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Accident and Emergency

Wondering if anyone can give me any inspiration!
I am currently resitting my AS's having not done well the first year, I have moved school and I am taking Maths, Chemistry, Further Maths and Business. I really really want to work in accident and emergency (in the trauma unit), however I do not know how to get there, ie. what course to do. Obviously doing medicine at university is not an option because they do not accept applicants who take more than 2 years to do their A levels. If anyone else wants to go into this or has any ideas how I can please could you give me some advice :smile:
Original post by gracebromby
Wondering if anyone can give me any inspiration!
I am currently resitting my AS's having not done well the first year, I have moved school and I am taking Maths, Chemistry, Further Maths and Business. I really really want to work in accident and emergency (in the trauma unit), however I do not know how to get there, ie. what course to do. Obviously doing medicine at university is not an option because they do not accept applicants who take more than 2 years to do their A levels. If anyone else wants to go into this or has any ideas how I can please could you give me some advice :smile:


There are loads of different levels at which you can work in trauma- have you looked into nursing? You can specialise as a trauma nurse and also train as a physicians' assistant. Or go the whole hog and do paramedic science?


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It really depends on what you actually want to do. There are a lot of professions that work in the ED:

Doctors
Nurses
Paramedics
Physician's Associates
Operating Department Practitioners
Radiographers
Phlebotomists
Pharmacists
Physios

etc etc.

Also, medicine may not neccesarily be totally out of reach. While I don't know much about the 2yr A-level rules, there are graduate entry courses which you can enter into having completed an undergraduate degree. It's a long haul, but worth being aware of.
Original post by Etomidate
It really depends on what you actually want to do. There are a lot of professions that work in the ED:

Doctors
Nurses
Paramedics
Physician's Associates
Operating Department Practitioners
Radiographers
Phlebotomists
Pharmacists
Physios

etc etc.

Also, medicine may not neccesarily be totally out of reach. While I don't know much about the 2yr A-level rules, there are graduate entry courses which you can enter into having completed an undergraduate degree. It's a long haul, but worth being aware of.


I would be very careful about relying on graduate entry medicine as a route in- it's currently going through a lot of change and it's by no means certain that it'll even exist in 3 or 4 years time.


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Reply 4
The difficult situation for me is that I am predicted A's and B's now so doing nursing would seem like a waste because I feel I should aim higher if you understand where I am coming from.
Reply 5
This is what I have heard too, I am trying to find a course which doesn't require post grad medicine!
Original post by gracebromby
The difficult situation for me is that I am predicted A's and B's now so doing nursing would seem like a waste because I feel I should aim higher if you understand where I am coming from.


In that case I think you just need to do your research and find out which courses you can apply to with as resits. There will be some. And try your hardest to get into medicine if that's what you want to do!


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Reply 7
Thank you for your advice:smile:
Original post by JenniB22
I would be very careful about relying on graduate entry medicine as a route in- it's currently going through a lot of change and it's by no means certain that it'll even exist in 3 or 4 years time.


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Indeed. I wouldn't anticipate four year courses being around, particularly in regards to the change in point of registration. Five year courses are more robust in this respect. As I said, if ultimately someone wants to be a doctor, they're worth being aware of at the very least.
Reply 9
Original post by gracebromby
The difficult situation for me is that I am predicted A's and B's now so doing nursing would seem like a waste because I feel I should aim higher if you understand where I am coming from.


Don't be snobby about nursing. It sounds like you're not really sure what actual job you want to do, just that you want to work in A&E, in which case there are quicker and less stressful options than medicine. Though even if you do get a job in a major trauma centre (which not every hospital has), you will almost certainly not be working in trauma the whole time - there'll still be a lot of sore fingers and old ladies with urine infections to deal with.

If you had extenuating circumstances for your first AS year, there may be a few med schools who will look at you if you are able to get AAA (though you're not doing Biology, which will hinder you). Otherwise you need to look at other options.
Wait until your old enough to do a little shadowing in A&E. It's not a whole lot of fun to be honest. It takes a certain type of person to cope with it! Focus on getting into medicine first, rather than what speciality of medicine.
Reply 11
Just because you haven't done great in your A levels absolutely DOES NOT stop you from becoming a doctor.

My Alevels were: A2 - B & D, AS - C.

That's it......

A&E however is not all major trauma and resus. Most of the work is from people who clearly haven't read the sign on the door and pitch up complaining of any old crap. The Trauma calls are good but the really sick patients are swooped up by anaesthetics & ITU and are not in the ED for very long.

A&E is fast paced but i always felt like i was doing a half arsed, rushed job and a glorified triage. Some people love it though.

OP, you need some work experience or shadowing. This is not difficult to organise and will show you what direction you want to go in. I would be very surprised if each team member's job is anything like you think.

Good luck!

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