From music to medicine

It's a tough course. You need an awful lot of determination to succeed. Competition for places is intense. Once you are on the course the workload is excessive and challenging, both intellectually and emotionally. Because of the practical nature of the job, you also need to practise basic technique over and over and over.

Does any of this sound familiar? I am describing what it was like for Amanda Jones, now a first year medical student, during her music degree at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Mature student entry to medical school is increasing. A science background is no longer essential. These days we come in all flavours, with previous lives in business, management, literature, fine art, engineering--the list goes on. Not many can claim, though, to have worked as a professional opera singer or to have sung on and written scripts for Classic FM.

Amanda did actually apply to do medicine straight from school and had several places on offer. However, when she found out that her application to the music academy had …