Medicine VS Biochemistry: Which one is for me?

Recently I've been very conflicted as to what I should choose as a career path: medicine or biochemistry? I guess I've always felt somewhat pressured into going into medicine, though that isn't really the reason why I'm so unsure.

I've always had a passion for biology and chemistry, individually and combined. Learning about enzymes, DNA, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, etc., all the theory behind it and organic chemistry in particular has all been so interesting and so fascinating.

So, do doctors actually use this during their career or are they more general (i.e. diagnosis, prescriptions and what not..) ? Should I pursue biochemistry and become a clinical biochemist? Which one is for me and is there a career path that's "the best of both worlds"? Answers from people taking both medicine and biochemistry would be greatly appreciated!

Reply 1

Hype en Ecosse

20

The amount of biochemistry used and applied in medicine isn't of the rigorous and scientific nature I'm sure you're thinking of. Medical students do have to learn a lot of biochemistry (amount varies with university), but it's no where near the level of what you'd learn in a biochemistry degree, although it is enough to get a general understanding of how stuff works.

The two are very quite different fields. 95% of what I've learned so far at medical school hasn't been biochemistry, and I'm sure that'll increase to 99% by the time I finish. If your only reason for being interested in medicine is because you like biochemistry or science, then I'd say it isn't for you. If you're interested in working with patients and learning about disease, though, then I'd keep medicine on the cards. The best way to find out whether or not medicine is for you is to get some work experience in and do more research!

I have learned and used zero organic chemistry at medical school and I've forgotten 99% of what I learned at A level.

At the same time, science and biochemistry at university is quite different from what you'll be doing at A level. So you'll want to do more research there, too, to decide if it's for you. As well as into the sort of careers related to biochemistry if you think that's the field you'd want to work in. :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2

AffirmedCube

OP

9

Original post by Hype en Ecosse

The amount of biochemistry used and applied in medicine isn't of the rigorous and scientific I'm sure you're thinking of. Medical students do have to learn a lot of biochemistry (amount varies with university), but it's no where near the level of what you'd learn in a biochemistry degree, although it is enough to get a general understanding of how stuff works.

The two are very quite different fields. 95% of what I've learned so far at medical school hasn't been biochemistry, and I'm sure that'll increase to 99% by the time I finish. If your only reason for being interested in medicine is because you like biochemistry or science, then I'd say it isn't for you. If you're interested in working with patients and learning about disease, though, then I'd keep medicine on the cards. The best way to find out whether or not medicine is for you is to get some work experience in and do more research!

I have learned and used zero organic chemistry at medical school and I've forgotten 99% of what I learned at A level.

At the same time, science and biochemistry at university is quite different from what you'll be doing at A level. So you'll want to do more research there, too, to decide if it's for you. As well as into the sort of careers related to biochemistry if you think that's the field you'd want to work in. :smile:

Thanks a lot for clearing this stuff up; it's just getting stressful having to freakin decide what job we wanna take up for the rest of our lives at the mere age of 16/17..

I guess biochemistry is more what I'm looking for whereas medicine is more helping people, procedures, diagnosis, etc. and not where I think I would like to be headed. That being said, will biochemistry lead to well-paid job. Can it? I know that shouldn't necessarily be my primary concern, but at the end of the day, jobs are essentially ways to make money.

Thanks :borat:

Reply 3

TigerKing

7

Just wanted to say; I'm exactly in your position. Ever since the start of GCSE, I've had a strong interest in science, particularly Biology and Chemistry and have thusly taken it for AS (and planning to keep them into A-Level).

Medicine and Biochemistry are my two career options however, I've decided to wait until mocks are out of the way and open days at universities become much more accessible (which is likely to be once the summer exams are complete). This will allow me to get a feel of what life will be like as a university student and decide as to which course would better suit me.

I would also have thought that it would be a reasonable idea to see how AS levels go, although having those careers in mind would make an assumption that your are strong in those subjects anyway.

~AS Student~
Biology
Chemistry
History
Mathematics

Reply 4

Masafi

2

As previously, biochemistry is fundamental to medicine but runs alongside physiology, anatomy, pathology, clinical skills, and a little bit of history, sociology, law, ethics, etc.

I studied both (BSc and MBChB) and preferred medicine simply because it has so much breadth - it truly is the study of how people work and malfunction!

I would stop worrying about what degree interests you and focus on the job it will lead to. If you're pretty sure you want to be a laboratory research scientist then go straight for the science degree. If you want to be a doctor, medicine it is… You will only be a student for 3-6 years but the rest of your life will (hopefully!) be a lot longer.

The bottom line is that this decision doesn't matter as much as you think it does. You can study medicine as a graduate on an accelerated course post-BSc if you decide you want to be a doctor. And, if you study medicine but don't love the clinical part, then you can move in to science afterwards. Lots of medical doctors do PhDs and work part- or full-time as research scientists. Many medical schools will also let you intercalate and do a BSc (e.g. biochemistry) in one year during your medical degree.

You can go into most graduate jobs from a biochemistry degree, although often with some additional training - from research to law to marketing to investment banking. How much you earn is only determined by how much you work and what you choose to do. Medicine is unusual in that its graduates typically earn more than those from other disciplines but they also study (unpaid) for longer. The difference is not so great that it should determine your choices at this stage.

Reply 5

Failing all

4

Original post by Hype en Ecosse

The amount of biochemistry used and applied in medicine isn't of the rigorous and scientific nature I'm sure you're thinking of. Medical students do have to learn a lot of biochemistry (amount varies with university), but it's no where near the level of what you'd learn in a biochemistry degree, although it is enough to get a general understanding of how stuff works.

The two are very quite different fields. 95% of what I've learned so far at medical school hasn't been biochemistry, and I'm sure that'll increase to 99% by the time I finish. If your only reason for being interested in medicine is because you like biochemistry or science, then I'd say it isn't for you. If you're interested in working with patients and learning about disease, though, then I'd keep medicine on the cards. The best way to find out whether or not medicine is for you is to get some work experience in and do more research!

I have learned and used zero organic chemistry at medical school and I've forgotten 99% of what I learned at A level.

At the same time, science and biochemistry at university is quite different from what you'll be doing at A level. So you'll want to do more research there, too, to decide if it's for you. As well as into the sort of careers related to biochemistry if you think that's the field you'd want to work in. :smile:

I know this is an old thread but i've heard from a 4th year med student at Imperial who intercalated with neuroscience that you can still be an academic doctor leading a research team. You don't happen to know anything about this do you

Reply 6

Hype en Ecosse

20

Original post by Failing all

I know this is an old thread but i've heard from a 4th year med student at Imperial who intercalated with neuroscience that you can still be an academic doctor leading a research team. You don't happen to know anything about this do you

Yeah you can do that. I know doctors that do that.

Here's some useful websites
https://www.ed.ac.uk/medicine-vet-medicine/research-support-development-commercialisation/edinburgh-clinical-academic-track/uk-training-structures
https://acmedsci.ac.uk/grants-and-schemes/mentoring-and-other-schemes/INSPIRE
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4485885/

But definitely carefully think about what you want to do: go into a BSc if you want to be a scientist. Go into medicine if you want to treat sick people on the frontline. Academic medicine is something that comes over in addition to a rewarding clinical career - THEN some doctors decide to switch over to mostly academic time. If you don't like clinical medicine, you'll have a long road (10+ years!) before you can actually be a real scientist

Medicine VS Biochemistry: Which one is for me?

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