Student wanting to go into medicine.

I love science and maths is ok and I have been looking into careers, right now I am thinking either medicine or a sort of AI engineer, I was thinking a mechanical or aerospace engineer but I don't believe their very useful degrees in the UK and I heard engineers aren't treated the best, thats not to say a doctor is treated worse but I hear the work is very rewarding and the pay is very good. I looked into medicine more and I realised that it is a very interesting career and I have developed an actual interest into it, that is a blessing and a curse. It gives me motiviation to study but it stresses me out alot and I would probably be more heartbroken if I couldn't go into medicine.

I would love to study it at cambridge, oxford or london and I was wondering what supercirculars I could do? I have already requested my teacher if they could run the intermediate physics challenge, I also do the interediate maths challenge aswelll and I believe I could get a silver at best. I am currently year 10 going into year 11 and I am predicted all 9s - I am even working at a 9 in chemistry and physics right now and I am working at all 8s so I like to think I could achieve 8s and 9s at GCSE. I want to take physics maths and chemistey alevel (might also do biology).

What are good super circulars I could do now to help me get into a good medical school? Thanks! Any biology things, medicine things? I was thinking about a medical summer school but the requirements are a bit iffy for me so I asked about it and hopefully I can do it but there is a high chance I can't (Requires you to go to a state school at year 12 and during secondary school, i went to a state mandated school from year 7 to 9 - then a private from year 9 - 11 due to my parents getting a job at the school so we get money off and I plan to go to a state mandated sixth form aswell)

Anyways, sorry if the grammar is horrible I am typing this out tiredly. I would love any help! Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

TSR Hippocrates

10

Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum. :biggrin:

The Medicine forum gets a high volume of questions being posted, and some of these are already answered by the resources and Megathreads that members of the community and volunteers have created. This is an automatic post which is designed to highlight these resources. Below is a list of threads and articles that could answer your question (you should be looking in the original post of the megathreads). If one of the below threads is a more relevant place to ask your question, please post a reply in that thread to ask your question. If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked below, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.

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The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread
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Official Undergraduate Medicine 2023 Entry
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Index of Individual Medical School Applicants' threads 2023 Entry

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Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by kirkpatrick.toby

I love science and maths is ok and I have been looking into careers, right now I am thinking either medicine or a sort of AI engineer, I was thinking a mechanical or aerospace engineer but I don't believe their very useful degrees in the UK and I heard engineers aren't treated the best, thats not to say a doctor is treated worse but I hear the work is very rewarding and the pay is very good. I looked into medicine more and I realised that it is a very interesting career and I have developed an actual interest into it, that is a blessing and a curse. It gives me motiviation to study but it stresses me out alot and I would probably be more heartbroken if I couldn't go into medicine.

I would love to study it at cambridge, oxford or london and I was wondering what supercirculars I could do? I have already requested my teacher if they could run the intermediate physics challenge, I also do the interediate maths challenge aswelll and I believe I could get a silver at best. I am currently year 10 going into year 11 and I am predicted all 9s - I am even working at a 9 in chemistry and physics right now and I am working at all 8s so I like to think I could achieve 8s and 9s at GCSE. I want to take physics maths and chemistey alevel (might also do biology).

What are good super circulars I could do now to help me get into a good medical school? Thanks! Any biology things, medicine things? I was thinking about a medical summer school but the requirements are a bit iffy for me so I asked about it and hopefully I can do it but there is a high chance I can't (Requires you to go to a state school at year 12 and during secondary school, i went to a state mandated school from year 7 to 9 - then a private from year 9 - 11 due to my parents getting a job at the school so we get money off and I plan to go to a state mandated sixth form aswell)

Anyways, sorry if the grammar is horrible I am typing this out tiredly. I would love any help! Thanks :smile:

Pay for doctors in the UK isn't great, there's a reason they're all striking. They've had sub-inflation pay rises for about 10 years now which translated as a significant pay cut in real terms. What medicine does offer in terms of pay is consistent scheduled pay rises (if you progress in training linearly) and an excellent pension scheme.

You aren't going to be driving a Ferrari or living in a McMansion as a doctor in the UK based on NHS income though. You will likely be comfortably middle class in the later stages of training/as a consultant (if you can get a consultant post - in some specialties like CT surgery and neurosurgery there aren't enough posts for trainees completing their training though), but in the earlier stages as a foundation doctor and while doing core training, especially as you often have to move frequently and/or commute long distances, the financial situation is a lot more tenuous.

Also note that where you study medicine makes no difference to a medical career in the UK, as the GMC considers all medical schools equal and correspondingly the NHS, which is the sole provider of graduate training posts in medicine, likewise takes that view and as a result your medical school is blinded on specialty recruitment applications to ensure there is no bias based on the medical school you went to.

Applying to medicine is about applying tactically, not based on which medical schools you think are more or less prestigious (since as above, it makes no difference in the UK). You should choose medical schools to apply to, when you get to that point, based on your profile - if you have weaker GCSEs, then you want to avoid the GCSE heavy medical schools. If you have stronger GCSEs but a weaker UCAT result, you should aim for the more GCSE heavy medical schools...etc, etc.

Medical "summer schools" are of no benefit and are just scams to get money from anxious parents and applicants. The only ones that aren't will be widening participation experiences offered by universities, which are targeted at students who would otherwise be unable or unlikely to pursue medicine based on circumstances outside of their control - and it's not a factor for admissions, it's just a way to introduce those students to that possibility and support them in understanding the process.

AI is a field of applied statistics (usually from a computational perspective). It has little in common with engineering in the sense of mechanical or aerospace engineering. It's an area of maths and computer science, not engineering (software engineering being a subfield of CS, not engineering in the usual sense).

As you're in year 10 it doesn't really matter for now and you don't have to make any decisions any time soon. I would suggest just focusing on your GCSEs and exploring what the reality of working as a doctor in the UK in the NHS is and if that's for you - and also understanding what "AI" really is (it's got nothing to do with robotics...). Also understanding that if money is your primary motivation, then while both medicine and engineering (and many other roles e.g. civl service jobs etc) will provide you a comfortable income and/or good benefits, none of those jobs are going to make you "rich". Generally speaking if you weren't born into generational wealth at this point then you are never going to become "rich". So as noted, dreams of Lamborghinis and mansions are not realistic unless your parents are oil barons, or you're a footballer or actor.

(edited 9 months ago)

Student wanting to go into medicine.

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