Not sure teen DS can succeed in his chosen career

[WorldMap24]

DS is in year 11 and we are looking at college / sixth form options right now for next September. Applications need to be in, in January.

DS has decided that he would like to become an Oncologist. This is 'new' in that it hasn't been his life long dream, but he has been fixed on medicine / healthcare for a good few months. Suggestions of working in the NHS but not becoming a doctor (e.g. Dietician / Psychologist / Pharmacist) have been considered, but ultimately he always comes back to wanting to do med school.

My worries......I feel such a rubbish mum for saying this, but number one is that he won't get the grades he would need. I'm told that when applying for doctor roles GCSE's are still looked at, and while my son is bright he is not a straight 9 student. He is currently predicted mostly 6's and 7's, with effort I think he will get 7's in all sciences and maths. Similarly, for A Level, as much as I support him in every way and haven't told him that he can't do it, I think it extremely unlikely he will get all A's.
Number two, we are basing his A-Level choices now on this career path, so Biology, Chemistry and Maths. He enjoys Biology, he is reasonably good at the others but I don't think he looks forward to the lessons. I don't want him to potentially quit A-Levels as he doesn't like the subjects.
Number three, if Chemistry isn't something he looks forward to now how would he ever cope with med school?
Number four, I'm worried he will be squeamish! I think his current choice of end goal (Oncology) is with the thought he wouldn't see lots and lots of blood, or broken bones etc. I did point out to him that he would still have plenty to see during training and he reckons he can cope fine when it isn't his own blood. DS is a fainter and faints whenever he is physically sick. He also faints during injections. Maybe he would be fine if it's not happening to him, but I suffer similar to him with the fainting (GP has been seen and we are told it is genetic) and I also go faint if some things go on around me - for example, I almost fainted when DD got a cannula put in - so I worry he will be the same.

I don't know what to do in this situation. What would you all do? Discourage this altogether and encourage different A-Levels that he would enjoy more? Let this play out and hope that by the time we apply for Uni he has changed his mind? Or just encourage all the way and hope he makes it in his chosen career?

Medicine is not an option if he's not straight As all the way through, along with an abundance of drive, ambition and determination. But there are plenty of other medical options. Have a look at uni requirements for nurses, physios, nurse practitioners, etc. although these would be odd choices if he's as squeamish as you say.
There are plenty of non-medical NHS roles too if it's the employer rather than the medical side that is appealing to him.

I think you just have to support him but you can also be practical. Has he looked into the requirements for medical school and is he aware for the grade requirements, the UKCAT, the extracurriculars? Has he started any healthcare related volunteering?

When I was in sixth form some people were adamant they were going to do medicine at the start of year 12 and whilst it was no doubt disappointing for them, many realised in their own time that it wasn't going to happen. Others got four rejections from medical.schools but went on to do science related degrees and if I'm honest some of those people seem to have ended up a lot more affluent than I am as a doctor.

It seems really early to already have such a niche specialty picked out, given it will be nine years minimum from starting medical school to being able to pursue that path.

Just wondering if he attends a poor state school or if no one in the family has been to university before? If that was the case he would probably qualify for access schemes meaning lower grades would be ok- but again he needs to look into these.

I would also just do whatever subjects he thinks he would enjoy most and get the highest grades in- you can do a foundation year in medicine if you don't have chemistry etc but you have good grades. Chemistry a level is not massively relevant to medical school but I think deemed essential due to it's academic rigour.

I wouldn't necessarily worry about the squeamish thing- I hated the cadaver part of early years but you sort of get there in the end through exposure.

I think as a parent you just need to support him but it's also fair enough to ask lots of questions about it and maybe bring him to the realisation that's there is more to explore and research.

Incidentally if I had my time again I'm not sure I would choose medicine. My twenties were spent doing long shifts on naff money, paying and studying for my own exams and being shunted all over the region, whilst others who hadn't fared as academically well as I in school were buying houses and having team cocktails on a Friday. You can say it pays off in the end but I'm not that sure it does.

If I was having my time again I'd think about studying pharmacy.
This isn't a nuanced view but there are quite a few pharmacists I've met my age (early thirties) who are band 8a and doing no out of hours, and often compressed hours so they have a Friday off. They are very clever but also seem to have such a good work life balance.

My DS was like this.

He chose a levels based on medicine and did work experience and sat the tests.

He was obviously unsuited and did not do well enough academically.

He got no offers.

I didn't discourage him because frankly he didn't want to listen.

Reality will sort him out soon enough

It's really worth making sure he is as aware of the allied professional and what the entry requirements for those would be. I know someone similar to your ds who has settled on Diagnostic Radiography as a goal instead.

@Jiook I have family members who would say the same. The reward for aceing their a levels and spending longer at uni than anyone else has been having no control over where they live and work, and not being able to get time off for their own weddings etc. They are still rotating and doing speciality exams, paying for courses/exams/memberships etc and tens of thousands of pounds in debt, and not very sure they actually want to be doctors....

A family friend’s dc was rejected from medicine despite being really bright and absolutely driven - grades just weren’t enough. She had dreams of surgery (watched too much Greys Anatomy I suspect!). She has pivoted to a biochem degree and I expect will be very successful.

You can let him figure out for himself what’s possible and when he realises his dream is out of reach you can be there with a dozen great alternatives.

Also: kids can surprise you. A lot of them are great last minute crammers- his GCSEs might be better than you expect.

A year out after A levels might be a good idea?

Science A levels when it’s not his forte is a recipe for disaster. Is nursing an option? He could do biology chemistry and another he prefers no need to do maths.

Yes you've put that well- and incidentally yes I forgot despite giving medical staffing 6 months notice of my wedding and honeymoon I was scheduled to be on call on my own wedding day and on nights during my honeymoon!

I actually only got out of it and was able to attend my own wedding because I had occupational health adjustments that meant I couldn't do on call shifts for a bit, not because medical staffing helped me- they told me it was my problem to sort.

YABU.

He wants to study solid A levels that will put him in good stead even if he doesn’t get all As so it makes no sense to discourage him.

If he doesn’t get into medical school he can still do STEM or other healthcare related jobs.

I just wonder what has driven him into oncology? Has a member of the family/friend had a cancer diagnosis? I am a paediatric oncology nurse. It’s a brutal specialty and those attracted by personal reasons often fall at the reality of it. He would also be many years away from being able to specialise with multiple hoops to jump through.

If he's interested in Oncology there are other professions in that field. My ds works in radiotherapy, he did a therapeutic radiographer degree. And in fact he didn't have any A levels so he did a foundation year first. He's just been made a band 7 and is very happy!

I think radiography is a great idea for OPs son.
Lots of directions to go in and you can be an autonomous practitioner from quite early on.

OP says his highest grades are in sciences (7s). If he doesn’t do science A levels then he would be picking subjects he’s worse at.

People seem to be suggesting that he shouldn’t bother because he won’t get As so he should pick some less useful subjects that he won’t get As in either which makes zero sense to me.

Well, it doesn't sound like he's going to get the grades he needs, BUT... I don't think it's a huge issue as he's taking subjects that will help him get into most university degrees or other courses, and he's expected to get good marks, if not medical-level good marks,

I would make sure he is doing his research regarding admittance criteria etc. These things aren't a secret. Any universities he wants to apply to will provide details of what the minimum requirements are in terms of academics, and he should dbe looking at that in detail.

I’d just encourage him. He’ll have to adjust his plans if he doesn’t get the grades, but if it were my dc i wouldn’t want him to feel unsupported. School will likely tell him if he isn’t medical school material and it will become obvious to him from his grades. Meanwhile, he’s doing decent a levels that will open plenty of other doors for him.

I'd encourage him all the way but make it clear he's going to need to work really hard to get really good results. With those A-levels there would be loads of alternative options available to him anyway.

What subjects do you think he would enjoy more?

Radiography is a good call (I have a sibling who does that very successfully, after, ahem, a mixed time of it at school).

Radiography, nursing, physiotherapy.
All have good career development and, in demand.
But advising teens is difficult because they often don't want to hear it.

But I'd only suggest it in terms of 'Great idea to go into a medical field -- have you looked at what you'd need to do for full-on medicine versus medical research or radiography or a nursing specialism? Are there gaps that might need filling?'

I would support him, op.

I'd do so much research and then present him with a 10 year plan. Then prepare to get him as high grades as he can when he sits in may, taking it one year at a time.

Kids change their minds, especially, as others have said, when the realities of studying medicine, and the coat etc become apparent

But id still be supporting him in making sure he's ready for his exams if this is something he wants to do

Best of luck to him, he may be my doctor if my eyes give up on me in the future 😅😅 x

I've watched a young friend of ours resit A levels repeatedly because she was so determined to go into medicine. She's now studying a related field -- with better A levels than she had originally, and two years more maturity, which is not a bad thing.

He can have a career in Oncology but not as a Doctor with those predicted grades. Some of the best and most helpful people are often nurses, who are incredibly specialist and also have more patient centric roles too which may suit your DS if he's a people person. They provide the bridge between the Dr and the med speak to the patient.
Can he contact a hospital or a charity and see if he can speak to people or volunteer. He will then get a better idea of the job

Agree with this. Also I have a friend who works in very bloody medicine but still faints if she cuts herself. Some people can compartmentalise.

My DS is going through this process now and I would encourage him, whilst making sure he understands the process and how gruelling it is. GCSE and A level grades are important but depending on uni and possible contextual offers they don't need to be straight 9's or A stars.

However, he will need a good UCAT score and work experience which is a big commitment on top of A levels, and then there is still relatively low odds of getting an offer. If he understands all that and still wants to give it a go then he should.

My son has just applied for medicine - he has several peers who started Y12 wanting to apply and have decided either after work experience or because reality has hit with predicted grades that it’s not what they want. I’d just encourage him at the moment, it sounds like he is on track to get solid GCSE results and will choose the Alevels that he’s strongest in - he will have many options post 18. Realistically you can be a straight 9/A student and still not get in but it’s better he reaches that conclusion by himself. If my son gets a contextual offer it will still be for 3As , standard is AAA.
I would highly recommend the Smallpeice Trust biomed engineering course (summer of Y11) and the Atlantic Pacific introduction to medicine course (Y11-12) plus apply to local NHS trust for access to medicine programme/work experience for Y12. If he still wants to apply in Y12 he needs to study for UCAT alongside the Alevels and essentially devote the summer to studying for that (taken Aug-Sept )