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Help decide my future lol

Okay so basically I’m set to start a biomed degree in sept. I’m sure I’m going to get the grades to get onto the course. Although I’m kind of rethinking my decision.

I feel that I should have chosen biochem or natural sciences instead because I feel like I want to have the option to not only learn about and come up with new treatments for diseases but also know about and synthesise the chemicals/medicines needed to treat the patients. I don’t know honestly I’ve been having so many doubts lately at one point I spiralled so much that I was about to decide to take a gap year to apply to medicine, but I don’t have work experience in the medical field and I don’t think my heart is 100% in it. I’ve always wanted to get into science. I know I like bio and chem and think maths is useful so I feel that I should have chosen biochem/natsci instead.

This breakdown/ change of heart might have been caused by the fact that I was thinking about career prospects and how with natsci I’m probably more likely to get a job than with biomed and can still work in the same field as biomed grads get into. Also I kind of feel that biomed is mostly taken by people who want to do postgrad medicine who failed to get in first time and I don’t want to fall under that stereotype( even though I know there are also people who’ve never wanted to do med who do biomed). I’m really interested in biomed though I just wish there was an option to do a biomed+chem joint honours degree as I like both.

Anyone got any advice? Am I just overthinking it?
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by indecisiveel2
Okay so basically I’m set to start a biomed degree in sept. I’m sure I’m going to get the grades to get onto the course. Although I’m kind of rethinking my decision.

I feel that I should have chosen biochem or natural sciences instead because I feel like I want to have the option to not only learn about and come up with new treatments for diseases but also know about and synthesise the chemicals/medicines needed to treat the patients. I don’t know honestly I’ve been having so many doubts lately at one point I spiralled so much that I was about to decide to take a gap year to apply to medicine, but I don’t have work experience in the medical field and I don’t think my heart is 100% in it. I’ve always wanted to get into science. I know I like bio and chem and think maths is useful so I feel that I should have chosen biochem/natsci instead.

This breakdown/ change of heart might have been caused by the fact that I was thinking about career prospects and how with natsci I’m probably more likely to get a job than with biomed and can still work in the same field as biomed grads get into. Also I kind of feel that biomed is mostly taken by people who want to do postgrad medicine who failed to get in first time and I don’t want to fall under that stereotype( even though I know there are also people who’ve never wanted to do med who do biomed). I’m really interested in biomed though I just wish there was an option to do a biomed+chem joint honours degree as I like both.

Anyone got any advice? Am I just overthinking it?

Hi, I'm not sure where you've got the idea that with NatSci you have better career prospects, friends of mine with that degree have often worried that because it is broad it will suggest lack of in depth understanding to employers.
With a biomed degree you are right you will not be a great fit for a job in which you synthesise the molecules which are used to treat people, but there is so much more to the drug discovery process than this. Chemists come up with libraries of compounds which they know may fit because biologists/biomedical scientists have undertaken computer modelling. Biologists then have to screen these compounds so come up with assays to test if they affect the target, they then have to set up more depth tests for anything that shows promise (hits) and then refine any issues. They also will carry out the animal testing which is a legal requirement. They are also involved in the clinical trials. Additionally before any of this biologists will have to find the targets for the disease in the first place. As well as this, in the pharma industry, there is currently a big push for biological molecule treatments (e.g. antibodies) which requires no input fro]m chemists as biologists generate them antibodies themselves, chemists may come in with assistance on formulation or drug packaging, but eqully this may be a pharmacologist.
I'm not putting down chemists, they are vital to drug discovery process, just highlighting the wide range of things you could do with a biomed degree (obviously alongside hospital type lab roles).
If none of these things interest you, then maybe it would be a good idea to rethink your degree choice, but make sure you understand what a biochemist etc would do in a pharmaceutical company
Original post by bits.of.bio
Hi, I'm not sure where you've got the idea that with NatSci you have better career prospects, friends of mine with that degree have often worried that because it is broad it will suggest lack of in depth understanding to employers.
With a biomed degree you are right you will not be a great fit for a job in which you synthesise the molecules which are used to treat people, but there is so much more to the drug discovery process than this. Chemists come up with libraries of compounds which they know may fit because biologists/biomedical scientists have undertaken computer modelling. Biologists then have to screen these compounds so come up with assays to test if they affect the target, they then have to set up more depth tests for anything that shows promise (hits) and then refine any issues. They also will carry out the animal testing which is a legal requirement. They are also involved in the clinical trials. Additionally before any of this biologists will have to find the targets for the disease in the first place. As well as this, in the pharma industry, there is currently a big push for biological molecule treatments (e.g. antibodies) which requires no input fro]m chemists as biologists generate them antibodies themselves, chemists may come in with assistance on formulation or drug packaging, but eqully this may be a pharmacologist.
I'm not putting down chemists, they are vital to drug discovery process, just highlighting the wide range of things you could do with a biomed degree (obviously alongside hospital type lab roles).
If none of these things interest you, then maybe it would be a good idea to rethink your degree choice, but make sure you understand what a biochemist etc would do in a pharmaceutical company

Ah yes the first part makes sense. Although it does allow you to have a broader knowledge science wise so maybe you’d be able to fit into a wider variety of career/ jobs. Honestly the kind of job specific which you can go into are not very well advertised for either biomed or chemistry- most websites just say the broad pharmaceutical or biotech company or research academic etc.
That’s true I was wondering how biologist fitted into the drug design industry. The testing does sound quite cool, I’m wondering if it would be a biochemist’s job though as it would include predicting and observing how certain compounds a chemist has come up with will affect the cells and body function of the test subject but I guess a biomedical scientist does know more about the general physiology of an organism so yeah that would defiantly be a very cool thing to do. Thanks for also shining a light on the fact that pharmacologists could also do some similar roles to chemists in the industry as I do study that in biomed and could specialise in that in my third year. Do you know if a biomedical scientist would still be able to go into genetic engineering? A lot of things interest me, I like the tech side of biomed too (like genetic engineering) but things like computer screening and developing prosthetic limbs don’t interest me so I didn’t choose to do biomed engineering. It’s a tricky one I guess I’m just looking for someone to say- yes you’ve chosen the right degree and yes you’ll have plenty of job prospects to look forward to- which is impossible as no one can predict the future :frown:.

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