Should I do Medicine? HELP!

I'm currently in year 12, studying Maths, Biology, Chemistry and French at A Level.
I love chemistry, as I find it so interesting, and I also like maths. I like some parts of biology (e.g. biochemistry, genetics, diseases), but I dislike other parts of it (e.g. exchange surfaces, body systems).
My career options are: GP (do a medicine degree), academic researcher (do a chem/biochem degree), chemical engineer, or pharmacy.

I have no idea if I should do medicine of pharmacy- I like the idea of helping people, but I'm quite shy (but I could get more confident). I also don't really like dissections, but I think that, after doing them more often, I would be able to get used to them.

I would do academic research, but the pay is quite low and it takes many years to get to a higher level. This is why chemical engineering/medicine/pharmacy sound more appealing (due to the higher pay).

Please help me decide what career I should do!

Have you tried getting some work experience in these fields? Think it might help.

If dissection is the main thing putting you off medicine, there are plenty of medical schools where you don't get involved with dissection. Agree with getting some work experience in the fields you are interested in to help you make up your mind (and have a read about the junior doctor strikes in England and the other issues facing junior doctors currently).

Are you a junior doctor? If you are, please can you give me details on the things you learn at med school and what you have to do on a daily basis?

Things you learn at medical school:

Anatomy- the layout of the body in health. You need anatomy in virtually any line of practice because it is literally a road atlas and the foundation upon which other knowledge is built.
Physiology- how cells and body systems work in health. The body is made up of smaller systems operating in tandem with other smaller systems to form more complex systems that operate in unison as a complete organism. What affects system A may have effects on systems B and C.
Pathology/pathophysiology- disease processes and what occurs when they happen, right down to a cellular level if necessary.
Ethics in medicine- the application of human values to the science of medicine.
Sociology in medicine- seeing the patient through a prism that extends beyond a diagnosis.
Pharmacology- how medicines affect the body and how the body affects the medicines.
Clinical examinations- how to detect abnormalities or confirm normality, learning what a finding may mean.
Clinical data interpretation- knowing which test to order and what the results mean.
The body through out the full life course, through conception, embryo, birth and into old age and the last days of life.

What doctors do a lot of:


Hope this helps.

Note that not all schools use dissection as a learning tool. There are pros and cons of using dissection on courses. If you are very interested in anatomy there are intercalated degrees you can complete involving anatomy, physiology etc where you can expand on these particular skills.

This was very helpful, thank you!
If I’m not that interested in human anatomy, would you say that medicine is a bad choice?

Also, is there much chemistry or biochemistry content?

There is some biochemistry content- it is the foundation upon which a lot of physiology content is based. But it's not a biochemistry or biology degree. You will be taught some specific content that is integral to the medicine curriculum.

Not everyone enjoys anatomy- it is quite common for people to feel overwhelmed by the amount of content involved but I would say you will rely on at least some of your anatomy knowledge almost irrespective of what aspect of medicine you pursue in your career. But this all ok- not everyone enjoys every aspect of any course. You will have strengths and weaknesses and likes and dislikes- how you progress through the course will differ to the next person. That's ok.

I think the crux of medicine is this: do you enjoy working with people and interacting with them? Do you find people and their health interesting? Do you have the necessary degree of emotional intelligence to take the science of medicine and make it into an art?

Also, I think it is also very important to remember that medicine is a team game: you are constantly interacting with others in the pursuit of patient care. That being said, I have known people to dislike the feeling that they are constantly being scrutinised or that everyone in the room is 'watching' them. This isn't something everyone is automatically accustomed to, it can take a bit of time to become used to it. But doctors are leaders and often make a lot of decisions in the clinical team. As you become more experienced over time your leadership role will increase. A lot of learning activities in medical school are orientated around this goal and there will be times where the onus is on you to lead a team during a group activity or in group work.

ohh okay, thanks again for the reply!
i think i might find working with the public difficult, and i might not have a good work-life balance.

that being said, i think a chemistry or natural sciences degree is best for me! i can either go into research, finance, data science or industry- my options will be open!

thanks for the advice 🙂

I know several people who have completed University level studies and gone on to work in their respective fields, chemists, researchers, engineers and the like.

What I would advise all young people is that you should only go to study something at University if you are totally enthralled by it and enjoy it to the point that you would be satisfied working in the field in question for the bulk of your career. The people I have known make a success of these careers are very driven, highly motivated and often very gifted. It is an expensive and time consuming prospect these day which you don't want to get wrong.

the only thing that's holding me back is the salary of chemists and researchers...
but, i can always do patent law or go into finance as a backup!

do you know roughly how much the chemistry graduates you know earn? (ofc you don't have to tell me!!)

what degree did you do? (i'm assuming you did medicine?)

If you want to earn big money you have to pursue a career in something difficult to do, difficult to gain entry to or do something unusual or undesirable or with high levels of responsibility attached. You can earn big money in medicine if you enter private practice or pursue the more difficult/lucrative avenues. However these will not really be available to the average graduate until they accrue many years of practice and manage to pass the speciality exams.

You can of course earn excellent money if you pursue a career in things like plumbing/HVAC engineering, oil and gas exploration, mining or offshore work. Most of these involve being away from home for months at a time or working in some inhospitable places or doing work that is difficult and requires a lot of skill. An acquaintance of mine for example operates a tower crane at Hinkley C and earns in excess of £80K a year sitting down. Another is a train driver and earns £90K.

I'm currently in year 12, studying Maths, Biology, Chemistry and French at A Level.
I love chemistry, as I find it so interesting, and I also like maths. I like some parts of biology (e.g. biochemistry, genetics, diseases), but I dislike other parts of it (e.g. exchange surfaces, body systems).
My career options are: GP (do a medicine degree), academic researcher (do a chem/biochem degree), chemical engineer, or pharmacy.

I have no idea if I should do medicine of pharmacy- I like the idea of helping people, but I'm quite shy (but I could get more confident). I also don't really like dissections, but I think that, after doing them more often, I would be able to get used to them.

I would do academic research, but the pay is quite low and it takes many years to get to a higher level. This is why chemical engineering/medicine/pharmacy sound more appealing (due to the higher pay).

Please help me decide what career I should do!

There is some biochemistry content- it is the foundation upon which a lot of physiology content is based. But it's not a biochemistry or biology degree. You will be taught some specific content that is integral to the medicine curriculum.
Not everyone enjoys anatomy- it is quite common for people to feel overwhelmed by the amount of content involved but I would say you will rely on at least some of your anatomy knowledge almost irrespective of what aspect of medicine you pursue in your career. But this all ok- not everyone enjoys every aspect of any course. You will have strengths and weaknesses and likes and dislikes- how you progress through the course will differ to the next person. That's ok.
I think the crux of medicine is this: do you enjoy working with people and interacting with them? Do you find people and their health interesting? Do you have the necessary degree of emotional intelligence to take the science of medicine and make it into an art?
Also, I think it is also very important to remember that medicine is a team game: you are constantly interacting with others in the pursuit of patient care. That being said, I have known people to dislike the feeling that they are constantly being scrutinised or that everyone in the room is 'watching' them. This isn't something everyone is automatically accustomed to, it can take a bit of time to become used to it. But doctors are leaders and often make a lot of decisions in the clinical team. As you become more experienced over time your leadership role will increase. A lot of learning activities in medical school are orientated around this goal and there will be times where the onus is on you to lead a team during a group activity or in group work.

Hi, I was wondering if you have any experience in the neurosurgery field? I'm in a similar position to the OP where I'm not sure whether medicine is the right career path for me. I do find it very meaningful to help patients get better both physically and mentally, but interacting with patients everyday is not something I think I would be good at. This is the main reason I've been wanting to become a neurosurgeon, because I do get to help patients while also immersing myself in neurology, which is a subject that I love learning about (although please correct me if I have an inaccurate perception of neurosurgery). On the other hand, I can't see myself working as a GP because I feel I would dread every day due to having to constantly communicate with patient after patient. To summarise, the prospect of working as a doctor (in terms of learning the biology of the human body, diseases etc) and the concept of helping people for me sounds very inviting, but having to speak with patients and their families doesn't. I'm not sure if I have an idealised perception of medicine or whether it is a career I truly want to pursue.
I think that communication is not something I'm naturally good at, and it's research based stuff and really analyzing science that I'm more interested in. I'm really conflicted because I don't want to go into a career that I might dread every day and I don't want to compromise patient care because of my lack of enthusiasm towards the job, but at the same time it feels like I'm too far gone into medicine that I can't really change my mind now.
Would you know anyone having a similar experience to this and whether they decided to continue medicine or change degrees?