Biomedical Science, Biochemistry, Physiology, Nutritional Sciences?!?!?

marshmallow111

Hey hey just finished 5th year now and looking at courses. Any insights to either Biomedical science, biochemistry, physiology or nutritional sciences?! :P Looking at UCC since i'm from Cork but if anyone has any contribution from any college/course it would help! I do biology but no chemistry or physics am I at a disadvantage??!

JenMol

marshmallow111 wrote: »

Hey hey just finished 5th year now and looking at courses. Any insights to either Biomedical science, biochemistry, physiology or nutritional sciences?! :P Looking at UCC since i'm from Cork but if anyone has any contribution from any college/course it would help! I do biology but no chemistry or physics am I at a disadvantage??!

Hiya,

I'm just after completing my degree in Biochemistry. I was hoping to do Biomedical science back in the day but I'm glad I didn't get it now. The reason why is because my friend who had a biomedical science degree with years has told me that over the next couple of years job will be becoming scarce because they will be replaced by machines and technicians which are less educated but cheaper pay. Secondly, biomedical scientists in CUH get paid 10% less than Biochemists.

Anyways, in the end I started off in Biological and Chemical sciences and it started off general. The only thing I will say is that you need to complete a module in Chemistry and Physics but I'm pretty sure you will have to do these in both Biomedical Science and Nutritional Science also. I did Chemistry for my leaving cert but I wasn't mad about it but I found it easier in some parts in college. I never did physics but found it difficult but got grinds and passed it and haven't touched it since. In chemistry modules in UCC they carry out PAL (Peer Assistant Learning) sessions where students volunteer to help students with Chemistry and do sample questions which is really helpful.

All of the courses you're interested in share similar modules in the first two years of college.

The main thing is that you pick something you're interested in. Like Nutritional Sciences would be all about nutrition. While Biomedical science is working in labs with bloods, etc. Biochemistry then you have an option in going into industry to Biotech companies who makes drugs or else going down research route. Physiology on the other hand is interesting but I'm not sure what job outcomes you would get out of it? Like I know some students use it as a stepping stone to go back and do postgrad med. There is an outcome of research too but I suppose its up to you what you want to do at the end of the day.

If you have any other questions let me know and I will try my best to answer them. Hope this helps

marshmallow111

JenMol wrote: »

Hiya,

I'm just after completing my degree in Biochemistry. I was hoping to do Biomedical science back in the day but I'm glad I didn't get it now. The reason why is because my friend who had a biomedical science degree with years has told me that over the next couple of years job will be becoming scarce because they will be replaced by machines and technicians which are less educated but cheaper pay. Secondly, biomedical scientists in CUH get paid 10% less than Biochemists.

Anyways, in the end I started off in Biological and Chemical sciences and it started off general. The only thing I will say is that you need to complete a module in Chemistry and Physics but I'm pretty sure you will have to do these in both Biomedical Science and Nutritional Science also. I did Chemistry for my leaving cert but I wasn't mad about it but I found it easier in some parts in college. I never did physics but found it difficult but got grinds and passed it and haven't touched it since. In chemistry modules in UCC they carry out PAL (Peer Assistant Learning) sessions where students volunteer to help students with Chemistry and do sample questions which is really helpful.

All of the courses you're interested in share similar modules in the first two years of college.

The main thing is that you pick something you're interested in. Like Nutritional Sciences would be all about nutrition. While Biomedical science is working in labs with bloods, etc. Biochemistry then you have an option in going into industry to Biotech companies who makes drugs or else going down research route. Physiology on the other hand is interesting but I'm not sure what job outcomes you would get out of it? Like I know some students use it as a stepping stone to go back and do postgrad med. There is an outcome of research too but I suppose its up to you what you want to do at the end of the day.

If you have any other questions let me know and I will try my best to answer them. Hope this helps

Thank you very much for replying ! I change my mind every two minutes about what i'd like to do :P If anyone has any more information that would be great! Starting school Wednesday.. dreading it !! :P

AmberAmber

I also would be very interested in current or past students view and opinions of the Nutritional Science course , I was thinking of applying next year or the year after as I would be a "mature" student and need to get a few things sorted in my life first, but going back to collage has been "eating" away at me now the last month !!

biscuitbummer

hey, well I`m going into 2nd year of biological and chemical science in ucc. I did chemistry and biology for the leaving cert but i know plenty of people in the course who hadn't done one or the other of them - they did find it a bit challenging in first year but theres plenty of help available. I found the physics quite hard but it was only for 1st year, ill never have to do it again! my friend did nutritional science and the only difference in our modules was she did a nutrition module instead of one of the biology ones we did and they had an easier chemistry module than us, but everything else was the same. I will say 1st year in this course was very very general and personally i didnt really like it as much as i hoped, but im really looking forward to second year because ill b doing more things that im interested in iv picked the biology route for second year which means i can specialize in neuroscience, physiology, biochemistry, or microbiology. I think ill do biochemistry and then do a one year course in England in dietetics or else go on and do a masters/phd and get into research. Im glad im doing this course because i knew that i liked and was good at science, and this gives u the options and the time and figure out what you really want. btw, if you want to become a science teacher for secondary school this is the only course in ireland that you can do it in 4years instead of the traditional 6years(4yrs science degree plus 2yrs hdip(teaching degree)). Best of luck!!!

JenMol

I agree first year is very general in most courses but especially in biological and chemical sciences. I suppose its just a year to adjust to college life in having to motivate yourself to do the work and it is a general science course. Second year does get more interesting in that you can chose what subjects you want to cover and then select your favorite one. Or the one you want to get a degree in. There is a lot of subjects though and my advise is to keep in mind that whatever subject you'd like to get a degree in, for example, I did biochemistry...I had to get a good aggregate result in the two biochem modules, bio stats and molecular biology. Biochem and Neuro are very popular so if you want to do one of these keep it in mind to get good results because there is quotas. If you've any questions about second year don't be afraid to ask!

SPower27

Hi there! I'm just after starting 3rd year Biomedical Science and I can definitely say that its a really great option to pick. Seeing as the course is split between UCC and CIT you get the best of both worlds; access to 2 libraries being a huge bonus. Both places have a really high standard of teaching but CIT has the advantage of a small class size of 30 so you get to know your lecturers pretty well which is a huge help. As the others said above there are a lot of similarities between biomed and other courses, particularly in 2nd year, but this course is particularly focused on the practical element and you spend a ton of hours in labs every week. So if you want a practical type of course this is a great choice from that point of view. The labs cover a huge range of material from microbiology and biochemistry in UCC to molecular biology and haematology/transfusion in CIT. This course stands out from other Biomed courses around the country due to the fact that it is accredited by both the AMLS (the Irish board for Biomedical Science) and for the first time the IBMS (which covers countries such as England, Canada, Australia). This recognition is required to be able to practice in a lab environment. Biomed courses in NUIG and UCD for instance do not have this accreditation. Hopefully this might answer some of your questions! Its a super course that covers so much important topics. I can't post a link to the modules cause i'm a new user to this site but if you google search CR320 modules you can get an indication of the stuff you'd cover.

If you have any more questions leave a message and I will answer them if i can!

ni caoimh

Hi.I'm in leaving cert and thinking of applying for the Nutritional Science course. I would like to maybe go on and do dietetics. I've heard a few negative s about the course,that only very few get on the dietetics masters after doing it.What else can this course lead to.

marshmallow111

SPower27 wrote: »

Hi there! I'm just after starting 3rd year Biomedical Science and I can definitely say that its a really great option to pick. Seeing as the course is split between UCC and CIT you get the best of both worlds; access to 2 libraries being a huge bonus. Both places have a really high standard of teaching but CIT has the advantage of a small class size of 30 so you get to know your lecturers pretty well which is a huge help. As the others said above there are a lot of similarities between biomed and other courses, particularly in 2nd year, but this course is particularly focused on the practical element and you spend a ton of hours in labs every week. So if you want a practical type of course this is a great choice from that point of view. The labs cover a huge range of material from microbiology and biochemistry in UCC to molecular biology and haematology/transfusion in CIT. This course stands out from other Biomed courses around the country due to the fact that it is accredited by both the AMLS (the Irish board for Biomedical Science) and for the first time the IBMS (which covers countries such as England, Canada, Australia). This recognition is required to be able to practice in a lab environment. Biomed courses in NUIG and UCD for instance do not have this accreditation. Hopefully this might answer some of your questions! Its a super course that covers so much important topics. I can't post a link to the modules cause i'm a new user to this site but if you google search CR320 modules you can get an indication of the stuff you'd cover.

If you have any more questions leave a message and I will answer them if i can!

You said there's a class size of 30 in CIT does this apply to UCC also ? 30 seems like a small class.. tougher to get into!

Conaaaa

marshmallow111 wrote: »

Hey hey just finished 5th year now and looking at courses. Any insights to either Biomedical science, biochemistry, physiology or nutritional sciences?! :P Looking at UCC since i'm from Cork but if anyone has any contribution from any college/course it would help! I do biology but no chemistry or physics am I at a disadvantage??!

Does anyone know if theres a route to get into biomedical science if you dont get the 520 points ucc requires

EoghanIRL

Conaaaa wrote: »

Does anyone know if theres a route to get into biomedical science if you dont get the 520 points ucc requires

Repeat the leaving cert.

SPower27

marshmallow111 wrote: »

You said there's a class size of 30 in CIT does this apply to UCC also ? 30 seems like a small class.. tougher to get into!

Sorry for getting back so late, there is one class of 30 people that attend both CIT and UCC, if that clears things up! Definitely one of the smaller classes around

marshmallow111

Thanks for your help!! Any tips/ help with actually achieving the points for the course..???? Mid- november now its the time to try and get ahead of things!!