What's the difference between medicine and medical biology?

If you’re a health outsider, you might use medicine and medical biology interchangeably. But, did you know there’s a difference between medicine and medical biology? Med students at the University of Bolton will know their scope, application and focus are different. One is about advancing our overall understanding of health sciences; the other treats issues right where they are in our community.

What is medicine, really?

It’s the practice of determining the cause, treatment plan and preventative measures for illnesses and diseases in humans. Practitioners want to improve the health of their patients and the local community overall. And that might take the form of medication, therapy, surgery or rehabilitation programmes. To work in medicine, you will need to learn soft skills like time management, communication and interdisciplinary collaboration. Plus, you’ll need specific clinical knowledge, diagnosis skills, treatment plan preparation and patient care experience through practical and simulated training.

What jobs can you get in medicine?

Obviously, you could become a nurse, midwife, junior doctor, a GP, a hospital doctor or a consultant. They usually work for the NHS in community healthcare settings diagnosing, treating and managing people’s health conditions in the local area. But you could also get specialist skills and take on the role of surgeon, pathologist, paediatrician, oncologist, cardiology, obstetrician and many other focused roles within healthcare. However, that’s not the only angle. You could work in research or academia; creating the future of medicine or start your journey as a paramedic, pharmacist, physio or medical journalist.

Now, what is medical biology?

Students of biomedical science or medical biology are a little different from those in medicine. They want to really understand the body, not just treat it. They’ll spend their career getting to grips with the processes underneath medical conditions; cellular, molecular and genetic. This leads to advancements in our knowledge, drugs to treat conditions, therapies with proven basis and more. If you go into medical biology, you might study microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology or genetics and you’ll need a lot of the same soft skills. However, this field is less about treating specific cases and more about solving the big challenges and plugging the gaps in our overall medical understanding.

What jobs can you get in medical biology?

The key roles in medical biology or biomedical science are those of a scientist (clinical, research or biomedical), biotechnologist, genetic counsellor, pharmaceutical scientist, toxicologist, microbiologist and immunologist. However, you could also get into regulations, medical sales, clinical trials, public health, forensics, academia or become a bioinformatician. While you could work in the NHS as well, a lot of students get jobs in pharma, biotech, government, universities and the charity space.

If you’re ready to start your journey as either a biomedical science student or medicine student; there are exciting clearing courses with places still available. Even the most entry-level healthcare positions pay more than the national minimum wage, so come explore and enjoy #UniAsItShouldBe in our incredible multi-million-pound facilities and warm, inclusive and supportive teaching environment. Talk to us at 01204 900 600 or email enquiries@bolton.ac.uk to get started or click over to our homepage and get your instant conditional offer in just 3 steps.