Pediatric Oncologist - A Level Question - Please Help!

[BatmanForever]

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Ok so I'm new to the forum and I really would appreciate some help and advice!

I've just turned 18 and I'm looking to eventually become a Pediatric Oncologist, I know it's a long road but I believe that you get out of it whatever you put in to it and I'm willing and ready to make the journey.

My issue is this, I took my GCSE's in 2009 and passed all of them with good grades, however I didn't take Chemistry or Biology at GCSE and only took Psychology GCSE as my Science related subject and I passed with a grade "B".

However when we chose our subjects for GCSE none of the students including myself were informed that if you take Psychology GCSE you won't generally won't be able to study Chemistry and Biology at A Level and it was never something that occurred to any of us.

After that I then went to College and did a BTEC in a completely different subject and now I'm wanting to go back and get my A Levels so I can study to become a Dr.

I'm having trouble figuring out how to go about this and there are so many things contradicting themselves on the Internet, I've looked at studying GCSE Chemistry and Biology at home or studying A Level Chemistry and Biology at home, I've looked at Pre-Med years but again there is A LOT of contradictory things on the Internet about this.

I feel like I've lost 2 years and I don't really want to wait another 3 years or something until I can get to the place where some of my friends are now and going off to University!

Please Help!

I really would appreciate it

Thanks

 

[BCLumas]

Hello and welcome to SDN. It's always good to find your way over to such a helpful place ^_^ I will attempt to answer what little I can, but hopefully someone will come behind me and help you out even further.

First of all, I do not know what your acronyms mean. GCSE? BTEC? I assume these are exams in a different country that are not otherwised given in the United States. After a bit of Google "research" I found that they are in fact exams given in England. Unfortunately, your terminology about Grades, Levels, and the like are foreign to me. I cannot comment whether they will help you or hinder you in the future. What I will say is that it looks like you're active at an early age, so that is always a bonus in my opinion ^_^

The big reason I wanted to reply (and moderators, I'm truly trying to be helpful, so please do not infract me) is to encourage you to slow down a bit. You say that you've just turned 18. Happy Birthday! Here in the United States the earliest anyone can get into a medical school would be 21 years of age through a three-year undergraduate degree with a fast-track into an affiliated program. Most students are not in such programs and take a full 8 years after graduating the twelfth grade in order to matriculate through medical school. During that time your mind is bound to change at least once. Might you still wish to do Peds Heme/Onc? Sure! But you will be exposed to so much that the odds show your mind will at least consider other options. After that, if you're still set on Peds, then comes a 3 year residency with a 2-3 year fellowship after that. That's fourteen years until you're out and able to practice on your own.

I would like to reiterate that you should slow down a little bit. It's a good thing that you're thinking of your future, but you cannot become an Oncologist without first getting through University and into a medical school. Work very hard on your grades your first two years, develop good study habits, and enjoy your life a little. You get less and less free time as you get older and you do not want to look back and regret anything. Get involved with volunteering, research, and in your student body. Eat healthy. Exercise. Eat poorly. Sleep in. Go to a few sporting events.

Good luck in your future career ^_^

 

[silverlining1]

I would like to reiterate that you should slow down a little bit. It's a good thing that you're thinking of your future, but you cannot become an Oncologist without first getting through University and into a medical school. Work very hard on your grades your first two years, develop good study habits, and enjoy your life a little. You get less and less free time as you get older and you do not want to look back and regret anything. Get involved with volunteering, research, and in your student body. Eat healthy. Exercise. Eat poorly. Sleep in. Go to a few sporting events.

This is absolutely awesome advice. I would definitely recommend taking every word of it to heart.

It can be hard to imagine, but goals can often change. Of course you might end up sticking with your dream, which would be awesome. But for many people, your dream changes along the way, and that's totally okay. In fact, I'd say that's the vast majority! I actually went into medical school thinking I'd do neurosurgery. Then I didn't like the lifestyle so I switched to ophthalmology... then I didn't like that field and I switched to surgical oncology. Then, after my 3rd year of medical school, I TOTALLY changed and decided on pediatrics! I may end up in pediatric hematology/oncology or pediatric critical care, but who knows- I've learned that it's important to keep an open mind and be unafraid to explore.

That being said, the best things you can do now are 1) create a strong foundation for whatever you choose to do and 2) enjoy life. With respect to 1), I agree that it's important to study hard (good grades are quite important) and get involved in extracurricular activities that you enjoy, whether it be volunteering, research, teaching, etc. That stuff matters for your personal development as well as your applications. For 2), it's so true, you have less and less time to enjoy yourself as you progress through medical school and residency. It's so important to take care of yourself, your friendships, your family, etc. So definitely set aside time in your life to do something relaxing and fun that makes you happy!

 

[edumacator]

Be mindful, too, that pediatric oncology can be, in the USA at least, a highly competitive field to enter. My best friend in high school - which, I think, is "college" in the UK - was our class valedictorian and went on to do an MD/PhD at a top-ten-ranked university followed by a dual-certification residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at a medical center/medical school that's consistently rated in the top five (all ranked by US News, so take it for whatever that's worth). And despite all this plus numerous publications, outstanding board scores, glowing recommendations, and just being an all-around good guy, he still didn't get into his top-choice peds/onc fellowship. He got his second choice.

OTOH, he's very happy that he got a peds/onc fellowship because, apparently, going through everything he did was necessary just to be competitive. So be prepared to bust your butt to get where you want to be but be mindful, too, that you may change your mind a dozen times between today and your next birthday, never mind once you're actually studying medicine.

In my own case, I'm considering medical school at the tender young age of 34. I'd have to take the pre-requisites and do well on the MCAT, plus interview, get in, and get a decent financial aid package (I'm married with a kid) for it be even remotely realistic but it's something I'm carefully considering. I had very different career plans at 18. And 16 years from now, you, too, may find yourself in a very different place.

Life is funny like that.

Good luck.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

And despite all this plus numerous publications, outstanding board scores, glowing recommendations, and just being an all-around good guy, he still didn't get into his top-choice peds/onc fellowship. He got his second choice.

First of all, in pediatrics it's heme/onc, not onc alone as in the adult medicine world. Second, keep in mind that pedi fellowship programs in every area have very few spots each year. That does not mean that overall it is a competitive area, just that each hospital only has 1-6 slots for almost any form of pediatric fellowship. So, if, at any ONE hospital/program, the two slots are going to local graduates whose spouses are on faculty at the med school, etc, etc, an individual MAY not get a spot there, even if they are incredible.

Some programs may also prefer certain backgrounds, take into account the interview skills, etc.

So, in general pedi heme/onc is moderately, but not highly competitive, but failure of one individual to match at one favored program is not evidence of the overall competitiveness of the field.

 

[lackli]

I went through the British high school system so maybe I can clarify a little bit the OP situation. In England you apply to medical school directly out of high school. Requirements include taking the chemistry and biology A levels. High school works differently in England. Your last two years of high school you only have 3-4 classes, which you take all the way through those two years. The idea is you learn them in depth so that you are ready to go to University; where you only study 1-2 subjects. Before you can enter a certain A level class you need to take the corresponding GCSE level class. You take 7-9 of these GCSE level classes your freshman and sophmore years of high school.

So the OP is in a little bit of a conundrum. They didn't take the GCSE level chem and bio classes. So they couldn't take the A levels classes in those subjects. On top of this, instead of taking any A levels classes, the OP did a BTEC, which is a vocational high school diploma. So even if they were allowed to take the prerequisite A levels, they would be 2 years of school out from applying to medical school and not have any foundation thus far in those subjects.

To the OP, I'm sorry but I can't give you too much advice. The track for medical education in England is very different from America and personally I wouldn't want to give you any misinformation. It's just unfortunate that the path to becoming a doctor over there is so much more narrow than it is over here. You have to know so early you want to be a physician. I know that at 18 I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself.

There do seem to be some options out there though for you though instead of retaking your A levels. Have you tried looking at this forum?

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1557751

best of luck!