Best university for postgraduate studies in medicine (1 Viewer)

[kcchippy]

Best university for graduate studies in medicine

I am HSC student who is looking at doing medicine postgraduate. I got a UAI of 99.45 this year, but did not wish to do undergrad med.

I was just wondering what realistically are the merits of universities in NSW for grad medicine and which universities have more competitive entry for grad.

People have mentioned that USYD is particularly good for graduate (as opposed to UNSW), do you agree with this?

Also, if I do a double degree in B. Sci (adv)/Commerce, am I disadvantaging myself if I consider rad medicine as one of my future options?

Okay, so I apologise if this discussion does exist, but I did search the general page and did not find anything.

 

[mervvyn]

Usyd is the only med faculty with graduate entry in nsw, unsw and newcastle are undergraduate entry, plus a few undergrad spots at usyd for UAI wunderkinder. The type of entry is different but the quality of the degree and education is as good and bad as any other in aus. There are a few other faculties around the country with graduate entry as well, but they don't leap to mind right now.

The only thing that really needs to influence the degree you do before you try for graduate medicine is whether you would be happy to do that degree by itself - ie, you got the degree but didn't get a place in a med course. As long as you have the marks, they aren't concerned what cours you got them in. Any advantageyou might get from a science degree would be in the GAMSAT, which has been discussed in a few other threads.
Hope that helps.

 

[kcchippy]

Thanks for replying. Cleared up a few misconceptions...I was under the impression that UNSW offered postgrad med as well...must return to research then..but thanks anyway!

 

[inasero]

University of Notre Dame, UWS and UOW will be offering postgrad medicine in the not too distant future...just thought you might like to keep that in mind

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

UWS wont be exclusively grad entry..
its mixed entry for a 5 yr course similar to Newcaslte's system

UNSW doesnt offer grad entry... its because u read postgrad (not bachelors) and dun quite understand the differences between the two postgrad and Grad entry.
http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=36221

u can pretty much do watever (PhD's master's etc) u want but the longer u spend in ure initial degree/s ... the older u will be when ure finally out of full medical training.

All med schools are equal but it depends on ure desired career path that they have some differences.. i mainly feel its about Research vs Clinical Work and not specialisations...

one of the new pet peevs of grad entry schools is that u go clinical so early (1st yr) tat consultants (as told to me by a Usyd clinical tutor) get impatient with them not being uniformly clear on some topics especially anatomy
as 1 person in the group has a BSc (Hons) in Anatomical Sc, another has a BComm/LLB, 3rd person has a BNursing and the other has a PhD in Physics..

but practicality first... do what u enjoy .. then play catch up IF you get into the medical course.

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

I am HSC student who is looking at doing medicine postgraduate. I got a UAI of 99.45 this year, but did not wish to do undergrad med.

I was just wondering what realistically are the merits of universities in NSW for postgrad medicine and which universities have more competitive entry for post-grad.

People have mentioned that USYD is particularly good for postgrad (as opposed to UNSW), do you agree with this?

Also, if I do a double degree in B. Sci (adv)/Commerce, am I disadvantaging myself if I consider postgrad medicine as one of my future options?

Okay, so I apologise if this discussion does exist, but I did search the general page and did not find anything.

Curiously why dont u want to do yr 12 leavers undergrad medicine?

 

[kcchippy]

Hmm..when it was time to do UMAT, I thought long and hard and had decided that I wanted nothing to do with practising medicine..so I didn't take UMAT..which in retrospect was stupid...so no chance of getting into undergrad med now anyways...

Besides which, it's just something I'm considering, not something that I am 100% sure I want to do at this stage..that's kinda why I decided not to do a degree in Medical Science...because I wasn't sure that I wanted to specialise only in the medicinal field..

Thanks everyone for your help, and I apologise for my lack of knowledge regarding terminology (esp. the postgrad - grad thing). Thanks for pointing that out for me....

 

[Bob.J]

Hmm..when it was time to do UMAT, I thought long and hard and had decided that I wanted nothing to do with practising medicine..so I didn't take UMAT..which in retrospect was stupid...so no chance of getting into undergrad med now anyways...

Besides which, it's just something I'm considering, not something that I am 100% sure I want to do at this stage..that's kinda why I decided not to do a degree in Medical Science...because I wasn't sure that I wanted to specialise only in the medicinal field..

Thanks everyone for your help, and I apologise for my lack of knowledge regarding terminology (esp. the postgrad - grad thing). Thanks for pointing that out for me....

well it wasn't a bad mistake, for someone in your position you did the right thing, doing another course at uni will open your eyes, give you more perspective (enjoy life - as a premed). Besides you can still go for undergrad whilst still in university, only there'll be less positions available, much more difficult, but possible. I'm guessing you're interested in staying in nsw (rather than travelling interstate to do med).

I don't think you need to do med. sci to get a taste of what medicine will be like. There are plenty of ways to find out, such as having friends in med and drilling them for info on what it's like. Do something that will keep your options open for now. Science/commerce is a good choice, as you can drop the commerce or science when you have enough credit points to graduate (in 3rd year) science or commerce.

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

i guess its just a handy tip for ALL to read the stickys courtesy of Lexi and inasero before posting cos lots of ure questions will get answered there .. and u kinda dun sound lik a complete newb

tats a fair enough reason.. but i say no regrets about it and just keep with BComm/Sc then .. and wait a little while

I got to say tho.. Medicine gets very exciting and is quite a close-knit community.. and if u ever get a chance sit in on their lectures and just ask them lots of questions..

 

[sikeveo]

Notre dame already offers grad medicine in WA. UOW will be predominantly for rural ppl as you have to submit a portfolio showing your links to rural communities etc.

 

[mervvyn]

yeah, except they've just gotten approval for a sydney campus as well with med in it as well as WA

 

[sikeveo]

Yeh, the campus near usyd. ND seems quite a fair bit easier to get into than the other uni's (just going by peoples marks, who have made it)

 

[Lexicographer]

That's to be expected of a course in its first year, since competition will be much lower. Those cutoffs will shoot up in no time, believe me.

 

[sikeveo]

Yes, just like ANU.

 

[Bob.J]

Med is Med

 

[velox]

I disagree. I guess Depends on how content you are about 'just' getting in. Some people want more than that, hence higher cut offs at certain universities.

Edit: This is my opinion.

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

actually i think he means course quality contents-wise

locality/population/cost are also more determining factors of cutoffs.. than course quality is.. if ppl knew course-teaching quality ... noone would be in med lolz

 

[velox]

From my school, course/uni reputation was right up there.

 

[Bob.J]

ok, my comment beforehand was too general

ok yes, i myself chose not to apply interstate because i dont want to put financial strain on my parents, and i still want to see them often (doesnt mean im a momma's boy). Anyhow, what i meant is that any med course anywhere in australia is going to have some serious competition.

Of course the newer courses will be at the bottom of everyone's preferences, they'll still do it if it's their last option (if med is what they must do).

and alvin is right also, depends on everyone's location and population. UNSW is seemingly seen as the best uni in oz to a year 12 Sydney student. lol if i knew how jumbled med can be beforehand i'd have chosen uni's more carefully.

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

yes of course ... its lik in adelaide.. its bit of a joke if u cant make adelaide uni cos its their premier uni.. and u get UNSW or Melb..

its the same in Perth and UWA.. which is renown for being very hard to get into.. but sydney students dun realise this.. and think its a bush uni

altho IMO most grad entry unis are tryin to scout talent early e.g. USYD and UQ.. BSc/MBBS cos they were losing them to UNSW and Newcastle, JCU etc ..

From my school, course/uni reputation was right up there.

(im not saying u do but a vast proportion)

my point .. is entry marks are not proportional because lots of yr 12 students are misguided/naive about university level education/expectations..
things like PBL/SBL arent easy to explain and the written word hardly does justice.... so a yr 12 entrance marks being a measure of prestige is not consistant as it is a measure of demand..

like those in certain health sciences that do PBL in the later part of their courses know about it.. but yr 12 students get soooo surprised at the workload.

Also u raise a point about "some people want more than that [getting into med]"
..this isnt quite clear..

What exactly are you referring to?
'prestige', locality/proximity to students home, financial, lifestyle?
or academic like cohort quality?