• Question: I love science and i love anything to do with the human body but then i also like chemistry so i don't know what to be when i grow up that will include both biology and chemistry. please help!

    Asked by hussain to Ben, Clare, Ezzy, Mario, Sam on 11 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Mario Campanelli

      Mario Campanelli answered on 9 Mar 2012:


      do you want to become a doctor? or a bio-chemist?
      there is a lot of chemistry involved in understanding how the human body works, so every doctor has to study it, and also a scientist can work in fields related to medicine.
      Probably the right question to answer is: would you like to work in a lab, or with patients?

    • Photo: Ben Smart

      Ben Smart answered on 10 Mar 2012:


      I agree with Mario that the question to ask yourself is: would you rather work in a lab or work with patients?
      Biology and the human body has loads of chemistry involved in it. You could be a doctor and develop new ways of healing the sick. You could also do biochemistry and (for example) help develop new medicines and cures for diseases.

      If I were you I’d go and find people who do these different jobs that you’re interested in and ask them about their jobs. Find out what the jobs are really like. Talk to universities about the different courses they offer too. You’ll be surprised how happy people are to talk to you about their work if they realise that you’re interested in it too! (although remember that they will be really busy!)

      At the end of the day, choose something that you find interesting and that will make you happy. If you want to be a really good scientist, or a really good anything, then I think the most important thing is that you love what you do and have a real passion for it. Since you say you love science and the human body, I think you’re going to do well no matter what you do! Go kick arse kiddo! 🙂

    • Photo: Clare Burrage

      Clare Burrage answered on 11 Mar 2012:


      Ben and Mario’s answers are good. But remember you don’t need to decide for definite now what you’re going to do when you grow up. Just study the subjects you really enjoy now, and find out what parts of them are the bits you really like. If you keep doing that you’ll find out about jobs that you’ll love that you may not even know about now.
      When I was at school I knew that I liked Maths and physics but I didn’t know I was going to go on to be a Cosmologist!

    • Photo: Elizabeth Pearson

      Elizabeth Pearson answered on 11 Mar 2012:


      Hmm. A tricky one. Like those before me, think do you want to work with people or pipettes (I’d go for pipettes every time. Less annoying). I’m not sure where you are in school but keep your options open. The more you do each subject the more you’ll understand what you want to do. It’s good to remember that you can change your mind later in life. I know loads of people who wanted to one thing when they were doing their A-Levels, the changed their minds later at Uni, switched courses, then went sideways again afterwards and are doing brilliantly. Think about it hard, but try not to worry. You’ll get there in the end.

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