Advice Request: Medicine Entry

[acoffeewithnosugarsplease]

Hey everyone,

I'm 19, almost 20. I went through high school with fairly average marks due to having very little motivation and mental health issues but would have been capable of much more. Midway through Year 12 I had some very serious surgeries I had to get done over the period of about two weeks (one was the initial surgery and one was a separate one to correct the first as it almost killed me). This was during my trial HSC exams. After I got out of hospital I was not in the mindset to continue with school and dropped out. Now that life is catching up to me and it's come to crunch time uni-wise I'm not sure what to do. My mum's family are practically all doctors and I'm feeling as though that would be both a rewarding job and one that will allow me in the future to afford to spend more time with my family than most other jobs so it definitely appeals to me for those reasons. My question to all of you is what I should do... Should I reapply for and complete the HSC or start a degree through the university bridging course I'm currently doing in the hope of swapping over at some point? I guess what I'm mainly interested to know is will the lack of an ATAR hold me back even if I do very well studying another university course? I am finding that gathering information in order to make an educated decision about my situation is very tricky!

Thanks in advance.
Luke.

 

[chinaski]

I'm feeling as though that would be both a rewarding job and one that will allow me in the future to afford to spend more time with my family than most other jobs so it definitely appeals to me for those reasons.

Seriously, think again. Of all jobs, medicine a better potential to rob you of that time.

 

[acoffeewithnosugarsplease]

Hi chinaski, I know studying initially will definitely be full-on but my family members and family friends of mine (all GPs) do regularly work half weeks and by all accounts seem to have a lot of time on their hands (one family friend has enough time to manage his large farm, own and maintain a winery and farmstay plus have, what seems to be anyway, ample time for his kids and wife). Could you expand on why you're thinking that? I am at the point where I really need as much info as I can to go off so genuinely want to know, I'm not trying to start an argument or anything like that. Thanks.

 

[B2]

Hi chinaski, I know studying initially will definitely be full-on but my family members and family friends of mine (all GPs) do regularly work half weeks, etc.. Could you expand on why you're thinking that? I am at the point where I really need as much info as I can to go off so genuinely want to know, I'm not trying to start an argument or anything like that.

So lets look at the time frame it will take to live that GP life where they work half weeks. You will have to either do HSC or bridging course and get into a university degree which is ATLEAST 1 year. Lets say you make it into medicine with a non tertiary transfer after 1 year and the quickest med program is 5 years. After this, you have 1 year of internship as well as residency/specialisation after that which can all take upto 3-5 years for GPs.

Thats atleast 10-12 years from now with the thought that you will be sitting in a medicine course in the next year or so which itself will be a feat and huge achievement. These 10-12 years(ATLEAST) wont be full of luxuries and will demand long hours of university/placement + self study. Realistically your looking at something closer to 15 years or so. Even after this, the job is emotionally and physically demanding.

Look at the reasons you want to do this. Do you have any interest in the medical field/biological health sciences other than wanting to work half weeks in 15 years time?

 

[chinaski]

Hi chinaski, I know studying initially will definitely be full-on but my family members and family friends of mine (all GPs) do regularly work half weeks and by all accounts seem to have a lot of time on their hands (one family friend has enough time to manage his large farm, own and maintain a winery and farmstay plus have, what seems to be anyway, ample time for his kids and wife). Could you expand on why you're thinking that? I am at the point where I really need as much info as I can to go off so genuinely want to know, I'm not trying to start an argument or anything like that. Thanks.

What is your plan if you don't want a GP and don't have a wife to look after your home and children while you further your career? Medicine is, by-and-large, not a lifestyle friendly career pathway. Med school is actually the easiest and most flexible part of the equation.

 

[JMP Lova]

I think you may be in a position to apply for medicine under UAC’s EAS (educational access scheme)

If you begin your HSC by the time you are 20, and finish when you are about 21, you will be able to apply as a mature-age applicant.

All the best, for your future. Don’t let anything slow you down.

You have learnt first hand, how uncertain life is; it’s too short to let go of and forget dreams and aspirations.

When you’re old and grey, don’t regret the life you’ve lived- because you didn’t apply yourself. Whatever path you choose, I’d humbly advice you to pursue some form of tertiary education.

GL

Edit: health conditions need not necessarily have to impede dreams. Just ask, Mana. In his 3rd year, he dropped out of medicine at UAdel (exit degree: Bachelor of Health Science), due to poor health. He sat GAMSAT, went to UNDS for grad med, and is now a Resident Medical officer.

 

[biom]

People who are very successful in a whole range of careers can end up in the position where they are working part weeks and have country properties. The part that comes before that though, is 20-30 years of extremely hard work. This has a cost in terms of health, family, friends.

If not already done, have a quiet and private chat with some of the family members who are docs on your mum's side. If they have 10+ years of professional experience then they could be ideally placed to help you understand what the career is about.

Whatever you study, it is really important that you think that you will find it interesting and challenging and have reasonable career prospects. This will most likely lead to a successful career.

It sounds as though your Y12 was a pretty awful experience.
Congrats on getting through that and now re-evaluating your options.

Good luck.

 

[Archie Wiggins]

Hey guys, im just here to seek some advice. Im currently studying first year civil engineering/advanced science at unsw and completely unsure what to major in for science come second year. My goal is to eventually get into medicine by finishing my adv sci degree first. Hence i plan to finish my adv sci degree within the first 3 years. I want to major in something that would be helpful for medicine (eg anatomy/physiology) however if i fail gamsat multiple times and dont get med, i will be stuck with a anatomy/civil duo degree which certainly is not a good duo. However if i pick a major in science such as physics, it will be a good duo with civil if i dont make it into medicine. On the other hand, if i do make it into medicine i will walk in with very limited knowledge. Hence i am seeking advice from you guys with any suggestions. Should i change my engineering to something like bioinformatics? is it ok to have an anatomy degree with civil etc etc. Thankyou

 

[Mana]

I would say that you should pick areas of study that are useful for the career that you would get from that degree you are currently studying.

Don't pick subjects because they will be useful for medicine - you'll have ample time to study medicine once you are in it. People start studying medicine from all different walks of life and come out the end of medical school fine. You absolutely do not need to be preparing medical school study while doing your back-up plan degree - just focus on doing as well as you can in your current area of study.

Re: the GAMSAT - regardless of the content of your current university study you'll be wanting to just have a baseline level of knowledge in all the relevant areas of science and humanities for it. However this is easily done out of university and does not really require that you choose those courses at university, given the nature of the test as less content-based and more reasoning-based.