Medicine/Dentistry or nah? ADVICE PLEASE (1 Viewer)

[cherrykaurr]

Hey! Okay so I'm in year 12 right now and i want to do something in the medical industry. But i know my ATAR isn't going to be very great, hence why i didn't bother to do the UMAT. I'm hoping to do diagnostic radiography, if i get in through the e12 scheme/ However, if not, I'm planning to do health science at usyd (hopefully) and then transfer to Medical Science, and do a post-grad medicine or dentistry. I know that i have to sit the GAMSAT, and that's my main worry. I'm only doing HSC Biology, so if I do want to do Medical Science/Medicine or Dentistry, I'm going to struggle (duh).

Okay so here's the question; Should i go down the Med. Science pathway to get into Medicine/Dentistry? I'm not confident in Physics or Chemistry because I didn't do them in school, so I don't think I'll do good in it. But I've got this annoying urge to do medicine or dentistry for soooo long -.-. ALSO! what are the bridging courses like? I think with enough hard work in chem and physics, I might do alright. honestly, im making no sense right now (sorry) but i just dont know how to put it in words.

Sorry for the long as post, TY for your time. Any advice is helpful, ty ty ty!

 

[Flop21]

If you want to do it, do it. Obviously you're going to have to have a good academic ability though. Medicine is definitely not easy, and very competitive.

I suggest you go to the open days for the unis you are thinking of going to, and go to their lectures on medicine. Just went to one recently, and it was really informative.

They didn't sugar coat it at all and pretty much said it's going to be hard and competitive and there's a low percentage of applicants that actually get through.

There's no harm in trying, but have a backup plan always.

 

[cherrykaurr]

Thankyou! And yeah definitely looking forward to going to some open days! Which one did you go to?

 

[enigma_1]

Wollongong uni hahah.

I thought I better just go to all the open days, even though I hopefully won't be going there (only because I'm aiming for another uni).

Next year they'll have a pre-med degree which actually sounds alright.

The other unis have their open days coming up soonish I think.

Pre Med degree- that sounds interesting. What's the difference between that and like Med science? Does it have more of an advantage when applying to med itself?

 

[Speed6]

I just went to an open day today and I attended all the Medicine/Science lectures. From what I previously know and a couple of things which I have learnt today is that of course Medicine is a very competitive course. From a statistical view, 1700 people apply through an undergraduate degree at our uni and 100 make the cut, then its down to 80. What I would suggest as a person who is also passionate about studying med one day is if you want to do something and you really want it, do it, in the end if you are successful enough you can achieve it. A medical-->medicine (through years of hard work) degree can be achieved through a summation of undergraduate degrees from B. Medical Science as well as B. Advanced Science which are all good foundations to get an insight into a prospective field encompassing medicine. I would suggest that you do a bridging course if there is, trust me you will need it since Medical/Science based subjects revolving around med involves lots of Chemistry and Biology as recommended knowledge. What we have here at our local university is a newly established Pre-medicine course, an excellent course/degree which is commencing next year and the top performing 12 domestic and international students who undertake this course have an automatic interview offer into MBBS which is amazing. This is an excellent degree for someone in your situation, it has a lot of job opportunities as well in the health field. I guess the last advice I could give you if you are interested in medicine is, study your ass off now and let the rewards come later. Give everything you got in your HSC the best shot and put your head down and get through the HSC knowing that you did tried.

I hope that helps in some way, if you have any questions concerning medicine message me and I will direct you to some amazing future and current medical practitioners we have here. They are often busy due to work and uni related things but I am sure they will get back to you. Good luck with everything!

 

[enigma_1]

@Speed for the top 12 thing do you have to do GAMSAT or do they just look at your gpa?

 

[enigma_1]

Hi...

Do not study medical science purely for the sake of preparing for graduate-entry medicine or dentistry.
The risk isn't worth it. If you give up your ambition, then you'd be left with a degree that's practically useless for a job, unless if you upgrade to Masters of Teaching... or you study a professional bachelor degree (B Laws, B Nursing, B Physiotherapy, etc)...etc.

Also, it's ok if your ATAR is below 90.
You don't need 90+ ATAR to study med/dent.
I stuffed up my HSC (failed English Standard trials = 49.5%), and some courses in my medical science program at UNSW (Anatomy = 41%).
But, I somehow did well enough in the GAMSAT to be able to sit a dentistry interview at USyd. (Thank goodness USyd just wants a credit average in uni results, equivalent to ~92 ATAR.)
[Fingers crossed for a CSP offer!]

Hang in there cherry! Hope my post alleviate your worries.



GAMSAT for medicine = 68 overall score (~ 90+ %tile)
GAMSAT for dentistry = 60 overall score (~ 55-60 %tile)
Threshold GPA = 5.0 or credit average (equivalent to ~92 ATAR, as determined by UAC).

Hope you get in man, you've worked hard for it.

The gamsat scores what do they represent. Like is it 68 percent or is it like the umat scores where you can't calculate it from your marks. I'll probably have to do gamsat next year and i'm worried coz i dont understand physics :'(

 

[Speed6]

@Speed for the top 12 thing do you have to do GAMSAT or do they just look at your gpa?

Both gamsat and GPA, however this premed degree helps you prepare for the gamsat during 2nd and 3rd year. Also, you need to maintain an average GPA of 5+

 

[enigma_1]

GAMSAT scores are interpreted similarly to UMAT scores... though, there are some cases where one section score can exceed 100+.
Note that the GAMSAT Science section is double-weighted (so, worth half of GAMSAT score)...don't stress too much on physics. I swear less than 20% of GAMSAT questions are on physics... unless if some physics questions are disguised as biology questions (e.g. blood vessels and water pressure equations).

Thank goodness. I didn't even do hsc physics so I'll have to ace the other sections probably

Both gamsat and GPA, however this premed degree helps you prepare for the gamsat during 2nd and 3rd year. Also, you need to maintain an average GPA of 5+

Oh ok

 

[Flop21]

Pre Med degree- that sounds interesting. What's the difference between that and like Med science? Does it have more of an advantage when applying to med itself?

They said the main thing that's unique about it is the GAMSAT subject in it, which prepares you for the GAMSAT.

Here's the course page: http://coursefinder.uow.edu.au/info...rce=merch&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=gourl

 

[Oer]

I just went to an open day today and I attended all the Medicine/Science lectures. From what I previously know and a couple of things which I have learnt today is that of course Medicine is a very competitive course. From a statistical view, 1700 people apply through an undergraduate degree at our uni and 100 make the cut, then its down to 80. What I would suggest as a person who is also passionate about studying med one day is if you want to do something and you really want it, do it, in the end if you are successful enough you can achieve it. A medical-->medicine (through years of hard work) degree can be achieved through a summation of undergraduate degrees from B. Medical Science as well as B. Advanced Science which are all good foundations to get an insight into a prospective field encompassing medicine. I would suggest that you do a bridging course if there is, trust me you will need it since Medical/Science based subjects revolving around med involves lots of Chemistry and Biology as recommended knowledge. What we have here at our local university is a newly established Pre-medicine course, an excellent course/degree which is commencing next year and the top performing 12 domestic and international students who undertake this course have an automatic interview offer into MBBS which is amazing. This is an excellent degree for someone in your situation, it has a lot of job opportunities as well in the health field. I guess the last advice I could give you if you are interested in medicine is, study your ass off now and let the rewards come later. Give everything you got in your HSC the best shot and put your head down and get through the HSC knowing that you did tried.

I hope that helps in some way, if you have any questions concerning medicine message me and I will direct you to some amazing future and current medical practitioners we have here. They are often busy due to work and uni related things but I am sure they will get back to you. Good luck with everything!

I'd be very very cautious of that degree tbh.

If you're going for postgrad medicine, it's best if your undergrad degree also doubles as a backup, and I doubt a very new course that's specifically designed to prepare you only for postgrad med

I reckon a good ol' Science degree opens more doors for while still still giving plenty of opportunity to apply for postgrad medicine. Unfortunately, not everything in life can be trusted to go to plan.

The top 12 in that degree would likely be good enough to get an interview anyway. And there's absolutely no guarantee of even being in the top 12. Risky degree choice.

 

[OmmU]

Just do B science if you're going down the grad med/dent pathway. I made the mistake of Advanced Med Science - it worked but was a hell of a lot harder than alternate options.

B Science you have flexibility to choose subjects to prepare you for GAMSAT, med sci you loose this flexibility as it's generally a more rigid course structure. You can choose units that will prepare you and on the side choose EASY units you'll smash and get a good GPA. They won't look at the subjects, just the GPA.

You could do arts for all they care, get a 7.0 GPA and spend the spare time studying gamsat and smash it. But you'd probably get bored of the degree.

 

[cherrykaurr]

Yeah thats what i heard too, the medical science degree is useless if u dont do further study. How did you prepare for the gamsat and What was the interview like?
Thank you! your post was helpful