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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Yr10, wants to do medicine but struggling with biology

63 replies

Thisismynewname123 · 11/01/2022 18:05

DD has her heart set on studying medicine and no matter how many times I say she should consider alternatives in case in doesn't work out. She won't. There is nothing else she wants to do. The problem is that although she is capable of 8s/9s is most subjects, she seems to be struggling with biology. I could get her a tutor. She'd probably be predicted a 6/7 if I asked her teacher today. But even with a tutor, is it worth pushing her to something which isn't her strength? How can I inspire her to something which uses her strengths - I think she capable of 9s in physics/chemistry/maths. Has anyone's child been in a similar position and what route did they end up taking?

OP posts:

TillyTopper · 11/01/2022 18:08

Personally I'd let her make the choice and support her by getting a tutor for her to help with the biology (it may be a teacher issue if she is strong in other subjects). Let's face it if she aims for medicine and doesn't make it then she's not going to be struggling to find other options so there is no need to say what those other options could be now. I personally think the choice is best left up to them, I just supported mine through.

TheFutureIs · 11/01/2022 18:11

My understanding is that actually chemistry is the more important subject for medicine so don't discourage her too much

SockFluffInTheBath · 11/01/2022 18:17

She doesn’t need biology a-level, she would need chemistry.

3WildOnes · 11/01/2022 18:19

My sister studied medicine with an A, so a 7, in Chemistry, which I think is actually the more important science. Lots of Med schools didn’t even ask for Biology A level then. I would get her a tutor and hopefully she will be fine. My sister got a mix and As and Bs with and a couple of A*s at GCSE, she was bright but not the brightest. She is now an excellent consultant paediatrician.

LeroyJenkinssss · 11/01/2022 18:25

You need chemistry rather than biology (unless requirements have changed). I know when we started there was an additional programme of lectures for those who hadn’t taken a-level biology. There was very little overlay with a level biology and medicine.

Origamiheaven · 11/01/2022 18:28

My son started medicine last year. All the Unis he applied for didn't ask for Biology. Chemistry seems to be the requisite

FreeFrenchHens · 12/01/2022 00:22

YY to Chemistry always used to be the requirement rather than biology, unless things have changed, but it would seem a bit foolhardy to sign up for 5 years of a medical degree if you struggle with Biology.

I think you need to get to the bottom of why she struggles with it. Does she not understand, or is it too hard to retain and recall the volume of facts, or does she not interpret questions correctly, or is there too much drawing? Or something else like she is just used to doing well in other subjects with little effort, and something about the structure of Biology means it just doesn't come quite as easily as things like Maths? Does she struggle with the teacher? Are her notes disorganized and hard to revise from?

The main concern, I think, would be if it's a problem with retaining and recalling the large volumes of information. Medicine involves a lot of learning.

catndogslife · 12/01/2022 08:16

I agree with the poster who says that it could be a teacher problem, likely to be the case if they have different teachers for each Science subject.
Y10 is still very early in the course to be completely sure if this is a problem which will continue or whether it's just the topic they are studying at the moment which is a problem though.
When applying to universities you have 5 preferences and the 5th one has to be something that isn't medicine. So at some stage your dd is going to need to consider alternatives later on.

Coronawireless · 12/01/2022 08:20

It’s a little odd as I would consider Chemistry & Physics to be the more difficult subjects.
As others have said, is it the wordiness of it compared with the more Maths heavy subjects? Is English/languages her weak area? Anyway as pps have said she can drop it surely.

sashh · 12/01/2022 08:24

Another vote for not needing biology.

There are a number of routes into medicine, my niece didn't get the grades but has started a post grad medical course, she took a biomedical science degree and then applied to and was offered 5 places for medicine, she's chosen the one that is graduate entry only.

sluj · 12/01/2022 08:30

It does seem strange that she is just having problems with one science. My DS has just graduated from medicine and actually says that the A level biology was more relevant during his degree course than chemistry or maths though you did need to be competent in those areas. She will need an A in it at A level so unless she gets an 8 or 9 at GCSE then she shouldn't scupper her medicine chances by taking it. She could just apply to the courses that don't need it.

Original poster

Thisismynewname123 · 12/01/2022 09:58

thanks for all the comments, especially those about chemistry being a requirement more than biology for most unis.

@FreeFrenchHens, it's not an issue recalling lots of facts. Her strengths are physics and maths because she has a very good memory for recalling facts. Possibly she isn't interpreting the questions in the correct way, or maybe a teacher issue. She doesn't take it for granted that she'll do well - she studies hard and she knows that she feels better going into tests when she has revised thoroughly.

@catndogslife, yes they have a different teacher for each science, so maybe it is the teacher, as the whole class seems to be performing less well at biology than the other sciences.

@Coronawireless, yes it could be interpretation. She is less strong in English than the maths heavy subjects.

@sashh, thank you for the tip. Next time it comes up I will mention the biomedical science route to a medical post grad.

OP posts:

sashh · 12/01/2022 11:42

@Thisismynewname123

There are other routes, some universities have a foundation year or a joint year with other health care students.

By the time your DD is applying there may be more routes.

Bin85 · 12/01/2022 11:48

Yes I would get her a tutor.
It's a great subject .

idril · 12/01/2022 12:28

I would get her a (good) tutor if you can afford it. The thing with Biology is that it is often presented as a load of facts to remember but actually what can really help is a solid understanding of the basics (cell biology in particular).

I think children who are good at maths and physics often find biology the hardest because there is less maths in it.

But a good tutor would help her with the fundamental and on how to pick up the marks in the exam and might also increase her enjoyment of it.

thing47 · 12/01/2022 13:20

@sashh

Another vote for not needing biology.

Yes, I second this. DD2 did a biomed undergrad and a lot of her course mates were using it as a route into medicine.

She wasn't as it happens but she then did a related type of Masters and a number of students on that course were medics, there are several different routes into medicine as @sashh says.

Maybe your DD is doing lots of plant-based biology, OP? In any case Chemistry has definitely been more relevant, and maths too (a lot of epidemiology for example is stats-based)

titchy · 12/01/2022 13:23

Not a science teacher, but my dc's were told Biology is more about key words and using them correctly than the other two sciences. So (fake example) if a question says 'discuss the need for suncream....' then the answer has to contain certain things to get the marks, merely stating the facts relating to sunburn won't be enough.

So she needs to know the key words to look out for, and the correct technique to deal with each of them.

tamarinda · 12/01/2022 13:57

hi, I'm a current medical student and can tell you that while A-level chemistry is required by all medical schools and some are fine with no biology, I've found the first 2 years to be similar to A-level biology on steroids in terms of the style of questioning and memorisation required (obviously focusing on the human body and none of the plant / ecology stuff). so if she's not taking to it, the teaching at medical school might be quite tricky for her :-( you don't get to the clinical side of things until 3rd year in many places

SeasonFinale · 12/01/2022 16:16

As a year 10 she may not yet have been taught the exam technique for biology. As a previous poster says a lot of GCSE level is based on using the correct key words in her answers. She may understand the subject but simply not have "learned and churned" in the way they need it. A tutor used to her exam board would be able to help if the school is not proactive in this regard.

I attach a link to the medic portal website which shows which unis require which A levels. It may well be worth looking through this. Applicants can only apply to 4 universities for medicine and it is very competitive. Applying post grad is just a competitive so don't just assume she would get a grad place either.

LINK: www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/choosing-a-medical-school/what-a-levels-do-you-need-to-be-a-doctor/

IsThisNameTaken · 12/01/2022 16:23

DD is in first year medicine. She didn't do Biology A level, but was good at Chemistry. You need one or the other to apply - just need to check the entry requirements for each uni. However, she is now having to teach herself A level Biology as although it's not a pre-requisite for the course she has found that a lot of the early work does assume a level of knowledge well above what she remembers from GCSE.

lljkk · 13/01/2022 13:18

She can only try, OP.
Good if she has Plan B & Plan C -- some of which might be other health care professions.

swgeek · 13/01/2022 14:17

If she is capable of doing well in Maths/Physics/Chemistry, I am sure she is smart enough to do well in Biology. Biology, unfortunately, requires a lot of hard work and memorisation, whereas you can get quite far in the other subjects if you are smart without too much memorisation. I was the same at school but luckily learned to work hard in biology - that was the only subject alongside history that required a lot of work.

I don't think a tutor is the issue, in biology her results will improve if she puts in more hard work. There is no point in tutoring if there is no lack of understanding, she will have to memorise al the info herself.

She does need to realise though that the medical degree also requires a lot of memorisation on the scale of 100x than A-level material.

I would suggest don't discourage her from medicine but tell her that studying for a top grade in biology will be similar to the work she will need to put in during medical school and to give it a go and see if she enjoys it.

Original poster

Thisismynewname123 · 13/01/2022 15:02

@swgeek I don't think I agree with what you say. Her strengths are maths and physics because she has good skills at memorisation, especially with remembering all of the equations. I wouldn't say these are the easier subjects

I think it could be what @titchy and @SeasonFinale have both said, that maybe she needs to learn what they are looking for in the answers. I'm going to find her a tutor to maybe help her mindset. She is unlikely to need the tutor all the way through to taking her GCSEs, but just to get her over this hump so that she feels like she's answering questions in tests correctly.

OP posts:

Takeitonthechin · 13/01/2022 20:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

swgeek · 13/01/2022 23:19

@Thisismynewname123 I didn't say they are easier subjects in general. They are subjects which require less effort for someone with high analytical skills (but are very hard to master for someone without good mathematical skills), whereas biology simply requires studying. So Maths/Physics are harder subjects for less analytical students but easier effort for very smart ones. I don't believe she can be good at Maths/Physics just because she memorises formulae, that really won't get you very far, certainly not for obtaining 8/9 at gcse and it would never work for A-levels. It is more likely that she is analytical enough and as a result uneasy how much hard work biology requires.

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