funding for medicine as a second degree?

pavlovs_dog

GlasweJen wrote: »

I love studying!

i do too, but after GCSEs, 6 A Levels, and a four year degree course im menatlly tired and dont feel like i could give it the full passion i think it deserves. this is why ive also placed my plans to do a masters on hold. if its worth doing, its worth doing well

good luck with your course though, i hope you have a great time

GlasweJen

8 standard grades, 2 int 2s, 6 highers, an HNC and 3 years out of 4 done of my BSc and I'm still not sick of it!

SuziQ

SavvyStudent wrote: »

Ok, not to shatter your dreams, but I'm a final year medical student - don't do it!!!!!!! The job at the end is NOT worth the 5 years training. No accommodation anymore, no pay banding, nasty hours. Do dentistry and have a real life / a healthy bank balance!

If you only went into medicine for the pay and conditions then I'm not surprised you are disilusioned,but that shouldn't mean you put someone off who genuinely wants to work in this area.

I was a nurse for many years-yes,much further down the tree from you,but the satisfaction I had from helping people far exceeded any pleasure I would have had from a job with better pay and conditions-and I would return tomorrow if I could despite the hours.

It isn't about 'be doctor,be dentist-whichever pays the best'-it is surely about how you want to spend your working hour every day?

I was given very sound advice when I was taking my A'levels. Find a job you enjoy,and you will never 'work' a day in your life.

I have had poorly paid jobs I have loved,and well paid jobs I have hated. The extra money never compensated for the long days in the jobs I hated!!!!!!

I wish all the best to the OP and hope you achieve your dream.

Swirlywurly

GlasweJen wrote: »

I can't stand teeth so I'm not going to be a dentist!

If you really hate it that much why are you still on the course?

Its not that easy. If you drop out of medical school you can leave with very little and once you've come a certain way it makes more sense to finish.

There are much more opportunities available to you if you finish the degree, even if you never practice.

I appreciate you want to do medicine, but do your research fully before you apply. It is very different to how it used to be. I'm not trying to patronise you. But there is a very real possibility that I and my colleagues will not be able to get a job, despite being qualified and ready to work.

This is especially important if you already have a degree and will have more loans to pay off.

https://www.newmediamedicine.com/forum is a good place to speak to medical students/doctors and get an idea of what lies ahead.

Good luck

Oldernotwiser

SuziQ wrote: »

If you only went into medicine for the pay and conditions then I'm not surprised you are disilusioned,but that shouldn't mean you put someone off who genuinely wants to work in this area.

I was a nurse for many years-yes,much further down the tree from you,but the satisfaction I had from helping people far exceeded any pleasure I would have had from a job with better pay and conditions-and I would return tomorrow if I could despite the hours.

It isn't about 'be doctor,be dentist-whichever pays the best'-it is surely about how you want to spend your working hour every day?

When I was training as a Careers Adviser we were given a question, the answer to which was based on actual research. We were asked what alternative career was chosen by candidates who weren't accepted at medical school. We all thought things like pharmacist, physiotherapist, even nurse! The answer was - accountant. It was quite an eye opener into people's motivations for career choice, which was, of course,the point of the exercise.

Swirlywurly

Not everyone goes into medicine for the money. In fact, anyone who chooses to is a fool who hasn't done their research. There are many many more jobs that you do that pay more for less responsibility. An F1's starting salary is £22,000. That is after 5/6 of medical school. Yes the money rises and doctors are not poor, but they work long hard hours.

If you want money, go and be an investment banker. You get paid stupid amounts and if you make a mistake, you loose someone else's money. Make mistakes in medicine, and you risk killing someone.

I never went into medicine for money. I went in for a love of the job like many. However you would be naive to deny that job security and a decent paycheck make medicine attractive. There is nothing wrong with those factors playing at part in a decision.

The thought that I may not have a job after spending 7 years at university is a real concern, and i urge people to full research their options. People get sidetracked by the passion and forget the reality.

GlasweJen

SW - I'm already a member of that forum, there are several doctors in the family and i know exactly how the health system works thank you very much. I do feel much patronised by someone who must be about the same age as me, I know what i want and now i've got an opportunity to go for it i'm going to.

SS- Only the best get jobs at the end and with the "in it for the cash" attitude you have perhaps that's a good thing?

Swirlywurly

GlasweJen wrote: »

I'm already a member of that forum, there are several doctors in the family and i know exactly how the health system works thank you very much. I do feel much patronised by someone who must be about the same age as me, don't try talking down to me cos you made the wrong choice, I know what i want and now i've got an opportunity to go for it i'm going to. Only the best get jobs at the end and with the "in it for the cash" attitude you have perhaps that's a good thing?

I am very sorry you have taken this the wrong way. However, do not presume that you know my motivations for medicine.

I am currently in Jamaica working on paediatrics with children who are dying because of lack of adequate doctors. I am working my !!!! off in harsh conditions for no pay, infact I am paying to do this, to try and learn and excel myself so that when I go back to the UK I have good experience of paediatrics, which I hope to go into.

No-one in my family has ever been to university, I am the first. I come from a single parent family and have absolutey no financial support. I have worked since I was 14 years old to try and acheive my dream. I sacrificed living with my mates so that I could get a job in halls which gave me subsidised rent. My job involved being on duty from 6:00pm - 8:30pm. During this time I would have to get up in the middle of the night to tend to students needs and then would still be on the wards for the 9:00am ward round. Despite doing this job and being ill, I was one of 24 students out of 270 to get a distinction this year which has put me in the first quartile which may help me acheive my dream of working in the area I want to work in.

I have just been offered a place on a masters, which involves me taking a year out of medicine to do this. If I do this I will be the first student from my medical school to intercalate in a masters. I will get no extra financial support for this and will have to self fund. It is in medical humanities, which is not a subject associated with high flying careers which make lots of money. If i do this course it will be because I enjoy it, there is no guarantee it will improve my jobs prospects.

Tell me which bits of that give the impression of someone who is unhappy with their career choice and wants to do something for money.

Age is irrelevant to the advice which myself and someone else have offered in this thread. There are thousands of medical students who are desperately trying to get people to think outside the box, so that even if they decide medicine is what they want then they are fully informed.

I didn't assume that you hadn't considered these things, I was simply raising the fact that many students do not thing about these things because they have wanted to do medicine for so long.

Don't ever assume that I don't love my course. There is nothing else I would want to do and I have dedicated my life (so far) to doing this.

Swirlywurly

GlasweJen wrote: »

I'm already a member of that forum, there are several doctors in the family and i know exactly how the health system works thank you very much. I do feel much patronised by someone who must be about the same age as me, don't try talking down to me cos you made the wrong choice, I know what i want and now i've got an opportunity to go for it i'm going to. Only the best get jobs at the end and with the "in it for the cash" attitude you have perhaps that's a good thing?

I am very sorry you have taken this the wrong way. However, do not presume that you know my motivations for medicine.

I am currently in Jamaica working on paediatrics with children who are dying because of lack of adequate doctors. I am working my !!!! off in harsh conditions for no pay, infact I am paying to do this, to try and learn and excel myself so that when I go back to the UK I have good experience of paediatrics, which I hope to go into.

No-one in my family has ever been to university, I am the first. I come from a single parent family and have absolutey no financial support. I have worked since I was 14 years old to try and acheive my dream. I sacrificed living with my mates so that I could get a job in halls which gave me subsidised rent. My job involved being on duty from 6:00pm - 8:30pm. During this time I would have to get up in the middle of the night to tend to students needs and then would still be on the wards for the 9:00am ward round. Despite doing this job and being ill, I was one of 24 students out of 270 to get a distinction this year which has put me in the first quartile which may help me acheive my dream of working in the area I want to work in.

I have just been offered a place on a masters, which involves me taking a year out of medicine to do this. If I do this I will be the first student from my medical school to intercalate in a masters. I will get no extra financial support for this and will have to self fund. It is in medical humanities, which is not a subject associated with high flying careers which make lots of money. If i do this course it will be because I enjoy it, there is no guarantee it will improve my jobs prospects.

Tell me which bits of that give the impression of someone who is unhappy with their career choice and wants to do something for money.

Age is irrelevant to the advice which myself and someone else have offered in this thread. There are thousands of medical students who are desperately trying to get people to think outside the box, so that even if they decide medicine is what they want then they are fully informed.

I didn't assume that you hadn't considered these things, I was simply raising the fact that many students do not thing about these things because they have wanted to do medicine for so long.

Don't ever assume that I don't love my course. There is nothing else I would want to do and I have dedicated my life (so far) to doing this.

GlasweJen

erm, the post telling me not to do it because it wasn't worth the money?