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Nursing degree to medicine

I was wondering if I could do a nursing degree which is 3 years and then applying to medicine as a post graduate ? How does that work ? Would I turn apply with my nursing degree or my A levels ?
Reply 1
Original post by N.ah03
I was wondering if I could do a nursing degree which is 3 years and then applying to medicine as a post graduate ? How does that work ? Would I turn apply with my nursing degree or my A levels ?

1) you have to declare ALL your qualifications, so you's apply with both A levels and Nursing degree. Bear in mind that postgraduate medicine is loads more competative.
2) why on earth would you do nursing then medicine? Medicine and nursing are very different professions; either do nursing OR medicine - or if you're doing another degree first for whatever reason, biochem/biomedical sciences are better to do before postgraduate medicine.
Yes in theory but you should not do a degree you have no interest in with the sole aim of doing GEM, as applying to medicine as a graduate is MORE competitive than for standard entry. If your main aim is to go into medicine you would be better taking a gap year (or several), retaking any A-levels as necessary, getting more work experience and reapplying to medicine.

Also I have moved your thread to the medicine forum.
(edited 2 years ago)
What ^ said.
I am currently doing exactly this (although have been an RN for 10 years).
Nursing is a tricky one, some Uni's love it, but other's won't accept it as a relevant scientific degree. It can be a little frustrating.
If you want to do nursing, great, if you want to do medicine, I'd echo what artful says.
Reply 4
Original post by Emily_B
1) you have to declare ALL your qualifications, so you's apply with both A levels and Nursing degree. Bear in mind that postgraduate medicine is loads more competative.
2) why on earth would you do nursing then medicine? Medicine and nursing are very different professions; either do nursing OR medicine - or if you're doing another degree first for whatever reason, biochem/biomedical sciences are better to do before postgraduate medicine.


I wanted to do medicine however my UCAT score is very low. It’s 2150 and band 3 which most unis would not accept
Original post by N.ah03
I wanted to do medicine however my UCAT score is very low. It’s 2150 and band 3 which most unis would not accept


Take a gap year, retake the UCAT (with more time to prepare for it in the gap year), reapply. Simple.

Much quicker, cheaper, and more likely to lead to medicine all things considered, than doing a 3 year degree you don't want to do...
(edited 2 years ago)
Reply 6
Original post by artful_lounger
Take a gap year, retake the UCAT (with more time to prepare for it in the gap year), reapply. Simple.

Much quicker, cheaper, and more likely to lead to medicine all things considered, than doing a 3 year degree you don't want to do...


I really don’t want to take a Gap year. That’s something I’ve been wanting to avoid.
Original post by N.ah03
I really don’t want to take a Gap year. That’s something I’ve been wanting to avoid.


As opposed to spending three years and all your SFE funding entitlement on a degree you don't want to do? You realise you don't just get funded for a second degree? For accelerated GEM courses (which are much more competitive than standard entry medicine for school leavers) you only receive partial tuition fee funding for first year and need to pay ~£3000 out of pocket. For standard entry medicine as a graduate you need to self fund the tuition fees for FOUR years. How exactly would you plan to fund this?

If you aren't prepared to make the sacrifice to take a gap year and reapply for medicine, one has to question how invested in the profession you are anyway. This is not just an arbitrary "mean comment" either, medicine takes a huge amount of commitment and at times self sacrifice. A gap year is pretty much the most painless thing you could do in the scope of trying to forge a medical career.

Because if you aren't willing to do that, are you going to be willing to move across the country for specialty training, force yourself into long commutes between your medical school and placements, or have to up and move or change commute every ~4 months during foundation training? Not to mention that you may well be unsuccessful in specialty training applications and need to take a year out and do locum work/an "FY3" - would you also just give up at that point and not do it because you didn't want to have the "gap year"? That's even before you get to the actual work you would be expected to be doing during the job.

You may want to spend some time reflecting on your motivations for and commitment to medicine and whether it's actually something you reasonably want (or can) to pursue. If you know you want to do medicine now, it seems absurd to do anything but take a one year break in education to improve your application. You would literally qualify as a doctor sooner by taking a gap year, than your proposed route, not to mention have better odds of being accepted (you are much less likely to get in as a graduate applicant, statistically - the odds are stacked against you in that route), and as noted, spending far less money out of your own pocket (which you may not even be able to afford) to do those courses.
(edited 2 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by N.ah03
I wanted to do medicine however my UCAT score is very low. It’s 2150 and band 3 which most unis would not accept


You're struggling to get into undergrad medicine is NOT a reason to do nursing.
As others have suggested, take a gap year and redo UCAT. It may not be your idea of the best option, but its better than you halfheartedly doing a nursing degree and then battling to get a place on postgrad medicine. Only do nursing if you genuinely want to.
Reply 9
Original post by N.ah03
I wanted to do medicine however my UCAT score is very low. It’s 2150 and band 3 which most unis would not accept

The UCAT cut off needed for grads, especially for GEM is far, far higher than for school leavers. A school leaver can get several interviews with a 2550 or lower UCAT, but grads are highly unlikely to get any, and most GEM courses require scores of >3000. If UCAT is a problem for you, you will just compound it by aiming for grad entry

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