Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants

[dotwingz]

Non-standard Medicine Entry

Hey guys! Thought I'd create a thread for us uni students who are hoping to do med next year. As we're a minority, it'd be good for us to have a space to ask questions about applications and stuff. To my understanding, the only undergraduate universities that take non-school leavers are: - UNSW...

medstudentsonline.com.au

Give this thread a read.

Also… let me say. You might not get in on your first go, second go, … so on. Really you treat each application cycle as its own independent journey.

I don’t think being a doctor would ever really be out of your reach, but it hits a point in life where you feel like you’d be better off on the path you’re already on instead of at the bottom of the ladder of a new one. I have someone in my cohort in their mid to late 60s so they obviously not everyone agrees…

In these times it’s best to have something you CAN fall back on.

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

As it stands, you've possibly only got 2 options that are slightly higher than your other chances. Bond and JCU that don't consider UCAT. You've got a full year to study. You can use Hazels UCAT guide or Smelly boys UCAT guide to help you. Each university is different. Some look at a combination of ATAR + GPA in your first year, some have your GPA weighted depending on what year you're in and some don't consider ATAR at all.

Do some more thorouigh research into individual med schools becuase it sounds like you'll need to take a deeper look into them. The mods are great and I love them, but they also aren't the be all and end all. They aren't going to know more than the actual school or students from schools they didn't go to etc.
I absolutely agree with Dotwingz though, it's never completely out of reach. I muddled around for a decade before applying to dent school (same situation, scored too low in high school, then in my first degree), and I have never been more grateful for having taken that pathway. It gave me chance to mature as a person, before I commit to knowing that a misstep on my part could kill a patient. It also lent me the professionalism and soft skills I needed to get in and (hopefully) make it through. It will be fine, do a degree that tailors to your strength (except MedSci and BioMed) and avoid the pitfalls.

If you're desperate, and I mean desperate desperate (***I don't recommend this, I'm saying its an option***:

I have known people have moved to rural areas specifically to lower the threshold for med school admissions (because the requirements halve).

 

[dotwingz]

The mods are great and I love them, but they also aren't the be all and end all

Yes do all your own research. I’m not really happy to talk absolutes on this forum because there are circumstances where biomed degrees, gap years, etc do work out and it looks like we’re catastrophising nothing.

The rural areas part is interesting. I guess if you were teetering on the 10 year limit then it would actually be a good idea, save money on rent too. But I can’t see the math working out except for those people.

I think a perspective change and a bit more knowledge about all the available pathways is healthy. A dogmatic view on how to get into medicine is a good way to shut yourself offfrom a lot of opportunity

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

View attachment 5774

Hey!! I prefaced it with saying you guyss were great!!!
I nearly ended up at CQU doing physiotherapy in Rockhampton. At that point, I would've just stayed the extra year to get the 5 years continuous rural rather than 10 years cumulatively. It woulve halved the time it took for me to get it XD
RA2 in Brisbane can literally start at 45 minutes out of the CBD, it's actually decently realistic.

 

[dotwingz]

Oh yep I see.

I know plenty of people with similar stories but they tend to be a tad older. Being experienced allied health practitioners in rural hospitals. Which imho is hardly a cheat and more like the system working.

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

Oh yep I see.

I know plenty of people with similar stories but they tend to be a tad older. Being experienced allied health practitioners in rural hospitals. Which imho is hardly a cheat and more like the system working.

I was in a metro hospital, but that...thats me. Here. Present. I'm old and tired and my neck hurt when I sleep wrong. Reporting for duty.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

I was in a metro hospital, but that...thats me. Here. Present. I'm old and tired and my neck hurt when I sleep wrong. Reporting for duty.

Are you me?

 

[medterview]

Non-standard Medicine Entry

Hey guys! Thought I'd create a thread for us uni students who are hoping to do med next year. As we're a minority, it'd be good for us to have a space to ask questions about applications and stuff. To my understanding, the only undergraduate universities that take non-school leavers are: - UNSW...

medstudentsonline.com.au

Give this thread a read.

Also… let me say. You might not get in on your first go, second go, … so on. Really you treat each application cycle as its own independent journey.

I don’t think being a doctor would ever really be out of your reach, but it hits a point in life where you feel like you’d be better off on the path you’re already on instead of at the bottom of the ladder of a new one. I have someone in my cohort in their mid to late 60s so they obviously not everyone agrees…

In these times it’s best to have something you CAN fall back on.

I second this thread! Gave it a read before starting my non-standard entry and was entirely helpful.

 

[dreambig]

there are a lot of overseas-trained doctors working in Australia after passing the required exams.

 

[Anonymous1527]

Hey, would anyone be able to point me in the direction of any decent paying health fields? I'm trying to look for a back up course if I don't make it into undergrad med but most of the choices seem pretty lacking, especially in comparison to other fields.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hey, would anyone be able to point me in the direction of any decent paying health fields? I'm trying to look for a back up course if I don't make it into undergrad med but most of the choices seem pretty lacking, especially in comparison to other fields.

I’d think dentistry and clinical psychology would be two of the most well remunerated outside of med. In fact, both are probably ahead of med until you hit senior registrar level, possibly even later than that for those in full time private practice.

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

Hey, would anyone be able to point me in the direction of any decent paying health fields? I'm trying to look for a back up course if I don't make it into undergrad med but most of the choices seem pretty lacking, especially in comparison to other fields.

Alternative degrees / Jobs:
180k+ jobs ($$$)
- Dentistry - Medical physist (suprisingly lucrative. X-rays are expensive to maintain) (80k- 230K before management)

100K - 150k (with experience) jobs ($$)
- Speech pathology - Physiotherapy - Psychology - Occupational Therapy - Nutrition and dietetics

- Optometry - Veterinary science - Podiatry + pedorthics - Medical imaging (? - shift work, so always pays pretty well q/ experience)

Other options:
- Rehab consultant - Exercise physiologist - Counselling - Therapist

- Social Work($?) - Pharmacy ($$) - Nursing ($$?) - Midwifery($$?)

- Forensics - Paramedicine - Radiation Therapy ($$?) - Osteopath

- Public Health (Masters) - Audiology (?) - Midwifery ($$?) - Chiropractor ($$?)

- Oriental medicine -Genetic something (counsellor?) (ANU has a bachelor of Genetics)

- Dental lab technician - Oral health therapy - Dental hygiene

Look, at the end of the day, how much you make is dependent on how much experience you have and what you're good at. A psychologist can command $200+ per appointment via contract work (or practice ownership) or $50/hr on regular contract. The difference between the two is staggering.

Rehab consultants can easily cross 100K+ with the right company.

Nursing crosses that with the right specialty and shift work (they can make bank with the right path)

Veterinary science swings wildly from 60-75K (starting salary) to over 200k with specialty

OT's get to 100k easily with experience and/or specialty, you can command upwards of that.

FIFO work or locum work can put you upwards of 150k easily no matter which allied health field you pick. Obviously, dentistry is going to be the easiest one to say becuase it comes with almost a guarantee of being able to cross 150k with a good lifestyle, but if you plan your career well and have a bit of luck you can make bank no matter which field you pick. Dentistry isn't for everyone. It's backbreaking, repetitive, sedentary and reasonably hard on the neck, back and hands. As a back up career, it's only good if you can tolerate that.