I need some advice about what to do at uni

I have ADHD and Autism. I love so many fields. I'm considering doing Environmental Science or Medicine. I enjoy anatomy and surgery more than environmental sciences, however, I'm worried I'll suffer badly from burnout if I do medicine and I'm worried I'll get bored of Env Sci. Please help me.

Reply 1

BCU Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post by Vyshto Andeddu

Hi @Vyshto Andeddu

Sounds like you have some great choices in the mix here.

I would advise you to choose something you enjoy and feel excited to study, as you want to stay motivated throughout your time at university.

If you're really struggling to decide which one is best for you, I'd suggest finding some unis/courses you like the look of and compare the course content for each of them. Maybe one will start to jump out as the more appealing choice? You could also see if you can find what previous studies of each course have gone on to do for a career, and see if there's anything career wise that interests you.

There is the potential for some stress and burnout with most courses, but if you balance your time well and take time to rest and look after yourself, you will be great no matter what you choose.

Hope this helps! 🙂
Emily
Student Rep at BCU

Reply 2

ezther1

I don't know a huge amount about medicine, but from what I do know, as someone who's also autistic, I personally think I would probably not cope with the workload while studying or the work environment in an actual medical job. That said, that obviously doesn't mean YOU wouldn't, but I do understand your concerns. Ultimately, random strangers on the internet can't tell you whether you'll manage, but its important to be realistic about it - if your worries about this are just that, then fair enough, but if you genuinely think you wouldn't be able to cope, accepting that is important. I had a similar issue, but with college courses - I love acting, and thought about studying it at college, but, obviously, acting is well-known to be an unstable and insecure profession. In the end, I came to the slightly painful conclusion that it would not be a suitable area for me, because the instability alone would seriously worsen my anxiety. Again, please don't take this as me suggesting you shouldn't do medicine (I realise it does seem like that!) but that understanding and accepting your limits is important. Whether that means you studying medicine or not, only you can decide.

On the topic of EnviroSci, my brother, who's also autistic, is currently studying it and really really enjoys it. If you're interested in the field, I don't think it's possible you could get bored, because there's a huge variety of areas to study and potentially specialise in! One advantage (or possibly disadvantage, depending on how you look at it) is that there's apparently not really one standard curriculum for an environmental science degree, so it varies between unis. I would argue that's an advantage in that you can choose a course that focuses more on areas you're more interested in. For example, my brother is very interested in plants and forests and stuff (idk I don't study it) so he chose not ti apply for some courses that focused more on things like weather systems etc. In that way, you can almost tailor the course to your interests. Of course, if you're not interested in the area, that's that I suppose?

Have you talked to your parents, friends, teachers? They may be able to offer you some advice. My mum certainly knows my limits better than I do myself!

Sorry for the long ramble - I hope this helps a little. I'm sorry you're in such a difficult situation, but I'm sure youll figure it out! :smile:

Reply 3

Vyshto Andeddu

Original post by ezther1

I don't know a huge amount about medicine, but from what I do know, as someone who's also autistic, I personally think I would probably not cope with the workload while studying or the work environment in an actual medical job. That said, that obviously doesn't mean YOU wouldn't, but I do understand your concerns. Ultimately, random strangers on the internet can't tell you whether you'll manage, but its important to be realistic about it - if your worries about this are just that, then fair enough, but if you genuinely think you wouldn't be able to cope, accepting that is important. I had a similar issue, but with college courses - I love acting, and thought about studying it at college, but, obviously, acting is well-known to be an unstable and insecure profession. In the end, I came to the slightly painful conclusion that it would not be a suitable area for me, because the instability alone would seriously worsen my anxiety. Again, please don't take this as me suggesting you shouldn't do medicine (I realise it does seem like that!) but that understanding and accepting your limits is important. Whether that means you studying medicine or not, only you can decide.
On the topic of EnviroSci, my brother, who's also autistic, is currently studying it and really really enjoys it. If you're interested in the field, I don't think it's possible you could get bored, because there's a huge variety of areas to study and potentially specialise in! One advantage (or possibly disadvantage, depending on how you look at it) is that there's apparently not really one standard curriculum for an environmental science degree, so it varies between unis. I would argue that's an advantage in that you can choose a course that focuses more on areas you're more interested in. For example, my brother is very interested in plants and forests and stuff (idk I don't study it) so he chose not ti apply for some courses that focused more on things like weather systems etc. In that way, you can almost tailor the course to your interests. Of course, if you're not interested in the area, that's that I suppose?
Have you talked to your parents, friends, teachers? They may be able to offer you some advice. My mum certainly knows my limits better than I do myself!
Sorry for the long ramble - I hope this helps a little. I'm sorry you're in such a difficult situation, but I'm sure youll figure it out! :smile:

Wow, this is the most helpful response ever posted on the student room. I love hospital environments, I just don't mix well with people😅 I've talked to my parents about it and they lean more Env.Sci, my Dad is autistic and he said that I'd love and thrive doing research and there is plenty of roles out there for Env.Sci research. I'm quite interested in the weather bit, mainly the climate change side of it, so I can go on to study astroclimatology and help other scientists find the little green men😁 Thank you for the response, it's helped me make my decision for Env.Sci much easier!!!!😀