Careers help

I would say going into Medicine would not be the best route for your case, since you want a high pay and a work-life balance (unless you are not planning on working in the UK? I assume you are an international student as you took Chinese GCSE?)

Hi, thanks for the feedback and taking the time to read my long post! 😊
To answer your question, I am not an international student (I studied Chinese out of genuine interest) and I do plan on staying in the UK.
If you have any more suggestions, it would be of great help. Thanks again!

Hi everyone!
I’ve just finished Year 11 and I am hoping to go on to do A Levels in Biology (fav subject), Chemistry (mainly for more career options) and Maths (second fav).
However, I am extremely unsure of what I want to do as a career in future. I have been contemplating Medicine and Biochemistry/ Biomed as well as Dentistry(recently). Although I understand why some individuals may believe I have lots of time to decide, I cannot help but think otherwise (I hope this didn’t offend anyone, that was not my intention): if I wish to apply for Medicine and many other competitive fields, I believe I must gain relevant work experience and a specific skill set, as well as regularly engaging in wider reading in order to be a competitive applicant. This means that it would be difficult to be a successful applicant if I decide on short notice, prior to university applications. Furthermore, I am not keen on taking a gap year as I would rather fulfil my educational requirements ASAP.
My Year 11 mock grades include:
Bio = 9 (will probably get 8)
Chem = 9
Physics = 9 (will probably get 7/8)
Maths = 9 (will probably get 7/8)
English literature = 9
English language = 8 (this paper was terrible for me, I’ll probably get a 5 or 6🥲so I might have to retake to meet grade requirements)
History = 9 (will probably get 7)
Chinese = 8
Business = 8
This may sound extremely snobby, but salaries/ pay matters a lot to me when it comes to future career paths because the current economic climate has me thinking that cost of living, tax and house prices will be extremely high in future. Equally, I like being actively involved in work and using my hands. If it helps, I also value free time and work-life balance, I wouldn’t mind working 9-5.
I know the preferences above might not be suited for some of the career paths I have in mind, but I’ve heard that accommodation/ flexibility can be provided - it would be great if anyone could provide any more info.
Thanks for reading my rant 😅
I’d appreciate any advice or realistic insights into what these fields are like, and I apologise if I may have appeared rude or offended anyone in any part of this post.
Thanks again~

I wouldn’t hyper fixate on careers at this stage as your A levels will help you get a better idea of what you like, but if salary is a major concern for you, I don’t think medicine will give you the lifestyle that your looking for - at least not in this country. I do not want to study medicine but I did complete work experience in general surgery last year. The advice from the doctors and healthcare professionals I spoke to was generally that if you could see yourself doing something other than medicine, don’t do medicine. The hours are long and the pay right now is terrible and has been for a while. That is mainly due to the Conservative government, but even with junior doctor salary negotiations that are going on currently, there’s no telling what the future of medicine in this country could look like. A lot of people talk about healthcare being a hostile work environment, but I never encountered such behaviour from the staff. Everyone was very professional and generally quite friendly, but they all encouraged us to look beyond medicine if we were interested in healthcare careers or working in life sciences. I used to want to study neuroscience (before I realised how bad I was at chemistry) and that was partially down to me being unsure about a career in medicine and also wanting to keep my options open. I would advise you do the same. Yes graduate entry dentistry/medicine is more competitive, but you need to be fully invested in medicine or dentistry to study it at undergraduate level. It’s a 5-6 year commitment and there’s a 10% chance that at the end of it, you may not even get a job for your foundation years. If you like using your hands, I would look into careers in laboratories or research. Pharmacy/pharmacology/chemistry would be a particularly good option if you like chemistry, and equally biomed/biochem/biology/neuroscience would be good if you prefer biology. You could also look into things like biomedical engineering and chemical engineering too. When you start Year 12 try to get work experience in a hospital rather than a GP surgery, as the work GPs do generally provides you with a better work life balance, but can sometimes be misleading. The majority of your time on placement in medical school will be spent in hospitals and not GPs, psychiatric wards, community health centres etc. so it would be good to see whether you enjoy this environment.

Okay so I went to Sixth form with a strong desire to do Medicine at uni. I spent the previous years and the majority of Y12 thinking I want to apply for medicine. I was fascinated about human body, I watched a lot of med dramas, and so I thought i would like that.
But this year in March i started having doubts. Sure, everyone thinks doctors earn a lot, but it is only true after 10 years or so of experience. Junior doctors earn very little money and struggle a lot not only with financial issues but also with mental health. I also wasn't sure if I like working with people, but previously i thought i wouldn't like working in a lab either.
After reading Adam Kay's 'This is going to hurt' (I recommend), I become even more unsure. I kinda knew I didn't want to do medicine, but didn't know what else to do.
It lasted over a month, but finally I decided to do sth i enjoy at uni (neuroscience), and then decide. I can always to graduate entry medicine (sure, it's one year longer, but at least you will know yourself better and what you really want to do with your life).
Also please remember, you can always change your field. There are so many people who were studying sth at undergrad but then decided to do sth else for masters.
You just need to narrow the area of your interest. For me it was sth sciency.
After I decided not to do medicine, I really felt so much happier (my experience). I knew i didnt have to stress about UCAT or interviews anymore.
Of course if you decide to do medicine, good for you! You just have to remember you need to truly invest you time, and try to read a lot around the subject, keep up to date with some major news around healthcare, do to online free courses, and think about volunteering! (unis don't expect you to have work experience in a hospital or etc. )
Sorry for my rent hah.
Hope that helps and take care.

Okay so I went to Sixth form with a strong desire to do Medicine at uni. I spent the previous years and the majority of Y12 thinking I want to apply for medicine. I was fascinated about human body, I watched a lot of med dramas, and so I thought i would like that.
But this year in March i started having doubts. Sure, everyone thinks doctors earn a lot, but it is only true after 10 years or so of experience. Junior doctors earn very little money and struggle a lot not only with financial issues but also with mental health. I also wasn't sure if I like working with people, but previously i thought i wouldn't like working in a lab either.
After reading Adam Kay's 'This is going to hurt' (I recommend), I become even more unsure. I kinda knew I didn't want to do medicine, but didn't know what else to do.
It lasted over a month, but finally I decided to do sth i enjoy at uni (neuroscience), and then decide. I can always to graduate entry medicine (sure, it's one year longer, but at least you will know yourself better and what you really want to do with your life).
Also please remember, you can always change your field. There are so many people who were studying sth at undergrad but then decided to do sth else for masters.
You just need to narrow the area of your interest. For me it was sth sciency.
After I decided not to do medicine, I really felt so much happier (my experience). I knew i didnt have to stress about UCAT or interviews anymore.
Of course if you decide to do medicine, good for you! You just have to remember you need to truly invest you time, and try to read a lot around the subject, keep up to date with some major news around healthcare, do to online free courses, and think about volunteering! (unis don't expect you to have work experience in a hospital or etc. )
Sorry for my rent hah.
Hope that helps and take care.

Hi i just saw this and i has hoping to speak to you about how neuroscience is? and what the application process is like.Im very unsure about what to do at university and i cant lie im getting really stressed about it.I do a levels Biology,Chemistry and Psychology.Im thinking betweeen Neuroscience and Business management

Hi, thanks for the feedback and taking the time to read my long post! 😊
To answer your question, I am not an international student (I studied Chinese out of genuine interest) and I do plan on staying in the UK.
If you have any more suggestions, it would be of great help. Thanks again!

You could still get some medicine work experience, even if you decide not to study medicine, it would still be helpful for applying other sciences and it shows you’re an ambitious person

Sure! I'm not really sure what it's like studying neuroscience at uni as I'm applying this year for 2025 entry. The application process is i think the same as for the other courses, you do not need to sit any additional exam and usually an interview is not a part of the admission process (at least for most unis I think, and obviously not including Oxbridge). Some unis look mostly at your grades and academics (like Exeter cuz I went for an open day and asked), and some look closer at your personal statement.
I totally get how you're feeling. I was also really stressed out about that because even tho people say it's fine to not know what to do with your life, you still have to choose. Like I said before it's possible to change your field of expertise, even later in life. Many of my teachers said people working in science gain skills that future employers really value in any field. (eg. you can work in science and then go into law)
You still need to figure it out yourself tho. Do as much research as you possible can. You need to take into consideration that Neuroscience at uni requires quite a lot of time spent in a lab (or at least i think).
For me it was simply that it interests me and i find it fascinating.
Hope that helps and take care!