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Chemistry V Medicine

TSR George

17

Hi,

Which of these do people think is more demanding academically? And with better career prospects?

Reply 1

wizz_kid

16

Medicine anytime both career and academic wise.

However if u find chemistry more as an art than a science then u shud be doing chemistry.

Reply 2

Svefngenglar

11

Most things you learn in medicine will be of limited conceptual difficulty – the challenge is the volume. I imagine chemistry will be a more interesting choice if academia is your main preoccupation.

Reply 3

WhatTheFunk

17

a lot of stuff in medicine, well this is from a biomed view, but a lot is based on chemistry

Reply 4

George Agdgdgwngo

17

wizz_kid

Medicine anytime both career and academic wise.

However if u find chemistry more as an art than a science then u shud be doing chemistry.

Clealry not a wizz_kid are you? :rolleyes:

OP: In terms of difficulty, chemistry probably deals with more complicated and harder concepts, whereas medicine will be less complicated. However, studying medicine, you will have to learn a hell of a lot of volume. So, it really depends on the individual as to which you would find harder. EDIT: In medicine you will also study a fair bit of biochemistry, but in a chem degree you'd most likely be doing physical and analytical chemisrty, depending on whether you can choose certain modules (this is based on the Chemistry degrees at my university so it may be different at other institutions.

As for employment, chemists and medics have amongst the highest employment/further training rates. I think there have been problems recently with med graduates struggling to find training posts. I'm not too sure on this though, you'd be best to find out from a doctor/medical student.

Reply 5

Gourdman

I agree with most people here, the science's are more indepth about one area, whereas medicine has the smorgasbord effect of having to learn EVERYTHING.

Both have very high employment rates. And both have similar lengths of times until you get the proper job. Med of course has the 5 year degree plus placements, whilst chemistry has 3-4 year degree, plus a few more for a phD (which you WILL need to get a decent job. Out of ~80 jobs I found on the Uni careers website, only two didn't need a phD. And these 2 were to help you GET a phD)

Reply 6

tarnishedpenny

In terms of workload I have the same amount as a medic (I'm a chemist) and while they have a lot more to learn we have a lot more to understand...so I guess academically we have the greater challenge (just).
You can do pretty much anything with a chemistry degree so average earnings aren't always the right thing to go by....saying that I'm thinking of doing medicine when I finish this....woops.

Reply 7

1_xxxSarahxxx_1

2

Oof course medicine is more demanding academically but if you do a degree in chemistry you can move on to medicine at postgraduate level

Reply 8

George Agdgdgwngo

17

Laith

But in chemistry one would think there would also be alot of physics & biology involved?

More physics and less biology i would imagine, unless there are options to take biochemistry modules.

Reply 9

username153949

2

wizz_kid

Medicine anytime both career and academic wise.

However if u find chemistry more as an art than a science then u shud be doing chemistry.

agree

Reply 10

fisherman

16

Academically, they are about the same. Medicine is possibly slightly easier.

Career wise, if you are just average, medicine will get you a better wage. But if you excel, and are brilliant, chemistry will get you a better wage.

Reply 11

Democracy

20

George Agdgdgwngo

More physics and less biology i would imagine, unless there are options to take biochemistry modules.

Why have you lost your avatar? :hmmm:

Reply 12

The__Bait

if you find understanding hard, chemistry is harder; if you find memorising hard, medicine is harder.

Reply 13

Sanjetti

9

fisherman

Medicine is possibly slightly easier.

Sorry?

Reply 14

fisherman

16

Sanjetti

Sorry?

Medicine is slightly easier. It requires the ability to memorise, chemistry has much more problem solving and understanding.

Reply 15

wizz_kid

16

billykwok

agree

Thanks!

Atleast some 1 agrees (despite the neg rep).

I am doing CHem A2 and chemistry vs medicine to me is like physics vs engineering.

You can learn all the physics you want from books but u wont learn the skills to apply that physics in real life. Thats y engineering wins. Similarly, chemistry can be learnt from text books but not saving people's lives.

Reply 16

Mask Of Sanity

14

wizz_kid

Thanks!

Atleast some 1 agrees (despite the neg rep).

I am doing CHem A2 and chemistry vs medicine to me is like physics vs engineering.

You can learn all the physics you want from books but u wont learn the skills to apply that physics in real life. Thats y engineering wins. Similarly, chemistry can be learnt from text books but not saving people's lives.

I prefer Physics. :shifty:

But, I agree with the comparison.

Reply 17

wizz_kid

16

Mask Of Sanity

I prefer Physics. :shifty:

But, I agree with the comparison.

Thanks!

Reply 18

randdom

20

Really in terms of difficulty it depends what you are good at. Pure science degrees like chemistry have some extremely difficult concepts that you have to try to understand. The volume of knowledge that you have to learn with medicine is very large and you also have to be able to apply it to patients, examine them etc. So as I have said I wouldn't say one is harder than the other you just require a different set of skills.

Reply 19

highspeed101

wizz_kid

Medicine anytime both career and academic wise.

However if u find chemistry more as an art than a science then u shud be doing chemistry.

wtf?

wizz_kid

Thanks!

Atleast some 1 agrees (despite the neg rep).

I am doing CHem A2 and chemistry vs medicine to me is like physics vs engineering.

You can learn all the physics you want from books but u wont learn the skills to apply that physics in real life. Thats y engineering wins. Similarly, chemistry can be learnt from text books but not saving people's lives.

Engineering wins??? I don't think any subject 'wins', there wouldn't be much engineering if it wasn't for the discoveries made in physics...

Your second point is equally silly, where do you think half the medicine comes from.

Chemistry V Medicine

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