E grade at AS Level Chemistry-should medicine dream be forgotten?

You also need to think about time pressures: if she did the postgrad route she could be in her thirties before she was qualified to work in overseas aid medicine. By that point she might want a family and be unable to take overseas postings.

I think she needs to spend some time thinking very carefully about what motivates her career-wise. Is she attracted more strongly to the caring/interacting with people side of things, or the science side of things? Why does she think that being a doctor is the only way to help people in poor countries? Is it the status/glamour of being a doctor she is attracted to? Is that why she is discounting other healthcare careers?

IME medical students tend to be very strongly science oriented people who also have good people skills. Her GCSEs do sound good, but I think unless she can get As in chemistry and maths (which might no longer be possible if that chemistry grade stays at an E) she simply cannot do medicine as a first degree. If the chemistry grade does go up, what it might be worth doing is dropping one subject (probably French) to concentrate on doing well enough in the other subjects to get As all round, and possibly plan to apply after her results, taking a gap year. If that does not look achievable, she needs to have a serious rethink, as she would struggle on a medical course otherwise.

TBH, medicine is not necessarily that great a career - the pay is not that great at the lower levels and the hours are very anti-social and difficult to combine with having a family in some specialties. You also have to keep taking very hard professional exams long after you have actually qualified. Lots of people also find they have to make compromises about what specialty they go into depending on what training places are available when they qualify - so even if she did do medicine she wouldn't necessarily end up in a specialty that can be readily used by overseas aid organisations. E.g. she would almost certainly have to have tropical disease/infectious disease experience to work in many places and she couldn't necessarily guarantee she would have it.

Get her to take a look at the Medecins Sans Frontieres website. They are currently recruiting people with good French in all kinds of areas: midwifery, clinical counselling, biomedical science, nutrition, epidemiology, logistics, civil engineering and sanitation. They don't just need medical doctors and surgeons: all of those skills are desperately needed in the developing world.

If she does do the postgrad route, I honestly think French is not a good idea as a first degree unless she could do combined Science+French, get a 1st or high 2.1 and work in care homes/as a clinical support worker in the vacation (a med student friend trained as a phlebotomist part time in the vac!).

zara77. The only way to know what qualifications are acceptable by medical schools is to read their prospectuses. The requirements change every single year and there is a lot of incorrect information about. . I have said it before, but choosing the right University to suit your strengths should be a degree in itself.

As people have already pointed out, why doesn't she initially train as a nurse or midwife and try and get into medicine as a mature student later on? There are other types of charity worker apart from medical? Friend of my sister's is actually an artist as is her husband and they set up a charity in Cambodia to educate and support orphans after adopting a child from that country and are currently living there.

In addition to having the paper re-marked, it is possible to request a copy of your dds actual marked paper back from the exam board and this will show clearly where she lost her marks.
Many students lose marks in AS level Chemistry because they are still answering questions as if they were GCSEs. Much more detail is needed to gain the marks at AS level - even though some of the questions may look similar and it could be that her grade would improve with a resit. Unfortunately some medical schools do not consider resits for medical school, but there are many other medical related degrees so would not rule this out yet!

If the paper isn't moved up from an E, is it even going to be numerically possible to shift it up to the A at A2, which is what a med school will require (probably particularly if they see a weak AS)? Surely the maximum on full marks at A2 would be a B?

If her A is in french and the 2 Bs are biology and maths I think you have to be realistic and medicine is not for her. The first thing to do is check whether there has been a mistake with her chemistry, but even 3 Bs in the sciences is not going to help (unless at a seriously sink school).
Entry to postgraduate medicine is just as competitive or more than undergraduate.
Most medicine applicants sail through AS level sciences with high As and alot still do not make it onto the degree first time.
As said above there are many other opportunities in the 'caring' professions which do not require such ridiculously high grades.

It might be worth emailing some university departments, but I applied for medicine and you need high grades (A - A*) in all four subjects, more than one science topic to have a good chance. There's so much competition.

A postgrad course would be an option but I'd look into costing - I believe some people get NHS funding but this is a lot less than a student loan, and you'd need to support her financially almost completely unless she took a year out to save. Working alongside a medical degree is almost impossible, especially the amount of hours she would need.

American or European universities are an option, but she'd need to make sure they were transferable to the UK if she wants to work here, and again look at the funding situation.

Nursing, mental health, nutrition etc are all less competitive, or a French degree could put her in good standing for a career in business or translation. It probably wouldn't get her onto a post grad med course though - they tend to need a first/very high 2:1 in a science, and if she struggled at GCSE that might simply not be possible.

I was really shocked at how much chemistry was in my first year - I did much more chemistry and physics than biology, and it was really hard. I got As across the board for the sciences, but it was still so difficult.

I hope your daughter doesn't feel too down. I share her dream, and it's tough when obstacles come in the way, but being realistic could help her save a lot of wasted years and heartache.

What do the school think she should do? They'll know her strengths, and may suggest things she hasn't considered yet.

I hope this helps.

Biology, chemistry, maths and another subject are spot on for medicine.

I do wonder a bit why the alternative would be a languages degree rather than a science subject. Not for postgraduate medicine chances, I don't know about that, but more a question of which subjects to take to A2. Or is she taking all four through?

My niece missed out on getting into medicine due to getting a B in her A levels (offer was for three As). She did a degree in maths with a minor in Spanish, during which time she did weekly voluntary work at a local hospital, volunteered with St Johns and spend her summers doing health related jobs/ work experience/ volunteering. When she then applied for postgrad medicine she had no issue getting in (with a 2:1 degree), and they really loved the fact she had such a high level in a language.

If after the remark she still doesn't look likely to get into medicine at undergrad level, would combining her French with a natural science or maths be an option? At least then she could study something she really enjoys while helping the ultimate dream alive.

Oh I see you said what her other subjects are. Was the A in French? Is that why she is thinking French degree?

It also depends on what her GCSEs were like - I'm sure I've read somewhere that GCSEs are a better predictor of success at degree level than A level results. In any case, they get taken into account in admissions decisions too.

I'm surprised she's not doing physics. Most people going into medicine have an interest in and flare for science subjects and generally are high achievers in all science subjects.
I'd encourage her to look at other career options. With the current price of tuition fees I wouldn't be encouraging anyone to do 2 degrees. If it's the helping disadvantaged people thing that appeals to her rather than medicine itself there are plenty of careers she can go into to do that.
If she's considering doing a french degree instead then maybe she has changed her mind about that though.

as you've been told America is not a good option. There are other places within the EU but they are also likely to want Chemistry. Graduate medicine is a possibility with a degree in non-medical subjects but she would have very limited choices as most expect a degree in something like biomedical science or pharmacology.

Medicine is not for everyone and if she is seriously considering a French degree instead then perhaps she doesn't have the commitment or confidence necessary. If she was determined to be a doctor she'd be convinced a mistake had been made, be demanding a remark and studying for a resit. There are medical schools that accept resits, more than accept resits during the A level course than accept them afterwards. It is quite feasible for her to resit Chemistry, although she might need a gap year and to apply with known grades. The student room website will help you identify medical schools that do accept resits.

Medicine involves life-long learning, long hours, disrupted family life. It amazes me that intelligent young people who could choose much easier careers still want to do it. Most employers are less interested in the subject of the degree than the level.

Zara - I just wonder if she could apply after she has done her A2's and take a gap year. If she gets very high results at A2 should would have more of a chance and can build up a good portfolio of work experience once the pressure is off. Perhaps she can even spend some time volunteering abroad?

Medicine in France is extremely competitive. She may get on to the first year course, but they cull 70% of the students after the first year. To be good enough to get through in a foreign language she would have to be VERY good.

You can't do medicine as an undergraduate degree in the US. You have to take a first BA (usually one with a science major) and then apply to med school. Very, very expensive - I wouldn't recommend it.

Get the Chemistry paper remarked and see what happens. I think that if the Chemistry grade doesn't change or if she continued to struggle with it then medicine is probably a no-go - sorry. There is a LOT of biochemistry in any medical course.

Other options: I think from reading another thread on here recently that if you do the postgrad medicine course the funding situation is going to be different in future - you would need to check this out. I think to get on the accelerated course you would need an excellent first degree in a science field, and quite possibly chemistry A Level as well anyway. Other degree courses that come to mind: nursing, psychology (I know someone who did this and then medicine), medical biology, healthcare science, speech and language pathology, medical physics, radiography, audiology. I think there are also non-degree routes too - check the NHS careers website.

What are her other subjects? If she could do a language degree, that would help if she wanted to work in the developing world - being able to speak French in particular would be a real asset. She could always do a masters in international development if she wanted to work in that field.

If she did a degree in French she would be spending time in France, why not have a look at French medical schools? She may need to do somesort of foundation to polish her language skills.

I'm not an expert but I believe you start your first year in France as a 'health student' and at the end of the first year take exams to allow you to progress to training as a doctor, pharmacist or some other health care profession. It is at the end of the first year when the selection takes place, although I believe only 10-20% pass.

America would be very expensive without a bursary, and it involves 4 years 'pre med' followed by 4 years medicine.

Other options if she doesn't mind studying abroad are eastern Europe and India, nut if she studied in India I think she would need further studies to work iin the UK.

hear

knowsabitabouteducation- I am surprised to here you say tha. At my DSs school it is the coursework bit that pulls everyone down.The school is very strong at chemistry though and one yeargot the best results in the country for A level chemistry.

I have today one of my brightest students from some years back was considering post graduate medicine after her degree....straight A grades at A2.
She chose nursing and she is loving it.it is not a bad idea at all. Imagine what a good doctor she would be with a nurses training behind her too.and subsidized training.

And she could still go abroad to help people if she was a nurse :)

If the OP dd does a nursing degree then her dd will not have to pay fees as its an nhs career. Also her dd would be able to work as an agency nurse during the holidays of a post grad medicine course.

Are her other subjects science or language?