failed medics

cousto

those who looked to do medicine but got no offers and went on to do pharmacy where did you apply and should i look to apply to places asking for BBB rather than ABB

Reply 1

Warrior King

When I applied I used my last two slots to apply to Bath and LSOP. At the time LSOP were asking for BBB and Bath ABB. In the end I got AAAAB in my levels but because the B was in Chemistry and one mark off an A, I lost my place at medical school. I had originally picked LSOP as my insurance but was reluctant to go because they wouldn't give me accommodation in halls (because I didn't pick them as my firm). So I phoned Nottingham and Manchester which were closer to home. Both gave me offers straight away based on the fact I had the grades and had done Pharmacy work experience. I took up a place at Manchester but at the same time reapplied for Medicine and left Pharmacy after I got a place at medical school.

You ask whether you should apply to places asking for BBB rather than ABB. This should depend really on what your predicted/achieved grades are.

If you're predicted to achieve at least AAB (for Medicine the bare minimum) you should have no problem in getting offers from places asking for ABB (like Manchester, LSOP, Bath, Nottingham) as long as you write a decent personal statement and have done some sort of work experience relevant to Pharmacy.

Also I question your thread title. Not all failed medics do Pharmacy and such students who do aren't failures. There are plenty of students who academically and non-academically were more than good enough to Medicine but were either unlucky in the admissions process or some decided that they would much rather do Pharmacy.

Having spent a brief time studying Pharmacy I can understand why the degree and profession is often unfairly labelled as the option for failed medics and why thus it causes resentment amongst Pharmacists. Pharmacy is a great profession in its own right and whilst shares some similarities to Medicine, it is a totally different career in terms of the work you actually do and the degree of responsibility you have in patient healthcare.

Don't pick Pharmacy purely because it seems like a natural "back-up" option to Medicine. Think about whether or not you'd enjoy studying it for 4 years or so and whether you'd enjoy it as a career. If not chances are you'll end up being miserable and could end up withdrawing or failing.

If Medicine is what you really want to do work hard to get the grades. If you don't get the grades the first time then resit and reapply.

Reply 2

cousto

i initially wanted to do pharmacy at the start of the year but thought i may aswell try for medicine, i posted a thread some time ago wondering if manchester would give me a pharmacy offer even though my PS was geared towards medicine and was told it's unlikely so do you agree with that cause manchester was and still is my 1st choice to do pharmacy at

Reply 3

Warrior King

cousto

When I was applying for Medicine my personal statement was obvously geared towards Medicine. The places that I applied to for Pharmacy asked me to send an additional personal statement to them directly geared towards Pharmacy (i.e. not via the UCAS form). This is to show that you have some commitment towards Pharmacy even though your sole focus is aimed at Medicine.

Reply 4

cousto

ok thanks i think i should start my pharmacy ps now i've already handed my medicine one into my school, what should i look to include in this one?

Reply 5

Warrior King

cousto

ok thanks i think i should start my pharmacy ps now i've already handed my medicine one into my school, what should i look to include in this one?

Well for a start reasons as to why Pharmacy appeals to you as a career and what work experience you've done in that field that helped you make that decision etc.

Read the university propspectuses/websites and see what the admissions tutors are looking for.

Reply 6

Bbeben

In a way a lot of "failed medics" lean back on Pharmacy as a back-up. I'm one of them. I was given an uncoditional for pharmacology but the rest of my medicine applications were declined before/after the interview. I got an uncoditional for pharmacy through clearing and will be studying it this year.

In a way you come to realize that through rejection, a course may not be for you. I was heavily geared to medicine but not being accepted made me wonder if a career as a doctor would truly be for me pretaining to their work hours and heavy load of responsibility. Afterall, I may find life too difficult to enjoy if hours away from family were too much.

Pharmacy is atleast in the medical field and still leaves you with many open doors in the future.

When I become a pharmacist I plan on working, starting a pharmacy and gradually opening more and more until I've formed some sort of business out of it.

Just make sure you take pharmacy for the right reasons and would enjoy it, don't go through years of it and realize it's not actually for you.

Reply 7

petzneo

Brighton university...if you apply for BSMS and don't get in they let you choose from a whole range of course at Brighton university 30% of the peoiple in my year did that....

Reply 8

pharmgirl

Pharmacy and medicine are totally different. Yes, they are both health related and are centred round helping patients through the administration of medicines, but the major distinction is that Pharmacy is all about applying the science of medicines, whereas medicine is a lot more practical. As a pharmacist, you tend to use your head, whether its through recalling knowledge of the latest clinical trials to influence prescribing protocols, or through simply recalling some functional group chemistry to be in the position to advise a patient whether or not a new medicine is any "stronger" than an old one. Even the mundane act of dispensing is using science, where you have to dredge more facts from your head, e.g. when deciding whether or not this medicine is OK for a patient that you recall were put on anti-diabetic medicines last year or who you recall had liver problems. Medicine, however, is far more procedure orientated, where medicines are only a small part of it, e.g. surgery, diagnostic techniques. Nursing, again, is even more practical, where they are trained to carry out nursing procedures which make up the act of caring for patients. For this reason, those that want a health profession but want something "clean" that doesnt involve anything messy may opt to do pharmacy, or similarly, those that prefer to practice health care in a more theoretical or cerebral, rather than practical way, may prefer pharmacy. Although of course, the boundaries are getting more and more blurred, with nurses prescribing and pharmacists giving flu jabs.

I mentioned in another thread a while ago how the Pharmacy as a backup for Medicine thing came about. When I applied for Pharmacy some 16 years ago the average offer was BBB to BCC, depending upon where you applied. For medicine, it tended to be around the BBB level, though exceptional candidates might have been given lower offers. This, of course, has been subject to grade inflation over the years. The great backup degree in those days was actually dentistry, where the average offer was BCC. The crucial driving force for the apparant switch round was the opening up of all these new schools of pharmacy, where the number has doubled in the last few years. This has made the course less competative and lead to a drop in the offers.
As far as responsibility goes, I'm afraid that all the health professions are in the same boat. A pharmacist that fails to detect a prescribing error made by a medic will take the rap legally. A dispensing error can kill someone and at present, although there is a campaign to change the law, a pharmacist failing to pick up a dispensing error, even if it doesnt harm the patient , unlike any other health professional making a mistake, can be sent to jail. Pharmacists in hospital also have to do on calls, although I concede that in the grand scheme of things, pharmacy is more conducive to family life later on. I hope that no pharmacy student ever feels like a failure, as its a great profession and a degree that includes a huge range of disciplines and is highly demanding intellectually. Hope this clears things up!