Career Problem!! Please help!!

I'll be starting year 13 in Sept. I am worried and hesistant whether I'd apply for medicine or nursing this year. Since the UKCAT and BMAT have to be done before october, I need to make a decision quickly. I am planning to apply for nursing FIRST and then get a degree then apply for postgrad medicine for 4 yrs. My parents want me to take nursing first so I can start getting income while I study medicine. CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME. I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

Moonstruck16

5

Original post by Angelaa

I'll be starting year 13 in Sept. I am worried and hesistant whether I'd apply for medicine or nursing this year. Since the UKCAT and BMAT have to be done before october, I need to make a decision quickly. I am planning to apply for nursing FIRST and then get a degree then apply for postgrad medicine for 4 yrs. My parents want me to take nursing first so I can start getting income while I study medicine. CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME. I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL.

Graduate entry medicine is an undergrad course first of all, and it's very competitive because there are so few places. I really don't think your plan is a good idea and maybe you should consider a gap year, get experience in both and then decide what you want. I'm going down the GEM route because when I was 18 I had no intention of being a doctor and whilst I wouldn't change anything, I am pretty certain that it is not a good idea to purposefully go down the GEM route unless you've run out of other options.

You can't be this uncertain before applying, give yourself time to figure out what you want.

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(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Is there a reason you don't want to take the BMAT/UKCAT? You can always take them and if you felt you did very badly, apply to another course, either in the main period or through clearing. For GEM courses Nursing degrees are not always accepted as having the necessary scientific background - usually they emphasis students having a strong laboratory science based degree (possibly specifically in biosciences) rather than a clinical course. The latter is rarer and is more commonly undertaken as a career change later in life, rather than as a plan at the outset.

I would suggest taking the tests, applying to medicine + 1 other (probably a biomedical science course being the most relevant and offering the most options - several have "transfer into medicine" schemes where pending excellent performance in first year a select few are allowed to progress to Y2 medicine. Others have guaranteed interview schemes for the offering university or a partner universities GEM course - and SGUL blends the two, giving some students on the BMS course an opportunity to pursue a more clinically oriented course and then enter into their GEM course in Y2 (which is highly unusual, and has the benefit of allowing said student to complete BSc + GEM in the same length of time as a typical MBBS). These, like GEM, are highly competitive - more so than entry into a standard MBBS (on that note it's worth noting many GEM applicants include "standard" courses in their applications, or apply to universities which consider their application for both the GEM and standard course, in order to maximize their chances of getting a spot, regardless of financial implications).

Reply 3

ForestCat

18

Original post by Angelaa

I'll be starting year 13 in Sept. I am worried and hesistant whether I'd apply for medicine or nursing this year. Since the UKCAT and BMAT have to be done before october, I need to make a decision quickly. I am planning to apply for nursing FIRST and then get a degree then apply for postgrad medicine for 4 yrs. My parents want me to take nursing first so I can start getting income while I study medicine. CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME. I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL.

They want you to almost double your total debt, to be able to earn money through med school? That doesn't make sense. As it has already been pointed out, GEM is much more competitive than 5 year courses and there are far fewer places (and the number is decreasing).

If you have the grades, apply for medicine now. It is by far the most sensible route and the easiest.

Oh and btw, nursing is not a stepping stone to medicine. Only apply to nursing, if you actually want to be a nurse.

Reply 4

Etomidate

15

Why not just do undergraduate medicine and work part time as a HCA on the bank?

Reply 5

games211

16

Original post by Angelaa

I'll be starting year 13 in Sept. I am worried and hesistant whether I'd apply for medicine or nursing this year. Since the UKCAT and BMAT have to be done before october, I need to make a decision quickly. I am planning to apply for nursing FIRST and then get a degree then apply for postgrad medicine for 4 yrs. My parents want me to take nursing first so I can start getting income while I study medicine. CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME. I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL.