Hey! I'm stuck between choosing Biology or Psychology (unit 1&2) for VCE. I want to consider doing Medicine in the future, but obviously want to keep my options open. Which subject should I choose? Biology isn't really a 'prerequisite' for medicine in most universities, but definitely is 'recommended'. I'm not a fan of learning about DNA and cells and all that, but if it's necessary, or increases my chances, then I may consider it. I've got 5 days left to choose between them and I need help!

Thanks in advance 😄

Hi, if you're planning on studying medicine I would strongly encourage you to choose Biology. There's a lot of overlap between VCE Biology and what you'll be studying in medicine or pre-medicine.

A lot of medicine pathways or medicine alternatives e.g. biomed, dentistry, health science courses require biology as a prerequisite, so biology would probably be the better option. As stated above by GreenAcorn, some of the concepts in biology will pop up again in med as well (at least loosely).

For other subjects, either or both of chem and physics are generally required for med as well, and English subject i.e. mainstream, lit or Eng Lang (or EAL if you’re eligible) is a must for VCE completion. I’d also recommend methods for the most pathways towards med, even though med itself doesn’t require it.

    Musiclover
    You mean the Bachelor of Biomed at Melbourne Uni? VCE Chemistry is already a prerequisite. VCE Biology isn't, but I would highly recommend doing it. Most of the VCE Biology content is also present in a lot of the core Biomed subjects. So doing VCE Biology would give you an advantage as you would already be familiar with some of the content.

      Musiclover Exactly as GreenAcorn said:

      • chem is the minimum; chem is a prerequisite meaning that you have to take it to be considered for direct entry into biomed courses at most unis after year 12
      • bio is NOT usually a prerequisite for biomed (if it is e.g. RMIT, then usually you can take chem OR bio for entry), but bio is recommended.
      • you can take both if you have the space to fit both in your subjects (this is recommended, but NOT a must).
      • Just be mindful that chem is not the only prerequisite subject for biomed, especially if you want to get into Monash and/or Melb Uni’s biomed courses (you will also need to take an English subject + methods/ spesh/ physics (typically methods at least) if you want to max your chances of getting into biomed).

      Hopefully that makes sense.

          I would recommend doing Biology 1/2 and seeing how it goes. If you find you don't like it, switch to 3/4 Psych next yr as Psych doesn't really need the 1/2. I personally found Psych better than Bio and honestly more relevant and many of my mates who ended up at Monash Med didn't do 3/4 Bio either and are doing fine.

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