Route to neurology?

I’m a year 12 student currently studying alevels biology psychology and economics but recently ive had a big interest and passion for neurology and as you can see i dont have the alevel requirements as i dont do chemistry 😔. i really want to go into neurology its my biggest dream but at the same time im thinking if i were to retake year 12 and pick chemistry then finally take the route to neurology, would i really be able to do it? it’s really competitive and medical school is really hard, even alevel chemistry is really hard as ive heard from a bunch of people. I’d have to work as hard as i can and really focus on this but it takes really long to become a neurologist. I’m not sure if i can spend almost 15 years of more education just to reach my dream but at the same time time i dont really mind because the end product is what i would have been waiting for for so long. because I haven’t already picked chemistry i had thought id go down the route of become a neuroscientist or a professor at uni teaching it since that is much shorter than 15 years and is still somewhat related to neurology and the brain. but when i do my research i see that neuroscience is more like data analysis and computer stuff and technology 🫩. i just really want to learn more about the brain and even treat patients like the author of my book , Oliver sacks. because of this author, my passion for neurology and the brain really took over me and I REALLY want to do it. i just wish i had already picked chemistry in the beginning of the year but unfortunately im already half way through year 12 and im just stuck. I hate that they make us make such a big decision in such short notice AND at such a young age. I wish i read this book earlier so i would have been clear on what i wanted to do earlier on. But yea i just want to know whether I should go for it and work as hard as i can because what if I do go on to work towards neurology and i flop and fail and all my dreams and effort would be gone. Or should i go down neuroscience since i dont really mind it that much and I wouldn’t have to go to medical school (which id be happy about since its so hard and competitive and takes so long and requires so much stuff) - either of these I wouldn’t mind but i rlly need some advice please 🫩

I’m a year 12 student currently studying alevels biology psychology and economics but recently ive had a big interest and passion for neurology and as you can see i dont have the alevel requirements as i dont do chemistry 😔. i really want to go into neurology its my biggest dream but at the same time im thinking if i were to retake year 12 and pick chemistry then finally take the route to neurology, would i really be able to do it? it’s really competitive and medical school is really hard, even alevel chemistry is really hard as ive heard from a bunch of people. I’d have to work as hard as i can and really focus on this but it takes really long to become a neurologist. I’m not sure if i can spend almost 15 years of more education just to reach my dream but at the same time time i dont really mind because the end product is what i would have been waiting for for so long. because I haven’t already picked chemistry i had thought id go down the route of become a neuroscientist or a professor at uni teaching it since that is much shorter than 15 years and is still somewhat related to neurology and the brain. but when i do my research i see that neuroscience is more like data analysis and computer stuff and technology 🫩. i just really want to learn more about the brain and even treat patients like the author of my book , Oliver sacks. because of this author, my passion for neurology and the brain really took over me and I REALLY want to do it. i just wish i had already picked chemistry in the beginning of the year but unfortunately im already half way through year 12 and im just stuck. I hate that they make us make such a big decision in such short notice AND at such a young age. I wish i read this book earlier so i would have been clear on what i wanted to do earlier on. But yea i just want to know whether I should go for it and work as hard as i can because what if I do go on to work towards neurology and i flop and fail and all my dreams and effort would be gone. Or should i go down neuroscience since i dont really mind it that much and I wouldn’t have to go to medical school (which id be happy about since its so hard and competitive and takes so long and requires so much stuff) - either of these I wouldn’t mind but i rlly need some advice please 🫩

some medical schools accept bio and psych like sheffield (i think) and manchester
you can also apply for foundation year med too so you don’t really need to retake year 12 unless u want to
or u can do grad entry med

Hi OP!
Its great to hear that you are so passionate about neurology! I'm a current medical student who has just finished her neurology placement so I'll focus on the medical application side of things.
Like you mentioned it is a long journey the first step will be to get into medical school -> foundation training -> Internal medicine training -> neurology training. Alternatively, you could look into a clinical career as a neurophysiologist if you dont wish to go into medicine :More info here!
I would stick with your current a-levels as medical schools are notoriously difficult about a-levels being in one sitting. There are medical schools that will take psychology as a second science a level alongside biology (like Lancaster wink wink).
Here is a list I found on Blue Peanut but please do double check with the official uni admissions webpages:
These universities accept either Chemistry or Biology, often with a second science subject:

You get 4 medical school options out of your five ucas choices but you can always apply for less to keep your doors open for neuroscience degrees!
Hope this helps! All the best for everything and if you have any questions let me know
Best Wishes,
Jade
Year 3 MBChB
Student Ambassador

Not all medical schools require A-level Chemistry as noted above.
An important part of applying to medicine is carefully researching medical school entry requirements and shortlisting methodologies.
I would argue the academia route is far more competitive than getting into medical school. Funded PhD projects are extremely competitive and then securing a permanent academic position is a long process involving a lot of uncertainty and fixed term posts without any guarantee of where or what your next job will be when the current contract ends.
If you're choosing academia as an "easy" route rather than medicine I think you need to also carefully research what is involved in that route as well as medical school entry criteria

I’m a year 12 student currently studying alevels biology psychology and economics but recently ive had a big interest and passion for neurology and as you can see i dont have the alevel requirements as i dont do chemistry 😔. i really want to go into neurology its my biggest dream but at the same time im thinking if i were to retake year 12 and pick chemistry then finally take the route to neurology, would i really be able to do it? it’s really competitive and medical school is really hard, even alevel chemistry is really hard as ive heard from a bunch of people. I’d have to work as hard as i can and really focus on this but it takes really long to become a neurologist. I’m not sure if i can spend almost 15 years of more education just to reach my dream but at the same time time i dont really mind because the end product is what i would have been waiting for for so long. because I haven’t already picked chemistry i had thought id go down the route of become a neuroscientist or a professor at uni teaching it since that is much shorter than 15 years and is still somewhat related to neurology and the brain. but when i do my research i see that neuroscience is more like data analysis and computer stuff and technology 🫩. i just really want to learn more about the brain and even treat patients like the author of my book , Oliver sacks. because of this author, my passion for neurology and the brain really took over me and I REALLY want to do it. i just wish i had already picked chemistry in the beginning of the year but unfortunately im already half way through year 12 and im just stuck. I hate that they make us make such a big decision in such short notice AND at such a young age. I wish i read this book earlier so i would have been clear on what i wanted to do earlier on. But yea i just want to know whether I should go for it and work as hard as i can because what if I do go on to work towards neurology and i flop and fail and all my dreams and effort would be gone. Or should i go down neuroscience since i dont really mind it that much and I wouldn’t have to go to medical school (which id be happy about since its so hard and competitive and takes so long and requires so much stuff) - either of these I wouldn’t mind but i rlly need some advice please 🫩

thank youu, sorry i might sound a bit dumb here but what do you mean by the academia route being more competitive than getting into a medical school? do you mean the work i’d have to do after getting into medical school and like trying to keep my place there ?

No, when I say "academia" I mean your plan of becoming a "professor". That is academia.

ohhh ok thank youu

From what I understand for medicine the barrier is really at the start, getting onto the medical degree, which is challenging. But once you achieve that, medical degrees have extremely low drop out/fail rates compared to other courses, and once you have your foundation post in principle there should be some route to progression within medicine somewhere in the country for you (of course, whether that's a preferred specialty or location is another matter).
In academia though getting onto the bachelors course is the easiest part and it just gets progressively significantly harder - getting a funded PhD, securing a postdoc(s), finding suitable lower level lecturing roles, trying to progress to more senior ones, and ultimately getting a permanent position are all very challenging and at each stage there's no real guarantee you will be able to progress. It also will likely involve as much moving around (if not potentially even more!) than medicine
Which is not to say one shouldn't pursue that and it's not worth doing if that's one's main interest/goal, but just that it's certainly not an "easier option" backup for medicine (which realistically and statistically is much easier to become a doctor than becoming an academic with a permanent post at a university....!).