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should I do neuroscience or medicine?

Idk if i should do neuroscience because it seems too hard even though i have a passion for it. I really want to be it tho but im rly bad at chemistry, okay well not that bad i got a 7 on my mock but i dont think a level is going to go well. I've already picked psychology, biology and chemistry and i only like biology and psych. My mum says that neuroscience degree would get me nowhere because there are no jobs for it. And shes not being evil i love her she said she just worried that i wont get a job after my degree. She says i should do medicine then specialise in neurology, but i dont really want to do patient stuff and thats what happens in medical school. Idk can anyone whos doing neuroscience or medicine give me some advice?

Reply 1

Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum. :biggrin:

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Reply 2

Original post
by AishaCastelo
Idk if i should do neuroscience because it seems too hard even though i have a passion for it. I really want to be it tho but im rly bad at chemistry, okay well not that bad i got a 7 on my mock but i dont think a level is going to go well. I've already picked psychology, biology and chemistry and i only like biology and psych. My mum says that neuroscience degree would get me nowhere because there are no jobs for it. And shes not being evil i love her she said she just worried that i wont get a job after my degree. She says i should do medicine then specialise in neurology, but i dont really want to do patient stuff and thats what happens in medical school. Idk can anyone whos doing neuroscience or medicine give me some advice?

There are definitely jobs in neuroscience lol. The job you get depends on how you develop and market yourself during and after you've got your degree. If you do the bare minimum you probably won't get your ideal job in neuroscience, but this is also true in medicine.

I agree that your mum isn't being evil but she's perhaps not quite correct on this particular issue.

If you aren't interested in patients and clinical practice, medicine is not the field for you.

Go with your instincts.

Reply 3

Original post
by Democracy
There are definitely jobs in neuroscience lol. The job you get depends on how you develop and market yourself during and after you've got your degree. If you do the bare minimum you probably won't get your ideal job in neuroscience, but this is also true in medicine.
I agree that your mum isn't being evil but she's perhaps not quite correct on this particular issue.
If you aren't interested in patients and clinical practice, medicine is not the field for you.
Go with your instincts.

so are you saying I have to network to get any job? also what degree have u done? neuroscience

Reply 4

Original post
by AishaCastelo
so are you saying I have to network to get any job? also what degree have u done? neuroscience

Within professional fields yes, you don't just get given a job automatically on graduating from university. As a science graduate you may not need to "network" in the business sense of the term, but depending on what your priorities are you would need to think about higher qualifications, gaining practical experience in different techniques, etc. If you put the work in, there's no reason why you should be unemployed as a neuroscience graduate - it's a highly technical and advanced degree.

I did biomedical sciences and then graduate entry medicine.

Reply 5

Original post
by Democracy
Within professional fields yes, you don't just get given a job automatically on graduating from university. As a science graduate you may not need to "network" in the business sense of the term, but depending on what your priorities are you would need to think about higher qualifications, gaining practical experience in different techniques, etc. If you put the work in, there's no reason why you should be unemployed as a neuroscience graduate - it's a highly technical and advanced degree.
I did biomedical sciences and then graduate entry medicine.

my mum said I would have to do a very mundane average job like a research assistant or something if I want to be a neuroscientist. And then I would have to go up and apply for better jobs after some experience. But can't I do my experience in university? like im planning to do some work experience when I'm in uni, like everyone does. So when will I ever be a neuroscientist I don't get it. My mum told me a story about a friend who had an average job for 10 years until she moved up, so I'm scared.

Reply 6

Original post
by AishaCastelo
my mum said I would have to do a very mundane average job like a research assistant or something if I want to be a neuroscientist. And then I would have to go up and apply for better jobs after some experience. But can't I do my experience in university? like im planning to do some work experience when I'm in uni, like everyone does. So when will I ever be a neuroscientist I don't get it. My mum told me a story about a friend who had an average job for 10 years until she moved up, so I'm scared.

The thing is, "neuroscientist" isn't a profession like "doctor" or "nurse" that I can just tell you "do this degree and you will be officially registered as a doctor or nurse at the end". People working in neurosciences have a wide range of different backgrounds and qualifcations. It's not my field so I can't really say at what point someone would feel comfortable calling themselves a neuroscientist, but I guess it depends on their job, experience, and responsibilities?

If you want to be a neuroscientist in the sense of leading investigations and research, the typical route is to do a BSc then a PhD. After that you do postdoc fellowships and other roles within academia as you develop and publish your research. This is often within a university or other research institute.

Some scientists work in industry - this can be done directly after an undergraduate degree or after a PhD. Clearly someone who has a PhD is going to earn more and will be in a more senior role in industry due to having more qualifications.

If you did a neuroscience degree but didn't put much effort in, didn't graduate with a very good result, did no extra work or qualifications in order to develop your CV then yeah, you're probably not heading for an exceptional or high level career within neuroscience. But that's pretty self-evident and unsurprising isn't it? Life is what you make of it. If you end up doing a "mundane job" it's because of the decisions, circumstances, and priorities that you've made and encountered along the way, not whether you did a neuroscience degree or a medical degree.

I think your mum is presenting a rather black-and-white version of the future where progression and high status are automatic in medicine (definitely not the case) and hard to come by in other fields (also not the case). Career paths are complex. At the moment you should be focusing on what your interests and skills are - if you've worked out that patient care and clinical work doesn't interest you, then you should follow that instinct.

Reply 7

Original post
by Democracy
The thing is, "neuroscientist" isn't a profession like "doctor" or "nurse" that I can just tell you "do this degree and you will be officially registered as a doctor or nurse at the end". People working in neurosciences have a wide range of different backgrounds and qualifcations. It's not my field so I can't really say at what point someone would feel comfortable calling themselves a neuroscientist, but I guess it depends on their job, experience, and responsibilities?
If you want to be a neuroscientist in the sense of leading investigations and research, the typical route is to do a BSc then a PhD. After that you do postdoc fellowships and other roles within academia as you develop and publish your research. This is often within a university or other research institute.
Some scientists work in industry - this can be done directly after an undergraduate degree or after a PhD. Clearly someone who has a PhD is going to earn more and will be in a more senior role in industry due to having more qualifications.
If you did a neuroscience degree but didn't put much effort in, didn't graduate with a very good result, did no extra work or qualifications in order to develop your CV then yeah, you're probably not heading for an exceptional or high level career within neuroscience. But that's pretty self-evident and unsurprising isn't it? Life is what you make of it. If you end up doing a "mundane job" it's because of the decisions, circumstances, and priorities that you've made and encountered along the way, not whether you did a neuroscience degree or a medical degree.
I think your mum is presenting a rather black-and-white version of the future where progression and high status are automatic in medicine (definitely not the case) and hard to come by in other fields (also not the case). Career paths are complex. At the moment you should be focusing on what your interests and skills are - if you've worked out that patient care and clinical work doesn't interest you, then you should follow that instinct.

thank you so so much for your help I can't thank you enough. I just searched up psychiatrist jobs and they earn like 150-200k!! I used to want to be a psychiatrist but I changed my mind because of the medical school. But now.. looking at the money, I would be rich if I was a psychiatrist. What do you think about it?I also searched up neuroscience jobs and there weren't that many, many were in Germany which I'm not going be moving to because.. I'll be alone. All of the jobs are very specific to the project that they're doing and they require loads of experience, it looks very intimidating. What if I do experience in something, but there are no jobs for it afterwards? I really wish neuroscience had a lot of jobs like how Neuropsychology does. I feel like I'm overthinking it and I'm only in year 11, but I don't want to be clueless about what I want to do, I just want to figure it out then work to get good grades and pursue a career you know?

Reply 8

Original post
by AishaCastelo
thank you so so much for your help I can't thank you enough. I just searched up psychiatrist jobs and they earn like 150-200k!! I used to want to be a psychiatrist but I changed my mind because of the medical school. But now.. looking at the money, I would be rich if I was a psychiatrist. What do you think about it?I also searched up neuroscience jobs and there weren't that many, many were in Germany which I'm not going be moving to because.. I'll be alone. All of the jobs are very specific to the project that they're doing and they require loads of experience, it looks very intimidating. What if I do experience in something, but there are no jobs for it afterwards? I really wish neuroscience had a lot of jobs like how Neuropsychology does. I feel like I'm overthinking it and I'm only in year 11, but I don't want to be clueless about what I want to do, I just want to figure it out then work to get good grades and pursue a career you know?

You're welcome :smile:

I think you're jumping the gun a bit here. Senior psychiatrists (i.e. doctors who have become consultants and probably have some private practice as well) can earn that much, but that is decades away for you. It's not really a way to decide whether to commit to an entire profession at the age of 15 or 16.

In terms of whether you'd be "rich" - I mean...yes, clearly that is a very high salary, but once you account for tax, pensions, other professional deductions, and the cost of living, it doesn't really allow you to live like Scrooge McDuck diving into a pile of gold coins every night. Pay has been a massive issue in medicine for a few years now with doctors of different grades going on strike or being balloted to strike. What does that tell you?

Respectfully, I think you're unlikely to know the best sources for finding vacancies in neuroscience at your present stage. You might be looking in the wrong places in which case you might be getting a skewed idea. The UK has world leading universities and research institutes. Scientists are always in demand.

Finally, and this is from of personal professional experience, psychiatry is very patient facing and also requires you to be interested in the rest of medicine (i.e. you can't just focus on the psychiatric illness - it's important to know about physical illnesses, physical tests, and the effects of medications). Your first post said you don't really want to do "patient stuff", so something isn't quite adding up here :p:

Reply 9

Original post
by Democracy
You're welcome :smile:
I think you're jumping the gun a bit here. Senior psychiatrists (i.e. doctors who have become consultants and probably have some private practice as well) can earn that much, but that is decades away for you. It's not really a way to decide whether to commit to an entire profession at the age of 15 or 16.
In terms of whether you'd be "rich" - I mean...yes, clearly that is a very high salary, but once you account for tax, pensions, other professional deductions, and the cost of living, it doesn't really allow you to live like Scrooge McDuck diving into a pile of gold coins every night. Pay has been a massive issue in medicine for a few years now with doctors of different grades going on strike or being balloted to strike. What does that tell you?
Respectfully, I think you're unlikely to know the best sources for finding vacancies in neuroscience at your present stage. You might be looking in the wrong places in which case you might be getting a skewed idea. The UK has world leading universities and research institutes. Scientists are always in demand.
Finally, and this is from of personal professional experience, psychiatry is very patient facing and also requires you to be interested in the rest of medicine (i.e. you can't just focus on the psychiatric illness - it's important to know about physical illnesses, physical tests, and the effects of medications). Your first post said you don't really want to do "patient stuff", so something isn't quite adding up here :p:

yes yes i know psychiatry isnt adding up based on what ive said. But i still want to apply to medicine and if i dont get in i'll do neuroscience. If i do get in ill just specialise in neurology afterwards. I know i said patients were not my thing, but being a doctor will give me so many opportunities, and i do love biology and learning about the human body aswell as the brain. Idk im very indecisive so it probably seems like im all over the place.

Reply 10

Original post
by AishaCastelo
yes yes i know psychiatry isnt adding up based on what ive said. But i still want to apply to medicine and if i dont get in i'll do neuroscience. If i do get in ill just specialise in neurology afterwards. I know i said patients were not my thing, but being a doctor will give me so many opportunities, and i do love biology and learning about the human body aswell as the brain. Idk im very indecisive so it probably seems like im all over the place.

Lol, well, you don't need to have your mind fully made up in year 11 so it's okay to be unsure.

I'd try and get some relevant work experience.

Reply 11

Original post
by Democracy
Lol, well, you don't need to have your mind fully made up in year 11 so it's okay to be unsure.
I'd try and get some relevant work experience.

why is the work experience so specific though

Reply 12

Original post
by AishaCastelo
why is the work experience so specific though

What do you mean?

Reply 13

Original post
by Democracy
What do you mean?

sorry i dont know how to explain it. But all i know for now is that i want to atleast see if i can get into medical school, and if not, i will go down the path of being a neuroscientist

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