• Question: What do you recommend we do now (if anything) if we want to pursue a career in medicine?

    Asked by Lucrezia to Dominic, Maedeh, Matthew, Matt, Monica on 11 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Monica Rozeik

      Monica Rozeik answered on 11 Mar 2016:

      As an engineer, I can’t answer that as well as a doctor would but with any career you want to pursue, it’s worthwhile thinking about the subjects you need to take. In the case of medicine, you’ll need to be prepared to study biology and chemistry and either maths or physics for A-Levels.

      Having hobbies, or interests or doing some voluntary work are important too. Many universities, especially if you’re applying for medicine like to know you’ve got other activities that will make you stand out from the rest.

    • Photo: Matthew Oldfield

      Matthew Oldfield answered on 14 Mar 2016:

      Hi Lucrezia. My first advice is try to find a friendly doctor and talk to them about their job. If you’re enthusiastic, they will probably enjoy helping you.

      If you are interested in a job in the medical field but not being a doctor, try to identify the things that interest you. Is it computers, biology, building things?

      Whatever area you are interested in for medicine, you will need to have a good background in science. This means working hard in science and maths at school. If you’re not decided about which part of medicine interests you keep your options open and study all the different sciences for as long as you can. If you want to be a doctor, you will need to study Physics, Chemistry and Maths anyway.

      It may also be useful for you to try and get some work experience or an internship in a laboratory like ours or in a hospital itself. That way you can see the whole environment working and not concentrate on one job among very many.

      Hope that helps.

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