I want to be a doctor but I dislike science.

[NorthernLight]

Originally Posted by CatherineT

I have to find myself agreeing with NorthernLight

It's ok, they have a new treatment for that now

Maybe I should have declared a prior interest in my post - I still feel like I'm masquerading as a medic having got into medicine with a degree in English Literature!

Having said that, I've made it as far as 3rd year . . .

[Simon]

another english grad here :-)

it's kind of a fine line. the science you do in medicine is very applied, and the chemistry you need is quite conceptual. if you know about different chemical groups, understand pH, understand basic ionic concepts (reduction/oxidation) - you will have an okay basis for understanding the biochemistry of the body.

okay, there is lots of anatomy and physiology and pharmacology...but the interaction of it all forms much more of a creative picture. it's hard to reduce the body to sterile, mathematical equations, which i suppose is what i equate with boring science.

i think, if you really wanted to be a doctor, you would work hard enough to understand the science you need. a lot of it is memorisation, but the analysis is to do with patterns and concepts. it's not like every time you diagnose someone you work up from knowing the chemical formula for a particular substance released, or rely on knowing amino acid structures to help you reach that diagnosis. it's about remembering that 'common things are common'.

i think you probably should consider why you want to become a doctor; get some work experience, and maybe wait until you're a bit older too. (are you north american? your post sounds that way). do another degree and work out if you do actually enjoy science, for example - just not in the way you were taught it at school; i think that was my issue. now i am a bit of a geek in the sense of always wanting to uncover the next layer of the onion, so to speak.

all the best in your decision making. it's not an easy one!

[georgiegirl]

Hi there Irenie

I think it's quite brave of you to admit to disliking science and wanting to do medicine!

I agree with CatherineT and Northern Light. I don't think you have to be into science for its own sake. Historically, as Northern Light points out, medicine was viewed as an art and it is only relatively recently (in the last century or so) that technological advances have led to the biomedical model becoming so dominant.

But the apparent shortcomings of this model mean that there is less of a division now between science and the humanities with respect to medicine. While being good at science used to be the only requisite skill for doing medicine, people now are expected to be more well rounded. This is what 'Tomorrow's Doctors' was about, and why access to medical training has been opened up to graduates of other disciplines, etc. More and more medical courses are introducing medical humanities components, there is more sociological content and some schools favour people with one arts subject among their A level choices above those with three sciences.

I have an arts background, but have been fortunate in that I have had a lot of encouragement from four experienced doctors who assure me that this is not an obstacle. One is a GP who runs GP training programmes locally. She went to medical school with three arts A levels years ago, she's now in her mid-40s. Another is a consultant plastic surgeon who told me that not only do you not have to like science, but you don't even have to be that good at it to succeed. My sister, who is a brilliant scientist and successful histopathologist told me that the science required for medicine is really not difficult and as an arts graduate I wouldn't struggle with it. She said it's a lot easier than the stuff she did at Physics A level back in 1988.

Finally, I know a wonderful palliative care consultant, from an anaesthetics background, who is very interested in the arts/sciences crossover and did an MPhil in medical humanities. There is an argument that since 80% of diagnosis is taking a history, the ability to understand and interpret the things patients say from a verbal angle is just as important a part of diagnosis as having the scientific knowledge to make sense of it.

I feel as you do in some ways - I am interested in disease and the body, less so in 'pure' science. As you move from biology through chemistry and physics to mathematics it all gets more 'scientific' and less 'artistic'. But medicine is definitely at the artistic end.

I also find it very easy to remember medical conditions, terminology etc, but less easy to remember purely scientific concepts.

I saw doing sciences as a necessary evil to be honest. I have 3 arts A levels and an English degree and am now doing Biology and Chemistry AS courses at the moment. But I am loving it... I feel really confident that medicine is the right thing for me and that my arts background is a huge asset in many ways.

Also remember that medicine is a very broad discipline. A pathologist or a renal specialist is much more at the 'scientific' end, while a GP or geriatrician has to take a more holistic approach. A surgeon is more like a kind of technician - surgery involves craft skills as well as art and science.

I think there is room for a big spectrum in medicine. Chances are you would enjoy a medicine course even if you don't like science, but you would be wise to look at horizontally integrated courses, possibly high on PBL where the approach is to look at the different components - anatomy, physiology, etc, in the context of medical conditions and the clinical side rather than a more traditional course where you study them for years as discrete units and only draw it all together and start looking at it from a clinical point of view further on in the course.

These are the courses I am looking at, because I think they will suit me better.

But there is room for all of us in medicine. Not everyone can be brilliant at all the necessary aspects all the time, but people can play to their strengths and ultimately make their career choices accordingly.

Good luck with your decision.

George x

[Victoria09]

That was a lovely post George! I'm also from an arts background, and I wouldn't say I was a natural scientist (as in, science doesn't come naturally!) For example, I like chemistry and biology but can't stand maths or physics. I also know that if I get to med school I will want to be a psychiatrist or GP- because I don't think I would be satisfied with focusing on one system or part of the body, and I like the idea of looking after a 'whole' person. But I definitely agree that you have to like science enough to get to the necessary level for med school, and if you really want to do it then you should be able to embrace this 'necessary evil', as someone else has said. When I'm doing endless calculations/equations for my courses I just have to keep reminding me of its relevance (e.g. I have to get to grips with this because I don't want to end up killing someone through miscalculating a dose!). Admittedly that's hard to do when you're trying to memorise the sexual organs of a flowering plant, but then I just think of grades, grades, grades!

[Dr Noodle]

You could do nursing Irenie. I've talked to nurses about the scientific element of their course and they said there isn't much, just biology. And you have to admit, at least human biology is fun

[georgiegirl]

Originally Posted by georgiegirl

Another is a consultant plastic surgeon who told me that not only do you not have to like science, but you don't even have to be that good at it to succeed.

btw, we had this conversation while he was giving me botox, lol!!

[georgiegirl]

Originally Posted by Victoria09

That was a lovely post George!

Hey, thanks! We are fellow east Anglians you know, I am from Norwich and my mum is from Suffolk - Somerleyton/Lowestoft area.

[Victoria09]

oooh... controversial. I was born in Ipswich (ssssh!)

[Gizmo says -]

arts are good.

i am startin an OU degree in arts next semester, at ma own pace, to beef up the lack of material in this so sciency medical degree.

[Victoria09]

I thought on many 5 yr medicine courses you can do special modules in any subject of your choice? You must be very studious to work on 2 degrees at the same time!