Not taking Maths affecting later Bio/tech related careers?
Say if I wanted to become a medical professional(not sure what yet, maybe a GP), could I also specialize in something to do with developing technology to help treat diseases, research about diseases etc. if I don't take Maths at A-level? (in y11 rn) I know the vast majority ask for maths if u want to do biomedical science, which as far as I know is the only course that offers a mix of tech in biology, but after graduation, could I still pursue in research about developing tech that will help treat illness'? Is you're wondering why I don't want to take Maths it's because I'm taking English Lit because I enjoy it, Comp Sci, Bio and Chem and I don't enjoy maths that much.
Computer Science uses a lot of maths such as discrete maths, logic and grapy theory. All the STEM fields will use some form of statistics in research. In particular, biology uses statistics to interpret survey data or carry out statistical modelling.
Pursuing research in academia requires doing either a PhD or being a research assistant. Pursuing research in industry sometimes requires a PhD but will likely require at least a masters degree. You may be able to find research apprenticeships or similar so it is worth a look.
Otherwise, if you decide to do a degree, I would avoid thinking about research for now until you are in your second (third) year of a three (four) year degree. At this point you will then have a better understanding of the topic(s).
Pursuing research in academia requires doing either a PhD or being a research assistant. Pursuing research in industry sometimes requires a PhD but will likely require at least a masters degree. You may be able to find research apprenticeships or similar so it is worth a look.
Otherwise, if you decide to do a degree, I would avoid thinking about research for now until you are in your second (third) year of a three (four) year degree. At this point you will then have a better understanding of the topic(s).
(edited 2 years ago)
If you want to become a GP you need to study medicine, not any other degree. Maths is not required by any medicine course directly, and the only one that may indirectly require it (due to requiring 3 core STEM subjects) is Cambridge. I'm also not aware of any biomedical science courses that require A-level Maths...
If you wanted to do a science degree (including biomedical science) then while A-level Maths is not required you need to be prepared for a moderate amount of mathematical work from the start because science is necessarily mathematical. If you want to do CS at uni you will need A-level Maths or equivalent normally and without it you would need to do a foundation year, and you would then cover A-level Maths (and usually some FM) material in the foundation year, then will continue developing on that mathematical base throughout the course.
Whether A-level Maths is needed to do research is a bit less clear cut. You can certainly become a researcher (clinical or otherwise) without A-level Maths. That said, (bio)medical research will involve a fair bit of statistical analysis and in some areas more traditional mathematical methods as well, because it is largely scientific research and science is a necessarily mathematical endeavour (the artificial divide between maths and the sciences in school in not very representative of science in the real world where they are fully interwoven).
So you will need to be prepared to do maths and perhaps learn more maths later in your life if that is the case. If you absolutely hate maths then you probably won't enjoy a research career in the basic sciences at least due to the prevalence of mathematical thinking and modelling in those areas (more clinical research may rely primarily on statistical analysis which involves less maths in the sense you might be used to it).
The problem is you're really asking about several different things - you need to decide first whether you want to be a clinician or not. If so, then the beginning of your career (research or otherwise) is going to be dominated with less mathematical endeavours in getting a medical degree and doing your foundation (and perhaps specialty/GP) training. If you then decide to go into a research career you may well need to pick up some mathematical/quantitative skills in the early stages of your PhD, dependent on your project. Then depending on your area of research and what project you are doing this may involve more or less maths. If you go a different route then the need for maths may present itself more immediately and so you should consider if those are realistic options for you based on your strengths.
If you wanted to do a science degree (including biomedical science) then while A-level Maths is not required you need to be prepared for a moderate amount of mathematical work from the start because science is necessarily mathematical. If you want to do CS at uni you will need A-level Maths or equivalent normally and without it you would need to do a foundation year, and you would then cover A-level Maths (and usually some FM) material in the foundation year, then will continue developing on that mathematical base throughout the course.
Whether A-level Maths is needed to do research is a bit less clear cut. You can certainly become a researcher (clinical or otherwise) without A-level Maths. That said, (bio)medical research will involve a fair bit of statistical analysis and in some areas more traditional mathematical methods as well, because it is largely scientific research and science is a necessarily mathematical endeavour (the artificial divide between maths and the sciences in school in not very representative of science in the real world where they are fully interwoven).
So you will need to be prepared to do maths and perhaps learn more maths later in your life if that is the case. If you absolutely hate maths then you probably won't enjoy a research career in the basic sciences at least due to the prevalence of mathematical thinking and modelling in those areas (more clinical research may rely primarily on statistical analysis which involves less maths in the sense you might be used to it).
The problem is you're really asking about several different things - you need to decide first whether you want to be a clinician or not. If so, then the beginning of your career (research or otherwise) is going to be dominated with less mathematical endeavours in getting a medical degree and doing your foundation (and perhaps specialty/GP) training. If you then decide to go into a research career you may well need to pick up some mathematical/quantitative skills in the early stages of your PhD, dependent on your project. Then depending on your area of research and what project you are doing this may involve more or less maths. If you go a different route then the need for maths may present itself more immediately and so you should consider if those are realistic options for you based on your strengths.
Original post by artful_lounger
If you want to become a GP you need to study medicine, not any other degree. Maths is not required by any medicine course directly, and the only one that may indirectly require it (due to requiring 3 core STEM subjects) is Cambridge. I'm also not aware of any biomedical science courses that require A-level Maths...
If you wanted to do a science degree (including biomedical science) then while A-level Maths is not required you need to be prepared for a moderate amount of mathematical work from the start because science is necessarily mathematical. If you want to do CS at uni you will need A-level Maths or equivalent normally and without it you would need to do a foundation year, and you would then cover A-level Maths (and usually some FM) material in the foundation year, then will continue developing on that mathematical base throughout the course.
Whether A-level Maths is needed to do research is a bit less clear cut. You can certainly become a researcher (clinical or otherwise) without A-level Maths. That said, (bio)medical research will involve a fair bit of statistical analysis and in some areas more traditional mathematical methods as well, because it is largely scientific research and science is a necessarily mathematical endeavour (the artificial divide between maths and the sciences in school in not very representative of science in the real world where they are fully interwoven).
So you will need to be prepared to do maths and perhaps learn more maths later in your life if that is the case. If you absolutely hate maths then you probably won't enjoy a research career in the basic sciences at least due to the prevalence of mathematical thinking and modelling in those areas (more clinical research may rely primarily on statistical analysis which involves less maths in the sense you might be used to it).
The problem is you're really asking about several different things - you need to decide first whether you want to be a clinician or not. If so, then the beginning of your career (research or otherwise) is going to be dominated with less mathematical endeavours in getting a medical degree and doing your foundation (and perhaps specialty/GP) training. If you then decide to go into a research career you may well need to pick up some mathematical/quantitative skills in the early stages of your PhD, dependent on your project. Then depending on your area of research and what project you are doing this may involve more or less maths. If you go a different route then the need for maths may present itself more immediately and so you should consider if those are realistic options for you based on your strengths.
If you wanted to do a science degree (including biomedical science) then while A-level Maths is not required you need to be prepared for a moderate amount of mathematical work from the start because science is necessarily mathematical. If you want to do CS at uni you will need A-level Maths or equivalent normally and without it you would need to do a foundation year, and you would then cover A-level Maths (and usually some FM) material in the foundation year, then will continue developing on that mathematical base throughout the course.
Whether A-level Maths is needed to do research is a bit less clear cut. You can certainly become a researcher (clinical or otherwise) without A-level Maths. That said, (bio)medical research will involve a fair bit of statistical analysis and in some areas more traditional mathematical methods as well, because it is largely scientific research and science is a necessarily mathematical endeavour (the artificial divide between maths and the sciences in school in not very representative of science in the real world where they are fully interwoven).
So you will need to be prepared to do maths and perhaps learn more maths later in your life if that is the case. If you absolutely hate maths then you probably won't enjoy a research career in the basic sciences at least due to the prevalence of mathematical thinking and modelling in those areas (more clinical research may rely primarily on statistical analysis which involves less maths in the sense you might be used to it).
The problem is you're really asking about several different things - you need to decide first whether you want to be a clinician or not. If so, then the beginning of your career (research or otherwise) is going to be dominated with less mathematical endeavours in getting a medical degree and doing your foundation (and perhaps specialty/GP) training. If you then decide to go into a research career you may well need to pick up some mathematical/quantitative skills in the early stages of your PhD, dependent on your project. Then depending on your area of research and what project you are doing this may involve more or less maths. If you go a different route then the need for maths may present itself more immediately and so you should consider if those are realistic options for you based on your strengths.
I think I'd like to work in a clinical setting (GP was just an example of what I have thought about being). I was just wondering if I could be a clinician and also be a researcher, but you've helped me plenty by mapping out the possible routes so thank you
Original post by Blue_Bunny
I think I'd like to work in a clinical setting (GP was just an example of what I have thought about being). I was just wondering if I could be a clinician and also be a researcher, but you've helped me plenty by mapping out the possible routes so thank you
You certainly can be involved in academic research as a doctor - there are even dedicated training routes where you can combine your usual foundation/specialty training with academic research (some might allow you to earn a qualification like a PhD or MD(Res) in the process).
In some specialties I gather it's extremely common to be involved in research (I think I read most oncology consultants end up getting a higher research degree of some kind along the way). I think it's pretty common for those in surgical specialties to have been at least superficially involved in research to get some publications under their belt to make themselves competitive when applying to their respective specialty training after the foundation programme.
Primary care specialties like GP might be less immediately obvious academic research fields, although I gather there is a burgeoning field of primary care research (I think Cambridge has a couple of research programmes in this area for example), so it's certainly possible in that area too.
However the first step in that case would be to get a medical degree, for which A-level Maths isn't required!
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