Hi, I have left my medical degree (MBChB) for personal reasons but by completing three years already I have a BMedSci in medical sciences (like a Bsc). However it is ungraded as its a medical course. My credits from three years were ok with my getting two honour points.

I was thinking of either looking for work or to boost my ungraded degree, do a masters. Indeed in the last three years my interest has seriously shifted to the left with a strong interest in politics/international relations to journalism/philosophy. Thus I would like to do a MA in arts or humanities.

How much of a problem will it be for me to a Masters in these subjects coming from a medical background, and how much is my degree worth now? I was also considering continental europe as a cheaper option to study?

Pls if anyone could give me some advice on this would be much interested?

Guys, if anyone could pls shed some light on this as my careers advisor though supportive, didnt give me a proper answer??
Confused..

Hi Sneeky,

Just for reassurance one friend of mine did his first degree in English, followed by a Masters in Politics. He was then given funding to do a PhD in Politics. He said it wasn't too hard catching-up with others, as the nature of his MA did not presume tremendous amounts of political theories etc. Make sure you do some background reading anyway.

Good luck!

hi sneeky,
you could look at CBAS (centre for the study of biomedicine and society, king's college, london) and BIOS (centre for the study of biotechnology, bioscience, biomedicine and society, LSE, london). both offer MSc-s that usually take in people with science/medical/engineering backgrounds and from where people usually go on to either social science PhD's or policy, consulting, or similar jobs.
or, there is the option of a "diploma". that is a one year "conversion" course; it presupposes a degree in a non-related discipline, so it assumes that you already know "how to study and think", but don't know the discipline-specific stuff. after achieving the diploma you can get accepted to MSc courses.
about going to continental europe: which languages do you speak?

thanks for the replies. It seems doing a masters at this stage is going to be way too expensive, i did check out the kcl/lse unis but again fees are too. Re languages I was looking to do in english with the fees significantly cheaper in europe if i could find anythin?
Its reassuring that someone studyin english was accepted onto a politics masters tho as i dont fancy doing a conversion course. Alot of thinkin to do..

heya, if you are looking for a master's in english on the continent, start with the scandinavian countries. also, check out the erasmus-university rotterdam, holland. i suppose quite a few unis in german-speaking countries will let you submit your master's thesis in english, but courses will predominantly be in german. have a look at the ETH Zurich for example. check out iceland for cheap education (but depressively long nights in winter). be aware that most continental master's courses will be two years. so they may be cheaper, in terms of fees, even if you count the fees twice. but if you include the income you lose by not working for two rather than for one year, they are actually more expensive.

you say that a master's is probably too expensive. what is it you want to do, then? are you heading for a PhD or what? if you just want to add social stuff to your degree, in order to qualify for different jobs, the dipoma is the way to go. you get what is equivalent to a full degree in one year and pay less than for a masters. and: there are ways to finance a masters (loans etc.)

I am a skeptic of a diploma..its value? I can jus about probs about one more year of study, id rather do a masters...but if u sayin (and its true?) that a diploma is worth a degree than i could jus do that and then start lookin for work..comin from the UK, i have always seen diplomas after doin a bsc degree perhaps a waste of time..it wont be seen so favourably by employers..??? Are there even classifications of diplomas, like from which uni etc...?

to put it bluntly:
well if you want, say, a policy job. what do you think is more of a waste of time: your BMedSc or your diploma in social policy?

but if you are not sure about the value of the different degrees, and how much worth they will be on the labour market, this is not the place to ask. go to your (former) uni's career centre. they will talk to you about where you want to go careers-wise and how to get there.

yeh shani thats the problem, im talkin about the courses that interest me but i dnt have a clue what job i want to get into...jus cant define it..its difficult, and i know thats the best way to go about it..have an aim then go for a course..