u/Gravityfallsfan849

I am an 18-year-old trying to choose between two NHS career paths but I am torn due to physical limitations and career worries.

Option 1: Diagnostic Radiography I want to eventually pursue a career in plain-film reporting as I am okay with physiology, interested in anatomy and can handle the physics. But I afraid that the physical demand would be too much for a 5'3" male with chronic lower back and foot soreness, usually with doing something for a long time. Is the daily physical demand of moving patients, heavy mobiles, standing in lead aprons too brutal for someone like me?

Or Option 2: Healthcare science (Cardiac Physiology) I think I would be way more interested in this as I love the cardiovascular system and the heart and I keep in getting pulled back to this, and thinking of specialising in Echocardiography. However, I feel it might be too repetitive and the constant scanning will cause severe wrist/hand strain over time.

Or Option 3: Cardiac imaging I'm not really sure much about cardiac imaging, one redditor somewhere else pointed out that they wanted to do ECHO as they love the heart but chose to do interventional radiology instead and work in a cath lab, which I think would be great however I just researched it and realized that it's fast-paced which I'm not to sure about.

Has anyone transitioned between these two, or worked in a Cath Lab where both professions meet? Or just want to give any advice. I would love to hear your honest thoughts on the physical demands of both roles. Thanks!

Hello, so to start with I want to mention that back in my second year of college in my Applied science course I applied for diagnostic radiography at University of Cumbria, Bradford and Salford, I did an interview late Jan(except Salford cuz I was rejected earlier due to having combined science 5-4 whereas I'm guessing they wanted a 5 for both) but was unfortunately rejected from all Unis and spent the next few months just focusing on my college course and fell into a state of YouTube, games and repeat for a few months till clearing where I didn't find another course.

I've been thinking about my future a lot and I know that I have plenty of time being only 18 and just finished college recently and came out with a D*D*D (160 UCAS points) in "Person BTEC Level 3 National extended diploma in Applied science".
I do know that I want to do something medical science related as that is what attracted me to applied science in the first place and to work in Healthcare as I like helping people and I know that its just what I want to do. (A little backstory but I was a heart patient who had a heart transplant a few years ago and I spent a lot of time in the hospital before that so I'm pretty comfortable with the environment and have experienced a lot on the patient side and possibly drew me in healthcare even more as a way of paying back or maybe due to being a friendly/used to environment throughout the years)

I was thinking of reapplying for diagnostic radiography at Cumbria as it is a good university within a close range which is pretty important to me, but unfortunately I do not have the required GCSEs of English language 5 whereas I only have English 4 but my maths and science are fine.
I also called up the University of Liverpool and Salford where Liverpool said I need to retake both English and Science and Salford said no to retakes but I sent an email just to make sure.

I am currently thinking of taking a gap year so I can retake my English language GCSE (I'll think about science if I want to go Liverpool but Cumbria is my preferred choice and I need all my time to study English preferably), improve my interview skills as I'm sure that's why I was rejected and have feedback to improve mainly just articulate my knowledge into better answers and preferably take a few work placement/shadowing (if I can get any but I kind of have a bad history with being unsuccessful before), and maybe a part time job or driving + gym as I also need to build up my physical capability.

However, I am also struggling with deciding if I even want to do diagnostic radiography in the first place, I don't have a passion but I have interests and dislikes.
I'm okay with physiology, anatomy peeks my interest a bit in the human body, specifically bones and diagnosing fractures could be fun, and physics can be fun when the maths is easy and I would say I'm above average on that with a 6 in maths. There are just soo many pathways and modalities to go down so if I don't like one thing I can just hop to the other or stay in plain film x-ray as that is one that I want to become a reporting radiographer in so I can interpret the images myself. Major cons though is that I feel like I will regret it, not sure if its worth years of my life just to find out that I'm not cut out for it or enjoy it much but at least I will know if it is for me or not down the line, But most importantly is the extreme physical demand and constant education, the education bit is fine kind of but the physical demand will be rough as a male who is 5'3", with slight problems in my feet, legs and lower back if I walk long distances or stand too long due to health reasons, obviously I know that this is a major part of the profession and I am willing to push past it if I enjoy it or settle down into a more relaxed reporting role later on.(The more that I think about this the more I realise I will have trouble however, my lower back pain and other issues is mostly due to my heart surgery and life before it where I didn't rly do much stuff as I would always get out of breath from it now after heart surgery, I no longer get out of breath from doing stuff but now my body kinda runs on endurance so after a while things can get sore, usually random and depending on the day, although if I end up working out a lot maybe I can fix it)

What I will say is though is that I also have a genuine interest in the heart/cardiovascular system(maybe just because I relate to it as a former heart patient though) and I think cardiac physiology would be a good career to me, especially ECHO, the major con is that I feel like I'm closing many doors by abandoning diagnostic radiography, I could possibly get bored/regret it or worse develop serious wrist injury in the years.

There is cardiac imaging with combines both of these careers that I will look into more and could be the perfect fit but I don't know much about it yet.

Sorry for rambling on, honestly feels like I'm just blurting out everything hoping somebody would come along and just tell me exactly what I need to know. If only a miracle like that can happen but any advice on my situation would help and if you have any experience with choosing radiography despite being uncertain about it or just didn't know what to do and just winged it then that would be appreciated as well. And also more information regarding cardiac imaging would be helpful as well.

Hello, so to keep this basic I have finished Pearson BTEC level 3 national extended diploma in Applied since with a D*D*D at Blackburn college. So pretty good.

I have options to go into uni or elsewhere but tbh I am a bit confused on whether I should pick diagnostic radiography(DR) or cardiac physiology(CPH).
I have talken to radiographers and a cardiac physiologist before and have also taken up subject spotlights in both asw. I have researched and researched multiple times yet unfortunately the best way for me to learn is work experience which I don't have a good history with other than a one hour tour in an x-ray department.

So straight I like DR because I love to learn about the anatomy of the body and use that knowledge to diagnose different illnesses and diseases, it combines my love for biology and physics and I think it would be a good stable career for me, with many opportunities afterwards.
CPH just explodes with my love for the human heart and learning about the cardiovascular system, as a person who used to have a congenital heart disease(hole in heart) before my heart transplant I know what it's like.
Also, despite whatever choice I make it's going to be healthcare or medical science related. I would love to work in a hospital because I love helping people and I spent most of my life in the hospital so I think that's what helped it asw.

But anyways, aside from that I am struggling to choose between them.
I am leaning more towards CPH as I am more interested in that but DR just feels like the better choice, especially since I can always change my careers later on, but I don't want to make this mistake now.

I am leaning towards applying for DR tho because there's just more options available to me and I don't wanna say this BC I don't think it's true but I could have a choice biase thing - as in the fact that I may just feel stuck to this as I have made this choice before in a kind of rough time and I feel like I should just stick with it as a stable option and I'm not saying that I don't feel interest towards it but I have major uncertainty for the future and whether or not I am making the right choice or if I'll enjoy it which I think I will or in the long future at least but eh idk.
And for CPH, unfortunately there's not many opportunities available in the UK, specifically Blackburn, I can't rly go far from home as I have like location limits preferably less than 2 hours drive, mainly due to my parents worry for my health, my own reasons of not going too far and places get more expensive outwards and stuff. And that not to say that there aren't options here there is university of Leeds which I saw offers this course but since it is only one university I feel heavy risk making this choice, although I may just be making the same mistake again which when I applied last year diagnostic radiography, I saw a course at Manchester met for cardiac phy but I never took it and it disappeared a while later.

Also this is technically my second time applying since first was halfway through college and have just finished college so yay at least I got a good grade.

I forgot to mention that I took UCAS quiz and prospect quiz and they both led to diagnostic/medical radiography at the top, which obviously can mean absolutely the opposite as some people the career quizzes don't work on them but I feel like it must mean something if it appeared twice, but then again its just uncertainty, anxiety and stress.

Hello, so basically I have just finished Blackburn college where I have come out with a D*D*D in Person BTEC Level 3 National extended diploma in Applied science with UCAS points of 160 and while that far exceeds what I need for many courses.

I want to be able to apply for Cumbria and Salford as those are good universities within a close range which is pretty important. But unfortunately I do not have the required GCSEs as I have a combined science of 5-4, which is just short of the 5 that they need.

I'm not sure whether I'll be accepted because my college grades definitely exceed what they want but universities are always picky about GCSEs for some reason which is why I was rejected form Salford last year I applied. I was going to reapply to Cumbria this year which was going good until I found out that they were going to increase their GCSE requirements to a 5 for the 2027 entry so obviously I'm bummed out about that.

I'm currently stressing out about this with my family right now and am not so sure what to do. I could retake my GCSEs or I could call up Cumbria clearing for their integrated foundation year and do that. Or anything else that can help me.

I am planning on calling the universities tomorrow to discuss whether I can still get on with the qualifications I have now or is my GCSE holding me back. And if there's no other option then my dad suggested to go to college and talk about retaking my combined science GCSE.

(I also have a GCSE 4 in English but Salford only mentioned the combined science last year when they rejected me so I'm not sure if that matters or not)

Pls help ASAP, as I am afraid that foundation year will be filled up if I don't make a choice soon.

Edit: Called up universities to ask about entry requirements: Salford said no but I sent an email just to make sure Cumbria said that my science GCSE was actually fine but my English which is a 4 needs to be retaken, which I think I should do in my gap year and reapply Sep 2027. And Liverpool said I need to retake both English and Science

Hello, so basically I have just finished College where I have come out with a D*D*D in Person BTEC Level 3 National extended diploma in Applied science with UCAS points of 160 and while that far exceeds what I need for many courses.

I want to be able to apply for Cumbria and Salford as those are good universities within a close range which is pretty important. But unfortunately I do not have the required GCSEs as I have a combined science of 5-4, which is just short of the 5 that they need.

I'm not sure whether I'll be accepted because my college grades definitely exceed what they want but universities are always picky about GCSEs for some reason which is why I was rejected form Salford last year I applied. I was going to reapply to Cumbria this year which was going good until I found out that they were going to increase their GCSE requirements to a 5 for the 2027 entry so obviously I'm bummed out about that.

I'm currently stressing out about this with my family right now and am not so sure what to do. I could retake my GCSEs or I could call up Cumbria clearing for their integrated foundation year and do that. Or anything else that can help me.

I am planning on calling the universities tomorrow to discuss whether I can still get on with the qualifications I have now or is my GCSE holding me back. And if there's no other option then my dad suggested to go to college and talk about retaking my combined science GCSE.

(I also have a GCSE 4 in English but Salford only mentioned the combined science last year when they rejected me so I'm not sure if that matters or not)

Pls help ASAP, as I am afraid that foundation year will be filled up if I don't make a choice soon.

Edit: Called up universities to ask about entry requirements:
Salford said no but I sent an email just to make sure
Cumbria said that my science GCSE was actually fine but my English which is a 4 needs to be retaken
And Liverpool said I need to retake both English and Science