Biology or Chemistry for medicine?

Question

I am about to pick my subjects and because of a messy timetable i have to make a choice between chemistry and biology. I'm pretty good at both but i aspire to do medicine at uni.

Assuming i get the grades in the end what one would make the first year in medicine that little bit easier to understand.

Answer 1

Chemistry. You'll need a fair bit of both but a headstart in Chemistry is going to be a big help.

Answer 2

In India, students aspiring for medical education should take physics, chemistry and biology compulsorily.

Answer 3

i'm doing the exact same thing at college!

i asked my doctor what i needed to do, to do this

and he said it helps to have both chemistry and biology

but you have to have chemistry

cause you do biology in the time you're at uni,

so it's not essential to have biology, but it is essential to have chemistry.

my mother, who is a nurse asked one of the doctors on her ward and she said she only did chemistry at college because it's all she needed, but she regrets not doing both.  

Answer 4

Chemistry is the language of the art of medicine and would be a much better choice.

Answer 5

You need both for medicine

Sorry

Answer 6

I would go for Chemistry because a lot of unis say it is compulsary to have it for medicine, so I'm assuming its more important. You should try to have another science/maths subject.

Answer 7

You're going to have to rearrange your schedule one more time if this is the only year that you can take both chemistry and biology.  Both are required of students looking to go into medicine.

Typically you must have a 4-year degree before you are considered for medical school.  The majority of students accepted into med-school have undergraduate degrees in chemistry or biochemistry.  Others have degrees in biology.

A degree in biology will require at least two years of chemistry and you should take more if considering medicine.  It's possible to get through a degree in chemistry with no biology, but not avisable if looking at medicine.

The bottom line is that in high school you will want to take both chemistry and biology to prepare for both types of courses that you will take as part of your undergraduate degree.

Answer 8

That's a tough one. You'll need both probably but I would choose chemistry first. Although they are both tough subjects at times, getting chemistry finished first will help you in subsequent courses and you'll have less of a headache when you have even more strenuous classes down the line.

Answer 9

even though uni's in UK ask for chemistry compulsory and one other science, as you said in ireland it doesnt matter, so Id go for the most relelvant to medicine which is biology!! chemistry is a big aspect if it too but in the end biology is what it comes down too. However I would recommend that if you want to keep your options open about which uni's to apply to, then go for chemistry since is required in most universities! And i guess biology is more easily taught than chemistry...

(which also means u may  be more likely to do better in biology and get the grades you need for medicine, so focus on the one your strongest at, A LEVEL chem was harder than biology from my experience)

Good luck

Answer 10

I'm doing pre-med studies currently so i have to take both. Bio. is my major and chem. is my minor. And biology is the best thing to start out with bcuz it's way easier.

Answer 11

Im going for biology. go for what interests you more, it is your time after all!

Answer 12

Do chemistry. You can can catch up on biology later. It's handy

Answer 13

I am currently studying Medicine and to be honest you need both. It is not compulsory as students who do not have any science subjects can get into Med School, obviously it is a lot harder due to competition. I personally would advice Chemistry the reason for this is because of the Biochemistry and dosages modules. You will find that it will be really useful. For obvious reasons you will need Biology. Think you will need to redo your time table and prioritise especially if you are serious about doing Medicine.

Answer 14

I'm another Brit trying for medicine. Every uni that offers medicine wants chemistry at A level, normally A or B. They want another science, but it can be maths, physics or biology and they don't care which. However some uni's want biology at A level as well as chemistry, but you need to do chemistry, there is no flexibility on the matter.