Are people fooling themselves by doing med science? (1 Viewer)

[idriskhanna]

Hey I notice many of my friends are doing med science and I have been warned by others that it is not a good pathway into med. They seem happy and confident that they actually have a degree they like which is unusual as many don't know what to do. Are they outplaying themselves by doing this and is this giving them a false sense of security?

 

[icycledough]

There are quite a few disadvantages of doing med science as a pathway into med, which is why many people don't advocate for it.

1) Universities will advertise it as 'a pathway into medicine', which is just false. Every year, only around 10% of students applying for med will get in, which is a very slim chance. Because of that, there isn't anything special about med science which boosts your chances.

2) It is very competitive, where everyone doing it will aim for the best ranks and marks to hopefully get into medicine, so can be very stressful. On the other hand, if you were to do another degree to try get into medicine, many people would just try to 'pass' their course, so it is much more collaborative and can increase your chances of getting a higher GPA/WAM needed.

3) There aren't many job prospects after the degree, so if medicine for those students unfortunately doesn't work out, they may find themselves stuck with nothing to do after graduation.

Unless they actually enjoy the concept of medical research and want to pursue this after university, many students who do it as a stepping stone into medicine will end up at more of a disadvantage. Honestly, I would stay away from it and pursue a degree you enjoy instead. If you want more information, I'd read this thread --> https://medstudentsonline.com.au/fo...-leavers-and-other-medicine-applicants.32824/

 

[dasfas]

yea but isn't med science still the best course to get into med if you don't have the atar? what other courses are there?

Literally anything else is better. You don't need any prereqs to get into postgrad med.

 

[icycledough]

You can even try getting into undergraduate med again while doing any other course ... the key isn't to do medical science necessarily, but a degree you know you will enjoy, which will translate to good marks given hard work

 

[idkkdi]

So then what’s the point of med science, does it offer Gamsat training or something

there's no point just like a lot of other things lol.

 

[icycledough]

So then what’s the point of med science, does it offer Gamsat training or something

If you do it at Macquarie University, I believe they provide GAMSAT training in the last year.

 

[nzexperiment]

If you do it at Macquarie University, I believe they provide GAMSAT training in the last year.

only clinic sci

 

[dasfas]

If you do it at Macquarie University, I believe they provide GAMSAT training in the last year.

You can literally self teach yourself the entire curriculum without wasting tens of thousands of dollars on a degree with zero job prospects. If you don't want to self teach, you can hire a tutor - it would be waaay cheaper than paying the uni 1k per course.

 

[sab13562]

You can literally self teach yourself the entire curriculum without wasting tens of thousands of dollars on a degree with zero job prospects. If you don't want to self teach, you can hire a tutor - it would be waaay cheaper than paying the uni 1k per course.

That's right. Unless you wanna be a pathologist, there's no point of doing this degree. I've done a lot of research, and there's pretty much zero job opportunities upon graduating.

 

[icycledough]

only clinic sci

Oh yh, my bad ... I'm used to calling clinical sci, health sci as med sci (as they're essentially quite similar)

 

[icycledough]

You can literally self teach yourself the entire curriculum without wasting tens of thousands of dollars on a degree with zero job prospects. If you don't want to self teach, you can hire a tutor - it would be waaay cheaper than paying the uni 1k per course.

I wasn't trying to promote it ... I just mentioned it if the OP wanted to consider it as a possibility; I've always advocated against degrees like those, as I was in a similar position myself (first year uni now) and was deciding between UNSW med science and another degree. In the end, I opted for a business degree (for the career potential if med didn't work out, because it's less competitive and more importantly, because it was a degree I was interested in).

 

[dasfas]

I wasn't trying to promote it ... I just mentioned it if the OP wanted to consider it as a possibility; I've always advocated against degrees like those, as I was in a similar position myself (first year uni now) and was deciding between UNSW med science and another degree. In the end, I opted for a business degree (for the career potential if med didn't work out, because it's less competitive and more importantly, because it was a degree I was interested in).

Yep, mb I re-read my post and I came off as very standoffish ahaha, sorry about that. But yeah, med sci for the purposes of postgrad med = bad. You made a good call. I encourage OP to pursue another degree if they intend to enter in postgrad med. Personally I went with engineering.

 

[icycledough]

Yep, mb I re-read my post and I came off as very standoffish ahaha, sorry about that. But yeah, med sci for the purposes of postgrad med = bad. You made a good call. I encourage OP to pursue another degree if they intend to enter in postgrad med. Personally I went with engineering.

No worries, all good ... btw, are you trying to get into postgrad med or will you still try through the UG pathway?

 

[zizi2003_]

@icycledough what undergrad course do you recommend doing then to get into postgrad if not obviously med sci or bsc generally? one that may have job prospects too if we don't pass gamsat? I had psych honours in mind but that's a quite long pathway

 

[icycledough]

@icycledough what undergrad course do you recommend doing then to get into postgrad if not obviously med sci or bsc generally? one that may have job prospects too if we don't pass gamsat? I had psych honours in mind but that's a quite long pathway

Literally anything you're interested in (could be engineering, commerce, economics, arts etc); there isn't a specific course you have to do. Also, I'm also not saying that you absolutely shouldn't do med science, because for some people, they do end up getting into medicine through it. But don't think that it necessarily boosts your chance or acts as a 'stepping stone' into medicine that blindly.

 

[Eagle Mum]

I’m neither encouraging or discouraging students to study for a Bachelor of Medical Science degree but to set the record straight, it’s not a dead end with no prospects. A graduate with such a degree would meet the minimum eligibility criteria for positions of clinical scientist (with potential pathways to senior scientist and principal scientist positions) or clinical research assistant (with experience, can be converted to clinical research officer). https://au.indeed.com/Bachelor-of-Medical-Science-jobs-in-Sydney-NSW?vjk=1ed18283878f0acc. Not as high paying nor ‘prestigious’ as medicine, but potentially interesting work as a fallback career.

 

[dasfas]

No worries, all good ... btw, are you trying to get into postgrad med or will you still try through the UG pathway?

Postgrad med. I'm hoping for US/UK, but if that falls through, then USYD or Unimelb. It would be faster to go via the UG pathway but I want to develop other skills and interests first before going into med.

 

[icycledough]

Postgrad med. I'm hoping for US/UK, but if that falls through, then USYD or Unimelb. It would be faster to go via the UG pathway but I want to develop other skills and interests first before going into med.

Oh nice, that sounds really interesting. I've got a mate whose brother also studies medicine in the UK, and he's told me it's a really unique and cool experience. I have heard though that it's very expensive, in excess of around 400k, but I'm sure you would have considered that before applying for the UK and US.

 

[Schmeag]

Postgrad med. I'm hoping for US/UK, but if that falls through, then USYD or Unimelb. It would be faster to go via the UG pathway but I want to develop other skills and interests first before going into med.

As an aside, if you want to develop other skills apart from medicine, this can also be done concurrently or after medical school, if you are still appropriately motivated.

If you have plans to return to Australia from an overseas medical school, you should consider the steps you would need to take to be able to practice, as the standard process of obtaining medical registration via an internship may be closed to you.