Is medicine the right career for me?

[floatingomelette]

I’m 16 and have just started sixth form. I started out with four A levels (chemistry, biology, English literature and history) with the idea of dropping either history or chemistry once I’d decided what career I wanted to follow. I dropped history today as I want to keep my options open in the future, which I am really sad about, although it’s also a relief as I found making the decision itself very stressful.
What I want to know is, should I pursue a career in medicine? It’s something I’ve been interested in since I was young, and I’m particularly passionate about psychiatry. However, although I find chemistry interesting at times, I’m enjoying studying English literature much more, and worry that a medical degree will be very chemistry-based.
I’ve also heard a lot of negative things about studying medicine (unmanageable workload, stress, bad pay, no free time etc) and was wondering if any medics could tell me just how gruelling the course actually is.
What things can I be doing now to work out if medicine is for me, and have I made a big mistake dropping history (one of my favourite subjects) ?

– for context, my GCSE grades in my chosen subjects were:
chemistry - 9
biology - 9
history - 9
English lit - 8

First, congrats on your lovely exam results. Well done.

You’re a bit young for work exp in a hospital and it’s so hard to get, but I’d start by reaching out to any school alumni who have gone down the medicine route. You will probably get lots of really really helpful
replies on here and there are even spreadsheets to help you work out where to apply if you decide medicine is for you.

For me personally, I hope it’s not a career my DC want to persue. It is gruelling, with long hours for dreadful pay and very often, people are not very nice to you. The deanery system is a shambles as well. Our deanery is MASSIVE and covers a huge square of England, meaning you may be placed hours and hours from home for 2 years at a time. It’s very hard to maintain any sort of life sometimes, and it’s not a career I would support my DC entering into. in fact, I would beg them not to.

But. You are not my DC and you will get really varied comments here. Very good luck whatever you decide. I think speaking to some uni students is a good first step.

A few weeks is not very long to try out an A level course, did your school not encourage you to give it a bit longer?

In terms of info from medics, bear in mind that on here you’re more likely to hear from Mothers of Medics than recent medics themselves. I’d suggest making a thread on The Student Room too, although apparently lots of parents posting on there too … usually the same ones.

I think if you're going to apply for medicine you need to be fully committed to it because 70% of students taking it fail. I have a cousin who failed her 2nd year and had to repeat it and again was on tenterhooks while she waited to hear if she'd failed her 4th year or not. So you need stamina, not just getting through the course, but sustaining it in the workforce.

Good luck you have an array of strengths academically and a lot of options.

I thought about doing medicine but the poor work life balance really put me off. I've worked in clinical research for 14 years now. You'd be able to make as much money as a doctor while mostly working from home doing 9-5 hours. I work in dermatology now but I did work in psychiatry for years and was involved in a pretty significant Alzheimer's trial.

Before I had a family I travelled a lot. I used to travel all over the UK visiting different hospitals and even travelled to different European countries as a clinical trial manager. I've really enjoyed my career and I've been lucky to do some very interesting work which is well paid whilst being able to maintain a good work life balance.

I am currently volunteering in a hospital and they will take 16 yos so I would try to set that up asap, also some shadowing. It seems a very tough career so best to find out if your heart is in it. Why do you want to do it?

Sorry but this is total nonsense. Of course 70% of students taking medicine dont fail! How would that even work? Perhaps you're mixing up with the stats that most med school applicants dont get in.

PPs are correct that you need to really really want to be a doctor to do the course but neither of my dc who are doing it have found it chemistry heavy at all. They do say there is a LOT to learn but it's quantity rather than complexity of subject matter that makes it hard work.They've said it's more like doing hundreds of GCSEs at once rather than subjects at a more difficult level.

If you WANT to be a doctor and you can get in to med school then you'll probably have a great time. If you're not sure then you probably won't! Good luck whatever you decide🙂

Studying medicine isn't that gruelling. It is a long course with lots of timetabled hours. Later on the holidays are shorter. Overall very doable for a bright hard working student.
If you can, try to look beyond what you find interesting, to thinking about what kind of life and career you would like to have. You can maintain your interests in history and medicine without making careers out of these subjects.
The sacrifices in medicine come more after graduation. Moving around for rotations, working antisocial shifts. Not being allowed time off for your sister's wedding. Working Christmas day. Not being able to commit to holidays or hobbies as you don't know your shifts. That sort of thing.
You also need to look at how you feel about taking risks. Can you cope with the idea that some of the time you may get things wrong especially when you are tired? And some of the time when you get things wrong, people may get more ill or even die. In psychiatry there is a lot of managing risk. It is also woefully underfunded so you would have to tolerate constantly managing patients suboptimally due to poor resources / bed availability etc.
It is a very interesting and rewarding career, but you need to really want to do it.

I can't recommend it enough and Medicine is a degree that is valued even if you decide to go into other fields post graduation. I have friends from medical school who are now investment bankers with a focus on healthcare, equity investors, etc

I am a surgeon and a researcher - thoroughly enjoy the work but the training years can be gruelling, with more autonomy and opportunity for a portfolio career once you complete specialist training.

I would encourage my kids to consider a strong emphasis on research - because that is how care improves and it provides for a very varied career, tonnes of travel and national, international collaborations etc. Most hospitals accept observerships from 16, that is what I did and it helped demonstrate that I had a decent view of what it takes to be a doctor day to day on my personal statement.

However, most of all, I would advise you to follow your interests and passion and make changes to established paths if they are not working for you. Whatever you decide to do, see yourself as a leader and decision-maker, so you can reach for opportunities and roles that steer the ship in the appropriate direction.

Good luck with whatever you decide

I’m a doctor and I love my job. The different specialities offer a real variety of careers. I also hated Chemistry A level - only did it so I could go to medical school - and loved English lit. I had a very pre clinical / clinical course and also didn’t like the first two years of my course but still love the job. If you do decide to apply for medicine look carefully at which courses you apply for and pick one that suits you.

Having said all of that… I think 16 is too young to be making this decision and if I ruled the world medicine would be graduate entry. So see what you can do (work experience, volunteering, reading) to find out more and decide if it’s for you, but if you’re still not sure when application time comes, consider a gap year with some work in health care or even a different degree that you love - graduate entry will remain an option.

Good luck.

I think if you're going to apply for medicine you need to be fully committed to it because 70% of students taking it fail

I'm sorry, what?
In my year of 125 at the start, I think 3 didn't qualify.
That's nonsense that 70% don't pass the course.

@floatingomelette medicine is tough. I'm not sad that neither of my kids want to do it. The UK doesn't respect doctors at the moment. If you really really really want to do it and can't imagine doing anything else, and are happy to probably emigrate - go for it. Otherwise if you're not sure I'd suggest do your A-levels, take a year out, work, travel, and think about it.

I know it feels a long way off but you need to worry more about the job being gruelling than the degree course. The degree course is a walk in the park compared to doing the job.

Medicine is more of a vocation than just a job. Being a Dr is something you are more than something you just do.

Long and antisocial hours for not amazing pay, studying on top of working very hard for many years, having to move around to get on training rotations these things are a given.

Also witnessing death and illness and tragedy on a daily basis does change you I think. Sometimes I forget that most people don't have the experiences I do routinely at work.

It is no longer quite the respected profession it was either especially not as a psychiatrist.

All that being said I probably would not change it. I still enjoy making people better just as much as I did twenty plus years ago. I think it's given me a wide exposure to the whole of society and stopped me being in a middle class bubble. And it is worthwhile. You can never think that your job is pointless as so many jobs do feel.

You should probably only choose medicine if you really want to and you can't see anything else that would interest you as much.

I am not sorry my kids aren't interested. If either of them wanted to I wouldn't stand in their way but it's a hard life and not one to encourage someone into I think you have to know for yourself.

Thank you to everyone for some really interesting responses.
@Illpickthatup your career in research sounds really interesting and I’d love to hear more about it. I’m assuming you studied to become a doctor first?? What kind of research into psychiatry did you do? I’d love to travel so this is definitely something I’ll look into.
@newmummycwharf1 you said you’re a surgeon and researcher. I was wondering what your research involves - is it in a lab or hospital setting? What kind of things do you research and what would a typical day for you look like?

Clinical Research - so hospital-based. But some lab research too. Can't go into detail as it would be incredibly outing and deidentifiable. In general, most clinician-researchers might do 2 days of surgery/clinics, 1 day of admin/personal development and 2 days of research. Varies depending on what you can negotiate, successful grant applications or large commercial research portfolios. As you get more senior, it is more about the strategic direction of research, supervising conduct of research and continuing to share findings at conferences, meet with collaborators etc

I did do 1 year just in the lab which was good but I really am energised by talking to people, understanding their needs and trying to improve their care - so remaining in a patient-facing role was essential for me and for the kind of research I do. But that is not the case for everyone.

I did an intercalated BSc as part of my medical degree which was my first deep exposure to research and I was hooked! Not everyone likes the research so it may not be for you - but it is an integral part of every medics life - ever if just understanding it so you can apply the findings correctly.

I don't have a degree in medicine. I have a BSc in Physiology. I did most of my travel as a Clinical Research Associate (CRA). I'd do approx 2 site visits in the UK a week and the rest of the time I'd work from home. It was a great job before I had kids as I got to travel but also had the comfort of working from home as well. You plan your own visits so say you had certain hobbies on specific days you could just plan your visits around it. I tended to avoid visits on a Friday so travel wasn't eating I to my weekend. I then worked for a few years a a clinical trial manager where I was responsible for managing several European countries and over seeing the CRAs. I got to travel to different countries to accompany the CRAs and also for conferences.

I worked on a few different Alzheimer's trials and was also involved in a very interesting trial studying the use of psilocybin (magic mushrooms) to treat moderate to severe depression.

As a CRA you will perform visits to select suitable sites to participate in a trial. You'll learn the protocol and meet with the site to establish whether they would be able to recruit the correct patients into the trial. You then support in setting up the site, ensuring everyone is trained on the protocol and relevant systems and that the site has all the correct equipment and documentation in place. Throughout the trial you perform visits to check that the site is following protocol and that the data collection is sound. You'd also be responsible for spotting any patient safety issues. You should be available to answer any questions the site may have throughout the conduct of the trial.

Usually you'd start in a more administrative role supporting with electronic filing of documents and shipping of materials to sites. From the CRA position the next step is usually a Clinical Trial Manager who oversees the CRAs for a regions. After that most progress into project management. At PM level you're looking at upwards of £80k a year but it varies depending on experience and the company.

There are a medical doctors at my company who are involved in patient safety and the writing of protocols. So if you wanted to study medicine but not necessarily be a doctor then you absolutely could. I also worked with a few doctors who were CRAs, CTMs or PMs.

It's a really nice job. Very interesting but also allows you to have a life outside of work. General working hours are Monday to Friday 9-5.

I'm not saying that medicine isn't right for you (and great that some doctors such as @newmummycwharf1 have been able to fill you in a bit more above) but do explore other options with a medical slant (I didn't know about a Physiology degree that @Illpickthatup talked about).* *My daughter is a year older than you. She set out wanting to be a doctor too but then explored the other medical careers out there and by year 10 was sure she wanted to apply for midwifery (she has tried to make sure she knows what she is letting herself in for, listens to midwifery podcasts, reads midwifery books, and has managed to find work experience in non clinical settings – she is too young to be patient facing). There's a long (and a bit heated) thread here when I said that teachers (and her dad) were telling her that she was potentially selling herself short by not being a doctor, and she took both bio and chem for A level in case she suddenly felt compelled to do an about turn. Like you chemistry isn't her favourite and there are times she regrets taking it as she doesn't need it for midwifery but she wanted to keep options open. Of her friends also taking bio and chem a couple are applying for med school, a couple for vet school, biomedical science seems popular, others trying for pharmacy or pharmacology. There is also radiotherapy (diagnostic and therapeutic) and optometry which we looked into. My daughter managed to get two days work experience in the pathology lab in a hospital and she found that fascinating (it went on her personal statement!). I think they are all a vocation and you have to really want to do it and love the work because nobody is saying it will be easy but I think most agree it is rewarding. I know that Brighton and Sussex Med School say that they like the third A level to be in something quite different so it is good that you are getting a nice balance and doing something that you enjoy as your third A level.