Medicine for someone with no science or maths background (1 Viewer)

[ZippyWarrior]

Hi everyone.

I am a first year law/property development student, after completing high school in 2006 with a university rank of 97.

I am considering trying for grad med. This would be after completing my development (3 yr) degree, and just dropping the law part-way through.

Firstly:
Can anyone advise me on whether I have totally unrealistic hopes of passing the GAMSAT, seeing as I'll have studied a non-science related undergrad degree, and have done no science or maths in high school past year 10?

Secondly:
(Seeing as there are no prereq's for health sciences) - Would people recommend doing health sciences as the pre-degree for med? (I can transfer into health sciences easily). Would the science subjects be useful for the GAMSAT and medicine in general? Or are they unrelated? OR... do you think it is not worthwhile doing a whole health sciences degree to try to prepare for med, ie, I should rather just do my current degree and take some preparatory science courses to prepare for GAMSAT and med?

Thanks very much everyone.

Really appreciate it.

Cheers,
Elise

 

[aussiechica7]

Hi,
You should do first year chem, physics and possibly bio to prepare for the GAMSAT. But a whole degree in it is unecessary.
Also, consider applying to the undergrad med courses if you're interested. Some, like UWS, UTAS and Uni of Newcastle are only 5 years long, use the UMAT not the GAMSAT for entry, and welcome non-standards (non yr-12s).
How is your GPA going this year (if u don't mind me asking)?

 

[ZippyWarrior]

Hi, thanks for your reply
I've only done one semester at uni and I got 4 credits.
How late can I try to transfer as an undergrad? Surely year 2 (next year) would be my last year to transfer as the year after would be year 3 (finishing - so would be entering as a grad student)?.

Edit - would prefer to apply as grad student, as I'm not entirely sure about med yet.

Just wondering if people really can and do get into med who start learning science from scratch for the admissions test? And if the interviewers always ask you to explain three scientific words (or if that's only at Newcastle Uni).
Cheers

 

[aussiechica7]

Hi,
You can have a Ph.D and apply for most undergrad courses. If you have 1 or more full time tertiary years behind you, you are a non-standard and you can apply as many times as you like. For undergrad courses you will not use the GAMSAT even if you are a non-standard, and you won't get any credit for any courses you've already done. At Monash Uni they ask to explain three scientific words but Monash doesn't accept non-standards. The other interviews are all quite different.
To apply for grad courses you need to be in your final year of your degree or higher. I don't really know a lot about grad entry, sorry. But I do know the GAMSAT is a biatch and it helps to train in science and essay-writing skills before you get there.
All the best with possible med future. Take your time to think about it