Science jobs and career paths

I don’t think medicine is for you as someone who is currently planning on applying and having done a lot of research and career exploration into the field medicine is a very particular career in that it is a dedication that you have to make. And simply choosing it as it is a career which is science based is not a decision I would recommend as it is a highly competitive course which I am sure you have the ability to do however there may be better options suited to yourself. Chemistry is a challenging course and would say that it is too something you would need to be rather engrossed in.

Personally I would recommend that you consider a Zoology or Environmental/ Geography degree as there are many research opportunities without doing a pHD and also they offer the opportunity to travel and they are obviously very science based these degrees also allow you to go into many careers including analytics for the government or Conservation to studying animal behaviour.

Another option maybe is Biomedical science degree as this gives you an extra four years to fully explore a career in medicine before making that dedication and allows you to strengthen your application as you don’t have a tremendous amount of time left in school. Also a BioMed degree has extensive amounts of research opportunities during many degree programmes so would fulfils this preference. It also open up the opportunity to become a teacher and many other professions should you change your mind.

I hope this is helpful and doesn’t seem too blunt if you have any questions please let me know.

Become a doctor then you can get paid for being a self-righteous prick

Currently in year 12 studying biology, maths, geography. I was hoping to also take chemistry as I find it very interesting.

At the moment I don’t really know what degree I will do, however, I want to study something science based as I love the study of science and how interesting it really is.

Medicine is an option for me at the moment, however, other routes I’m looking into are biomedical science or other sciences. But what sort of routes can I go into with biomedical science or other science degrees like biochemistry for example. I have tried researching this but I don’t really understand are there only research routes or are there others? And for research are you REQUIRED to have a PHD.

I’m in the same position as you but I want to do scientific research so have been considering biochemistry or biomedical sciences .However , I recently had a talk with a medicine student who told me that you can go into Research with a medicine degree . If ur willing to go down the competitive route of medicine , you end up having a highly respected degree , you can pretty much do anything you want science related and you can quite easily have a well paid job .

Personally I’ve never considered zoology as I’m not truly interested in that side of science, if that makes sense. I will do a bit of research on this though. Is a biology degree similar? (as it’s my favourite subject at a-level)

Biomedical science is definitely at the top of my interests right now, as like you said I don’t really think I’m ready to be committed to something such as medicine because I was hoping to complete a degree, work full-time for a bit and then travel while maybe even gathering experience.

What other sort of professions would I be able to go into if I don’t enjoy lab work as much? Also is depress like biomedical science, chemistry, biology all sort of dead-end careers? Because I know this sounds like I’m all about the money but I don’t really want to be earning a relatively low income my entire life.

Thanks for your help.

Excuse me? Why am I a self-righteous prick? All I’m asking is for some stability in the career path I want that’s all.

I think it really depends what your interested in . You could go into medical engineering eg designing prosthetic limbs etc . You could do biochemistry and work for research company .You could do a medicine degree and specialise in something like oncology ( study of cancer ) and work in your own research group . I think it’s about finding something that u will enjoy doing and will also provide the income 💸

Teaching is always a back up that is there of you lose interest in lab work. There is also the television industry which requires scientists for say example Casualty who make sure the scripts follow science pretty much or documentaries SORRY THESE ARE CERY NICHE ahaha however research doesn’t always involve working in a lab and can involve you being out in the field. If you did Biology as an Undergraduate then you will explore many areas of Biology and then you could do a postgraduate in a more specialised field.

Yes definitely, I find it so difficult to find something I’m interested in now. By any chance do you know what you want to do or a rough idea? And regarding medicine, I’ve recently applied for some work experience with a junior doctor in the old people medicine department (and maybe cancer and surgery), I don’t know if you’ve done something similar or wanting to?

I know that I don’t want to do some sort of science related research but that’s about it 😂. The pathways that I mentioned previously are all options that I’m considering but I’m still undecided . Work experience is something I’ve always wanted to do , not only would it be good for the personal statement but I think that it would also help me decide exactly what I want to do . The problem is I don’t know how to get a placement somewhere . If you don’t mind me asking , how did you go about applying for the work experience?

Thanks a lot for the advice I’m going to do that ASAP . Medicine is also what I’m thinking about doing the most and I know that it’s very competitive.In places like Oxbridge you barely even get considered without having some sort of work experience or volunteering.So it’s really good that you’re already preparing for that . If I was to give u any advice I would say make sure to record what you did each day in a notebook or something so that you keep everything you learn in memory for when you get asked about it in places like uni interviews.