Dermatology course [advice?] (1 Viewer)

[FebruaryAir]

I'm interested in pursuing a medical science degree after high school, and wish to specialise in dermatology. At the moment, I do biology and chemistry, but I hate chemistry and am pretty much failing it.


Does anyone know whether I would still be able to do dermatology if I :

i) have low chemistry scores?
OR
ii) only study the prelim year (by dropping it at the start of HSC year) ?


If anyone could give me feedback on the actual medical science or dermatology course, that would be great.

Thanks.

 

[black_kat_meow]

To become a dermatologist, pretty sure you have to complete a medical degree first, it's a medical speciality. So medical degree-->internship--> training to become dermatologist-->qualified

Or something of the sorts, some med student will come round eventually to correct me

Also, there is a LOT of Chemistry in Medical Science courses, I would recommend keeping it if you can, as you will have to study it at university, and it is a struggle if you didn't do it for the HSC.

 

[doink]

Dermatology is a specialty in Medicine so you need to complete a medicine degree as well as one year internship and possibly 1/2 years of residency.

I'm fairly sure you cannot do dermatology after medical science however you could find some way of eventually doing research in the field bu that would most likely require you to obtain a PhD.

As for medical science it still fulfills a science degree and it has enough chemistry that keeping hsc chem is recommended and they don't look at the score you get so don't worry about that the headstart it gives is well worth it.

 

[Wooz]

You need to do medicine > Internship + PGY2 > Enter the training program with the college of Physicians 5-6 years > dermatologist! Should take you at least 13-14+ years, good luck.

 

[Dr_Fresh]

its the same with most medical degrees. remember that u will get paid from 6/7th year onwards. if its what u want to do, go for it. it will be worth it in the end.

 

[FebruaryAir]

So, what's the difference between Medical Science and the actual Medicine course?
I thought they were pretty much the same thing...

It says on the University of Sydney site, "The BMedSc is an obvious choice for students wishing to undertake the University of Sydney Graduate Medical and Dentistry Programs, available after completion of an undergraduate degree."
Would that mean I'd be able to do a Bachelor of Medicine after the BMedSc ?

 

[black_kat_meow]

You can complete any degree before applying for the grad med program at usyd. So do med sci IS an option, but it doesn't guarentee entry, remember, so make sure you're really interested in it.

 

[spence]

So, what's the difference between Medical Science and the actual Medicine course?
I thought they were pretty much the same thing...

Med allows you to become a doctor. I think Med Science is more aimed at lab work, research, etc.

 

[Dr_Fresh]

a medical science degree doesnt give you the qualifications to treat/deal with patients. it is just science, whereas medicine also has focus on examining patients, taking histories, medical law, communication skill development, sociology (only at monash) and a whole heap of other things.
it says its an "obvious" choice. that is because a medical science degree will give provide you with a lot of knowledge regarding the scientific aspect of medicine and hence you will have an advantage compared to someone who did say commerce as their undergraduate degree.
personally, i recommend an undergraduate medical course simply because of its shorter length and slightly easier entry. you do not need to worry about ur GPA anymore and you dont need to sit the 6hour long GAMSAT. btw, the gamsat requires some scientific knowledge which is another reason y a med sci degree is useful for entry into med.

 

[doink]

Med Sci is pretty much only the science background for medicine. In order to do grad med you need to achieve sufficient GPA and sit the GAMSAT (Get a sufficient score) and pass an interview. A medsci degree does not allow you to be accredited by AMC hence you cannot practice medicine or any of its specialties (including but not limited to dermatology).

The road to derm is 5-7 years uni then 3 years post-grad work then 6 years of physician training.

 

[chinaski]

Some of the previous posts have been incorrect - dermatology is NOT accredited by the College of Physicians (ie you don't do physician training to become a dermatologist) - you must apply to the Australasian College of Dermatologists to train in their program:

Australasian College of Dermatologists

 

[xxstef]

So, what's the difference between Medical Science and the actual Medicine course?
I thought they were pretty much the same thing...

It says on the University of Sydney site, "The BMedSc is an obvious choice for students wishing to undertake the University of Sydney Graduate Medical and Dentistry Programs, available after completion of an undergraduate degree."
Would that mean I'd be able to do a Bachelor of Medicine after the BMedSc ?

because the usyd med program is graduate, you have to do an undergrad degree first. for interested people, this might be medsci.
although if you're set on dermatology, you might as well try for undergrad med, unless there's a reason you prefer usyd med.

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

Some of the previous posts have been incorrect - dermatology is NOT accredited by the College of Physicians (ie you don't do physician training to become a dermatologist) - you must apply to the Australasian College of Dermatologists to train in their program:

Australasian College of Dermatologists

this is the most correct post so far...FACD is needed to practise... and there are about 30-40 trainees in the country at any one point.. *its probably less than that*