Hi,
I am currently in high school and am considering doing medicine at USYD (DDMP) or UNSW (BMed, MD). My backup is space engineering at USYD. I feel like I am more interested in academic research and development, being "at the forefront of medical research", rather than becoming a physician per se. Would doing an MD be suitable for this? As I understand it, research and clinical exposure go hand-in-hand, and a proportion MD-holders end up pursuing a career in research?
Even if I do become a doctor, I think I would prefer a specialty with less patient interaction like radiology or pathology? The idea of researching "the cure for cancer" or some other cliche expressions is very appealing to me. I just want to be able to make an impact on the world and science, "be the next face of medicine" or whatever. On the other hand, if I can make myself enjoy being a surgeon/physician (which wouldn't impact the world as much I don't think), my motivations would be a stable-paying job and a respectable career. I am an extremely self-motivated person who will put 110% effort into anything I put my mind in excelling in. I am aiming for a 99.95 for the score itself, not just for the sake of USYD's DDMP. I am extremely passionate about biology, physics and chemistry too.
Regarding undergraduate med science, while I agree after reading Mana's post that it is not a smart decision if the sole purpose is for entry into graduate medicine, as the chances will be the same as any other bachelor's degree, I don't really understand how there is a "90% chance of not being employed in Medical Science-related fields at the end of their degree." Isn't this assuming that everyone who does medical science/biomed either ends up doing graduate medicine (10%) or not employed in medical science fields (90%), leaving 0% of people who are employed in medical science fields? How is this possible? Where do all of the people who pursue careers in scientific research come from? Also, wouldn't doing a medical science bachelor's degree help towards the medicine degree, since the content is somewhat similar, despite not giving any extra advantage for admissions?
If career prospects in biomedical/scientific research are so bad, does this mean that my dreams of being at the forefront of medical research are pretty much impossible, and I'll either have to do engineering or become a doctor/surgeon hoping that I will be able to enjoy it? I would definitely say I am a more scientifically inclined person. I'm only in year 10 and in three years time I might be a completely different person with a different personality, my interests may change, and be super passionate about being a surgeon, who knows.
(The reason why space engineering is my backup is because I'm interested in space. I was previously considering a commerce/law double degree at USYD in part because of the high ATAR cutoff which I know is stupid. I was also considering actuarial/commerce at UNSW, but have decided against working in the business world, in favour of something that would help society. TBH now that I think about it part of the reason I have space engineering as a backup is also because of the high ATAR cutoff)