Medicine or pharmacy

I will be doing pharmacy at KCL soon but my family are saying that I should have taken a year out and apply for medicine
I got AAB and I feel as though that’s not good enough for medicine but then there were people who got into foundation medicine with grades BBB
But with so many getting in to medicine this year, I think it would be too competitive to get in next year
I find pharmacy really interesting but reading reviews of it online I’m worried about the job market and my future in pharmacy
Is graduate medicine worth it? And would doing a 4 year medicine course after pharmacy be worth it because that would mean being able to do my pharmacy degree as well as medicine and enjoying both degrees

Reply 1

planktion34

People that were accepted into the foundation course may be accepted through the wide in participation/ contextual offers
AAB are pretty good alevels
You can apply for grad med or Aston med school I think they accept AAB alevels

Reply 2

Blue_skies124

Original post by planktion34

A lot of people say that it’s better to just got for medicine as an undergraduates instead of graduate but I think if I don’t feel fulfilled by pharmacy, I’ll think about doing graduate medicine as competitive as it is

Reply 3

planktion34

Original post by Blue_skies124

Have you looked at med schools where they will accept AAB grades?
If you think you fit into the widening scheme/ don’t have the right a levels so need to complete a foundation med year then I’d suggest taking a gap year
But the ucas deadline for medicine is 15th Oct I think
You can resist the B grade and try and apply for universities that accept retakes
I think Sheffield accept retakes with a minimum of BBB in the first sitting
Pharmacy and medicine both lead to a career if it’s the career stability you want
I’d think about it
I’ll also be starting pharmacy at kcl

Reply 4

becausethenight

Original post by planktion34

Aston doesn’t; you may be thinking of KMMS (which, for this reason, is basically the most competitive med school in the country. As also need to be in science subjects)

Reply 5

planktion34

Original post by planktion34

Edit: you can apply for med and have pharmacy as your 5th choice which you will definitely get a place for!!
Weigh up your options and ask the ‘can I get into medical school’ thread
You still have time if you commit and send your ps by 15th October

Reply 6

planktion34

Original post by becausethenight

Aston doesn’t; you may be thinking of KMMS (which, for this reason, is basically the most competitive med school in the country. As also need to be in science subjects)

My mistake, I haven’t checked med school requirements in a few years

Reply 7

becausethenight

Original post by Blue_skies124

Well, do you want to be a doctor? Have you done any medical work experience? Could you even get a slot to sit the UCAT this close to the close of testing, and would you be able to be put in for autumn exams (so could end up being 2 gap years...?). You will need to resit the B unless you are eligible for contextual offers or want to only apply to KMMS, or have an A at EPQ which may just about get you 4 schools.

“My parents think I should” is effectively never a good reason to choose a career at the end of the day. If what you really want to do is medicine then of course take the time out and go for standard undergrad medicine, but it sounds more like you’re happy enough with pharmacy and having a last minute ‘what if’?

Pharmacy will have decent job prospects and you can always explore alternative routes to being a pharmacist (grad schemes, work in industry, academia, banking etc) that aren’t GEM, or consider other allied health degrees.

Graduate medicine is much more competitive and expensive than standard undergraduate medicine and a pharmacy degree may not be accepted by all GEM courses.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 8

Blue_skies124

Original post by becausethenight

I find pharmacy really interesting which is why I want to do it but I know, I’d enjoy being in the medical field too despite my grades
I would qualify for a contextual offer but I don’t think there’s enough time to resit this autumn and do the ucat which is why I’m thinking of studying pharmacy and if I feel as though it’s not fulfilling I will consider graduate medicine

Reply 9

becausethenight

Original post by Blue_skies124

I think the main question here is, are you committed to pharmacy and happy to complete your degree and work in pharmacy or a related industry?

Doing any degree with the main idea of graduate medicine isn’t a great idea (although being aware of it in case it turns out you made an unforeseen mistake is fine) so if you think you might seriously want to do medicine taking a gap year to get more work experience is a sensible decision - if you are eligible for contextual offers you may not need to resit for example. Equally, if the work needed for medicine seems too much like hard work, that answers the question in its own way.

Reply 10

Ohnourlp

Original post by Blue_skies124

Hey AAB are great grades and you only need ABC contextual for pharmacy at KCL. You sound like you really want to do medicine and I think you already know the answer, do it. My cousin went to a terrible sixth form and didn’t know about the ucat until October and did it then. You can also just do the BMAT and take your alevel resit in the summer instead of autumn. If you start kcl now, you’d waste your funding, unless you don’t mind to study pharmacy. Ur going to get reminded of medicine almost everyday, especially when you work with doctors, don’t want you to feel regret! I think you should take a year out but either way, both a good degrees!