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Widely considered to be one of the most prestigious careers available, it is a common cliché that parents will hope their children become doctors. Perhaps one of the reasons becoming a doctor is such a prestigious career is because of the lengthy and complex training process involved in becoming a doctor: You will need to be truly dedicated to the profession and prepared to dedicate your life to saving the lives of others. But what do you need to do to become a doctor? Do you have what it takes? And why should you pursue this profession in the first place?
Here’s everything you need to know about the qualifications needed to become a doctor:
Why Become a Doctor?
Medicine is a career in which you can truly make a difference in the lives of others, and a desire to help and support others is one of the main reasons that people choose to become a doctor. But there are so many other reasons to join this enriching and rewarding profession. They include:
- Having access to a wide range of career paths. Doctors use science and logical thinking every day, making it the ideal profession for those who like to challenge themselves. What’s more, Medicine is not a single career path: there are a whole host of directions you can go with a medical degree, and a wide variety of body parts that you can choose to specialise in!
- The opportunity to join the family of the medical profession: it is referred to as the medical fraternity for a reason! You will work as part of a large and multidisciplinary team, alongside other medical professionals as well as pharmacists, social workers, and many more, depending on the specialism you choose. You will also be working with the general public, and interacting with people from all walks of life, exposing yourself to the rich tapestry of life on a daily basis.
- People believe in you. One of the great privileges of working within the medical profession is that people will turn to you in their hour of need and will believe in you, believing that you will know how to make them better or ease their pain. Patients will trust you with their lives, their health and their secrets. It is both humbling and rewarding to know that your role is so significant.
What Do You Need to Become a Doctor?
What do you need to do to become a doctor? This is one of the most asked questions within the field of Medicine As we have already mentioned above, you will need to embark on an extensive and rigorous training programme if you wish to become a doctor in the UK. Becoming a registered doctor is not simply a case of completing a medical degree, although that is a significant part of the process. After you have completed your five-year degree in Medicine with a university or institution that is officially recognised by the General Medical Council, you will need to complete:
- A two-year foundation course. This course will cover all the general elements you need to know in order to practise Medicine and will take place in a clinical setting, usually within a hospital environment.
- Between two and three years of core medical training (CMT) or the Acute Common Care Stem (ACCS) programme. This period of training and education will form the first stage of speciality training, and selecting the area, department or specialism in which you wish to practise.
- Finally, to become a doctor you will then need to complete between four and seven years of specialist training. The length of this training period will be determined by the specialism you choose to work in, with each having different training criteria.
You will also need to pass a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check to certify that you’re safe to work with members of the public. But before you can reach this stage you will also need to take relevant GCSE and A-Level qualifications. For this reason, you will undergo one of the longest training periods of any profession in order to qualify as a doctor.
Do You Have to Go to University?
If you wish to become a doctor in the UK then you will have to go to university: this is the only route to practise Medicine in the country. Most doctors will study Medicine at university, but there is an alternative route to becoming a qualified doctor if you have decided you would like to change your path later in life, or at a later stage during your academic career. If you already have a degree in a science subject, you can usually convert to Medicine on a four-year graduate entry programme rather than having to start again and take a Medicine degree from scratch. It is important to note though that this will only be possible if you have a minimum of a 2:1 grade in either a science or health-related degree subject.
In order to become a doctor in the UK, you will need to complete a bachelor’s degree in Medicine (MBBS) or Surgery (BMBS), but that will not give you a licence to practise medicine. You will then need to complete clinical training and a two-year foundation course before you are given a licence to practise medicine: This lengthy career path isn’t one for the faint-hearted!
Best GCSEs if You Want to Become a Doctor
Making the decision to become a doctor or otherwise work within the medical field is considered to be a vocation: something you feel you have been called to do because you have a desire to help others and because you want to commit yourself to the profession. For this reason, the earlier in your academic career that you can commit to training to become a doctor and narrow down your academic options accordingly, the better. Another reason it is important to pick the right GCSEs if you wish to become a doctor is that gaining a place in medical school is incredibly competitive, and many universities will take your GCSE grades into account when reviewing your application, in order to narrow down the best applicants from amongst some of the most academically gifted students in the country.
So, what GCSEs should you take in order to enhance your medical school application? Most medical schools require that their students have at least five GCSEs with grades 5-9 (A*-C) and many will ask that those GCSEs are in the five core subjects of Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Whilst the official requirement is that you achieve grades A*-C in these subjects, in real terms you should be getting A* and A grades if you hope to stand a chance of securing a place in medical school.
It’s never too early to think about which medical school you would like to apply to, as this can help you to tailor your GCSE options to their requirements. Most universities will include the grades and subjects you need to achieve under the ‘Entry Requirements’ section of their website or prospectus. Consulting these is the best way to understand the goal you need to achieve in order to be accepted.
If you have already taken your GSCEs but didn’t take any of the core subjects outlined above, or if you are concerned that your grades are not good enough to continue to pursue a career in Medicine then you might wish to consider resitting your GCSEs. This is something that you can do at any age, and at any stage of your academic career. It’s never too late to take your GCSEs and pursue a new career goal, even if that goal is something as desirable as medicine. Distance learning options will even allow you to study for your GCSEs alongside your current job or family commitments, enabling you to work at a time that suits you and to set your own schedule.
Best A-Levels if You Want to Become a Doctor
Whilst some students decide they wish to pursue Medicine slightly later in their academic careers, and therefore most universities will have a little more flexibility if you have chosen to explore and experiment with arts and humanities subjects at GCSE level, the A-Levels you will need to study and include on your UCAS application in order to apply for a Medicine degree are much more prescriptive. Most universities will have a set list of A-level subjects that make up their entry requirements, and you cannot apply if you do not study these subjects. Just like GCSE requirements, these subjects will vary slightly from university to university.
The one subject nearly every medical course in the UK requires of its prospective students is A-level chemistry. So, if you’re hoping to study Medicine at degree level then you should definitely select chemistry as one of your A-level options. Other subjects that are commonly requested include:
- Biology
- Physics
- Mathematics
Many universities will ask that you have two science subjects (Chemistry and one other) but being able to demonstrate skills, and high grades, in three A-level science subjects will help you stand out from the crowd in an already crowded marketplace, and attract attention to your application. Biology is a beneficial subject for prospective medical students because of its focus on Anatomy and Physiology, whilst Chemistry and Mathematics are beneficial because they demonstrate the ability to problem solve and work in a logical way: both skills that are essential within the field of medicine. Just like when selecting your GCSEs, you should look at the prospectuses and websites of your preferred medical schools to determine what A-levels they are looking for from their applicants and to ensure that you meet their A-level requirements.
As well as having the right subjects, you will also need to have the right grades. Although some universities may list ABB grades as their requirement for medicine, most will ask for a mixture of A* and A grades. In conjunction with these high-grade requirements is the sheer volume of applicants to study Medicine each year which drives the required grades even higher to ensure that your application is successful.
Universities want to ensure that they are only recruiting the most talented and dedicated students for their medical programmes. For this reason, as well as including your subjects and grades on your application, you will also need to complete a BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) or University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT), demonstrate that you have relevant voluntary or clinical experience, and complete a comprehensive personal statement. Some students choose to take practice versions of the BMAT and UCAT tests (check with your preferred medical school which test they will use) as they are such an integral part of the application process. These tests determine whether you have the skills required to achieve your goals and to be successful within a Medicine degree. Those skills include critical thinking, problem-solving, and clear communication. They may also test some of your scientific knowledge to see if you have the academic foundations necessary. When completing your personal statement it’s important to include more than just the facts and your grades: these will already be included elsewhere on your application. Instead, you should dig deep and share why you want to become a doctor, and how you are able to demonstrate this. Where does your desire to help others come from? What work experience have you completed where helping others has come to the fore? Write clearly and tell your story: this is the best way to connect with the admissions officers assessing your application.
Studying Medicine at University
When you study Medicine at university, you will need to attend a university with a dedicated medical school attached to it. There are 44 medical schools in the UK for you to choose from. During your first years of studying Medicine at university, you will complete a combination of classroom-based and clinical learning under supervision, however, you will not be considered a doctor in training and left to care for any patients until you are in the second year of your foundation course. You will take classes in basic Anatomy, Biochemistry and other science-based learning: for this reason, during the beginning of their course, many students don’t feel like medical students at all, because they don’t spend time in the hospital or wearing their white coat. Studying Medicine at university should be considered a marathon rather than a sprint: you will work hard for an extended period of time, taking more lessons and more examinations than many of your peers. You may even have different term and holiday dates, as your working and learning schedule is likely to be different to that of an ordinary student.
But if you want to work in a profession where you can truly help people and make a difference in their lives then there is no better profession to choose.
