Hi
@Kitty_01I currently study biochemistry (so I share some modules with biomed students) at Lancaster and love it! The lectures are really interesting, the lecturers are super helpful, and I love the lab practicals. The university also offer so many opportunities to apply for internships in the labs between 2nd and 3rd year, and has an amazing placement year team, so if you're looking for work experience before leaving university there is so much support available!
As you know, an IBMS accredited Biomedical Science degree is one pathway into becoming a Biomedical Scientist in the NHS (I believe you also need to a years worth of experience in an NHS lab to create a portfolio before you can apply to become a Biomedical Scientist). The degree is basically given a thumbs up by the IBMS to say "this teaches the stuff you need to know for this job", but because of this, IBMS accredited degrees tend to have very little flexibility in optional modules, which some people really like because it makes life easier for them but other people don't love.
Biomedical Science shares a first year with Biomedicine at Lancaster, which is not accredited by the IBMS but so have more flexibility with optional modules from year 2 onwards, so there is an opportunity to switch from Biomedical Science to Biomedicine. However, just because a degree is IBMS accredited does not mean you have to become a biomedical scientist, as it's still a well rounded bioscience degree and opens up doors into further scientific research or other pathways like teaching, finance, or recruitment.
I will say (and I don't know too much about this), I've heard that if you do a non-IBMS accredited degree and then decide you want to become a Biomedical Scientist in the NHS, the top-up modules are very expensive.
I've linked the Lancaster pages for biomedical science and biomedicine below!
Biomedical science -
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/biomedical-science-bsc-hons-b990/2024/Biomedicine -
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/biomedicine-bsc-hons-c701/2024/I hope I could help a little! If you have any questions about studying bioscience at Lancaster, let me know!
Rebecca (Lancaster Student Ambassador)