Charlotte
What alternatives are there to med school aside from adjusting previous results and or reapplying?
"What alternatives are there to med school aside from adjusting previous results and or reapplying?"
Currently doing my GCSES, with currently undiagnosed dyscalculia (neurological impairment for maths), which will be looked into after, and I know that the medical field is extremely hard to get into. I do have the capabilities and the mindset, but I do not want to base my entire self worth on whether or not I get into med-school so would like some alternative ideas.
My mock GCSES were mostly 7-9's, but have gone up significantly into the 8-9 boundaries over time. The only exclusion to this was maths, due to my learning difficulties which set me at a 5 in the mock. This appears to however, gone up to a 7, though I do have a large insecurity on my actual ability here since it's extremely paper based. I do 10 GCSES in total.
I plan (atm) to do for A levels (aiming for psychiatry roles):
Biology, Chemistry, Physics +EPQ
OR
Biology, Chemistry, English
Aside from if I'd be able to get into medical school (I've done lots of research, but if you do wish to comment I wouldn't mind for any extra information), just wondering what other jobs I could get into, the fields I'm particularly interested in are:
Biology
Chemistry
- enjoy the idea of helping people
- enjoy research/investigating
- dislike office work (but will cope with it haha)
3 answers
Victoria Castillo-Pena
Victoria’s Answer
One alternative to medical school might be getting into clinical trials. There are various options available such as scientific representative personnel, clinical trial manager (which I have experience in), clinical research associate, and Patient Recruitment to name a few. It is an excellent feel to be in and in most cases you were able to work from home. Although having a degree is preferred, it is not necessary. I got in the clinical trials without any background in the field and without a degree, until recently.
Khushi D
Khushi’s Answer
- Some unis offer a foundation year as part of a six year degree; the first year is science teaching and then you join the 5yr MBBS programme. Have a look at uni comparison websites/ different university course pages for their entry requirements.
- Have a look at careers tied with medicine such as biomedicine (lots of lab work and research), pharmacology and psychiatry
- Apply for medicine as a graduate - some universities offer shortened courses for graduates
Joseph Neilson
Joseph’s Answer
You mentioned an interest in psychiatric roles - that's another area where there's related routes and pathways outside of the direct med school route. Have you considered (and does your 6th form offer) a psychology A-level amongst your choices? Even on the med school route, a bit of existing knowledge about your target subfield might be an advantage; and if you didn't manage to get in, it's a good head-start into studying psychology at degree level. I'm not sure what the best education routes are for psychiatry, but I'm sure starting with a psychology degree must be at least one of the ways in - and tends to be a lot less demanding of exceptional entrance grades. Of course, you don't need a psych A-level to go down that route, so even if you don't take psychology as one of your A-levels, it's still an option to consider as a backup to med school.
Thinking more broadly, your biology and chemistry probably open plenty of options for roles you might enjoy. With you mentioning helping people and research, a few options spring to mind in that sort of area - things like pharmaceutical research and drug discovery, analytical laboratory work (maybe medical), or perhaps wider biological areas (conservation, veterinary science) or chemical areas. Some of these might be problematic as many will need you to follow the biology or chemistry through to degree level, and many such degrees require A-level maths equivalent - however, there are foundation courses that are often available to help you get up to the required level, and many are designed better to support people who struggled with maths before.
It might also be worth looking into the availability of foundation courses for medicine - I'm not sure whether that might be an option if you don't manage the grades for direct entry.
Finally, there's also the option of graduate or mature entry - get your first degree in a different subject, or spend some time working in junior roles, then go for a medicine degree later - it might take longer that way, but it might be easier to get into as a graduate or mature student.