapply now for Medicine 2008...easy enough! Furthermore, with A-Levels already achieved you will (hopefully) receive unconditional offers... :biggrin:

I still have a personal statement to do and the UKCAT's test, still enough time for all that isn't there???? And would you suggest that I re-apply for Pharmacy in case i don't get in for any of the medicine courses??? God forbid.

Reply 6

ma2k5

You could just accept the offer, continue doing it, and apply for medicine at same time - that way if you get an offer, you can choose if you wish to continue pharmacy to 2nd year or medicine 1st, and if you don't, well you got Pharmacy to continue with. Yes this is possible, you can do it, no they won't find out and many have done it (unless you do somthing stupid?) - including me! (I was doing Maths, applied for Economics, got offers etc and now transferring smoothly.) You can approach the P.S by either not mentioning that you did Pharmacy and that your on a gap year, or you can say you did Pharmacy and didn't like it and dropped it. Some people think you have to be released before you can apply to UCAS again, but this is far from the truth.

Maybe some people will have ethical reasons against this, but I was giving the OP another option. I know that rejection rate of medicine is high and it would suck if he took a year out and ended up with no offers - where people somtimes just randomly clear into any course (usually somthing they end up not enjoying).

Reply 7

aSian_cUtY

rolldeep786

Crack on with the personal statement..you have more than a month to hand it in. UKCAT deadline is coming up soon so your still eligibile to do that. And you can apply for pharmacy as a back up..why not, but obv not at the same uni!

Reply 8

rolldeep786

ma2k5

You could just accept the offer, continue doing it, and apply for medicine at same time

Is that possible??? I always thought you'd have to withdraw from your current course to apply again through UCAS???

Under sooo much pressure...When it comes to pressure Asian families are the worst...and I'll bet my PS3 and Xbox 360 on that one!!!

Reply 9

ma2k5

rolldeep786

Its possible, I guarantee it, heck I did it myself. Just apply to UCAS as an independant student - and chase your college to make you a reference.

Oh btw, south asian? Im south asian and ye pressure owns us the most!

Reply 10

aSian_cUtY

rolldeep be aware that if you get caught applying through ucas even though your on another course...you would be rejected from your ucas application and you could be kicked out of your pharmacy place too. Just so you know it's risky.
And yeah asian parent's job is to put pressure on their kids

Reply 11

rolldeep786

Yeah south asian...all the family tries to get involved and tell me what to do, and i'm like...'calm down for a second'

Reply 12

rolldeep786

yeahhh asiancuty, it's probably most likely that am going withdraw anyway so, no point wasting a year on doing a course a don't wanna do, rather earn a wage n go traveling or something later on..

Reply 13

xangelspawnx

rolldeep786 definately go for medicine because its clear that you have the desire to do it just try and get in a placement at a hospital and loads of other experience. yes put pharmacy as a back up just in case-but hopefully you'll get an unconditional for med. just start some sort of exp as soon as possible because you need to beable to go to the interview and say what you've already done/what you're doing aswell as what you're planning to do . good luck

Reply 14

ThePenguinMafia

I have to ask... are you sure you want this, or just sure that your family does?

Reply 15

rolldeep786

ThePenguinMafia

I have to ask... are you sure you want this, or just sure that your family does?

Yeahh courseeeee, its ma family that's trying to persuade me the opposite, saying you've got a uni place so why jeopardise it and want me to carry on with Pharmacy

Reply 16

rolldeep786

My work experience is minimal!!!! 2 months weekly voluntary work and fortnight in a pharmaceutical practice. I need proper good work experience but local GP's are being hard a***s...does anyone have any contact details (in Manchester)????

Reply 17

icapturethecastle

with regards to applying for medicine whilst still at uni...
u'd probably have to apply to another uni if u wanna apply to medicine right?
or drop out of that course and apply for medicine in u wanted to stay at the same uni...but then the admissions people might think u have a motivation problem...and then not want u back in their uni...
just wondering, because i might end up in a similar situation, if i don't do my research

(am thinking of applying this year, but then declining offers, if my results are good enough in order to apply to medicine the following year)

Reply 18

rolldeep786

tami*

with regards to applying for medicine whilst still at uni...
u'd probably have to apply to another uni if u wanna apply to medicine right?

I think you shouldn't go to uni and then re-apply although its possible as someone earlier said, is it worth the risk of getting caught and getting kicked out of uni as well as UCAS and maybe even blacklisted??? I don't think it is..