Orthopeadic Surgeon

Hello,

So, when I was taking my A-levels i had no idea what I wanted to be in which, I took courses I knew I'd be ok with.
However, I have finally made my mind up and I really want to be an orthopeadic surgeon or at least a consultant, but I don't have the science based A-levels.
I do have 380 ucas points - I know at this stage they are pretty worthless.

Can anyone help me out here? Are there a couple of routes I could take?
Someone mentioned I could train as a physio at undergrad, get a masters in it and then take a consultancy test - is this correct? And after that and a few years experience would I be accepted back into Med school to train further as a surgeon?

THANK YOU :smile:

Reply 1

That Bearded Man

22

Original post by Dannie_

Hello,

So, when I was taking my A-levels i had no idea what I wanted to be in which, I took courses I knew I'd be ok with.
However, I have finally made my mind up and I really want to be an orthopeadic surgeon or at least a consultant, but I don't have the science based A-levels.
I do have 380 ucas points - I know at this stage they are pretty worthless.

Can anyone help me out here? Are there a couple of routes I could take?
Someone mentioned I could train as a physio at undergrad, get a masters in it and then take a consultancy test - is this correct? And after that and a few years experience would I be accepted back into Med school to train further as a surgeon?

THANK YOU :smile:

First point, you do not know you want to be an orthopedic surgeon, you probably had some experience or a relative in it, but as a med student, you need to actually experience placement as a medical student to decide for yourself.

Post - grad medicine is surely your best idea, biomedical science is about 70% of the medical course, with lower entry requirements. Modern medical applications favour post grads as well. If I were you, select another science degree (ideally biomedical, or physiology/anatomy etc.) And do well in it. Then apply for medicine, bear in mind some unis look at A level grades, not UCAS points.

GL

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Reply 2

JenniB22

13

Original post by Dannie_

Hello,

So, when I was taking my A-levels i had no idea what I wanted to be in which, I took courses I knew I'd be ok with.
However, I have finally made my mind up and I really want to be an orthopeadic surgeon or at least a consultant, but I don't have the science based A-levels.
I do have 380 ucas points - I know at this stage they are pretty worthless.

Can anyone help me out here? Are there a couple of routes I could take?
Someone mentioned I could train as a physio at undergrad, get a masters in it and then take a consultancy test - is this correct? And after that and a few years experience would I be accepted back into Med school to train further as a surgeon?

THANK YOU :smile:

You basically have 2 choices:

1. Apply for medicine with a foundation year. If you fulfil the other requirements (usually socio-economic or geographical, but depends on the uni) it could allow you to get in without science a levels.

2. Do another degree and then apply for graduate entry medicine. This is a partially funded, highly competitive route with an unsure future.

If I were you, I would do everything I could to get into medicine as a first degree, instead of going the alternative route and doing gem. It's a lot easier to get into medicine as an undergrad!

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Reply 3

nexttime

22

Original post by Dannie_

However, I have finally made my mind up and I really want to be an orthopeadic surgeon or at least a consultant,

'Consultant' is just a term for the most senior doctors. You have consultant orthopaedic surgeons, consultant vascular surgeons, consultant physicians, etc.

You have chosen a very specific route, which even within medicine is known for being competitive. What experience of orthopaedics do you have?

Can anyone help me out here? Are there a couple of routes I could take?
Someone mentioned I could train as a physio at undergrad, get a masters in it and then take a consultancy test - is this correct? And after that and a few years experience would I be accepted back into Med school to train further as a surgeon?

... no. You need to do a medical degree. You can either apply for undergraduate or graduate entry. Some undergraduate courses offer a foundation year for those from deprived backgrounds and/or those that have taken non-science subjects. This is a competitive route whichever way you proceed, though graduate entry is more competitive than undergraduate.

Reply 4

NoahJ

2

Original post by Dannie_

Hello,

So, when I was taking my A-levels i had no idea what I wanted to be in which, I took courses I knew I'd be ok with.
However, I have finally made my mind up and I really want to be an orthopeadic surgeon or at least a consultant, but I don't have the science based A-levels.
I do have 380 ucas points - I know at this stage they are pretty worthless.

Can anyone help me out here? Are there a couple of routes I could take?
Someone mentioned I could train as a physio at undergrad, get a masters in it and then take a consultancy test - is this correct? And after that and a few years experience would I be accepted back into Med school to train further as a surgeon?

THANK YOU :smile:

The point has been laboured above (and is absolutely correct)- to be an orthopaedic surgeon, you need to study medicine, whether undergraduate (A100), or graduate entry (A101), or foundation-entry (A104).

With no science A-levels, the only realistic option currently is the foundation entry; example universities that offer this are Manchester, Cardiff, Sheffield. These are incredibly competitive.

The additional point I wanted to make was that your quote "I want to be an orthopaedic surgeon", though admirable, is almost definitely too focussed at this stage. Until you actually do orthopaedics, you shouldn't restrict yourself to that route. One of my fellow medical students maintained that he wanted to be an anaesthetist from day 1, until he got to his fourth year when we did anaesthetics, and he hated it. Just a thought to bear in mind- always good to be open-minded!

Reply 5

GANFYD

18

You could always start again and do the correct science A levels for Medicine now, then apply to and UG course in the usual way

Reply 6

Dannie_

OP

Original post by JenniB22

You basically have 2 choices:

1. Apply for medicine with a foundation year. If you fulfil the other requirements (usually socio-economic or geographical, but depends on the uni) it could allow you to get in without science a levels.

2. Do another degree and then apply for graduate entry medicine. This is a partially funded, highly competitive route with an unsure future.

If I were you, I would do everything I could to get into medicine as a first degree, instead of going the alternative route and doing gem. It's a lot easier to get into medicine as an undergrad!

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Thank you - taking all of this into consideration and trying to get onto an A104.

Reply 7

Dannie_

OP

Original post by NoahJ

The point has been laboured above (and is absolutely correct)- to be an orthopaedic surgeon, you need to study medicine, whether undergraduate (A100), or graduate entry (A101), or foundation-entry (A104).

With no science A-levels, the only realistic option currently is the foundation entry; example universities that offer this are Manchester, Cardiff, Sheffield. These are incredibly competitive.

The additional point I wanted to make was that your quote "I want to be an orthopaedic surgeon", though admirable, is almost definitely too focussed at this stage. Until you actually do orthopaedics, you shouldn't restrict yourself to that route. One of my fellow medical students maintained that he wanted to be an anaesthetist from day 1, until he got to his fourth year when we did anaesthetics, and he hated it. Just a thought to bear in mind- always good to be open-minded!

Ok thank you - I am going to look into the universities you have mentioned. Ok, well at this stage some kind of orthopaedics is the route I'd like to take. I think I chose specifically the surgeon as I've experienced it myself.
But open mind it is :-)

Reply 8

Dannie_

OP

Original post by GANFYD

You could always start again and do the correct science A levels for Medicine now, then apply to and UG course in the usual way

We'll i consider sitting the A-levels I need, but a lot of uni's don't seem to like resits, so I can't imagine they'd like me having to sit whole newA-levels. So I will try a foundation year. Thank you though.

Reply 9

GANFYD

18

Original post by Dannie_

We'll i consider sitting the A-levels I need, but a lot of uni's don't seem to like resits, so I can't imagine they'd like me having to sit whole newA-levels. So I will try a foundation year. Thank you though.

They don't mind at all if you have never done those subjects before. Resits are having a second (or third, or more) go at the same subject. Realising you want to change career course and showing commitment and dedication to study new subjects will not put them off at all and there is much less competition for the usual 5 year courses (though it is still high) than there is for Foundation Courses.

Orthopeadic Surgeon

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