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medicine after a degree in biology
Hellu!
I have a place at Ox for biology starting this autumn. I am really looking forward to going. However, lately I have started to become more and more interested in eventually reading medicine and becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, or so I have heard, getting in for graduate entry medicine at any uni is a pain in the ass. Will the Oxford degree be very much to my advantage if I one day decide on medicine? Anyone here who has taken up medicine after a degree in bio/chem from Oxbridge or anywhere else? I do not want to give up my place at Ox, but at the same time I would like to have the possibility of reading medicine after taking my degree in biology. Any tips, personal experiences?!
I have a place at Ox for biology starting this autumn. I am really looking forward to going. However, lately I have started to become more and more interested in eventually reading medicine and becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, or so I have heard, getting in for graduate entry medicine at any uni is a pain in the ass. Will the Oxford degree be very much to my advantage if I one day decide on medicine? Anyone here who has taken up medicine after a degree in bio/chem from Oxbridge or anywhere else? I do not want to give up my place at Ox, but at the same time I would like to have the possibility of reading medicine after taking my degree in biology. Any tips, personal experiences?!
tigglywiggly
Hellu!
I have a place at Ox for biology starting this autumn. I am really looking forward to going. However, lately I have started to become more and more interested in eventually reading medicine and becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, or so I have heard, getting in for graduate entry medicine at any uni is a pain in the ass. Will the Oxford degree be very much to my advantage if I one day decide on medicine? Anyone here who has taken up medicine after a degree in bio/chem from Oxbridge or anywhere else? I do not want to give up my place at Ox, but at the same time I would like to have the possibility of reading medicine after taking my degree in biology. Any tips, personal experiences?!
I have a place at Ox for biology starting this autumn. I am really looking forward to going. However, lately I have started to become more and more interested in eventually reading medicine and becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, or so I have heard, getting in for graduate entry medicine at any uni is a pain in the ass. Will the Oxford degree be very much to my advantage if I one day decide on medicine? Anyone here who has taken up medicine after a degree in bio/chem from Oxbridge or anywhere else? I do not want to give up my place at Ox, but at the same time I would like to have the possibility of reading medicine after taking my degree in biology. Any tips, personal experiences?!
There is a course called 'fast track medicine' at Oxford which I know a few people who are doing it. It basically teaches the full medicine course to graduates in 4 years. People doing the course often have a background in Biology or Chemistry but sometimes not. Competition to get on the course is high but if you already have an interest in the subject now you've got 3 years to really demonstrate that and you should be in a strong position when you finish your Biology degree (i.e. choose options related to human Biology virology etc., do hospital placements etc.). Good luck.
As Davey Boy said - competition is definitely very very high for graduate entry medicine. Generally if people know they want to do medicine & have appropriate A levels then trying for a standard course does seem to be the best route: ease of getting in, financial considerations and perhaps controversially medical career prospects (though with the new MDAP this might change).
Whether an Oxford degree will be an advantage for graduate medicine? Will probably depend on the university - Oxford & Birmingham seem to be two of the most academic courses in their selection - although class of degree & postgrad qualifications are the official criteria...the role of degree institution is more 'leaked in the press' type anecdote!
Most courses seem to use additional exams too (UKCAT as with standard entrants as of next year, GAMSAT (the most hellish exam in the world, apparently) & some definitely used to do personal qualities/psychometric screening) to preselect for interview, so as it currently stands i don't think an oxford degree per se would necessarily get many bonus points for graduate entry.
But what will definitely be very important are the other attributes - work experience, extracurriculars etc. as davey_boy suggested. & Oxford is a pretty good university for wealth of extra-curriculars available, plus the long holidays would make work experience easier to fit in.
Other thoughts - if you're thinking of a more medical route you might want to consider seeing if you could change course to Physiology, Physiology/Psychology/Philosophy or Experimental Psychology? Our biology students seem to spend all their time on plants... but i don't know details of the course, so don't know how human you could make it.
Hope some of this might help - can elaborate further on any if it's not clear - or point this thread in the direction of an Oxford-graduate-now-studying-medicine poster on here.
Whether an Oxford degree will be an advantage for graduate medicine? Will probably depend on the university - Oxford & Birmingham seem to be two of the most academic courses in their selection - although class of degree & postgrad qualifications are the official criteria...the role of degree institution is more 'leaked in the press' type anecdote!
Most courses seem to use additional exams too (UKCAT as with standard entrants as of next year, GAMSAT (the most hellish exam in the world, apparently) & some definitely used to do personal qualities/psychometric screening) to preselect for interview, so as it currently stands i don't think an oxford degree per se would necessarily get many bonus points for graduate entry.
But what will definitely be very important are the other attributes - work experience, extracurriculars etc. as davey_boy suggested. & Oxford is a pretty good university for wealth of extra-curriculars available, plus the long holidays would make work experience easier to fit in.
Other thoughts - if you're thinking of a more medical route you might want to consider seeing if you could change course to Physiology, Physiology/Psychology/Philosophy or Experimental Psychology? Our biology students seem to spend all their time on plants... but i don't know details of the course, so don't know how human you could make it.
Hope some of this might help - can elaborate further on any if it's not clear - or point this thread in the direction of an Oxford-graduate-now-studying-medicine poster on here.
Reply 3
Just to confirm what Elles has said, the prospectus states that:
Having said that I'd imagine straight Physiology would be your best bet if you're changing from Biology, and don't fancy being a brain doctor.
Some students who have read Psychology and Physiology go on to medical qualifications from which they will be well placed to become neurologists or psychiatrists.
Having said that I'd imagine straight Physiology would be your best bet if you're changing from Biology, and don't fancy being a brain doctor.
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