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?

My grandparents tried to talk my uncle out of medicine at a similar age due to concerns about his underwhelming grades. He went on to have a very lucrative and successful career as a surgeon. It was something he really wanted so if your son shows the same commitment I don’t see any harm in supporting him.

Why does he want to do oncology? I’ve a family member who has made a very successful career in cancer research (lives in the US and works for a lot of pharmaceutical start ups developing new drugs). He wasn’t very academic at school or uni but has thrived in a lab environment.

Obviously no patient contact, but very on the front line for improving cancer treatments.

Personally, I'd just let it pay out and see where the chips fall. It sounds like GCSEs alone will make it clear that medicine isn't going to be an option.

I wouldn't worry too much either about what A-Levels he chooses. Most colleges are very flexible about letting students change their mind about their courses if the GCSEs aren't up to par, or even a few weeks in. I had a couple of mates who swapped courses after a month or so because they weren't enjoying it.

Perhaps encourage him to take on an AS-Level in a subject he genuinely enjoys as well, just in case the maths or Chem turns out to be a bust, he can bump them down to AS and bring the other subject up to A-Level.

Organise work experience for after his GCSEs - most hospitals will have a department to sort it. Do this now. If it has the desired effect of putting him off, then changes subjects at enrolment.

Don't do maths a level - it's not needed at all, and is very hard to get an A grade it. Chose anything he likes and will work hard at for option 3.

Make sure he knows he needs all GCSEs at grade 7+ (pretty much true and he needs the drive to work for them).

Make sure he has a good plan B.

There are so many alternative health-related careers he could access with lower grades.

Their are lots of jobs in the medical field that aren't doctors. Is he aware what exists have you gone through the different types of jobs.

I'd say just stay close and let DS make his own way with this, supporting him as you can when he asks for help. It does sound a long shot that he'll get to do this training but he might get there with hard work, perhaps more slowly compared to some others. Or he might change his mind and take a different direction. He's young and has time.

I wouldn’t be getting too worked up about it at the moment , just nod along and then have a frank conversation when the GCSE results come in .

Indeed. UKCAT presents a massive hurdle even for straight A* students - if they can't get a good enough score, no medical school will even look at them.

@WorldMap24 if he wants to do oncology could he look at studying radiotherapy instead and would much more likely get a place and is still in the same field apart from you are the person carrying out the treatment. My house mate studied it whilst I was at uni found it rewarding subject to study

Perhaps encourage him to take on an AS-Level in a subject he genuinely enjoys as well, just in case the maths or Chem turns out to be a bust, he can bump them down to AS and bring the other subject up to A-Level.

Most schools in England no longer do AS levels now @zingally

OP you need to give him a reality check.

He isn’t on track for the grades.
Doesnt enjoy the subjects.

Med school is not for him. You need to get him to rethink.

Has he experienced any close loss, involving cancer?

I would sit him down and show him the university application grades expected. Getting into any medicine field is brutally difficult. Explain the process and how much competition there is. Do it in an unemotional way, so he can see it's not about him, or your belief in him.

Our teens aren't able to see over the hill, it's our job to hold them up and show them what's up there. You don't to need crush him, just be really formulaic about it. ie, Start with the University courses then work back to what he would need at each stage. Chemistry A level is notoriously difficult, so that should also be stressed.

I find teens often need something to cling to in order to feel motivated; particularly when their current situation is a massive slog. So it may be that he has just clutched this idea as something to keep him afloat.

I would drill down into what he does and doesn't enjoy in his subjects, find out why, also try to understand where his current ambition came from. Is it a friend, is it social media? He will have an idea of what the career entails, but probably not much more than that.

If you think he'll be squemish then can you book him into any disection clubs? My daughter wanted to be a surgeon until she went a club and realised it disgusted her. My friend who is a surgeon thought it was the best thing in the world.

Most A level providers have some flex in the system too, so if he's chosen some that end up being unsuitable, I expect they can be adjusted. Speak with the provider to let them know and get them to advise you too.
Tell him you want to make sure that the path he follows will suit him best, rather than something that seems to have prestige but will ultimately not suit him.

My dd thought she's like to study medicine, which surprised everyone, but 2 weeks of A-level chemistry soon changed her mind and she quickly decided she wanted to be an artist after all. Reality has a great way of kicking in when they are suddenly faced with it.

Would he be eligible for any widening participation pathways such as this...
https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/course/medicine-with-foundation-year/

DD applied unsuccessfully for medicine, then took a gap year and decided that it wasn't for her. She did a degree in biomedical sciences and is going to do an accelerated masters in diagnostic radiography after having worked in a pharmacy for a couple of years. It has been a winding road, but she now knows what she wants to do and how to get there.

I'm a doctor, so I know what's involved in medical school and don't need to link a US website. Despite no interest in surgery as a final career I spent attachments in surgery over 5 years, with 2 years of preceding cadaver work, and this included 8 months working as a doctor in surgery. None of that was optional.

I don't think being squeamish is a big issue as he will get used to it but there is absolutely no way you can be a physician of any kind without a significant amount of surgical exposure.

https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/courses/2025/therapeutic-radiography-and-oncology-bsc-hons

what about something like this?

I've already posted quite a bit but I'd say as a parent you absolutely can't be the one to dish out a reality check.
He won't thank you and could become resentful in time. Especially don't shoot him down before he sits his GCSEs! You will be blamed forevermore if he underperforms!
You need to be supportive and say ok- this is what you want- what do you need to get there? Write out a timeline for what he needs to do. What are the alternatives? How can they be explored?

ok, then perhaps you are out of date as even the U.K. site says core medical training at med school is not required, so after a BSc like the one linked by the pp above which has no surgery, the graduate can go straight into specialist training.
“The curriculum comprises three years of general radiology, including training in each radiology subspecialty, followed by two years of special interest training.”
https://www.bmj.com/careers/article/the-complete-guide-to-becoming-a-radiology-doctor/

Let him find his own way. I scraped my GCSEs and flunked my A Levels. I think I passed one. Worked for a year, did a foundation degree, topped up to an Honours degree in biology, worked for years, bought a house, went back to uni and did a nursing degree. Now I’m working in a really acute specialty (ICU). I could easily apply for graduate medicine; a couple of my friends have and are doing really well. One started this year. All from “non traditional” academic backgrounds!

Despite what they tell you at school, GCSes and A Levels not going your way doesn’t mean the end of the road. Your grades at 15-16 don’t mean you’ll make the best medics either; there is way more to working in medicine than just grades!

Doing A-levels in sciences and maths is what he needs to do to follow his dream of being an oncologist, but it also doesn't seem like a bad thing that massively narrows his options. As others have said, there are lots of other medical jobs and non-medical ones, that those A-levels would open up.

I think let him do those A-levels and see where he's at after. I mean I guess if his plan in the event of failing to get into oncology is something he's more likely to get into, but would need a different base, then going towards the other thing might be better. That only applies though, if failing oncology would mean a very, very different career - e.g. dancer!

One of my DS really wanted medicine - he did get great GCSEs, got good A levels, but then dropped out of Uni because it wasn't for him (he did 3 years though so he has incurred debt and no chance to do a degree he actually wants now). I would strongly recommend that perhaps you and DS see the school's careers advisor, really dig into why he wants to be an oncologist. I wouldn't tell him you don't rate his chances on getting the grades, but I would question things like why he wants to do this, his love or not of each subject, etc.

Incidentally my DS said he chose it because his friend was doing it and he couldn't think of what else to do.

Ahh you're confused between radiography and radiology.
Radiography is a standalone degree and a different profession.
Radiology is a medical specialty. You would need to complete medical school and foundation training- the years in which I describe all that surgical exposure. In fact surgical exposure is a really important part of preparing for a career in radiology and my pal who is a consultant radiologist actually completed core surgical training and her surgical exams first which stood her in amazing stead.
The link says there's no need for core medical training as in post foundation physician training, such as the 2-3 year internal medicine training - you need your 5 years medical school and two years foundation first though!

As previous posters have mentioned & given I have relatives who studied medicine,I know straight As including chemistry all acheived first time is mandatory. It's extremely competitive with around one admission for every 8 applicants who fit the criteria. Then there is the extra non academic expectations for example a proven dedication & high achievement in sport. They look for this to show the prospective student has serious interests outwith academia & shows a high level of commitment to the pursuit.