Alice  Coulton BSc Management 2013

Many doctors are already studying for MBAs so I feel I'll have a head start in my career. Thanks to my management degree, I believe I now have a diverse understanding of people, business and management which I can apply to my future medical practice.

A Management qualification can help open doors to unusual careers. I'm just about to start a four-year degree in medicine at Cambridge and found at my interview the tutors were interested in what I learned during my Management degree. For example, GP surgeries and Hospitals are run as not-for-profit businesses, and NHS reforms are placing more expectation on doctors to also be managers, so it's important to understand how these processes work.

As it takes a year to apply and gain a place at medical school, I decided to stay on at Southampton after graduation and use the time wisely. I enrolled to study a masters degree in Gerontology and I feel that this also helped me to secure my place in medical school. The topics covered include health, social and psychological aspects of ageing, many linked to policy and public health. This knowledge will aid my understanding and treatment of older patients. I also hope to synthesise the demography and public health knowledge with my undergraduate degree to aid management practices in my future career as a doctor. During the masters programme, I analysed policy papers relating to the care of older people and I am now finishing my dissertation into how volunteering in later life affects people's well-being.

I was interested in studying medicine when I was younger and took the science A levels I needed, but a family bereavement caused me to leave medical school and choose a very different path of study. However I am thankful that I will now be able to start my medical training with broader experience of life, maturity, and knowledge gained by studying different subjects during my time at Southampton.