Hobart is a great city, but it is pretty expensive and there is a housing shortage at the moment, so renting might be anaissue. Port Macquarie is in a beautiful part of the country, has lower living costs and it would be possible to drive home for study weeks, uni holidays etc reasonably cheaply. I'd personally chose UNSW based on the above info, but you can't go wrong with either choice. What does your gut tell you?
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Choosing Between Universities and Offers
- Thread starter bbydaisy
- Start date
I'd imagine the fact that UNSW is 6 years and UTAS is only 5 would largely mitigate any possible financial benefit of choosing Port Mac, especially in the long term. An extra year of HECS debt, an extra year of living as a student, and a year later starting full time employment/earning a salary.
H_______ did you receive scholarships for either university? Have you secured accommodation for either? Do you have a preference for doing your intern year in NSW or Tasmania? I've written a bit of a re-cap about UTAS first year that you can check out (in the Tasmania subforum). I personally loved my year, last year, and definitely recommend the Med program at UTAS in isolation. I obviously can't recommend it above anywhere else, content-wise, as I've not been anywhere else
Trying to get UTAS accommodation now to keep my options, although my internship preference would be for NSW, but not sure if that makes the decision for me. I honestly have no idea - I haven't been to either spot so I can't even choose based on that...I'd imagine the fact that UNSW is 6 years and UTAS is only 5 would largely mitigate any possible financial benefit of choosing Port Mac, especially in the long term. An extra year of HECS debt, an extra year of living as a student, and a year later starting full time employment/earning a salary.
H_______ did you receive scholarships for either university? Have you secured accommodation for either? Do you have a preference for doing your intern year in NSW or Tasmania? I've written a bit of a re-cap about UTAS first year that you can check out (in the Tasmania subforum). I personally loved my year, last year, and definitely recommend the Med program at UTAS in isolation. I obviously can't recommend it above anywhere else, content-wise, as I've not been anywhere else
Yeah, to be honest, unless you'd be gunning for a super popular hospital in NSW, applying as an interstate graduate who is willing to be allocated just about anywhere in the state isn't too bad, I don't believe, so even graduating in Tas wouldn't necessarily eliminate this option (though it would be important to keep in mind that the current situation may NOT be the situation in 5 years time).
Good luck with securing accommodation. I'd keep pestering them if I were you. I've heard there has been a bit of movement lately with accommodation offers, so fingers crossed something comes through and at least gives you the option. Don't be afraid to say things like, "I won't be able to accept my offer to study medicine if I am not provided an accommodation option". I don't advocate dropping the "I'm a med student" line to get favours, but in this case, the situation is pretty dire and you need all the (possible) advantage you can get!
I wasn't aware UNSW was 6 years, I'd also pick UTAS if it is a year shorter. Ultimately they both have the same outcome, and they're both excellent universities, go with what gets you out there working the fastest.
It would for me. An extra year at uni is nothing in the larger scheme of things. If you want to work in NSW, go to the NSW university.
One of us has also recieved the same letter and not sure what to do as the same twin also received Curtin offer. Any advice would be helpful to decide between Curtin MBbs vs Utas guaranteed after 3 years of Med Res degree. We are thinking Curtin would be better since shorter duration.
No brainer here. 5 years trumps a potential 8 years by a long shot - if your end goal is to become a doctor, then take the Curtin offer.
If you want to do research you can do higher degrees etc once you’ve finished the MBBS.
Thanks ...just needed reassurance from the experienced ones
sylviahallo
Member
My friend has been offered a place at University of Adelaide, CSP.
There are some questions and concerns.
Please share your opinions and advices.
Thank you all in advance.
He is concerned about the high failing rate or attrition rate (as discussed earlier on MSO)
How is it in 2018 and 2017 ?
He is also concerned about availability of internship after 2024.
How is the "internship situation" in
S. A. in 2018 and 2019 ?
How is internship in S.A. allocated ? Ballot or merit ?
What is the main focus during 6th year? Research ? (or another area ?)
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His home state is Victoria.
He is offered UoAdelaide (6 years), Curtin (5 years), JCU (6 years),
UTAS ( guaranteed B.Med Res )
UoMelbourne (guaranteed entry FFP),
What would you recommend ?
There are some questions and concerns.
Please share your opinions and advices.
Thank you all in advance.
He is concerned about the high failing rate or attrition rate (as discussed earlier on MSO)
How is it in 2018 and 2017 ?
He is also concerned about availability of internship after 2024.
How is the "internship situation" in
S. A. in 2018 and 2019 ?
How is internship in S.A. allocated ? Ballot or merit ?
What is the main focus during 6th year? Research ? (or another area ?)
=======================
His home state is Victoria.
He is offered UoAdelaide (6 years), Curtin (5 years), JCU (6 years),
UTAS ( guaranteed B.Med Res )
UoMelbourne (guaranteed entry FFP),
What would you recommend ?
Is the Curtin offer a CSP? I’d be taking the 5 years at Curtin > 6 years at Adelaide if he has to move anyway.
The Adelaide degree structure can be found on their website under “degree structure”: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/degree-finder/bmbbs_bmbbs.html#df-acc-degree_structure_parent
The internship situation for SA domestic graduates last year was an anomaly, I believe - there was an unusually large amount of graduates IIRC but the cohort sizes have since been reduced (A1 can confirm).
Also, out of interest, do you know your mate’s UMAT and ATAR? We’ve only had one MedRes/MBBS for UTAS reported, and I’m keen to get a bit more data on that pathway. Thank you!!
I have deduced the numbers below from Med Deans data for Adelaide Med
-- 2008 intake 157, next year Y2 cohort 145, graduated (2013) 127. Attrition= 30
-- 2009 intake 155, next year Y2 cohort 143, graduated (2014) 137. Attrition= 18
-- 2010 intake 185, next year Y2 cohort 171, graduated (2015) 146. Attrition= 39
-- 2011 intake 175, next year Y2 cohort 160, graduated (2016) 142. Attrition= 33
-- 2012 intake 178, next year Y2 cohort 164, graduated (2017) 171. Attrition= 7
-- 2013 intake 124, next year Y2 cohort 120, Y6 cohort (2018) 123. Attrition= 1
-- 2014 intake 116, next year Y2 cohort 110, Y5 cohort (2018) 118. Attrition= 0
-- 2015 intake 121, next year Y2 cohort 113, Y4 cohort (2018) 115. Attrition= 6
-- 2016 intake 129, next year Y2 cohort 120, Y3 cohort (2018) 120. Attrition= 9
-- 2017 intake 143, next year Y2 cohort 138, Y2 cohort (2018) 138. Attrition= 5
Please note the yearly attrition numbers are not precise since we can't account those repeating a year or taking a mid-course gap year (thus shifting to a different cohort year). But suffice to say they have dropped from 30s to single digit in recent years.
Also note the spike to 171 graduates in 2017 thus the SA internship crisis in 2018. However it will drop to 120-130 for the next several years.
sylviahallo
Member
Thanks for the replies.
Is SA internship allocation by ballot or by merit?
UoAdelaide exam is only pass or fail?
No marks?
Is SA internship allocation by ballot or by merit?
UoAdelaide exam is only pass or fail?
No marks?
By ballot.
Yes it will appear as a non graded pass on your official transcript but you’ll be able to see the exact marks you got for each exam for review/ feedback purposes.
And the main focus in year 6 is more like preparation for internship, there isn’t any assessment as final exams are done in year 5. So year 6 is really chilled most students go overseas for their placements- mainly a lot of travelling!
I am in the 2016 cohort, there were ~3 students who failed the year and had to subsequently repeat, the rest of them dropped out half way voluntarily or took a gap year.
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msothrowaway23
Lurker
Monash CSP vs WSU BMP
Both 5 year courses - I'm from NSW but warming up to the idea of moving out and learning towards monash since it's unbonded, and the MD course at wsu is new this year. Although wsu would allow me to get a guaranteed internship in nsw once I graduate.
What would YOU choose in my position and why?
If anyone could also comment on any other pro/cons (e.g internship, social life) at either uni that would be appreciated, thank you!
Both 5 year courses - I'm from NSW but warming up to the idea of moving out and learning towards monash since it's unbonded, and the MD course at wsu is new this year. Although wsu would allow me to get a guaranteed internship in nsw once I graduate.
What would YOU choose in my position and why?
If anyone could also comment on any other pro/cons (e.g internship, social life) at either uni that would be appreciated, thank you!
A guide to choosing between medical degrees
ETA: if you definitely want a NSW internship, take WSU (imo).
MONASH UNBONDED PROS/WSU BONDED CONS
1) Didn't you want to go the US before? I do remember a WSU bonded person asking a question regarding the US so it might be you? Well, Go8 Monash would edge WSU for getting into an American residency. Prestige matters for the US.
2) Unbonded>>>> bonded. Now bonded is great if you have no other offer. But unbonded? In a city like Melbourne? I would go for the unbonded.
If you try to do your bonded obligation out of the way in intern year, you'll likely to be stuck in a rural NSW hospital for 2 years(and not 1) because NSW Health signing new intern recruits to 2 year contracts. This is NSW (and therefore WSU) specific. This takes away valuable networking time for specialty applications. While a 2 year contract provides job stability, for those on bonded, it can also potentially be a hinderance.
It would be hard to do your obligation during registrar years unless you're in a "general" training program such as GP or emergency since a rural hospital may not be able to accommodate the more "obscure" or "highly specialised" specialties. Likewise, if you ended up in a "highly specialised" specialty, the rural area may not be able to accommodate specialty even when you're a fully licensed specialist. However, you will still need to fulfill the obligation to serve in an underserved area as signed on the contract. This kind of complicates things if you push your obligation to later in your career.
TLDR. So if you want a completely unhinged career options after graduation, go for unbonded. If you're gungho and set on going to general practice, it shouldn't impact you too much BUT in reality, most medical students flip flop during and after medical schools and it is advised to to keep specialty career options open.
3) Melbourne>Sydney. Obviously subjective but those livability rankings seem to favour Melbourne over Sydney and Melbourne gets ranked no. 1. Gladys is doing a stinker of a job governing NSW (NSW State Labor doesn't seem any better though) and there is a net outflow of people from Sydney(and NSW) into Victoria and Qld. There definitely seems to be a sentiment amongst Sydneysiders that they're a bit sick and tired of the city.
On a local level neighbourhood wise, Clayton> Campbelltown. 30-40 minutes to CBD vs 1 hour for Campbelltown. Clayton isn't exactly flash though by Melbourne standards. It would be the equivalent of perhaps Lidcombe in Sydney? However, since you mentioned social life, this is one aspect that favours Monash since it is much closer to its respective CBD. Monash is also close to Australia's largest shopping centre, Chadstone. Melbourne itself has a more vibrant social life due to the lack of lockout laws.
4) Campus life. Monash Clayton is a full sized campus. Clayton is not a "pretty" campus though. Nevertheless, the campus itself would have more food options, student societies and a more active social life(lunch time sport, gym etc) than WSU. Campbelltown is a small, cozy campus and the buildings look modern but is very small.
WSU BONDED PROS/MONASH UNBONDED CONS
1)Since you're from NSW, you could potentially save rent by staying at your parents house if you're close enough to Campbelltown Campus.
2) If you're deadset on a NSW internship (even rural NSW), you can get a NSW internship more easily. But the bonded kind of negates that since your post medical school options become slightly limited by the bonded obligation.
Where in NSW are you from? If you're in Sydney, then I would probably strongly suggest WSU despite the bonded nature of it because you'll get to live at home for the 5 years you study. If you are NOT in Sydney, then you'd have to move regardless, in which case I'd be taking the Monash offer (assuming you are free to work wherever you want and don't have to return to NSW for any particular reason after).
The MD course at WSU I would not expect to be entirely new - it's almost certainly going to be very similar to their old MBBS with maybe a couple of research projects tacked on.
To clarify the NSW 2 year contract/bonded thing:
You do NOT have to do your 1 year of RoS in your intern year (you can do it then or any time later on throughout provided it is within the year limit - however definitely consider the impact on future career progression). Within the 2 year NSW contract, it is possible, for example, if you got allocated to the RPAH network, for you to then do your intern year at RPAH and your resident year at one of the RPAH-affiliated peripheral sites, like Dubbo, on the SAME 2 year contract, and still have done at least some networking at the RPAH during your time there. (This would work mostly for hospital networks where there is a clear metro and rural/regional hospital, like the RPAH -> Dubbo, or RNSH -> Port Macquarie; it wouldn't work if you got assigned Bankstown and Campbelltown for example because those are both urban and it doesn't have enough rural terms to do a whole year iirc).
However, with a random allocation system in NSW, there's no guarantee you'll get into RPA or RNS. So it's not an exact science on where someone gets allocated. And even if you did get a hospital such as RPA/RNS, you'd still inevitably have trouble networking compared to your counterparts who have been in metropolitan hospitals for the whole two years.
And yeah the point I was trying to make is that if you push the RoS to a later year (eg one of your registrar years or during residency), it likely has implications for career progression. Especially for the not as common but very competitive specialties. You were much more succinct than me though in your explanation so thanks for that though.
So basically, bonded medical places, while not as bad as the past(when it was 4 years, 6 years or 2020 onwards when it becomes 3 years), still presents a hurdle compared to an unbonded place no matter when you do your RoS.
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