Rethinking my ambitions for med school...

For the longest time I have been aiming to get into medical school, because it just made sense. I was getting good grades, I loved STEM subjects, and I had a lot of interest in it. However recently, I've been wondering if it's really right for me. I'm in Y12 with the A levels bio, chem, geography and computer science (not the best combo, I know), and I'm starting to look at universities, WEX, extra curriculars, etc to help me get in because it's so competitve. But now I'm doubting my motives. Without meaning to sound like an absolute jerk, I'm not in it for the people. I don't necessarily want to help people or work with them, and I'm not very social or good in teams (I'm working on it, though). I'm very interested in medicine academically, and in particular, I really want to become a pathologist, but I don't want to aim for a commitment like medical school if it's wrong for me. I'm also very interested in biological sciences, in particular biotechnology or genetic engineering or neurology, so would these be better options? If I had taken maths like everyone told me to, I would be aiming to work in computer science, and I would even say I like it more than biology, I'm just insecure about my programming skills.

Reply 1

Zafirahhh_

11

Hi . It seems like your in a very difficult situation right now . What I would advise for you to do it go for whatever you really want to do . You said you have lost interest in attending medical school so go on to the other subjects that you really are eager to study . As if you choose medical school and at the end your like why did I choose this then it would be a waste of time . If you go for something you enjoy then you will come out and say yesss I’m so happy I done this . You have computer science in your A-Levels so why not go for it ?

Reply 2

LinaHearts

13

Hey, its definitely good to consider your motives before applying to med school, have you done any work experience? it may help you figure out if a career in medicine is what you really want. Maybe try imagining yourself in a hospital, does it sound like something you want to dedicate your life to. Or do you see yourself doing something different? Luckily you still have a year or so to figure it out but if it is in any way possible to do work experience i would highly highly recommend it. At a point where i was doubting myself (or rather talking myself out of it because...grades XD) work experience proved to me i really wanted to go into that career after all and conversely it showed a friend of mine that she didn't.

Reply 3

Democracy

20

Original post by telkov

For the longest time I have been aiming to get into medical school, because it just made sense. I was getting good grades, I loved STEM subjects, and I had a lot of interest in it. However recently, I've been wondering if it's really right for me. I'm in Y12 with the A levels bio, chem, geography and computer science (not the best combo, I know), and I'm starting to look at universities, WEX, extra curriculars, etc to help me get in because it's so competitve. But now I'm doubting my motives. Without meaning to sound like an absolute jerk, I'm not in it for the people. I don't necessarily want to help people or work with them, and I'm not very social or good in teams (I'm working on it, though). I'm very interested in medicine academically, and in particular, I really want to become a pathologist, but I don't want to aim for a commitment like medical school if it's wrong for me. I'm also very interested in biological sciences, in particular biotechnology or genetic engineering or neurology, so would these be better options? If I had taken maths like everyone told me to, I would be aiming to work in computer science, and I would even say I like it more than biology, I'm just insecure about my programming skills.

First thing to say is that neurology is a medical specialty. You can't do anything in neurology without being a doctor first. Neuroscience is perhaps more what you meant.

Have you done any work experience yet? What were your thoughts?

It's not easy to tell people how they should view medicine, and there are definitely a lot of personality types amongst doctors. There's also a lot of variation between specialties in terms of how involved you get in direct patient care, social care, working in big teams, etc. The working life of a geriatrician is very different to that of a medical microbiologist, for example.

In my opinion, the fundamental thing that unifies doctors is that you need to be interested in thinking clinically and applying science to scenarios which affect patient care - even if you'll never see the patient yourself or if they've already died. A histopathologist still needs to think in the same way as all other doctors: they need to consider the medical history, examination findings, social factors, other medical investigations etc before they come up with a diagnosis and advise the team looking after the patient. This way of thinking can only be gained through many years of clinical work which will involve direct patient care, so certainly during medical school and junior doctor years you will have to be interested in what's going on with the patients under your care - you can't just tune in for the science.

I think if your interests are purely academic and you have zero interest in healthcare then you're probably better off pursuing a life sciences degree. If, on the other hand, you are interested in thinking and working clinically, but you also want to be able to work a bit more independently or use a greater proportion of pre-clinical science in your work then medicine could still be right for you as there are specialties that allow for this.

Reply 4

telkov

OP

9

Original post by Democracy

Have you done any work experience yet? What were your thoughts?
I think if your interests are purely academic and you have zero interest in healthcare then you're probably better off pursuing a life sciences degree. If, on the other hand, you are interested in thinking and working clinically, but you also want to be able to work a bit more independently or use a greater proportion of pre-clinical science in your work then medicine could still be right for you as there are specialties that allow for this.

Thank you so much for your reply. In terms of how interested I am in healthcare, It's hard for me to measure. I definitely enjoy the science and I am interested in the patients to a certain extent, and my sister had a major operation a couple of years ago and I was very involved in her recovery and even immediately after the operation as my mum was too upset to do many things. My mum also has MS so I'm used to helping others, but then again they're my family, not patients. I watch a lot of documentaries on hospitals and patients but that's completely different to actually working in that environment.
For work experience, I haven't done any yet, but I currently volunteer in a care home (I don't know if this counts). I do enjoy talking to the patients, but I wouldn't want to work there all the time. I plan to get more WEX soon. My previous WEX is actually based on computer science, so it's useless.
Thanks again. I'll wait until I've completed more work experience.
One last question, though - if I do focus on getting more work experience for medicine, if I do decide that it's not for me, would it be irrelevant for applying for biological sciences? I know they're similar, but they're also different, so would working in a hospital (or e.g. my volunteering in a care home) be useful still? Or would I then have to get DIFFERENT work experience?

Reply 5

Democracy

20

Original post by telkov

Thank you so much for your reply. In terms of how interested I am in healthcare, It's hard for me to measure. I definitely enjoy the science and I am interested in the patients to a certain extent, and my sister had a major operation a couple of years ago and I was very involved in her recovery and even immediately after the operation as my mum was too upset to do many things. My mum also has MS so I'm used to helping others, but then again they're my family, not patients. I watch a lot of documentaries on hospitals and patients but that's completely different to actually working in that environment.
For work experience, I haven't done any yet, but I currently volunteer in a care home (I don't know if this counts). I do enjoy talking to the patients, but I wouldn't want to work there all the time. I plan to get more WEX soon. My previous WEX is actually based on computer science, so it's useless.
Thanks again. I'll wait until I've completed more work experience.
One last question, though - if I do focus on getting more work experience for medicine, if I do decide that it's not for me, would it be irrelevant for applying for biological sciences? I know they're similar, but they're also different, so would working in a hospital (or e.g. my volunteering in a care home) be useful still? Or would I then have to get DIFFERENT work experience?

You're welcome.

I would also not like to work in a care home full time :tongue:

Working as a doctor is very different to being a care home volunteer, but I suppose before medical school it's a reasonable approximation of what it's like to work in close contact with people who often do end up in hospital, and who you may one day have to treat. That doesn't mean your ultimate career as a doctor will resemble anything similar to your volunteering however.

I would try and arrange some medical shadowing in addition to your volunteering (which does count, yes).

Re your final question: I didn't think you need work experience to get into life sciences degrees in the same way you do for medicine. Have you been told differently?

Reply 6

TigerTia

11

Original post by telkov

For the longest time I have been aiming to get into medical school, because it just made sense. I was getting good grades, I loved STEM subjects, and I had a lot of interest in it. However recently, I've been wondering if it's really right for me. I'm in Y12 with the A levels bio, chem, geography and computer science (not the best combo, I know), and I'm starting to look at universities, WEX, extra curriculars, etc to help me get in because it's so competitve. But now I'm doubting my motives. Without meaning to sound like an absolute jerk, I'm not in it for the people. I don't necessarily want to help people or work with them, and I'm not very social or good in teams (I'm working on it, though). I'm very interested in medicine academically, and in particular, I really want to become a pathologist, but I don't want to aim for a commitment like medical school if it's wrong for me. I'm also very interested in biological sciences, in particular biotechnology or genetic engineering or neurology, so would these be better options? If I had taken maths like everyone told me to, I would be aiming to work in computer science, and I would even say I like it more than biology, I'm just insecure about my programming skills.

Some universities for example Lancaster don’t require maths at A level and have a preference for computer science. I would say if you hearts not in it now there’s no point continuing as medicine is really competitive and the amount of work you’ll have to do is high. You will just end up resenting it.

Rethinking my ambitions for med school...

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