Hey guys, I was pretty confident that I was going to apply for Alternate Entry to Otago Med this year... and then I read this forum in its entirety and quickly realised I probably shouldn't... haha.
I feel severely under qualified + inexperienced compared to the majority of posters on here and was just wondering if I could get some help from others who have gone through the process of applying to the Alternate Category in the past please? I am looking to apply in 2021 or even 2022/23 and would like some advice as to what I can do moving forward
thanks so much in advance.
Again like
Sideshowconnor , here is my obligatory life spiel:
I started study at the University of Waikato in 2015 and last year in July 2019 I graduated with a Bachelor of Health, Sport and Human Performance majoring in Community Health and Exercise Science. I got pretty good grades, I'm unsure of my GPA however I got mostly A-s, As and A+s (which wasn't very hard at all considering my degree lol) however it took me 4.5 years to do a 3 year degree (for a few good reasons). During my time at uni I competed as an international athlete and went to a few international tournaments; I also spent one semester playing NCAA sport in the USA on a fully-funded scholarship to a decent school and one semester in the UK on trial at a professional sport club whilst studying at the University of Liverpool on a student exchange program through Waikato. My intention has always been to apply for medicine/study medicine after my sport career ended, however it has happened a little sooner than planned as I have been forced to retire due to injury. I moved back home and got a job last year in aviation; I tried to get a job in the health field after I graduated as I am super interested in Community and Public Health, however there is not much at all you can do with my degree, especially with just an undergrad degree, and I was getting desperate for money so needed a job ASAP, hence the random aviation job.
Anyway, where I am going with this is that I thought I had a lot of good life experience, as I had lived overseas in both the USA and the UK during my undergrad studies and my time as an athlete is a bit of a point of difference in comparison most undergrad students. However reading over the hundreds of forum posts I have now realised that it looks like I don't have the type of experience the board may be looking for.
To sum this up, I would like to please ask a question to anyone on here who is able to help:
- I am definitely interested in applying to Otago Med through the Alternate Category in the future, however I don't have any experience in my degree: public health/community health. I understand that you defintiley don't have to be from a health background at all, however if I were to go out into the workforce with my quals it would be health related. I am also super interested in more study and would definitely be up for further study, e.g. a Masters in Public Health or even a PhD.
If I could get a job in the primary care sector in a public health role, would this experience be favoured more than higher education in terms of my chances of getting into med via the alternate category? E.g. if i was to keep on studying, as someone eluded to further up in the thread, I would be just studying and not gaining the necessary experience in the health sector the admissions seem to favour (if I have gotten this wrong please correct me!
)
I understand that I shouldn't do things just to put on my CV to get into medicine , however I was just wondering if you guys thought that experience in the health sector/primary care sector would be more valuable in the eyes of admissions, or whether a PGDip or MPH or even a PhD would be a wiser move? I would not be pursuing further study in Public Health ‘just to put on my CV’ as I am truly passionate about it, however I am just stuck as to whether I find myself a job in the field or keep going with study and try to apply after I’ve finished a Masters or even PhD.
Sorry about the long post, until today I was 100% set on applying this year and had my CV and personal statement all typed up, and had a quick google and found this thread. I'm really glad that I didn't apply as I now realise I don't have the experience/ qualifications of many of the other applicants and glad I didn't waste my 'once in a life-time application'. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance and good luck to everyone applying this year!