Unsure about what course to pick.

Hi, I’m currently studying BTEC health and social level 3 in college and for years I’ve always wanted to be a midwife. Recently I’ve been rethinking my choice and was set on doing either nursing or continuing health and social care in uni but now my minds changing and I’m switching between wanting to do policing. At this point I have no idea what I want to do in the future and I’m worried about going to uni to end up with a degree I can only use for once career especially as I’m so unsure about what I actually want to do. I’m struggling to find courses that can help me get into policing/healthcare jobs without having to do their courses separately, and most importantly I don’t want to be in a situation where I end up going back to uni for another 3 years. Obviously if I have to I will but it’s not ideal. They are very different jobs in a lot of different ways. But I was thinking maybe psychology could help me into either career paths, another option is criminology but even that isn’t really related to anything in healthcare. My uni options are Staffordshire, Leeds trinity, Huddersfield and Salford.

Hi, I’m currently studying BTEC health and social level 3 in college and for years I’ve always wanted to be a midwife. Recently I’ve been rethinking my choice and was set on doing either nursing or continuing health and social care in uni but now my minds changing and I’m switching between wanting to do policing. At this point I have no idea what I want to do in the future and I’m worried about going to uni to end up with a degree I can only use for once career especially as I’m so unsure about what I actually want to do. I’m struggling to find courses that can help me get into policing/healthcare jobs without having to do their courses separately, and most importantly I don’t want to be in a situation where I end up going back to uni for another 3 years. Obviously if I have to I will but it’s not ideal. They are very different jobs in a lot of different ways. But I was thinking maybe psychology could help me into either career paths, another option is criminology but even that isn’t really related to anything in healthcare. My uni options are Staffordshire, Leeds trinity, Huddersfield and Salford.

Hi @B123456!. Do not panic or stress yourself out, it is completely normal to feel a bit worried and maybe overwhelmed regarding your career in the future, particularly when you are passionate about other things such as policing and healthcare. I believe your thinking logically about your future options. In my opinion, selecting a broad degree such as psychology or a general health and social care relevant course will allow or a variety of career pathways to be open, especially roles within NHS, safeguarding etc without allowing you to commit to one particular profession. I hope this helped and good luck !
Kiran

Hello! Thank you for responding I really appreciate it. After some research I found out that if I do a relevant subject in uni e.g Psychology and get my degree I am able to for a process called APEL which lasts two years rather than three. I also found something pretty much similar except policing which is a two year training programme called DHEP and at the end of the programme I’ll earn a level 6 graduate diploma in professional policing once I complete my probation . I can’t find what happens at the end of an accreditation program so I will continue research. Right now I think that will be my plan as I’m sure both will allow me to build up skills and experience needed for either profession. I will also look into doing joint courses - psychology with another relevant subject.