Will i be able to handle medicine? (1 Viewer)

[angelano33]

Hi all,

I'm currently in year 12 taking my HSC and am looking into medicine. I changed my mind late last year, therefore, i'm not doing any sciences atm.

I've been told that I cannot possibly survive Medicine even if I get in without year 11 & 12 chem and bio, however, when the medicine program at UNSW doesn't really have any prerequisites.

Will I survive if I do bridging courses in the holiday? or is it safer to choose another career?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Havox]

I think you'll be fine even without the bridging courses.

 

[iBibah]

Would you really consider choosing a different career because of subject selections when you were no more than 16?


I think you know the answer to your own question tbh

 

[enoilgam]

Hi all,

I'm currently in year 12 taking my HSC and am looking into medicine. I changed my mind late last year, therefore, i'm not doing any sciences atm.

I've been told that I cannot possibly survive Medicine even if I get in without year 11 & 12 chem and bio, however, when the medicine program at UNSW doesn't really have any prerequisites.

Will I survive if I do bridging courses in the holiday? or is it safer to choose another career?

Thanks a lot!

I did a bit of research into this when I was your age and from what I gathered, you dont really need the sciences for undergraduate medicine in NSW. It is an advantage, but if you are good enough to get in, I think you should be able to handle the science.

 

[Medman]

Surviving medicine isn't about doing certain high school subjects. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either an idiot or just as uninformed as you.

 

[angelano33]

That's what I thought as well, it's just that the teacher who told me that also said the drop-out rate is high and if I don't have foundation for sciences I'm highly likely to fail and transferring into other good courses would be difficult cuz the first year result will pull my atar down.


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[Medman]

That's what I thought as well, it's just that the teacher who told me that also said the drop-out rate is high and if I don't have foundation for sciences I'm highly likely to fail and transferring into other good courses would be difficult cuz the first year result will pull my atar down.
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No offence to your teacher but he/she has a teaching degree not a medical degree. I reason why I think they think so is because 20 years ago that was the case but it has changed dramatically. Drop out rates aren't high, they are actually relatively low. My grade there is probably around a 3-5% drop out rate. Failure rate is even lower probably 1-3%. They don't want to fail you in medicine because it costs more for the university to fund your studies than they get reimbursed from the Government. Universities only do this for the prestige.

 

[Futuremedstudent]

yes, go for medicine
No uni in nsw has prerequisites for med.
Just do the bridging courses in the holidays before uni starts. They teach u the content u need to know cos the hsc courses teach u other stuff as well that has little or no relevance to med.
They only look at ur atar, umat score and ur interview, not what subjects u did in school.

 

[angelano33]

No offence to your teacher but he/she has a teaching degree not a medical degree. I reason why I think they think so is because 20 years ago that was the case but it has changed dramatically. Drop out rates aren't high, they are actually relatively low. My grade there is probably around a 3-5% drop out rate. Failure rate is even lower probably 1-3%. They don't want to fail you in medicine because it costs more for the university to fund your studies than they get reimbursed from the Government. Universities only do this for the prestige.

Oh really? Then that's a relief. The teacher who told me that was actually the career adviser, but i doubt she knows anything more than most students do. Thanks a lot!

 

[angelano33]

yes, go for medicine
No uni in nsw has prerequisites for med.
Just do the bridging courses in the holidays before uni starts. They teach u the content u need to know cos the hsc courses teach u other stuff as well that has little or no relevance to med.
They only look at ur atar, umat score and ur interview, not what subjects u did in school.

Yeah i shall do that then, hopefully I can pass the interview

 

[enoilgam]

No offence to your teacher but he/she has a teaching degree not a medical degree. I reason why I think they think so is because 20 years ago that was the case but it has changed dramatically. Drop out rates aren't high, they are actually relatively low. My grade there is probably around a 3-5% drop out rate. Failure rate is even lower probably 1-3%. They don't want to fail you in medicine because it costs more for the university to fund your studies than they get reimbursed from the Government. Universities only do this for the prestige.

This pretty much - what Medman has said also applies to most other degrees as well. In this day and age, universities are businesses first and educational institutions second - they want people to pass because high failure rates leave them out of pocket.

 

[Medman]

Yeah i shall do that then, hopefully I can pass the interview

You need to do well in all 3 components! ATAR, UMAT and Interview Good Luck! Make sure you practice. All my interview students that did not follow my advice and practice failed to get into medicine, I wasn't surprised.

 

[flashyGoldFish]

This pretty much - what Medman has said also applies to most other degrees as well. In this day and age, universities are businesses first and educational institutions second - they want people to pass because high failure rates leave them out of pocket.

Unless its engineering or law we are talking about.

 

[enoilgam]

Unless its engineering or law we are talking about.

They still try to limit it as much as possible.

 

[Willow129]

I wouldn't worry about not doing sciences at school, and if Medicine is what you want to do don't let your school subjects change that. In the greater scheme of things- two years of high school content is nothing to catch up on! My friend just picked subjects she knew she could do well in to get a good ATAR and is in Medicine now and not having any issues- she's at her first preference Newcastle Uni doing it, and actually wrote about her course and getting into it, etc here if you want to check it out http://thefootnotes.com.au/medicine-newcastle/ and if there's anything else you want to know from her just let me know!