Torn Between Medicine and Dentistry – Year 12 Advice Needed!

11

I'm starting Year 12 in a few days and am taking Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology for A-level. I'm torn between Medicine and Dentistry and want to make sure I do everything I can to build a strong university application. What extra things could I do in my free time to help me get into uni in terms of extracurricular and super-curricular activities? Also, do you have any study or organization tips to help me stay on top of my work this year? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Reply 1

A.23

12

Original post

by xjfrtr

I'm starting Year 12 in a few days and am taking Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology for A-level. I'm torn between Medicine and Dentistry and want to make sure I do everything I can to build a strong university application. What extra things could I do in my free time to help me get into uni in terms of extracurricular and super-curricular activities? Also, do you have any study or organization tips to help me stay on top of my work this year? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Do work experience in a dental clinic and hospital , ask questions to people in the field and see which one you enjoy the sound of more. You could start reading books about the subject to show your interest outside of the curriculum and also look out for summer schools (the applications usually open between September and January for these).If you end up wanting to do dentistry you could find a hobby which shows manual dexterity.

In terms of school I would say that making your flashcards for subjects like bio and psych after each lesson is a life saver when it comes to revision. Make sure to keep on top of any homework that you’re given too. If you feel like you are struggling to understand any subject then maybe watch a YouTube video about the content before learning it in class , or read ahead so that when your teacher teaches it , you’ll already have a foundation understanding.

Also for these 3 subjects past paper questions are key, I tried to avoid doing them but they are so important. Make sure you mark them properly and learn what the mark scheme wants you to say. Biology has an especially strict mark scheme so make sure to keep track of what key words you need to answer.

Make sure not to over work yourself too much and you’ll do great! Good luck for year 12 :smile:

Reply 2

xjfrtr

OP

11

Original post

by A.23

Do work experience in a dental clinic and hospital , ask questions to people in the field and see which one you enjoy the sound of more. You could start reading books about the subject to show your interest outside of the curriculum and also look out for summer schools (the applications usually open between September and January for these).If you end up wanting to do dentistry you could find a hobby which shows manual dexterity.
In terms of school I would say that making your flashcards for subjects like bio and psych after each lesson is a life saver when it comes to revision. Make sure to keep on top of any homework that you’re given too. If you feel like you are struggling to understand any subject then maybe watch a YouTube video about the content before learning it in class , or read ahead so that when your teacher teaches it , you’ll already have a foundation understanding.
Also for these 3 subjects past paper questions are key, I tried to avoid doing them but they are so important. Make sure you mark them properly and learn what the mark scheme wants you to say. Biology has an especially strict mark scheme so make sure to keep track of what key words you need to answer.
Make sure not to over work yourself too much and you’ll do great! Good luck for year 12 :smile:

Thank you SO SO muchh i really appreciate it!! I'm sooo stressed out right now and this really helped me kind of get my self back together.. once again thank you so muchh!!

Reply 3

A.23

12

Original post

by xjfrtr

Thank you SO SO muchh i really appreciate it!! I'm sooo stressed out right now and this really helped me kind of get my self back together.. once again thank you so muchh!!

Awww no problem, Dw you’ll be fine during a levels as long as you keep on top of the work. Also I forgot to mention, my favourite a level biology YouTuber to explain concepts is probably Miss Estruch she’s really good.
If you have anymore questions feel free to type them in this thread and I’ll probably reply :smile:

Once again best of luck !

Reply 4

fayfayfayyyy

Original post

by xjfrtr

I'm starting Year 12 in a few days and am taking Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology for A-level. I'm torn between Medicine and Dentistry and want to make sure I do everything I can to build a strong university application. What extra things could I do in my free time to help me get into uni in terms of extracurricular and super-curricular activities? Also, do you have any study or organization tips to help me stay on top of my work this year? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

If you're torn between med school or Dental school I'd say think about what you're interested in, saying this from a dental students perspective if you're more creative like interested in arts and good with handy work dentistry would be a dream for you because 80% of dental school is just arts and crafts the bonus point that the studying isn't as loaded as it is in medicine we mostly study things only related to dentistry. In medicine you have allot more options to explore the fields are endless there. As for extra curriculars I would recommend joining dental camps or volunteering charity based organizations and don't just stick to only doing activities related to your dream field having other interests can help you just as much. In terms of studying find your studying style and learn ow to study according to that and get your basics right now it'll make everything so much easier in the future, Goodluck I really hope whatever choice you make serves you best.

Reply 5

xjfrtr

OP

11

Original post

by fayfayfayyyy

If you're torn between med school or Dental school I'd say think about what you're interested in, saying this from a dental students perspective if you're more creative like interested in arts and good with handy work dentistry would be a dream for you because 80% of dental school is just arts and crafts the bonus point that the studying isn't as loaded as it is in medicine we mostly study things only related to dentistry. In medicine you have allot more options to explore the fields are endless there. As for extra curriculars I would recommend joining dental camps or volunteering charity based organizations and don't just stick to only doing activities related to your dream field having other interests can help you just as much. In terms of studying find your studying style and learn ow to study according to that and get your basics right now it'll make everything so much easier in the future, Goodluck I really hope whatever choice you make serves you best.

thank you so so muchh!! peer pressure is pushing me towards med school but i feel like dental school is more for me noww! where do you think i could join dental camps or volunteering charity based organisations? do you know any that i could possibly attend or where i could find them? im struggling so much with finding places to volunteer.. and alsoo about work experience.. ive done a ton of online work experience and have gotten numerous certificates both in medicine and dentistry.. would my medicine certificcates in my personal statement and cv also help me in dentistry?

Reply 6

Biohazard456

9

Original post

by xjfrtr

I'm starting Year 12 in a few days and am taking Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology for A-level. I'm torn between Medicine and Dentistry and want to make sure I do everything I can to build a strong university application. What extra things could I do in my free time to help me get into uni in terms of extracurricular and super-curricular activities? Also, do you have any study or organization tips to help me stay on top of my work this year? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

hi im in y13 and Im taking those exact a levels and I was also torn between them right up until like 3 weeks ago. what really helped was shadowing and work experiences, actually gaining a wider insight into what both careers entail the advantages and disadvantages etc. even if you don't get work experience in either it might be worth asking your own doctors and dentists a little overview of what they do, what they love and don't love about their work etc. after your appointments tell them you're a student and explain your situation.

also to help with applying into either and getting in etc, if you are eligible- make sure to look into widening participation stuff like access to courses and summer schools that will help get you a reduced offer and um stay on top of work keep folders and be locked in.

Reply 7

xjfrtr

OP

11

Original post

by Biohazard456

hi im in y13 and Im taking those exact a levels and I was also torn between them right up until like 3 weeks ago. what really helped was shadowing and work experiences, actually gaining a wider insight into what both careers entail the advantages and disadvantages etc. even if you don't get work experience in either it might be worth asking your own doctors and dentists a little overview of what they do, what they love and don't love about their work etc. after your appointments tell them you're a student and explain your situation.
also to help with applying into either and getting in etc, if you are eligible- make sure to look into widening participation stuff like access to courses and summer schools that will help get you a reduced offer and um stay on top of work keep folders and be locked in.

thank you soo muchh!! what did you end up picking? dentistry or medicine? i really want to do dentistry but my dad just really want me to do medicine ☹️ no matter how much i ask him about it.. i might just do medicine.. what are your opinions on this?

Reply 8

ghala_exe

8

Original post

by xjfrtr

thank you soo muchh!! what did you end up picking? dentistry or medicine? i really want to do dentistry but my dad just really want me to do medicine ☹️ no matter how much i ask him about it.. i might just do medicine.. what are your opinions on this?

please don't do medicine just because your father is pushing you to do it. if your ultimate passion lies with dentistry then you should for it regardless of what he thinks, if you don't you're just gonna be miserable. i can't tell whether you're struggling with the decision of med or dentistry because of your father or it's because it's other stuff. there's pros and cons in both careers, i suggest you make a list of them to help you decide, as other people are saying, talk to med students, doctors, dentists etc to get a better insight into what the career entails. there's a lot more sacrifice with medicine (no disrespect to dentistry, i'm well aware that it's also an incredibly difficult course and i have a lot of respect for them but there's a lot more training involved in medicine) and the NHS is in an awful state. with dentistry the work life balance is significantly better and there's less training involved to become a fully qualified doctor however for me i feel like the work could get quite repetitive at a certain point so medicine personally appeals to me more given the large variety of it. there's pros and cons to both

Reply 9

Biohazard456

9

Original post

by xjfrtr

thank you soo muchh!! what did you end up picking? dentistry or medicine? i really want to do dentistry but my dad just really want me to do medicine ☹️ no matter how much i ask him about it.. i might just do medicine.. what are your opinions on this?

I ended up picking dentistry. I’m more of an artsy girl and dentistry allows me to do that more throughout their course. PLEASE don’t be peer pressured by anyone even your parents because you do not want to be stuck in a course you’re not interested in for 5 years, you will always regret it and probably won’t last the length of the full course because if you don’t like it/find it interesting, you’ll lose the motivation to study for it and end up failing and dropping out. Then you’ve wasted all that student finance money for nothing and you’d be in debt. Bad idea right?
Pick what YOU want to do because YOU love it and YOU’RE interested in it. it’s no one else’s opinion, it’s your life and you’re career do what makes you happy.

In terms of getting into either, this is the time to look at summer schools through Sutton trust, reduced offer widening participation programmes like Newcastle’s partners, access to Sheffield, KCL enhanced support programme, i think Manchester and south Hampton do one too, some of them are for people within those cities and counties but others are open everywhere really look around. I think only 1 or two places do a gateway year for dentistry but there are more for med. And stay on top of your work, time organisation is really important in y12.

Reply 10

Kiana .

11

Original post

by xjfrtr

I'm starting Year 12 in a few days and am taking Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology for A-level. I'm torn between Medicine and Dentistry and want to make sure I do everything I can to build a strong university application. What extra things could I do in my free time to help me get into uni in terms of extracurricular and super-curricular activities? Also, do you have any study or organization tips to help me stay on top of my work this year? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi
I’m in year 11
I want to be a dentist
Can you please tell me what grade did you give in maths-science-English gcse that you could pick chemistry and biology A levels?
Because I want to pick maths - biology-chemistry

Reply 11

Biohazard456

9

Original post

by Kiana .

Hi
I’m in year 11
I want to be a dentist
Can you please tell me what grade did you give in maths-science-English gcse that you could pick chemistry and biology A levels?
Because I want to pick maths - biology-chemistry

To get into dentistry at university, they usually require you to have a minimum grade 6 is all three. However overall you need to get like five, six or seven grade 7s across all your gcses. So aim for grade 7+ in all of those as well as your other subjects but with those ones especially you want ti get grade 7/7+. To get into sixth form/college it really depends on which one you’re planning to go to and asking them what grade you need to get into those a levels. I applied to some sixth forms that required me getting a grade 7 in the subjects I wanted to do at a level, some only required me to get grade 4 I go to one that required me getting grade 6 in English language and maths and I got higher than that so I got in.

Reply 12

Kiana .

11

Original post

by Biohazard456

To get into dentistry at university, they usually require you to have a minimum grade 6 is all three. However overall you need to get like five, six or seven grade 7s across all your gcses. So aim for grade 7+ in all of those as well as your other subjects but with those ones especially you want ti get grade 7/7+. To get into sixth form/college it really depends on which one you’re planning to go to and asking them what grade you need to get into those a levels. I applied to some sixth forms that required me getting a grade 7 in the subjects I wanted to do at a level, some only required me to get grade 4 I go to one that required me getting grade 6 in English language and maths and I got higher than that so I got in.

Thanks so much

Torn Between Medicine and Dentistry – Year 12 Advice Needed!

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