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HELP! Medicine - Physics or Biology

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    #32
    Chunky Monkey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 923 ✭✭✭Chunky Monkey


    Do whichever one you feel you will get the A1 in and of course whichever one you'll enjoy the most as this will make it easier to study and make the two years more bearable.

    Someone said above that if you want to apply through UCAS do physics. I'm not sure why they said this. I don't think any of the med schools in the UK require chemistry and physics and not biology. Cardiff requires all three. The majority require at least chemistry and many require chemistry and biology. UEA requires biology alone.


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    #33
    cuppcakes!
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 13 ✭cuppcakes!


    Went with physics in the end.
    Sure here goes.


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    #34
    eoinalmighty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 40 ✭eoinalmighty


    Id say pick physics! Physics is definitely harder and this is coming from a straight a physics student! Ul b comfortably force fed n secondary school but itl b harder to try get your head around physics wen your left to fend for yourself at third level! Biology is just learnin stuff off, no understanding, no concepts, except maybe genetics, much easier to pick up quickly


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    #35
    stripypumkin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 58 ✭✭stripypumkin


    eoinalmighty wrote: »
    Id say pick physics! Physics is definitely harder and this is coming from a straight a physics student!

    hmmm...somethings never change!

    happy birthday:rolleyes:


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    #36
    Kwekubo
    Registered Users Posts: 1,238 ✭✭✭Kwekubo


    I was given the same choice and opted for Biology. Its more relevant to medicine, and although you will be going over most of the material again in much more detail, it helps to give you the "big picture" to make things easier when you're starting out.


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    #37
    Chunky Monkey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 923 ✭✭✭Chunky Monkey


    eoinalmighty wrote: »
    Biology is just learnin stuff off, no understanding, no concepts, except maybe genetics, much easier to pick up quickly

    What a load of nonsense. Biology is not just learning a load of stuff off. Apart from the genetics chapters (which are very bloody hard) you also have photosynthesis, respiration, reproduction in plants and animals etc which are also 'hard concepts to get your head around'.


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    #38
    reganovich
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭reganovich


    Kwekubo wrote: »
    I was given the same choice and opted for Biology. Its more relevant to medicine, and although you will be going over most of the material again in much more detail, it helps to give you the "big picture" to make things easier when you're starting out.

    Thats good advice...Biology is a nice subject but it's concepts are the basis of medicine and believe it or not you will have to do plant biology in first med as well.(I was in science with med students(plonkers :)))

    As for first physics, well i never did physics in school and i found it grand in first science.Its just the theoretical stuff which is quite interesting and not too intensive as they only want to give you a basic grounding in the subject, very little maths involved at all(DEFO NOT Rocket science)...i.e thats what first year of college is all about basic grounding..so pick chemistry(compulsory to get medicine) and or biology.The concepts in them will carry through and serve you better in first year...


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    #39
    Thomas_S_Hunterson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,151 ✭✭✭Thomas_S_Hunterson


    Chunky Monkey wrote: »
    What a load of nonsense. Biology is not just learning a load of stuff off. Apart from the genetics chapters (which are very bloody hard) you also have photosynthesis, respiration, reproduction in plants and animals etc which are also 'hard concepts to get your head around'.

    I don't think that's true at all.

    There's very little, if anything, on the Biology course that's conceptually obtuse. It's all reasonably easy to get your head around. The only difficulty is learning it all.


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    #40
    Chunky Monkey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 923 ✭✭✭Chunky Monkey


    Well maybe you're just unusually smart but take a moment to empathise with your fellow classmates. Protein synthesis and the transfer of ATP during cyclic photophosphorylation aren't exactly things you can relate to with every day life hence they can in fact be deemed 'conceptually obtuse'.


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    #41
    Fibonacci23
    Closed Accounts Posts: 78 ✭✭Fibonacci23


    eoinalmighty wrote: »
    Id say pick physics! Physics is definitely harder and this is coming from a straight a physics student! Ul b comfortably force fed n secondary school but itl b harder to try get your head around physics wen your left to fend for yourself at third level! Biology is just learnin stuff off, no understanding, no concepts, except maybe genetics, much easier to pick up quickly




    This coming from a guy with no experience with biology OR medicine.....




    The body came first, (biology) then the remedies (chemistry) theeeen the gadgets..... (physics...)


    Did they have MRI scanning back in the 1800's...? No.... Biology is more relevant, and therefore the better option....


    I know plenty of people who have done medicine, (friends and family...) and they all said the lecturer's assume that everyone has a biology background, and fly on with out explaining anything.....


    And you can't assume biology's easier when you haven't done it...



    And in 2007, 12.8% got an A1 in phsyics,

    and only 10.7% got an A1 in biology.....


    So, harder??


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    #42
    Fringe
    Registered Users Posts: 1,082 ✭✭✭Fringe


    That's what I really don't like about Biology. Most of the stuff is learning. I'm doing the 3 sciences and when we did Genetics, I loved it. Now we're just on the boring stuff doing plants. We're doing ecology soon so that's going to be horrible. Physics and Chemistry are much better subjects where you actually need to understand all the topics and use that understanding to answer questions.


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    #43
    eoinalmighty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 40 ✭eoinalmighty


    Fibonacci23 wrote: »
    This coming from a guy with no experience with biology OR medicine.....




    The body came first, (biology) then the remedies (chemistry) theeeen the gadgets..... (physics...)


    Did they have MRI scanning back in the 1800's...? No.... Biology is more relevant, and therefore the better option....


    I know plenty of people who have done medicine, (friends and family...) and they all said the lecturer's assume that everyone has a biology background, and fly on with out explaining anything.....


    And you can't assume biology's easier when you haven't done it...



    And in 2007, 12.8% got an A1 in phsyics,

    and only 10.7% got an A1 in biology.....


    So, harder??

    Firstly I do have experience of biology and if you don't believe me sarah give me a biology exam any day of the week and i guarantee you i would pass! Did it in 4th year!

    Secondly the big bang came first (physics) then the exanding numbers of elements (chemistry) and then life forms (biology). Biology can't even exist without physics!

    Yes but if you were to compare medicine in the 1800s to medicine nowadays what was more primitive? Which is harder to understand! Biology is more relevant yes but I stand by my statement that biology is easier to pick up at third level and it would be better to be spoonfed physics in 5th and 6th year!

    Lets take French for an example! Would it be easier to teach yourself a list of nouns and what they mean, how to use them or do the same with a verb. Biology is a list of facts or nouns! Physics is the verbs that tie the universe together!

    And back in 4th year when I wanted to do medicine, remember, I asked around and chose physics!

    In 2007 6.1% failed biology
    In 2007 8.6% failed physics

    Thats a 2.5% difference in fails compared to a 2.1% difference in A1s

    Watcha make of that one


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    #44
    eZe^
    Registered Users Posts: 7,046 ✭✭✭eZe^


    Debating which science is the most fundamental is a very silly thing to do indeed. Its quite obviously physics :p.


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    #45
    Thomas_S_Hunterson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,151 ✭✭✭Thomas_S_Hunterson


    eZe^ wrote: »
    Its quite obviously physics :p.
    +1

    Everything we observe in a chemical or biological context is as a result of, and secondary to, physical happenings. QED ;)


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    #46
    eZe^
    Registered Users Posts: 7,046 ✭✭✭eZe^


    Even in the L.C chemistry, the entire section on discovering sub-atomic particles and Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle and up to the gas laws, thats all actually physics. We derived the shapes of the s,p,d,f orbitals in quantum mechanics the other day, felt like my brain was being pulled out of my ass. Hahahah.


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    #47
    Fibonacci23
    Closed Accounts Posts: 78 ✭✭Fibonacci23


    eoinalmighty wrote: »
    Secondly the big bang came first (physics) then the exanding numbers of elements (chemistry) and then life forms (biology). Biology can't even exist without physics!




    That's a completely valid statement, but irrelevant in terms of medicine... read the name of the thread....



    And i'm not trying to get into a "which science is better" debate... I'd probably agree that it's physics and i'm not even doing it, but....chemistry kicks its ass..


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    #48
    Fibonacci23
    Closed Accounts Posts: 78 ✭✭Fibonacci23


    eoinalmighty wrote: »
    Firstly I do have experience of biology and if you don't believe me sarah give me a biology exam any day of the week and i guarantee you i would pass! Did it in 4th year!



    Righteo, i'll have one in for ya tomorrow....


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    #49
    eoinalmighty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 40 ✭eoinalmighty


    Fibonacci23 wrote: »
    chemistry kicks its ass..

    Eh not so much! Though it does in school terms. Class is booring for physics with mr d

    This is all irrelevant seeing as the girl already picked physics!

    Bring it on.


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