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opinion on applying BSc then doing masters

hey, i wanted to ask both home and international students who study in the UK. would you say is it easy for an international student to do their masters after completing a 3 year course?

Reply 1

I don’t know what course you will be doing, thereby “easy” is not really possible to answer.

Personally I did my BSc, got a job for a few years in a hospital (Medical Lab Assistant followed by Associate Practitioner) and then went back to do my MSc (23-24 academic year) and got a Merit but I do think working actually helped me in my Masters as opposed to going back to get my Masters immediately after graduating.

My BSc was in Biomedical Science and my MSc was the same, but I specialised in Clinical Biochemistry.

Masters IMO though was much more intensive than my BSc in terms of workload and time management as by the time March came along, I just wanted it to be over… combining my time spent in the lab, coursework on top and lectures/revising.

Reply 2

Original post
by Scienceisgood
I don’t know what course you will be doing, thereby “easy” is not really possible to answer.
Personally I did my BSc, got a job for a few years in a hospital (Medical Lab Assistant followed by Associate Practitioner) and then went back to do my MSc (23-24 academic year) and got a Merit but I do think working actually helped me in my Masters as opposed to going back to get my Masters immediately after graduating.
My BSc was in Biomedical Science and my MSc was the same, but I specialised in Clinical Biochemistry.
Masters IMO though was much more intensive than my BSc in terms of workload and time management as by the time March came along, I just wanted it to be over… combining my time spent in the lab, coursework on top and lectures/revising.

i cant choose between bsc chemistry or msci chem with medicinal chem but i think im more keen on doing chemistry so was wondering if it would be difficult to get a job with only bsc

Reply 3

Original post
by wpsl0416
i cant choose between bsc chemistry or msci chem with medicinal chem but i think im more keen on doing chemistry so was wondering if it would be difficult to get a job with only bsc


Depends on the route you want to take but in the UK, it is fairly difficult to get your first job, Masters or not just on the basis that experience is king. One example is where my experience is predominantly Clinical Chemistry and Virology (due to the pandemic), haematology, microbiology and cell pathology are typically instant rejections when I apply to them as I have absolutely ZERO experience in them. It took me about a year (and a pandemic) to get my first job as I had no experience in lab procedures, health and safety understanding etc… and you don’t need the Master to go into my field but I would have it as a benefit for getting the Band 6+ jobs.

Reply 4

Original post
by Scienceisgood
Depends on the route you want to take but in the UK, it is fairly difficult to get your first job, Masters or not just on the basis that experience is king. One example is where my experience is predominantly Clinical Chemistry and Virology (due to the pandemic), haematology, microbiology and cell pathology are typically instant rejections when I apply to them as I have absolutely ZERO experience in them. It took me about a year (and a pandemic) to get my first job as I had no experience in lab procedures, health and safety understanding etc… and you don’t need the Master to go into my field but I would have it as a benefit for getting the Band 6+ jobs.

ohh i didnt know that, thank you for your answer!! i heard from my other friends that they can apply to work at their uni lab during the holidays so im gonna look onto that

Reply 5

Original post
by QUOTE=wpsl0416
ohh i didnt know that, thank you for your answer!! i heard from my other friends that they can apply to work at their uni lab during the holidays so im gonna look onto that


Yes, universities often put out offers for a couple of months to work over the summer to aid as assistants for the lecturers, in the year just gone, about 7-8 students if I recall were offered the opportunity to do this, albeit I didn’t apply as my student accommodation contract would have expired mid way through.

Research laboratories however are different to medical laboratories, including things such as the data protection act, the equality act, the human tissue act etc… which you will all be expected to put into practice while at work

One such example being if a patient’s husband phones you asking for their wife’s results, the data protection act would take over meaning, despite being her husband (or claiming to be), despite being their spouse, they are not entitled to their wife’s results and would only be able to get it if a form of consent is given or the wife attends an appointment with the husband attending too. This kind of thing will not be done in a university research lab however.

Wishing you the best of luck!

EDIT:
When I say not expected to do this in a university lab, I mean university labs will not handle human blood. If blood is in a university, it will typically be horse, or if cells, if human in origin will typically be harvested over 40 years ago and so free of the human tissue act as it was harvested prior to this coming into law.
(edited 1 year ago)

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