Advise for student please

Bethany

Could anyone advise on the best science subjects a student should take for LC if thinking about doing medicine but not fully sure? I think that one would be better taking Chemistry and Physics and leaving out Biology. I think this, because Biology is a very long course and doing the other two would give options like Engineering etc. I feel one could take up Biology in college a lot more easily than the other subjects. Its only possible to do two science subjects in the school.
Advise from those who have done or are doing Medicine would be very much appreciated.

ZorbaTehZ

Yes, do Chemistry and Physics and leave out Biology. That would be the best combination, in my opinion.

Vorsprung

Yep, as above, I found that physics and chemistry were the best ones to do

seraphimvc

go for what you like is the most important point.

while finger crossed telling OP of Physic being the famous tough course in college:pac:

AlanSparrowhawk

Bethany wrote: »

Could anyone advise on the best science subjects a student should take for LC if thinking about doing medicine but not fully sure? I think that one would be better taking Chemistry and Physics and leaving out Biology. I think this, because Biology is a very long course and doing the other two would give options like Engineering etc. I feel one could take up Biology in college a lot more easily than the other subjects. Its only possible to do two science subjects in the school.
Advise from those who have done or are doing Medicine would be very much appreciated.

I had the exact same reasoning as you when I did the leaving cert. and I ended up doing Physics, Chemistry and Geography. If I could go back in time I'd do Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Is it possible to do the 3 of them in your school?

Robbiethe3rd

yeah Im a medical student and did all 3 (which I would recommend but just keep the point issue in your head, whatever you thin will enable you do best. Chemistry is definitely the most important. Physics is for the most part not important except for a few issues in physiology and maybe radiology. Biology is very important but is the most easy to learn so you can compensate quite easily for this.

2Scoops

Do the two that have the best teachers teaching them in your school and do the 3rd subject independently. Don't let a false ultimatum dictate your subject choices for the LC exams. :pac:

tallaght01

Do the ones your best at, and most likely to get an A in.

I found physics the least useful for medicine. I did biology and chemistry because A) I was more likely to do well in them ( i dont have much of a physics head on me) and I thought they would be the most useful sciences at med school (which they were).

Chunky Monkey

I don't understand this 'don't do biology' business that I keep hearing. Surely you have some interest in human biology if you want to do medicine?? IMO biology is by far the most interesting subject at school (ignoring the plant chapters). Of course there was the snob culture at my school that if you did biology you were stupid and if you did physics you were smart but contrary to popular belief biology is not as easy as people make it out to be.

Anyway if you're planning on applying through UCAS, chemistry and biology would be a better choice. Only Cardiff requires the three sciences, most places look for chemistry, quite a few look for chemistry and biology, UEA looks for biology alone and none of them look for chemistry and physics.

2Scoops

Chunky Monkey wrote: »

Of course there was the snob culture at my school that if you did biology you were stupid and if you did physics you were smart but contrary to popular belief biology is not as easy as people make it out to be.

..and physics isn't as difficult as people make it out to be either!

Chunky Monkey

Ya big physics head I tried to teach myself but found it pretty difficult. Applied maths is cool though. So was my teacher. When we were covering circular motion he had us standing on the lab counters swinging conical flasks around on a string (not tied!). Course this was after school when there was noone else around but the caretaker...

tallaght01

why oh whyyyyyy doesn't anyone think of the caretaker's safety???

Chunky Monkey

Our caretaker was deadly, we wouldn't do anything to hurt him

Bethany

Many thanks for the very helpful replies, much food for thought.

bladybladyblah

i'm in pre-med in UCD. Biology and Chemistry are the best subjects to have in my opinion. In pre-med we do have 2 physics modules but they are for the most part completely irrelevant. Over the next 5 years I won't need physics ever again. If you want to be a doctor I think it's most beneficial to have a grounding in some human biology. Chemistry is generally a requirement and a good grounding in it is essential!!

Stepherunie

I'd definately say Chemistry and Biology.

Even in terms of radiology that someone mentioned the amount of physics knowledge you'll need is minimal in terms of the basics and radiation physics is very specific and you'd be taught that within radiology.

I study radiography and out of my class 4 people hadn't done biology and they found it the hardest thing to overcome compared to others who hadn't done physics or chemistry.

You study a lot of physiology in the med courses and that grounding in biology, I found at least to be a great help in terms of having the building blocks.

SilentNoise

I'd honestly recomend taking whichever courses you yourself find the esiest. You'll need the easy points with medicine reaching a 600 point requirement at this stage.

While chemisty and biology may have more direct relivance to the type of material you will be studying in the future the overall standard of the material is low enough that you can easily pick it up again in your first year in college (I am of course assuming you will be taking medicine).

The downside of not taking a course like chemistry or biology is that the majority of your class will have already studied both of these subjects. Moreso biology than chemistry. This will put you at a slight disadvantage compared to the rest of your class. Tho it is slight. You will be expected to know basic (Leaving Cert) biology already with less emphasis being put on chemistry and physics. And you will have to put in the extra work to know this material.

So there are arguments both for and against really.