Medicine or Settle for Next Best?

2

Hey, I have just finished Year 13 and came out with results MUCH LOWER than I needed and was expecting. As a result getting rejected from my firm, insurance AND everywhere in clearing to make things worse. (I applied to Diagnostic Radiography).

I wanted to do Medicine since Year 6, and have been dead set on it ever since, but come year 12 many things happened which made me feel I would not be capable both from a personal life and academic perspective. Year 13 things only got worse. Honestly gave up before I even tried because it felt like there was no point. However, now with my personal life sort of on track, the idea of Medicine has come back. Well, I decided I wanted to give it another shot during exam season despite walking out of all those exams knowing they did not to plan. And I hate that its still something I still want to do because why do I want to do it so badly? Like why am I not traumatised enough from results day to be like no way? I just wish that I would be happy settling with Radiography which I guess is more realistic in a sense. I don't mind Radiography I would be happy but its just that thought at the back of my mind saying I know I am capable of doing better and I am not living up to my full potential.

I have to resit all 3 A levels Bio, Chem and Psych. Applying for medicine in my 1st gap year would not be possible as my teacher will not give me my predicted grades, and I cannot resit privately as its too expensive (I am resitting at my sixth form), so I would have to apply to Medicine in my second gap year.

I guess my overall question is: Is it worth the 2 gap years? My fear is that I am wasting my time and I am going to be so far behind from everyone else.

Reply 1

TSR Hippocrates

11

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

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Reply 2

RS1221

2

Original post

by pepsi22

Hey, I have just finished Year 13 and came out with results MUCH LOWER than I needed and was expecting. As a result getting rejected from my firm, insurance AND everywhere in clearing to make things worse. (I applied to Diagnostic Radiography).
I wanted to do Medicine since Year 6, and have been dead set on it ever since, but come year 12 many things happened which made me feel I would not be capable both from a personal life and academic perspective. Year 13 things only got worse. Honestly gave up before I even tried because it felt like there was no point. However, now with my personal life sort of on track, the idea of Medicine has come back. Well, I decided I wanted to give it another shot during exam season despite walking out of all those exams knowing they did not to plan. And I hate that its still something I still want to do because why do I want to do it so badly? Like why am I not traumatised enough from results day to be like no way? I just wish that I would be happy settling with Radiography which I guess is more realistic in a sense. I don't mind Radiography I would be happy but its just that thought at the back of my mind saying I know I am capable of doing better and I am not living up to my full potential.
I have to resit all 3 A levels Bio, Chem and Psych. Applying for medicine in my 1st gap year would not be possible as my teacher will not give me my predicted grades, and I cannot resit privately as its too expensive (I am resitting at my sixth form), so I would have to apply to Medicine in my second gap year.
I guess my overall question is: Is it worth the 2 gap years? My fear is that I am wasting my time and I am going to be so far behind from everyone else.

Hi, im kind of in the same position as you and although I don't think I'm knowledgeable enough to give you good enough advice on your next steps, I do want to say that if your really set on medicine, which i also am :smile:

, then the way i see it is that even if i waste a year or two of my life, when im in my 40s or 50s, i won't have the question in my mind of "what if?" Also, i would like to point out one thing, depending on your predicted grades, you may be able to resit this year and apply for your backup choice, radiography, and if unfortunately you don't get the results needed for medicine, you can take the radiography option. There's also an option of asking your uni to defer a year for you. Regardless of the decision you make, i wish you all the best.

Reply 3

Physician

21

Original post

by pepsi22

Hey, I have just finished Year 13 and came out with results MUCH LOWER than I needed and was expecting. As a result getting rejected from my firm, insurance AND everywhere in clearing to make things worse. (I applied to Diagnostic Radiography).
I wanted to do Medicine since Year 6, and have been dead set on it ever since, but come year 12 many things happened which made me feel I would not be capable both from a personal life and academic perspective. Year 13 things only got worse. Honestly gave up before I even tried because it felt like there was no point. However, now with my personal life sort of on track, the idea of Medicine has come back. Well, I decided I wanted to give it another shot during exam season despite walking out of all those exams knowing they did not to plan. And I hate that its still something I still want to do because why do I want to do it so badly? Like why am I not traumatised enough from results day to be like no way? I just wish that I would be happy settling with Radiography which I guess is more realistic in a sense. I don't mind Radiography I would be happy but its just that thought at the back of my mind saying I know I am capable of doing better and I am not living up to my full potential.
I have to resit all 3 A levels Bio, Chem and Psych. Applying for medicine in my 1st gap year would not be possible as my teacher will not give me my predicted grades, and I cannot resit privately as its too expensive (I am resitting at my sixth form), so I would have to apply to Medicine in my second gap year.
I guess my overall question is: Is it worth the 2 gap years? My fear is that I am wasting my time and I am going to be so far behind from everyone else.

The students that get into Medicine are either gifted (usually state school kids), or clever and very well taught (usually private school kids). If you don't have near perfect top grades at GCSE, and the bare minimum of AAA at A level, you aren't going to get into Medicine. I wouldn't waste your time and energy on this. It would be rather like someone wanting to apply to Oxbridge for one of their undergraduate degrees with average grades. The outcome would be a straight rejection.

The irony of your situation is that doctors in the NHS often say that the job is terrible, and that people would be better off being a Radiographer. Though l have also heard that Radiographers suffer burnout due to 10-30 patients coming in every hour.

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by pepsi22

Hey, I have just finished Year 13 and came out with results MUCH LOWER than I needed and was expecting. As a result getting rejected from my firm, insurance AND everywhere in clearing to make things worse. (I applied to Diagnostic Radiography).

I wanted to do Medicine since Year 6, and have been dead set on it ever since, but come year 12 many things happened which made me feel I would not be capable both from a personal life and academic perspective. Year 13 things only got worse. Honestly gave up before I even tried because it felt like there was no point. However, now with my personal life sort of on track, the idea of Medicine has come back. Well, I decided I wanted to give it another shot during exam season despite walking out of all those exams knowing they did not to plan. And I hate that its still something I still want to do because why do I want to do it so badly? Like why am I not traumatised enough from results day to be like no way? I just wish that I would be happy settling with Radiography which I guess is more realistic in a sense. I don't mind Radiography I would be happy but its just that thought at the back of my mind saying I know I am capable of doing better and I am not living up to my full potential.

I have to resit all 3 A levels Bio, Chem and Psych. Applying for medicine in my 1st gap year would not be possible as my teacher will not give me my predicted grades, and I cannot resit privately as its too expensive (I am resitting at my sixth form), so I would have to apply to Medicine in my second gap year.

I guess my overall question is: Is it worth the 2 gap years? My fear is that I am wasting my time and I am going to be so far behind from everyone else.

Whether it's "worth it" is really up to you. That said I would point out - there is no such thing as being "behind everyone else". Life isn't school and the days of things being age defined or segregated are now fully behind you. Everyone progresses through life at different paces and through different routes due to the very varied individual circumstances they face. If you feel you are able to achieve the results you need in that timeframe and have identified medical schools which will accept resits in your situation, then all that matters is whether you want to take that time. What is 2 years in the face of a lifelong career in medicine for example? You'd be working and/or studying medicine for 40+ years.

That said you should be realistic about things and make sure it's both possible and plausible. Possible in the sense you do need to be sure you will achieve your goal, and plausible in the sense that you will have the tools and environment possible to achieve those (i.e. the financial support to achieve that, the home life or living situation otherwise to allow you to pursue it, opportunities for work/work experience and ability to undertake this, etc). If all of that is possible (e.g. you don't have a tempestuous home life and inability to move out, you have the funds to do the retakes, and you have the drive and know where things went wrong academically and ability to address those issues, and don't have any unresolved long term health issues or similar) then if that's what you want to do, do it! :smile:

You may also want to consider as a possibility spending a few years working e.g. as an HCA or similar in the NHS, getting lots of work experience and a really good sense of what life in the NHS is like, and doing an acceptable access to medicine course (you'll need to check each medical school to see which access to medicine courses they accept - normally they only accept specific courses offered by specific providers and should either have a published list of these or be able to advise on enquiry). Particularly if your current situation is not as amenable to pursuing retakes immediately due to e.g. having health issues that need to be resolved, needing to establish a stable home or financial situation first, etc.

Reply 5

Physician

21

You could always train to be a Physician Assistant in the future, if the recruitment crisis is finally addressed by successive governments. It isn't a good option right now as there are very few jobs currently, and lots of unemployed graduates chasing them.

Reply 6

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by Physician

You could always train to be a Physician Assistant in the future, if the recruitment crisis is finally addressed by successive governments. It isn't a good option right now as there are very few jobs currently, and lots of unemployed graduates chasing them.

Given that the Leng review has established the current model for physician assistants is essentially unworkable and it seems unlikely they can be sustained financially at the current banding for the post-Leng review scope of practice, I don't think this is a viable option to plan for currently. There simply may not be any new posts being created, or at least not at current banding levels.

Reply 7

Thinking*Aloud

7

There's always the option to do diagnostic radiography and see how you get on. If you find you've still got the itch and cannot ignore it, you could always improve your A-levels as a private candidate and pursue GEM at a later date.

Reply 8

Physician

21

Original post

by artful_lounger

Given that the Leng review has established the current model for physician assistants is essentially unworkable and it seems unlikely they can be sustained financially at the current banding for the post-Leng review scope of practice, I don't think this is a viable option to plan for currently. There simply may not be any new posts being created, or at least not at current banding levels.

They will find a way for PAs to work in the end. The US has shown that it can be done.

Reply 9

Thinking*Aloud

7

Original post

by Physician

They will find a way for PAs to work in the end. The US has shown that it can be done.

The PA model in the US is very different to that of the UK.

Reply 10

Physician

21

Original post

by Thinking*Aloud

The PA model in the US is very different to that of the UK.

At present . . .

Reply 11

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by Physician

They will find a way for PAs to work in the end. The US has shown that it can be done.

I don't think "they will figure it out eventually" is a good basis to recommend someone make major life decisions on presently...

I think also the assertion that the US has made it "work" is debatable too, although that's beyond the scope of this thread.

Reply 12

Physician

21

Original post

by artful_lounger

I don't think "they will figure it out eventually" is a good basis to recommend someone make major life decisions on presently...
I think also the assertion that the US has made it "work" is debatable too, although that's beyond the scope of this thread.

The point is that the profession should be considered as a possible option further down the line. It isn't the only profession in the NHS with problems. Physiotherapy currently has massive recruitment problems also, amongst others like Nursing and the like. Things should be addressed over time, but it will take several years.

(edited 2 months ago)

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