Should I do medicine? (1 Viewer)

[timeslowsdown]

After completing my first year of science/law @ UNSW and researching and listening to the stories of others, I'm having a dilemma.

I'm quite passionate about the environment and policy, but I'm really not sure as to whether I can make this passion a viable career. After hearing about how bad the job market is for law graduates, I'm really having second thoughts about what career path I should be pursuing. I'm feeling really anxious about the thought of not having a job after I graduate, let alone eventually a job at all.

So I'm considering applying for medicine. I have a strong interest in biology and love helping people so I think I may be interested in it, although in a world devoid of job insecurities, I'd probably choose an environmentally related job over medicine.

A few questions:

1. From what I've explained, do you think I should try to apply?
2. If I do apply next year for UNSW, does my WAM, UMAT and interview go towards the application?
3. Should I continue my science/law degree or transfer into medical science?

I'm just really confused at the moment, and really not sure what I want to do in the future. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[bangladesh]

1.Do some work experience and see if you like the job.
2. WAM,ATAR,UMAT AND interview all go towards your application.
3.Continue science/law if you can maintain a high GPA. if not, then transfer.

 

[Alkanes]

1. It's worth a shot. It may be the best decision you've made in your life. Have you thought of other fields other than medicine like physio? psych? But at the end of the day, you should go with what you enjoy the most.

2. I know someone similar. She successfully transferred from Arts/Law with a high WAM and mediocre umat score (80 percentile) to medicine at unsw after first year. I think they take into account both Atar and WAM. Mind you she did very well (99.90 atar + HD WAM) to compensate for her umat score.

3. Continue with Science/Law. You don't have to be doing medical science to get into med.

 

[Medman]

1. It's your life, your decision. Job security is slightly better for medicine but still not the best. 50% of Senior Residents at Westmead didn't get a job for the following year. This will get worse in the future unless the Government changes things.

2. If you get 99+ ATAR it's much harder to obtain a WAM to match that ATAR.

3. If you enjoy science/law I don't see why you should stop doing it. People who switch from a career they are passionate about to a career they aren't passionate about for the sole reason of finding a job is a bit too much. The only people I hear complaining that they can't find a job are the ones that were lazy and did not do any internships during their holidays. Even my friends from UWS have gotten jobs or job interviews at great law firms but some of my UNSW and USYD friends have not.

 

[timeslowsdown]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I'm just going to continue my degree and if I start to hate it or become passionate about something else, I'll consider changing degrees.

 

[OzKo]

The job market for lawyers is incredibly tough but your understanding of science is a big plus as well.

If you're interested in environmental policy, I would hazard to guess that you would have a killer combo as is.

 

[enoilgam]

The job market being tough shouldnt put you off completely from doing something especially if you enjoy it. At the end of the day, people still make it into the legal profession - you will just need to put in more work. I personally wouldnt do a job like Medicine (which involves years of training), just because it has better job security. I think you're being scared off to easily.

 

[anomalousdecay]

The job market for lawyers is incredibly tough but your understanding of science is a big plus as well.

If you're interested in environmental policy, I would hazard to guess that you would have a killer combo as is.

This is very true. By graduating in Law and Science, you would be favourable to employers in environmental policy, as you have knowledge of both.