Medicine or Paramedic?

Hi all
I am having a really really tough time deciding between paramedics or medicine. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or if people had been in similar situation? I'd appreciate any help people could give me on this??
Thanks ☺️

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Reply 1

swal9800

Anyone??

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Reply 2

Zwitterion1

Original post by swal9800

What are your stats?

Reply 3

username1518841

Original post by swal9800

For medicine there is alot more science you'd have to go through before even reaching clinical years whilst paramedics are more hands-on right from the start. I guess you have the option to go down the academic route in the future if you choose medicine instead. And medicine degree is a couple years longer too so it depends on your situation...

Reply 4

Logic4Life

Original post by swal9800

Anyone??

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Depends on what type of person you are. Both areas involve you helping people out day in day out on a regular basis. You may have to work long, unreasonable hours if you want to become a doctor and work really hard in terms of your A-Levels to get 3 A's or higher which is the standard offer for medicine. For becoming a Paramedic you don't need to achieve grades as nearly as intense as 3 A's and you don't have to study as much at Uni. Its only 3 years plus training to become a paramedic whereas your looking at 10 years of dedication of studying to become a doctor, its all up to how much you want to work and your current grades.

Reply 5

PsychoD

Do you want the nitty gritty adrenaline pump of attending emergencies or the more academic doctor's route. In my experience the paramedics only job is keeping you alive until you can see a doctor (in A&E that is), whereas a GP will rarely deal with emergencies. Both can be very rewarding careers, although medicine is much more competitive and requires a much more science based background.

Reply 6

Marathi

What is it about each which appeals to you?

Reply 7

DrSocSciences

Do you want to specialise? Or are you happy to become an expert in a broad skillset?
How are your levels of empathy? (The best medics/surgeons I know are without empathy, - theirs is a primarily clinical approach. Whereas if you become a paramedic, you'll need buckets of empathy too.)
How do you feel about dealing with relatives? Or the heat of crisis?

Reply 8

Democracy

Original post by DrSocSciences

Not sure if you meant to use the word empathy there because you've just given the popular definition of psychopathy - definitely not a desirable trait in anyone, least of all a doctor.

You definitely need empathy to be in any caring profession.

Reply 9

DrSocSciences

Original post by Democracy

Without empathy, was my intention, and what I believe I wrote. The absence of empathy does not equate to the presence of psychopathy, in my view.

Reply 10

Democracy

Original post by DrSocSciences

Without empathy, was my intention, and what I believe I wrote. The absence of empathy does not equate to the presence of psychopathy, in my view.

Would you mind elaborating?

Reply 11

DrSocSciences

Original post by Democracy

Would you mind elaborating?

Empathy and Psycopathy are two different states, and it's possible to exist within neither condition.

Reply 12

Democracy

Original post by DrSocSciences

Empathy and Psycopathy are two different states, and it's possible to exist within neither condition.

Riiighttt.

I meant about why you think doctors (or rather, the "best" doctors) shouldn't have any empathy.

Reply 13

DrSocSciences

The effectiveness of Consultant surgeons is not dependent on empathy. 'Best' is the superlative of a subjective measure, in this context. I'd rather have a transplant from a low-empathy but highly technical performer.

Reply 14

ForestCat

Original post by DrSocSciences

But how many patients are going to need technically challenging surgery in their lifetime? The majority of medicine is the management of long term conditions. If you talk to patients they will tell you that they want an empathetic doctor, who cares about them and has their best interests at heart.
Plus the two traits aren't separate entities. It is very possible to be highly skilled and empathetic. I've met several surgeons like this and I think you'll find its becoming much more the norm. You certainly won't get through medical school interviews in this country if you completely lack empathy.

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Reply 15

swal9800

Original post by Zwitterion1

What are your stats?

I'm 27 in a couple of months and would be starting the Access to Medicine at Manchester College September 2017. Does this help?!

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Reply 16

whitetack

Original post by swal9800

I'm 27 in a couple of months and would be starting the Access to Medicine at Manchester College September 2017. Does this help?!

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Theres a guy who did access medicine and going to uni september for medicine but I cant remember his name maybe check the medicine or mature students forum

Reply 17

pugpizza

I actually have friends in each profession. One is currently studying medicine at university and the other is a newly qualified paramedic. My friend doing medicine is your typical academic type, if I remember correctly his a-level results were A*A*A and he enjoys the research and lab work. The friend who went into paramedics says that he likes the clinical and practical side to what he does and the physical nature of the job, but says it's a lot more waking up drunk people in the street than saving lives than he imagined. "A Paramedics Diary: Life and Death on the Streets" is pretty good at showing both sides to what paramedics do