The Student Room Group

Career options: medicine or different STEM job?

This year, I'm doing my GCSEs, and I expect to score 9s in every subject (apart from Further Maths, which will probably receive 8). My decision to take Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics for A-Levels has been made. I would say that I have a strong academic background in science, but maths requires more work for me because I'm not naturally gifted at it. Essentially, I'm attempting to decide which professions would be ideal for me. I've always wanted to pursue a career in medicine, but I've lately been informed that it isn't as financially rewarding as other STEM fields. If I were to follow medicine, I'd be eager to learn of any particular countries I should relocate to to acquire high earnings (I study in the UK). Germany/Switzerland, the UAE, or Singapore are on my mind right now. I'm aiming to become fluent in German and Japanese soon, although learning a new language isn't very difficult for me. Or should I consider biomedical engineering or a different STEM field?
Reply 1
As you are sitting your GCSEs this year I don't think you necessarily need to be certain on what sort of career you want to have- I'm in year 13 and still don't know exactly what sort of job I want to end up with. Although I know this isn't very helpful advice, the best thing I can say is to just go with what you enjoy. If you are really interested in pursuing medicine, do it, and don't worry about the pay. You never know, by the time you actually come to get a job, the pay within this field may have changed.
Reply 2
Original post by Amberm11
As you are sitting your GCSEs this year I don't think you necessarily need to be certain on what sort of career you want to have- I'm in year 13 and still don't know exactly what sort of job I want to end up with. Although I know this isn't very helpful advice, the best thing I can say is to just go with what you enjoy. If you are really interested in pursuing medicine, do it, and don't worry about the pay. You never know, by the time you actually come to get a job, the pay within this field may have changed.


That's true, my main problem is that many people have advised me not to take medicine as it is "low paying and not worth it for the amount of work". I would like to know if it is true or not - and/or what other options I should consider.
Original post by sk_5557
This year, I'm doing my GCSEs, and I expect to score 9s in every subject (apart from Further Maths, which will probably receive 8). My decision to take Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics for A-Levels has been made. I would say that I have a strong academic background in science, but maths requires more work for me because I'm not naturally gifted at it. Essentially, I'm attempting to decide which professions would be ideal for me. I've always wanted to pursue a career in medicine, but I've lately been informed that it isn't as financially rewarding as other STEM fields. If I were to follow medicine, I'd be eager to learn of any particular countries I should relocate to to acquire high earnings (I study in the UK). Germany/Switzerland, the UAE, or Singapore are on my mind right now. I'm aiming to become fluent in German and Japanese soon, although learning a new language isn't very difficult for me. Or should I consider biomedical engineering or a different STEM field?

Who told you that medicine isn't as financially rewarding as other STEM fields? Medicine probably has the highest lifetime earnings out of all the STEM fields, although with tech you may be able to achieve a very rapid rise in salary in your early career to a level that may take a good few years to reach in medicine. Medicine pays much better than biomedial engineering.

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