Why I chose to study Biomedicine

As a child, I couldn’t wait for the 7th grade to get chemistry and biology as part of my regular subjects. At this stage I had not heard of biomedicine, however, I was always curious about science. As soon as I started learning about chemistry and biology in primary school, I knew this is something I want to stick to.

Initially, I remember being very intrigued with chemistry and I really wanted to study pharmacy, but I started to lean more towards biology in high school.

Throughout high school, I tried to figure out - what exactly do I want to study? - as at the time it seemed like a blur. I knew I did not want to study chemistry itself nor biology itself as both were too broad. I wanted a mix of both (but not biochemistry!) and something to do with medicines, but I also wanted a focus on physiology and cellular biology. I was interested in all of those disciplines but I did not want to study just one of them in isolation. I could not find the perfect course and thought that maybe I am just complicating things way too much.

Biomedicine was my perfect match

I did a lot of research looking at different courses and different universities on UCAS. As soon as I read the course description for Biomedicine at the University of Huddersfield, I knew that I found a perfect match for my varied interests. Biomedicine is a broad and interdisciplinary subject which is exactly why it appealed to me as I was interested in a mixture of things, and I am still figuring out which aspects of it interest me the most. In an attempt to define it as simply as possible, I’d say biomedicine is a balanced mix of physiology, biochemistry, medical pharmacology, microbiology and molecular and cellular biology. These were actually my first-year modules along with research skills that focused on maths, statistics and academic writing.

Along with the course description, I really liked this module selection and the fact that I get to choose optional modules in my second and final year. I found most of what we learned about very interesting, and I currently have no idea in which direction to go after graduation as almost everything interests me at this point, I just want to try it all. Despite that, some topics stood out for me a bit more than the rest.

I think one of the key things we learned about so far is cellular signalling, but I might be biased because this is one of the topics that sparked the most interest in me. I feel like everything we learned about comes down to the chemical signals that cells send or receive, whether it be how the medicine works or how the immune system responds or how cells of the perfectly healthy body are all in tune with one another.

Why I chose the University of Huddersfield

Placement opportunities at the University of Huddersfield

I chose Biomedicine at the University of Huddersfield because, as part of the course, students have the opportunity to undertake a paid placement year, which is what I am the most excited about! 

The cost of living in Huddersfield

Additionally, I did thorough research of the living costs in Huddersfield and compared it with the city where the university of my second choice was. The living costs were much more appealing to me in Huddersfield, plus the other university did not offer a placement year, so the decision came very easy for me.

My career plans after I get my degree in Biomedicine

In the future I see myself working in a lab, as that was one of my passions in high school. While studying for my International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) in Croatia, we had to organise and undertake 10-hour lab practicals for scientific subjects and write lab reports on them. This was my highlight of the IB, so I am certain that a placement year (which I hope will be mostly spent in the lab!) will be a highlight of my degree. Also, I always had a great interest in the unknown so I feel like a research career would be very fulfilling for my curious nature.

My advice for future scientists

To someone thinking of studying my course at Huddersfield, if you had a similar, confusing picture of what you want to study as I had, I’d say definitely go for biomedicine. In an interdisciplinary subject like Biomedicine, you get to study various aspects of it while still being able to specialise in a more specific area afterwards, which I think is very important for those of us who are unsure of which route to take. Whereas, if you know you want to work in a clinical setting rather than the academic or industrial one, Biomedical Science course might be more suited to you. 

Support during my first year

I’d also like to express my satisfaction with the teaching quality and the support that I have received from the University and the Students’ Union, which has had an immense effect on my wellbeing, motivation and academic performance. I have just completed my first year, which despite being a very unusual one due to the pandemic, went much better than I initially expected, and I could not be happier with how it all turned out despite all the difficulties. 

Chat to me

If I sparked your interest in Biomedicine or the University of Huddersfield in any way, you can talk to me on Unibuddy and I'd be more than happy to help with any questions! You can also talk to our other Unibuddies and different schools/services who will be just as willing to help.