Clinical Genetics?

[Snuffbox]

Wow that sounded far less creepy in my head.

[offtopic]I loled so much when I read that line, haha absolutely brilliant Hayden (yy). This would've made a great 4000th post... [/offtopic]

 

[Hayden]

[offtopic]LOL, not my proudest MSO moment, Lula [/offtopic]

 

[kloudsurfer]

The more specialised the field, the smaller it is.

Thanks for all the info Chinaski! You are so knowlegable compared to us pitiful little med students!

But im still confused about how you come to specialise. Can you just pick your specialty and you get it assuming you passed the RACP exam? Is there a limited number of places? Im just wondering if it would be hard getting into the smaller specialties

 

[Matt]

It would be hard. You can't simply just 'pick' your specialty. Basically you need to be employed by a hospital with the resources required to support the training of a registrar as decided by the RACP.

I think the RACP can theoretically 'admit' as many basic trainee registrars as they want on their program, so long as they are employed as a registrar in a hospital that has everything they need for their training. The challenge is being employed at these hospitals and employment, in this sense, is much like any other job application. You need a good CV, and good references. In some cases having your name published in the relevant field is helpful.

[offtopic]i.e. kloudsurfer, you might want to think about getting friendly with Jost and Jo Lind, who, for those who don't know are genetics researchers at UWS that are very keen to support students in research capacities. It might make a very small difference [/offtopic]

 

[chinaski]

I think the RACP can theoretically 'admit' as many basic trainee registrars as they want on their program, so long as they are employed as a registrar in a hospital that has everything they need for their training.

Bolded for emphasis.

You can't train an infinite amount of registrars. In order for training to be sound and satisfactory, a facility must offer an acceptable level of both clinical exposure and supervision to its registrars. This is where a training bottleneck occurs: supervision comes from senior staff, but if senior staff are outnumbered by junior staff, not all junior staff can be trained. So, when we get to advanced training, wherein several clinical supervisors are required for that facility to gain accreditation, the number of jobs can be limited by the capacity of that unit to teach.

 

[kloudsurfer]

So, basically its like finding a job, right?

Quick question (i couldnt be bothered starting another thread atm but maybe i will later) would it make a difference if I got a B. Med research? At UWS med students can take an extra year to do it, and im very interested, but i was wondering if it would actually have any significance after i graduate.

 

[chinaski]

So, basically its like finding a job, right?

In so far as the assumption that a degree doesn't equal a guarantee of anything, yes.

Quick question (i couldnt be bothered starting another thread atm but maybe i will later) would it make a difference if I got a B. Med research? At UWS med students can take an extra year to do it, and im very interested, but i was wondering if it would actually have any significance after i graduate.

Research qualifications and experience can only benefit you, yes, even moreso if they also entail publications.

 

[KFunk]

For more info on the training requirements for clinical genetics see here (paediatrics):

https://www.racp.edu.au/training/paed2003/advanced/vocational/genetics.htm

and here (adult medicine... they overlap a great deal as you can imagine):

https://www.racp.edu.au/training/adult2003/advanced/vocational/genetics.htm

 

[KFunk]

Also, subspecialty training in cancer genetics:

https://www.racp.edu.au/training/pa...ional/cancerGenetics_subspecialtyTraining.pdf

 

[nottellingu]

It would be hard. You can't simply just 'pick' your specialty. Basically you need to be employed by a hospital with the resources required to support the training of a registrar as decided by the RACP.

I think the RACP can theoretically 'admit' as many basic trainee registrars as they want on their program, so long as they are employed as a registrar in a hospital that has everything they need for their training. The challenge is being employed at these hospitals and employment, in this sense, is much like any other job application. You need a good CV, and good references. In some cases having your name published in the relevant field is helpful.

[offtopic]i.e. kloudsurfer, you might want to think about getting friendly with Jost and Jo Lind, who, for those who don't know are genetics researchers at UWS that are very keen to support students in research capacities. It might make a very small difference [/offtopic]

So even if u dont want to do research doing a research yr can help u get into a speciality? :mellow:

 

[Hayden]

That's correct.

 

[nottellingu]

That's correct.

Thats tough lol. What exactly do u research when ur a 3rd/4th yr med student, doesnt sound like much fun.

 

[Matt]

My housemate is doing the research year at UWS and loves it. As to what you research, that will depend on who your supervisor is. Normally your supervisor (a researcher) will have a fairly specialised area of interest and you'll be involved in helping them with their research in the lab.

My housemate also has a massive literature review to finish and parts of the supervisor's research are delegated to her to organise. She's at uni from 8-5 and she always seems to have plenty to do. There are also some courses you enrol in while you're doing the research year but my housemate got credit for most of them.

The thing a lot of med hopefuls don't realise about medicine is how intrinsically linked clinical and research medicine are. To be a competent doctor you really do have to understand how research works and be up to date with what's recent. You'll soon appreciate how many of a doctor's day to day decisions can (and should) be influenced by very recent research.

That's why research is noteworthy in specialty training applications, especially if its related to the field you're applying to. This is something I didn't appreciate so well when I first started.

 

[nottellingu]

My housemate is doing the research year at UWS and loves it. As to what you research, that will depend on who your supervisor is. Normally your supervisor (a researcher) will have a fairly specialised area of interest and you'll be involved in helping them with their research in the lab.

My housemate also has a massive literature review to finish and parts of the supervisor's research are delegated to her to organise. She's at uni from 8-5 and she always seems to have plenty to do. There are also some courses you enrol in while you're doing the research year but my housemate got credit for most of them.

The thing a lot of med hopefuls don't realise about medicine is how intrinsically linked clinical and research medicine are. To be a competent doctor you really do have to understand how research works and be up to date with what's recent. You'll soon appreciate how many of a doctor's day to day decisions can (and should) be influenced by very recent research.

That's why research is noteworthy in specialty training applications, especially if its related to the field you're applying to. This is something I didn't appreciate so well when I first started.

I guess the unsw students are pretty safe then considering they are forced to do an year of research.

 

[Hayden]

[offtopic]Matt you do Emergency/ICU in third year??? Jealous![/offtopic]

 

[Matt]

[offtopic]Yeah, but its technically a part of my surgical education so in that sense it's a little bit of a bogus rotation. It'll help for exams because it's so general though and obviously at this stage I'll learn heaps regardless of what rotation I do...... I kinda would've preferred something like orthopaedics though, we do a more structured ED/ICU/Anaesthetics placement in 5th year.

Still, seemings its at the very end of the year I'm hoping I'll be able to appreciate it alright even though I'm only in 3rd year. And, of course, I'm kind of really, really excited anyway just because it's ED/ICU!!!1!!! [/offtopic]

 

[maestro]

[offtopic] it might be the lack of unsw representation on mso, but uws sounds mighty exciting. [/offtopic]

 

[Hayden]

All med is exciting Maestro

 

[Matt]

[offtopic]

I guess the unsw students are pretty safe then considering they are forced to do an year of research.

Yes and the ILP sounds fairly similar to the BMedResearch at UWS... but it seems you have to do the BSc (Med) Honours if you want to graduate with anything other than an MBBS..... It's a shame becaue I think in the old UMelb program students graduated with a MBBS/BMedSci or something like that for their extra year.

I mean, I honestly don't think it makes much of a difference at all but its does seem to be a bit of a shame that the ILP isn't more structured so as to beef up what you end up graduating with.

it might be the lack of unsw representation on mso, but uws sounds mighty exciting.

All depends on perspective, maestro. Exciting isn't the word I'd choose to describe writing a massive literature review, for example. Last I heard my housemate's introduction was going to be 15 pages long! When I get home and ask my housemate about her day I certainly don't start regretting not doing the research year myself (except last week when she got a $10,000 scholarship!). On the other hand, she's having a fantastic time and has no regrets at all.

And be careful about comparing medical programs, especially when you don't have any experience studying them. At the end of it all, we're all learning the same stuff so we can graduate with the same nationally accreditted skills. If I were you I'd just assume all medical programs in Australia are good and leave it at that.[/offtopic]