Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

On the wrong course?

Hi I've done a year of a course in epidemiology its a masters course (Iam doing it 3 years part time). I've already got a master but decided to do epidemiology because I thought statistical genetics might be a good field to go into (I am interested in analysis and I thought it would be field where there would be lots of jobs).

Last year when I did the course I was falling asleep in some of the classes and just haven't found it as interesting as my last set of studies at university.

I have a list of pros and cons for staying on:

Pros
I might enjoy it more this year (I did the wrong modules because of a mix up and am actually getting the background stuff this year, thus I might understand it more and thus enjoy it).

There are some modules I might find interesting this year (there is also statistical genetics this year which is what I did the course for).

I will probably need a good understanding of statistics to do research.

Cons
I am not sure I have a natural aptitude for maths.

I already have a 2.1 in Biomedical Science and a MSc in Neuroscience (project distinction) and still haven't managed to get into research. I could do the next 2 years of my course and still not end up with a career in research. Some times I just fill like giving up on the research idea I've done 2 years voluntary work to get into research and still not been taken on.

I am scared that I'll do the course just scrap through or maybe even fail (I just about failed the second exam, of which I took half and just about passed the first exam of which I took half.)

I did better in my other two qualifications without the effort that I am putting in now (one was at KCL and that has a good rep).

I do think in some respect it might be foolish to quit because I will not be able to return to study (the fees will be too high). Also I might end up doing well once I have the background.

any thoughts

Reply 1

missssssN

There are definatley jobs available for MSc only...

I know what you mean.. i just graduate with a 1st in psychology and now im going to do my masters in york or sheffield in Cognitive neuroscience.. but i dont know which one to chose?? Any idea???

I also, was 1st thinking of doing a phd and going into lecturing... but i also know that we can get assistant and lower post type jobs and hospitals etc. its just that such posts dont really have a specific name or title... they are just randomn posts that come along eg. as u mentioned in research teams on certain topics, or when they need extra assistance to handle patients using clinical psychological services...

the situation is the same as someone with a undergraduate degree less likely to get the job than you - with a masters degree. Due to the lack of jobs even phd students are going for lower msc positions which means less room for msc students, hence the lack of being taken on in the field of research ...

hope this helpss a little ..... please answer my query if you have any input

Reply 2

rmel

I know what you mean about jobs, I talked to someone who worked in research they were offering a research position that was for someone who had a degree or a masters and they had all these post docs and people who'd just graduated from their PhD going for the position because there's no jobs out there for them. Its scary. Hopefully the recession will ease in a few years time and they will plough money back into research.

I have some input for your question however I am interested to know if you have a particular interest in an area of cognitive neuroscience. If so have you looked at what the respective uni's do in these areas? Or do you have more than one area of interest and you have things that interest you in both York's and Sheffield's programmes?

When choosing a uni course there are different things to think about:

What are the areas of study for each of the universities? Is there a particular area of cognitive neuroscience that you are interested in? If so which uni does the best research in this area (in terms of more interesting questions for you, just think if you do a PhD thats three years on one thing and you need to stay interested). If you do a good project for your masters then maybe that could be turned into a PhD.

What sort of environment do you like (in terms of the uni and the town)? When I was choosing a uni for my undergrad I went around the uni for a look and found the head of the course to be very friendly and this contributed to my choosing the course. Also some unis are stricter than others, I find I cope better when I am not told that I have to be in lectures.

At the time of choosing my neuroscience Masters I was interested in psychiatric disorders and possibly going into research within a pharmaceutical company, thus I choose the institute of psychiatry as a place to study.

Hope this helps good luck

Reply 3

missssssN

thankyou for your input :smile:

Hmmm... I think York has a better reputation for facilities but sheffield seems to be more of a user friendly sort of university and the staff research at sheffield appeals to me more than that of york.. as i have to bare in mind that even for my masters i will need to be limtied to a research area similar to the academic staff at the university...

in terms of career.. i was going to do a phd 100% because my real ambition is to teach neuropsycholgy as a lecturer at university...

but i now want to be able to have the option of stepping dwn a little and maybe getting an assistant psychologist or assistant research techincian at universitys as a job afte rmy masters... so the 2 interdisciplinary subjects masters at sheffield is appealing to me more than york...