Totally stuck!

Wow, this is not a forum I really expected to be writing on. I'm a Year 13 student about to sit my A Levels (English lit, history and Classics) and i have an unconditional offer from Nottingham for history which i have accepted.
But over the last couple weeks i've had this unshakable feeling im making the wrong choice. i know in my heart i should be doing a medical degree. All my life i wanted to do medicine, and then for some reason i picked humanities a levels! Ive regretted it a lot these last 2 years. but i figured id just stick it out and maybe go into medicine later in life.
but now, i seriously know i have to do medicine. the only career i can even begin to imagine is being a doctor. i read medical books and dictionaries in my free time. ive thought hard about this and i know i need to do medicine.
so... how the hell does someone with 3 a levels in humanities, with no work experience even go about getting into medicine? i know i could either resit new a levels, which im open to, or take a foundation course, which im also open to (although i would need to quickly get some work experience).
has anyone else had a vaguely similar experience? any advice? or should i just suffer through my history degree (to be fair i do enjoy history) and take a medical degree later in life? i feel like thats just a needless 30 grand loan if i dont want to do history.

Reply 1

Ðeggs

You’d want to look in to doing graduate entry medicine after your degree. To even study medicine it’s a long process, you’ll need to pass the UKCAT or BMAT test, have many weeks of relevant work experience, and study Biology, Chemisty, and Maths. There’s no point repeating a levels as what’s the point of sitting your humanities subjects now then? Follow your dreams later in life.

Reply 2

felic22

Hi! Fellow year 13(Ish) here!

Please don't waste 9k a year on a degree that doesn't make you happy.

I actually was in the same position as you but decided to retake year 12 as I was doing psychology, physics and geography. Realised I wanted to do medicine so I retook the year doing biology, chemistry and physics. Definitely WORTH IT. I am so much happier now to be on the right track.

There are foundation years and stuff that you should definitely look into. I think they want you to have very good grades in what you're doing even if they're the wrong combination. Please note that these gateway paths are extremely competitive and you're up against people that did BTECs in applied science and other science-y subjects.

Also, you need to remember that there are admission tests that you need to take. The BMAT is all about the knowledge of the sciences and other things so it would be wise to take a year out and study for it really hard.

Alternatively, you may take two years out and do A level chemistry (and maybe Biology) then apply through the normal route. It's basically what I'm doing. 10/10 would definitely recommend.

Or you could try to stick it out doing a history degree. You would be able to apply for graduate entry. This would mean applying for a VERY VERY competitive place as there are fewer slots. Quite a few graduate applicants study science degrees which might favour them. This assumes that you do not become unmotivated to study this subject that you are no longer interested in and then fail. If you don't do well in the history degree, your chances of getting into medical school gets real slim. You may not be able to do well if you decide to.spend 3 years suffering in a degree. This also assumes that you don't drop out or even become super depressed and do something dangerous.

Remember that your happiness comes first. There is no deadline for when you need to have a degree. Go and travel. Take a gap year. Stay around your family and people who you love. Take a look at the world. Make sure you definitely know that you've seen quite a bit before making such a commitment to a career path.

Don't forget to drink water and get those 7 hours of sleep every night as well.

Reply 3

GANFYD

Original post by lemminaid

Without being rude, how do you know that you have to do medicine? Have you done some work experience? Spoken to med students or doctors? Done some volunteering? Medicine really isn't what most people think it is and being really sure it is the right thing for you is something med schools look at very closely - do you have a genuine knowledge of what it means to be a Dr?

If the answer is yes, you have done all of that, you have a choice, apply to Foundation courses with your achieved A levels next year, or do A level Chemistry and Biology over the next year or two (depending on how long you think you need to do them) and apply in the standard way. Most med schools will want AAA at your first sitting and another AA in Chem and Biology (as they like 3 As at one sitting and CHem +/- Biology) but you may find a few who will settle for less first time round, call them up and ask. If you got Chem and Bio A levels even in 2 years, you would still finish no later than if you did a Foundation year after a gap year, as that is a 6 year course, and the standard route is probably the least competitive. You would also need to do the UKCAT/BMAT and relevant work experience.

GEM is a possibility, but is ridiculously competitive, and many places still will not accept you without a science background, so you would still be left applying for Foundation courses (and I am not sure they accept graduates, though it is quite possible they do) or having to do Chem and Bio A levels.

There are links to Foundation courses here which will give you some more info:
https://www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2357/msc-entry-requirements-for-uk-medical-schools.pdf

My advice? If you feel you can get the grades, sit Chem and Bio A levels and apply as normal, if you don't, medicine may not be for you.

Reply 4

nexttime

Original post by lemminaid

...but now, i seriously know i have to do medicine. the only career i can even begin to imagine is being a doctor. i read medical books and dictionaries in my free time. ive thought hard about this and i know i need to do medicine.

Yeah whenever someone says something like this it makes me think they really don't know what they are talking about. There is no evidence of a logical thought process, a knowledge of what the career involves, or any acknowledgements of downsides on display at all. The most obvious example here being: you enjoy reading medical dictionaries. Great. Do you think a doctor sits reading medical dictionaries all day? Liking biology =/= "need" to be a doctor.

But lets not be too harsh - maybe you do have some thought out reasons that just aren't stated here. Practically speaking, the best way forward is to get some work experience now. As stated above, you could then a) do science A-levels and apply normally b) apply via foundation year or c) do another degree and apply as a graduate. a) and b) are probably the better options in terms of chance of success.

Reply 5

lemminaid

ok im gonna speak to my sixth form director and see if i can go about it this way:
resit a levels more appropriate for medicine (biology chemistry and maybe something else) after ive taken my current 3 . i think this is a better route than a foundation course because hopefully its less competitive, and theres no point stopping these a levels now less than a month before they start.
then ill have to just look into work experience and sitting ukcat/bmat . which is difficult but at least i will have fellow students i can talk to because hopefully my school will let me stay on for a further two years, or at least one more year and then one year of personal study? ill have to see what my teacher says.
ive had a difficult morning over this, agonizing and going back and forth.

Totally stuck!

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