Auckland OLY1 chat - archive

[4everAlone]

Hey,
I know the answer to this question will definitely differ for different schools. But I was just wondering..
how many people from the high school you went to are there with you, studying med in the same year as you?
Thanks!

No one else from my school. Ask someone from auckland grammar though and you'll get a toootally different answer! =D

 

[Kikii]

No one else from my school. Ask someone from auckland grammar though and you'll get a toootally different answer! =D

Oh, that's not too encouraging.. Did you maybe come from a small-ish high school?
What about Westlake Boys, Westlake Girls and Rangitoto do you know?
Thanks!

 

[kakarot]

I don't think school really matters, it's up to the individual really...

 

[g.walker]

I don't think school really matters, it's up to the individual really...

School, particulary teachers, play a big role in shaping the individuality of us nerds (coz, after all, all med students and hopefuls are nerds )

 

[Kikii]

I heard that people drop out of med every year (as in a few people drop out after each 2nd year/3rd year/4th year/5th year of medicine) because the workload becomes too much. Is this true?
And does the workload become bigger and bigger each year in medicine after first year Biomedicine/Health Science?

 

[g.walker]

I heard that people drop out of med every year (as in a few people drop out after each 2nd year/3rd year/4th year/5th year of medicine) because the workload becomes too much. Is this true?
And does the workload become bigger and bigger each year in medicine after first year Biomedicine/Health Science?

Certainly some people fail, and I remeber last year a few students dropped out (2 come to mind), but you cant know whetehr it was workload or something else. For us, the workload has gone down compared to year 2. Id imagine the same thing happens in year 4/5 since you're just doing the same thing again except you're used to it. While workload is kind of subjective and variable, you certainly gone into more detail in progressing years and are expected to be more practically capable, latter of which can be quite daunting

 

[shmvitt]

The poplhlth 111 is next week! ARGH!!!!! Can anyone remember any sample non calculation question? I've looked on peerwise but they all seem to be calculations.

Thanks!

 

[govpop]

The poplhlth 111 is next week! ARGH!!!!! Can anyone remember any sample non calculation question? I've looked on peerwise but they all seem to be calculations.

Thanks!

which of these is related to random error (can pick more than one)

i)allocation bias
ii)regression to the mean
iii)compliance
iv)recruitment bias
v)instrumental measurement

what is a potential confounding factor when considering studies that show moderate alcohol consumption is more beneficial than low consumption?

that's all i got sorry- just make sure you take the time to think through each option.

 

[Kikii]

Certainly some people fail, and I remeber last year a few students dropped out (2 come to mind), but you cant know whetehr it was workload or something else. For us, the workload has gone down compared to year 2. Id imagine the same thing happens in year 4/5 since you're just doing the same thing again except you're used to it. While workload is kind of subjective and variable, you certainly gone into more detail in progressing years and are expected to be more practically capable, latter of which can be quite daunting

Okay, cool. Thanks. By the way, is it very possible to handle the workload in first year Biomed and still have a good night's sleep (at least 8 hours) and also have time for hobbies during the week?


And more questions:
1. Did you talk about what you did at high school when you had your interview?

2. Is what you did at high school actually important for the interview (considering the fact that at interview time one whole year has passed since leaving high school)?

3. Were you sleep deprived when studying first year Biomed? Is everybody who works hard and gets into Med sleep deprived ? I have heard of people doing Bio med this year. They do not seem to sleep very much.

4. What was the date when you knew you had got into medicine?

5. People doing 2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th year Medicine-- are you sleep deprived??

Thanks!

 

[4everAlone]

Okay, cool. Thanks. By the way, is it very possible to handle the workload in first year Biomed and still have a good night's sleep (at least 8 hours) and also have time for hobbies during the week?


And more questions:
1. Did you talk about what you did at high school when you had your interview?

2. Is what you did at high school actually important for the interview (considering the fact that at interview time one whole year has passed since leaving high school)?

3. Were you sleep deprived when studying first year Biomed? Is everybody who works hard and gets into Med sleep deprived ? I have heard of people doing Bio med this year. They do not seem to sleep very much.

4. What was the date when you knew you had got into medicine?

5. People doing 2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th year Medicine-- are you sleep deprived??

Thanks!

Yup it's possible and you should really aim for 8 hours sleep a night! I rarely stayed up late before an exam cramming, knowing that I would be able to think much better with a good night's sleep! I think too many first yearers underestimate the power of getting decent sleep =). If you're efficient with your study you should also have time for hobbies too, preferably outdoor ones to get some fresh air and sun! Biomed study is all about efficiency, rather than quantity in my opinion.
1. Nope not for me
2. Considering I never got asked about high school it's a no for me but maybe others got asked about schooling? So I'm not too sure
3. I got less sleep than I did at school and was often tired by the weekend, but the weekend was a perfect excuse for an epic sleep in so I wasn't one of those people walking around uni looking like a zombie!
4. December 23rd.
5. 2nd year: Not really. That may change now that we have tests this week and next though!

 

[lordgarlic]

hmmmm interesting questions

1) I talked about something. I don't remember what

2) It is important to a certain aspect since you talk about what extra stuff you did around high school - sports and social wise

3) no i wasn't sleep deprived at all. I was a spectacularly lazy student. I blame cambridge for that

4) Dec 21 2006

5) Not particularly sleep deprived throughout all of med school. I don't pull all nighters

 

[g.walker]

1. Did you talk about what you did at high school when you had your interview?

2. Is what you did at high school actually important for the interview (considering the fact that at interview time one whole year has passed since leaving high school)?

3. Were you sleep deprived when studying first year Biomed? Is everybody who works hard and gets into Med sleep deprived ? I have heard of people doing Bio med this year. They do not seem to sleep very much.

4. What was the date when you knew you had got into medicine?

5. People doing 2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th year Medicine-- are you sleep deprived??

Thanks!

1. Only about involvement in the sports team

2. IDK about you but in nothing exciting really happened in high school; what exactly are are you refering to?

3. I thought i was (~7hrs or less/night), my doc thought I wasnt. Either way, ever since high school, i've never had a proper night's rest before an exam (including biomoed, mbchb2). I only pulled 5 hours before UMAT. heck I've even done 2 official cambridge exams with an all nighter (that is, 0 hours of rest. staying awake for 30 hours straight. Still got A+s). Everyones different

4. December 23rd (our anniversery )

5. Well certainly 3rd schedule is soooooo amazing that I start in the afternoons on 3/5 days, so not as of right now. Year 2 semester 1 was horrible

 

[kakarot]

which of these is related to random error (can pick more than one)

i)allocation bias
ii)regression to the mean
iii)compliance
iv)recruitment bias
v)instrumental measurement

what is a potential confounding factor when considering studies that show moderate alcohol consumption is more beneficial than low consumption?

that's all i got sorry- just make sure you take the time to think through each option.

Factors related to random error: (ii) and (v)

As for a potential confounding factor to consider for studies involving the benefits for low/moderate alcohol consumption: BMI could be a possible confounding factor as the people who had low alcohol comsumption rates could have had higher BMI and people with higher BMI rates tend to overeat, which has been proven to compete with alcohol for brain reward sites hence less alcohol intake. These same people are known to have higher rates of morbidity and mortality. This could be in comparison to the healthier people who had appropriate diets and therefore moderate drinking could have been possible and benefited them in ways such as reduced CHD risk.

Just how hard is this test? I just hear from just about everywhere how hard and miserable this test is... I did the 22 question practice test they gave us, and it was rather simple... Just about all the people in my hall said it was "piss easy" so I assume I'm not alone;; In reality I heard it's about 5 times harder? I have a fairly good understanding of the GATE notes, is this sufficient?

POPHLTH 111 MCQ mid-term test 1 this coming Wednesday!!! Good luck to everyone with their studies ^^

 

[Kikii]

Yay,
3 replies!
Thanks 4everAlone, lordgarlic and g.walker!

g.walker: I mean-- For the interview is it important to have been involved in school leadership and groups. e.g. Amnesty member/leader, world vision coordinator, SADD leader, prefect, community committee member etc. etc.? I would think that what you do outside of school in your own time is more important than what you did inside of school??


More questions!

1. How many Westlakers are in your year in medicine at Auckland(separate numbers for WBHS and WGHS please)?

2. So what did you talk about for half an hour-ish during the interview (detailed please)?

3. I am a very slow reader. A bit of a perfectionist sometimes. Not a procastinator-- I get on to things quickly I like to think. But somehow I'm always slow and spend lots of time on things like reading/assignments/studying. Are these qualities good/bad for first year Biomed? Doing things slowly is quite bad I'm guessing?

Thanks people!

 

[govpop]

Factors related to random error: (ii) and (v)

As for a potential confounding factor to consider for studies involving the benefits for low/moderate alcohol consumption: BMI could be a possible confounding factor as the people who had low alcohol comsumption rates could have had higher BMI and people with higher BMI rates tend to overeat, which has been proven to compete with alcohol for brain reward sites hence less alcohol intake. These same people are known to have higher rates of morbidity and mortality. This could be in comparison to the healthier people who had appropriate diets and therefore moderate drinking could have been possible and benefited them in ways such as reduced CHD risk.

wow. i was thinking more that moderate drinkers are moderate people in general, but nice detailed explanation (though i would argue whether fatter people drink less)

and yes, everything you need to know is in the gate notes

 

[g.walker]

and yes, everything you need to know is in the gate notes

wooow really? unless they changed things around, we were completely surprised and screwed badly

 

[kakarot]

Hello, I know I can't even answer the first two questions and I'm not in med school yet...(too optimistic???) but I can give you a little light on what biomed is like in my perspective. Like you, I too was a bit of a perfectionist(based on ncea lvl3 study habits). For all my papers, I strived to digest/learn and memorise each day's work by synthesising my notes from the course book, lecture notes, lecture slides, and I did the reference/further readings in the textbook. Sometimes, I even added sections of the textbook to my already comprehensive set of notes. As diligent and hard-working this may seem, I regret this very much. At first, I did all this and I found that my life literally consisted of study and sleep. Period. That's not really "living". Every cell in my body felt miserable. So then I mixed this with a social life - I walked around campus as a half-dead sleep deprived soul because mixing that study routine with friends just doesn't work. Lectures were hell. SO, I ended up finding myself an efficient routine for study and this allowed me to have a balance of both.

My personal advice from my limited experience just reinforces what [4everalone/g.walker/and possibly others?] said. Read the textbookwhen you don't understand something, and you should really pour time into trying to learn/memorise those lecture slides/coursebook as a priority. You can rote-learn, like a lot of people do, but personally I find memorising easier when I understand the content first... I did some practice tests, and the slides, to my disbelief, were so much more comprehensive than I thought. So much of those past papers 2009/2010 were actually able to be done WITHOUT the textbook. There is just a lot more content in biomed compared to level 3 ncea. You CANNOT try to know every detail for everything. You will most likely "die". Even learning just the coursebook/lecture slide learning takes a fair bit of time to do properly.

Being a slow reader means you'll just need more time than others to learn/memorise content I guess. Hopefully, it't not too slow. However in a test situation, I guess this could be a disadvantage depending on how much wording is in the question? Being a perfectionist in biomed, in my opinion, is not so great. You'll just get owned.. Not procrastinating and getting on to things quickly will save you a lot of time and really it will benefit you in the long run. In a residential hall though, it is difficult at times. But really, you just need to find your own personal rhythm which works well for you and stick to it...

I hope my rant helped you a little bit.

 

[kakarot]

and yes, everything you need to know is in the gate notes

Thanks so much, I just hope this year doesn't deviate too much from last year then

 

[kakarot]

wooow really? unless they changed things around, we were completely surprised and screwed badly

I'm not trying to dig up any unpleasant experiences of the past or anything, but what exactly happened for pop hlth in your biomed year g.walker? It sounds rather dreadful...

 

[g.walker]

I'm not trying to dig up any unpleasant experiences of the past or anything, but what exactly happened for pop hlth in your biomed year g.walker? It sounds rather dreadful...

lets just say the class average for test one was 8.04/14
And for a person used to getting A+'s, 8/14 was as low as it got. For us, all the lectures were fairly simple but the test was very much examining thinking skills rather than the memorise and regurgitate that we're used to