Switching from medicine to computer science

Hi I’m applying for medicine this year and wanted some advice as why you decided you no longer wanted to do medicine.

Hi, I am currently a year 3 medical student and I have come to a strong realisation that I definitely do not want to become a doctor, and that I will not enjoy working in the medical field. I feel like I have wasted 3 years, and I am unsure if I should even bother re applying for the course I initially wanted to take (Computer Science) before I was persuaded to take medicine by my brown parents.
My A Level grades are not great (ABB in bio, maths, chem) but I was able to get into medicine via a contextual offer through a widening access program. I genuinely believe that I would enjoy taking on a computer science course but my parents really wish for me to finish my medicine course first. The problems I have with this are:
- The last 2 years of my course are entirely placements at hospitals and I know that I will not enjoy these at all, and it will be incredibly taxing for me to try and push through
- I waste another 2 years, and by the time I reapply for another course I will have reached the age of 25 (much older than any starting peers)
What I was planning to do was to retake my maths and chem A levels, as I recognise that computer science generally has a higher grade requirement than what I currently have - but as it has been a long time since I studied these subjects I do not know if I will be able to take these exams to the best of my ability UNLESS my parents actually allow me to drop out of med school to study for these and the TMUA
TLDR; I am a year 3 med student, I hate the course and dont want to be a doctor but want to switch to computer science - what do I do
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I really dont know what to do moving forward 👍

"I can really relate to your situation because I started out in nursing after being encouraged by my family, but I realised after two years that it just wasn’t for me. I ended up dropping out and applying to study Computer Science, which I’m now really enjoying. Looking back, one thing I didn’t know at the time was that LSBU offers a Computer Science MSc Conversion course for students from non-computing backgrounds. If I had known, I probably would have finished nursing and then gone straight into the MSc, which would have saved me time and meant I graduated with a Master’s instead of starting over.
So my advice would be: if you’re absolutely sure medicine isn’t for you, it’s not too late to switch and focus on what you’re passionate about. But if you feel able to complete the degree, then the MSc Conversion route is a really strong option, it’s BCS-accredited and designed to get graduates into the computing field. To help you explore this further, LSBU has Open Days coming up on 4th October and 15th November where you can speak to staff and students, see the facilities, and ask more about Computer Science and the MSc route. Here’s the link if you’d like to sign up: LSBU Open Day."