Medicine or Dentistry?!?

Hi, I'm currently doing my AS levels - Maths.Biology, Chemistry and Spanish (only for AS). I've pondered over doing both courses at university but I find it hard to condsider one the course for me over the others. Can anyone please give me some advice (un-biased please) about the pro/cons of both courses which makes them more favorable than the other, and what they did to prepare themselves fully for their UCAS applications?

Thankyou!

Reply 1

theresheglows

Medicine and dentistry are very different careers, and the decision to do one over the other is very individual. If you have thoroughly looked into both courses and their content and still cannot decide, then you need to look into the careers themselves and try to imagine yourself doing them. This is where work experience can be vital.

Reply 2

em.d_4

Original post by Devilfinger101

What GCSE's grades etc do you have because medicine is rather more competitive than dentistry so there's a possibility you may not stand much chance in medicine.

Reply 3

Yasmin-9970

Original post by em.d_4

What GCSE's grades etc do you have because medicine is rather more competitive than dentistry so there's a possibility you may not stand much chance in medicine.

they are equally as competitive, with dentistry there are only 14 universities that do it in the UK each only offering around 60 places - there are alot more universiites doing medicine with more places but its a popular degree so neither is easier to get into

Reply 4

em.d_4

Original post by Yasmin-9970

Well no not really you only have to look at the required UKCAT scores to see which is more competitive.

Reply 5

Devilfinger101

Original post by em.d_4

What GCSE's grades etc do you have because medicine is rather more competitive than dentistry so there's a possibility you may not stand much chance in medicine.

6A*'s 4A's and a B

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Reply 6

em.d_4

Original post by Devilfinger101

6A*'s 4A's and a B

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That'd limit you down ever so slightly for medicine but have a stab at which ever you prefer. You should get some work experience in each to get a better idea.

Reply 7

deborah32

I have applied for Dentistry, currently in year 13, I toyed with the idea of doing medicine however the reason i chose Dentistry over medicine was for a few reasons: Dentistry focuses on Head and Neck predominately whereas medicine is much broader, however you can specialise within medicine of course; in comparison to being a GP a dentist is much more able to build a relationship (?cant find the right word for this so i hope you know what i mean) with your patient as you can see them much more regularly which makes it a more interactive experience; dentistry really is a branch of medicine, you can still identify cancers and diabetes etc in this practice; i found on my work experience that patients showed immediate gratitude as you are able to help them then and there and to me the most important thing that i want in a job is to help people and to do that immediately is a huge ideal to me as in medicine diagnosis and procedures take a lot longer, leaving on the note of work experience i think the best thing to do is just that: try and get work experience in both a dental practice and in a hospital if you can, it can be quite hard to gain work experience so start trying for that now, also i wouldn't base anything on grades and UKCAT scores as such because really they both ask for the same thing and different universities ask for different UKCAT scores for both courses so dont focus on that- try and go for the one you think you feel more passionately about