Choosing Between Biomedical and Microbiology

Hey all! Long time stalker of The Student Room here,

Recently, I quit my apprenticeship (dead end office job) to follow something of a passion in Science. So I packed my bags, kissed my paycheck goodbye and started studying Life Sciences at a local college, with view of going to university. So far, I'm really taken by Biomedical Sciences at Caledonian! I really love pathology and immunology, but alas, there turned out to be a secret love hidden within my course work. Yup, Microbiology! Clinical Microbiology, I'm just head over heels for! It's a bit of a dream to work on new medicine to confront the failing current line of anti-bacterials.

So I went on NHS jobs as a coin toss, turns out there's LOADS of Biomedical Scientist jobs that don't necessarily require previous biomed employment experience. There's next to no Microbiologist jobs that don't require previous experience.

So now I'm here! Does anyone have advice on the matter? I can do a Masters in Clinical Microbiology, once I've finished my Bachelors. I'm not sure if it's worth going into Biomedical Science and getting a job there, then doing Masters, or studying Microbiology at Uni and praying someone will employ me at the end of it. Any thoughts or experiences would be more than welcome!

Thank you for your time!

Hi,
Could you pls guide me on how I can become a Biomedical Scientist. I studied general microbiology at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. I also have a higher National diploma in microbiology. I would really love to work under NHS but I am a bit confused on how to transition. My fear is that my degrees may not be IBMS accredited or that I may not quality for supplementary top up modules. What rae the other fastest route to transition? Pls help.

Hey all! Long time stalker of The Student Room here,
Recently, I quit my apprenticeship (dead end office job) to follow something of a passion in Science. So I packed my bags, kissed my paycheck goodbye and started studying Life Sciences at a local college, with view of going to university. So far, I'm really taken by Biomedical Sciences at Caledonian! I really love pathology and immunology, but alas, there turned out to be a secret love hidden within my course work. Yup, Microbiology! Clinical Microbiology, I'm just head over heels for! It's a bit of a dream to work on new medicine to confront the failing current line of anti-bacterials.
So I went on NHS jobs as a coin toss, turns out there's LOADS of Biomedical Scientist jobs that don't necessarily require previous biomed employment experience. There's next to no Microbiologist jobs that don't require previous experience.
So now I'm here! Does anyone have advice on the matter? I can do a Masters in Clinical Microbiology, once I've finished my Bachelors. I'm not sure if it's worth going into Biomedical Science and getting a job there, then doing Masters, or studying Microbiology at Uni and praying someone will employ me at the end of it. Any thoughts or experiences would be more than welcome!
Thank you for your time!

Ok. So I'm a Biomedical Scientist with experience in Microbiology. Micro is difficult to get into as a BMS since most labs aren't on shifts yet so there is a low staff turnover in comparison to Biochemistry, which is on full 24-7 shifts, unlike the micro on-call rota's.
The issue is that you could have a PhD, it wouldn't actually matter. The vital little piece of paper work is the HCPC registration. Just one part of that is obtaining an IBMS-accredited degree, which most BSc Biomedical Science courses are. However, you would need to take a placement year to do all the lab work and the portfolio.
The best route, or shall I say, the fastest route, is via BSc Healthcare Science (Life Science). You will cover all area's of pathology and graduate with registration as a generic Biomedical Scientist. That said, you will specialise within the course. I did so into Infection Science.
Whilst there are a lot of Biomedical Science jobs, due to misinformation in regards to the route there, they are unobtainable for the majority of graduates whom graduate with a degree in BSc Biomedical Science and think that's enough. One thing is for sure. Absolutely do not study a pure Microbiology degree. I love Microbiology, but do not. It will not be IBMS accredited since that requires all area's of pathology. The idea is to produce initially generic Biomedical Scientists who go into the NHS as Band 5 and then specialise via the IBMS Specialist Diploma and become Band 6.