A'level Choices for a Y11 aspiring medic

[sydenhamhiller]

Hi All, am hoping for the usual sound advice dispensed here.

DS is in Y11, and we went to his school's 'picking your A level options' night last night. He has wanted to be a doctor since about y9. We are not a family of medics/ nurses, we have no idea where this has come from: we have taken him to see Adam Kaye, discussed the challenges of getting into medical school, getting the grades, the long hours, the many years of study, and the precarious state of the NHS.But to his credit, he remains committed, goes to St John's Ambulance, is about to start volunteering at our local care home etc.

He was thinking of doing the three sciences and Latin (which he loves). And then last night the Head of Physics said in his pitch 'oh, and I would not recommend doing Physics A'level if you are not taking Maths'. Which makes complete sense. But DS - who is very good at Maths, and predicted an 8/9 - does not want to do maths if he help it. So at the end, we stayed behind and explained his particular circumstances to the HoD.

HoD was very nice, but said 'well medicine IS very competitive' and it is probably best to keep your options open, so I really would do Maths and keep those options open'.

DS's school LOVES maths. About 55% of their 6th form does Maths for A'level, if not more. They are the largest department by far. So there is a massive maths culture. But the HT, Head of 6th form, and Deputy, and even Head of Maths had all said 'do the subjects you love and enjoy'. And DS does not love maths. And does love Latin...

So he thought he might do Biology, Chemistry, Latin and Classical Civilisation - as many med schools ask for Chemistry and one other science. We're looking through the admissions criteria, and the Oxbridge colleges in particular do like 3 sciences and/or 2 and maths, so he would be closing some doors.

I guess what I am asking is: did anyone have children who got into medical school with just 2 science A'levels, and a subject they really really love that wasn't related? Am I being a terrible parent, and really naive in not just saying 'ah well, this is the price of wanting to be a doctor, you'll have to do A'level maths'. Reading about entry criteria, whilst Med Schools say they want 'people persons', and be able to talk about other interests etc, it does seem counter productive if all applicants have exactly the same 4 A levels.

My son is in year one of Med school. He received 4 offers with A level subjects Biol, Chem and History. Chemistry is the only subject that is a must but most like Biology too. The third subject doesn't matter. I think we found that only Oxbridvr wanted three sciences. Anyone wanting to apply for medicine must sit an exam called the UCAT or BMAT depending on which uni you apply for. The results of this are extremely important as some unis will not interview you without a very good mark in this. My son did the UCAT and it required a lot of study and preparation so look at this and start studying for it early. Relevant work experience is very important too. Sometimes it's hard to arrange so get onto that as soon as you can too. Also Med Schools like candidates to have the EPQ qualification if the school does it. I recommend thinking carefully about doing 4 ALevel subjects too. It's really not necessary and preparing for the UCAT and interviews will make big demands on your son's time. Hope this helps. Good luck, it sounds like a daunting process but your son sounds dedicated and I'm sure he will make it.