Which offer to accept, Biomedical Science (pharmacology) or Pharmacology?

I believe some unis (like UCL and KCL) allow you to transfer in the second year of doing Biomed. I might switch to pharmacology in my second year, but first I wanna see how I find Biomed and then make a decision as it seems quite early now.

Reply 2

OP

Hi,
Yeah, I heard that you could transfer between the course since the curricula are similar in first 2 years I believe.
I heard that pharmacology is more specialised whereas biomed is more general. And so biomed has more career options but I am not sure about that one since I hear so many different opinions.

Original post by hiiiii1

I believe some unis (like UCL and KCL) allow you to transfer in the second year of doing Biomed. I might switch to pharmacology in my second year, but first I wanna see how I find Biomed and then make a decision as it seems quite early now.

Reply 3

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Anonymous7518

Hi,
Yeah, I heard that you could transfer between the course since the curricula are similar in first 2 years I believe.
I heard that pharmacology is more specialised whereas biomed is more general. And so biomed has more career options but I am not sure about that one since I hear so many different opinions.

Yeah, I'd rather do a more general course first and then consider all my options. You get more of an idea of what interests you and by then you can probs make a more informed decision.

Reply 4

QuentinM

17

Original post by Anonymous7518

I want to study Pharmacology as I love the aspect of it more than Biomedical Science, I want to work in laboratories and experiment on drugs and not work with patients. I have researched the difference between pharmacology and biomed many times and from what I could tell biomed involves diagnosing patient's diseases and evaluating effectiveness of treatment from patient's sample and like I said I would rather experiment with drugs and develop/ research them.
But I was recommended to apply for Biomed too because I was told it has more career options and is better than pharmacology in general ( which I don't agree with) and so I applied for "Biomedical Science ( Pharmacology)"- a compromise.
So my question is "Would Biomedical science (Pharmacology) be highly similar to just Pharmacology?" Does it still involve experimenting with drugs rather than patients and would it involve a lot of biology?
I don't really like biology but I have a passion for chemistry, if that matters.
So does anyone know about what "Biomedical Science(Pharmacology)" course involve?

A lot of biomedical science courses will have options to do pharmacology modules and you could easily end up in pharmacology research. I did Medical Sciences at Exeter for my Undergraduate degree, I'm currently doing a PhD where I screen drugs on cells to look for new treatments for diseases. Generally if you want to study drugs via experiments you will need to study a biology focused degree, if you are more interested in chemistry you might prefer something like Medicinal chemistry (where you use chemistry knowledge to design new drugs/compounds)

Reply 5

Original post by QuentinM

A lot of biomedical science courses will have options to do pharmacology modules and you could easily end up in pharmacology research. I did Medical Sciences at Exeter for my Undergraduate degree, I'm currently doing a PhD where I screen drugs on cells to look for new treatments for diseases.

That sounds so cool! I might follow the same route who knows😂

Reply 6

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by QuentinM

A lot of biomedical science courses will have options to do pharmacology modules and you could easily end up in pharmacology research. I did Medical Sciences at Exeter for my Undergraduate degree, I'm currently doing a PhD where I screen drugs on cells to look for new treatments for diseases. Generally if you want to study drugs via experiments you will need to study a biology focused degree, if you are more interested in chemistry you might prefer something like Medicinal chemistry (where you use chemistry knowledge to design new drugs/compounds)

Hi,
Thank you for your information, it is very useful. So if I am still unsure, would it be best to take biomedical science and then if I make up my mind on pharmacology just transfer in the 2 year or can you do it the other way around too?
Can you transfer from pharmacology to biomedical science?

Reply 7

QuentinM

17

Original post by hiiiii1

That sounds so cool! I might follow the same route who knows😂

Feel free to PM me with any questions :smile:

Original post by Anonymous7518

Hi,
Thank you for your information, it is very useful. So if I am still unsure, would it be best to take biomedical science and then if I make up my mind on pharmacology just transfer in the 2 year or can you do it the other way around too?
Can you transfer from pharmacology to biomedical science?

I'm not sure there's much point in transferring, I think at most universities you could choose enough optional modules to replicate a sizeable chunk of the pharmacology course anyway. So if you know for certain that you want to focus on drug discovery research you could choose pharmacology, however if you want a slightly broader degree in case you are unsure about your exact interests then stick with biomedical sciences, in my opinion.

So pick up again on something you said in your original post, while most people on a biomedical science degree will go on to become a biomedical scientist at, say, a hospital lab, there are plenty of related degrees that won't focus on that, and there are still plenty of options even on that degree to go into scientific research if that is what you are interested in.

Reply 8

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by QuentinM

Feel free to PM me with any questions :smile:

I'm not sure there's much point in transferring, I think at most universities you could choose enough optional modules to replicate a sizeable chunk of the pharmacology course anyway. So if you know for certain that you want to focus on drug discovery research you could choose pharmacology, however if you want a slightly broader degree in case you are unsure about your exact interests then stick with biomedical sciences, in my opinion.

So pick up again on something you said in your original post, while most people on a biomedical science degree will go on to become a biomedical scientist at, say, a hospital lab, there are plenty of related degrees that won't focus on that, and there are still plenty of options even on that degree to go into scientific research if that is what you are interested in.

Thank you so much for your thoughts on this. You gave me a lot to think about, I just need to reflect on everything I know so far. At this stage I am set on studying pharmacology but it's just someone is trying their best to convince me to take biomed instead. I am a very indecisive person and I am constantly worried that I will come to regret my decisions but with your help you are making my decision more firmer. Thank you!

Reply 9

QuentinM

17

Original post by Anonymous7518

Thank you so much for your thoughts on this. You gave me a lot to think about, I just need to reflect on everything I know so far. At this stage I am set on studying pharmacology but it's just someone is trying their best to convince me to take biomed instead. I am a very indecisive person and I am constantly worried that I will come to regret my decisions but with your help you are making my decision more firmer. Thank you!

If you are really set on pharmacology, then yes I would recommend doing it. It's a pretty good degree IMO. if you have any further questions let me know

Reply 10

Alexdwschocwhi

12

Original post by Anonymous7518

I want to study Pharmacology as I love the aspect of it more than Biomedical Science, I want to work in laboratories and experiment on drugs and not work with patients. I have researched the difference between pharmacology and biomed many times and from what I could tell biomed involves diagnosing patient's diseases and evaluating effectiveness of treatment from patient's sample and like I said I would rather experiment with drugs and develop/ research them.
But I was recommended to apply for Biomed too because I was told it has more career options and is better than pharmacology in general ( which I don't agree with) and so I applied for "Biomedical Science ( Pharmacology)"- a compromise.
So my question is "Would Biomedical science (Pharmacology) be highly similar to just Pharmacology?" Does it still involve experimenting with drugs rather than patients and would it involve a lot of biology?
I don't really like biology but I have a passion for chemistry, if that matters.
So does anyone know about what "Biomedical Science(Pharmacology)" course involve?

Ndudaxxhxh

Reply 11

MeForPm

11

Hi OP

Could I know what made you decide to choose pharmacology over biomed? I am in a similar boat so just wondering what basis made you decide onto pharmacology?
Thanks

Reply 12

@Anonymous7518 I was doing some research for myself and found a cool masters course called 'Drug Discovery'. It's offered in places like UCL, Nottingham, Bath. UCL offers a LOT of Masters courses but obvs it's expensive so it depends on you.

Reply 13

RegisteredBMS

Original post by QuentinM

Feel free to PM me with any questions :smile:

I'm not sure there's much point in transferring, I think at most universities you could choose enough optional modules to replicate a sizeable chunk of the pharmacology course anyway. So if you know for certain that you want to focus on drug discovery research you could choose pharmacology, however if you want a slightly broader degree in case you are unsure about your exact interests then stick with biomedical sciences, in my opinion.

So pick up again on something you said in your original post, while most people on a biomedical science degree will go on to become a biomedical scientist at, say, a hospital lab, there are plenty of related degrees that won't focus on that, and there are still plenty of options even on that degree to go into scientific research if that is what you are interested in.

The last paragraph couldn't be less true, the opposite is actually true. Most people on a Biomedical Science course won't even become Biomedical Scientists.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 14

OP

Original post by MeForPm

Hi OP

Could I know what made you decide to choose pharmacology over biomed? I am in a similar boat so just wondering what basis made you decide onto pharmacology?
Thanks

Hi there,
I guess I just really took time thinking what I would enjoy doing most and also I looked on the University website's description of the both courses. For example when I applied for "Biomedical Science (Pharmacology)" and Pharmacology for Aberdeen University, I reviewed the curricula of both courses to find out they were practically identical with the exception of Year 2 of Biomedical Science there would be 2 courses on Human Anatomy A and Human Anatomy B but do keep in mind that "Biomedical Science (Pharmacology)" would have different curricula to other Biomed courses so review to your specific course.

Then I looked at how the courses were taught and Biomed (for Aberdeen Uni) had a wider range of learning techniques like about 7 ( group projects, lectures, lab work ,workshops etc.) whilst the Pharmacology had only 5 techniques and although this didn't really affect my decision, it could affect yours. Review what learning techniques are for your courses on your chosen university website. If the learning techniques are not to your favour would you enjoy course or stay motivated to finish it.

Then the last section I reviewed was "Careers", I want to work in labs and experiment / discover drugs so I just reviewed which course had the closest career expectation and as you could have guessed it would be pharmacology.
I always knew that Biomed covers lots of biology since it involves patients' diagnosis (for most degrees, I think) but since my course is "Biomed ( Pharmacology )", I thought that it would be the same as a regular Pharmacology course but would have more career options and is more sought after (if that makes sense) but as it turns out there is not much difference in career aspects.
Like I said before, personally I don't enjoy learning biology that much instead I am all about chemistry so that might play into your decision.
Also if you haven't done so already review the whole thread there are people here who know more about this than me and have shared their views on both courses and that also helped me with my decision.
Hope this helps! :smile:

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 15

OP

Original post by hiiiii1

@Anonymous7518 I was doing some research for myself and found a cool masters course called 'Drug Discovery'. It's offered in places like UCL, Nottingham, Bath. UCL offers a LOT of Masters courses but obvs it's expensive so it depends on you.

Thank you for your insight, the course you found sounds super cool and if I were living in England I would most likely consider it for application. But I am from Scotland and I can't afford to travel to England and also I already have offers from University of Aberdeen but it's really kind of you to inform me of this intriguing course.

Reply 16