u/FindingMuted4989

Hello, I am in the UK and I have recently finished my first year of my undergraduate OT degree but after finishing my recent placement I realised that I not only really dislike placements in general but I also heard of the recent job freezes in the NHS. Honestly, I pursued this degree because my family is poor as well as toxic and healthcare supposedly provides great job security but my passion and my talent is art and I was hoping to use my undergraduate to build a stable life or use it to finance a masters in something like art therapy. The uncertainty of getting a job is really demotivating and making me question if it's worth sacrificing my early 20s for the field especially since I love the academic side of university but I think I'll go insane if I have to be sent to another random town in the uk to work an unpaid almost 40 hours a week and after that having to do it as a job. While there are some areas of OT that I find interesting, it makes me miserable seeing all of my friends finish university early and not go on long placements and I cried almost every night at my placement because I cant even switch my brain off after going home since I have to continue studying and learning. However any other degree doesn't give job security either and that's what I'm worried about but I understand that I may have to fight for internships and experiences to get where I want. I just want some advice if I should continue or change while I still can, I don't want OT to be my lifelong career but a stepping stone in order to pursue my passion and independence.

For context, I am in my first year doing an undergraduate healthcare profession course at a top university for my specific profession. However I am coming to the end of my last placement and I realised that I heavily dislike the idea of working within the NHS or the heathcare field in general. I loved everything about my university course outside of placement, I chose healthcare out of the general idea of wanting to help people, utilising creativity to solve problems also the better chances of job security when I graduate because I come from a very working class/poor family but I cant imagine myself getting through the next longer placement or working within the field without going insane, all my friends finished their first year months ago and enjoying their lives, I couldn't get a part time job because of my course requiring alot of my attention/time and now it there's job freezes in the industry and everyone complains how horrible the system is so it's been very demotivating and I feel as if I am wasting my youth and freetime for a dead end job/degree. I am considering switching to something like Finance or Marketing as I feel like even though it's more basic, it's going to be less stressful and I don't mind going to do extra training/internships to build a portfolio as everyone is struggling with landing a job despite having a degree.

For context, I am in my first year doing an undergraduate healthcare profession course at a top university for my specific profession. However I am coming to the end of my last placement and I realised that I heavily dislike the idea of working within the NHS or the field in general. I loved everything about my university course outside of placement, I chose healthcare out of the general idea of wanting to help people, utilising creativity to solve problems also the better chances of job security when I graduate because I come from a very working class/poor family but I cant imagine myself getting through the next longer placement or working within the field without going insane, all my friends finished their first year months ago and enjoying their lives, I couldn't get a part time job because of my course requiring alot of my attention/time and now it there's job freezes in the NHS and everyone complains how horrible the system is so it's been very demotivating and I feel as if I am wasting my youth and freetime for a dead end job/degree. I am considering switching to something like Finance or Marketing as I feel like even though it's more basic, it's going to be less stressful and I don't mind going to do extra training/internships to build a portfolio as everyone is struggling with landing a job despite having a degree.