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Curtin Curtin Medicine: General Questions and Discussion

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Greetings fellow aspiring medlings! After extensive thorough but unsuccessful searching I've been unable to find the answer to an important question, so I'm turning to you fine young people in hope..

I'm desperately looking for some form of course to satisfy Curtin Medical School's chemistry prerequisite, namely: "Chemistry ATAR or equivalent" (https://s26475.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mbbs-admissions-guide-jul-2018v1.pdf)

I emphasise the "or equivalent" because it's already well past the SCSA's census date and I therefore cannot possibly enrol in an actual chemistry ATAR course (eg. with an adult education provider). Certainly not in WA, anyway.

This is for entry as a Curtin Course Switcher in 2020, therefore:
- Completing Curtin's introductory and biological chem units CHEM1003 + CHEM1005 is not possible as one is the prerequisite for the other; the relevant department at Curtin cannot grant a requisite waiver (even for someone who has passed three GAMSATs and even dabbled in tutoring general and organic chem); and the units cannot be taken concurrently (and there's only one semester remaining in 2019.
- ATAR Chemistry itself, at least insofar as WA schools are concerned, is impossible due to the above mentioned census date.
- Because it's already May, it has to be either self-paced or have a mandatory minimum completion time/floor no greater than ~six months.
- UniLearn's Chemistry course (https://www.open.edu.au/subjects/unilearn-chemistry-unl-unl21) is no-go because Curtin Medical School does not accept it.

Has anyone here taken a non-school and non-Curtin Chem (the CHEM1003 + CHEM1005 approach) pathway to satisfying Curtin's chemistry prerequisite?

Has anyone here successfully done something similar to satisfy a different med school's chem prerequisite?

Any ideas where I should look for courses? (other than Curtin Medical School, who can't help me).

What do people in your state normally do when they need to meet a prerequisite that's equivalent to ATAR/HSC/whatever other acronym you use?

Thanks in advance! <3

Have you contacted Curtin medicine admissions directly and asked for advice?

I was in this position when applying to UTAS MBBS. My high school chemistry had ‘expired’ and I needed to re-do it. UTAS offered a Foundation Chemistry unit that was deemed equivalent to Yr 12 chemistry and that Medicine admissions accepted. It was also offered via summer school and was 99% online, which made it very accessible. It was also fee free, which made it even more appealing.

UTAS Medicine admissions gave me all this information, which is why I wondered whether you’d contacted Curtin.
 

Pants

Lurker
Have you contacted Curtin medicine admissions directly and asked for advice?

I was in this position when applying to UTAS MBBS. My high school chemistry had ‘expired’ and I needed to re-do it. UTAS offered a Foundation Chemistry unit that was deemed equivalent to Yr 12 chemistry and that Medicine admissions accepted. It was also offered via summer school and was 99% online, which made it very accessible. It was also fee free, which made it even more appealing.

UTAS Medicine admissions gave me all this information, which is why I wondered whether you’d contacted Curtin.

Yessir I have - that's what I was alluding to when I said that Curtin "can't help me" :)

That UTAS unit you did - do you know whether it now appears on your transcript? Because Curtin's admissions guide states that Curtin Course Switchers (me) cannot have a "tertiary record" from any other institution, which I'm led to believe means you can't have done any formal units elsewhere (whereas bridging style courses etc would be OK).

If you have a link to the UTAS unit handy I'll pass it on to Curtin for review if it approximates their own units' learning outcomes closely enough.

Cheers!
 

A1

Rookie Doc
Moderator
Any ideas where I should look for courses? (other than Curtin Medical School, who can't help me).

I found this JCU CH1020 that hopefully meets Curtin's requirement
"This subject is a bridging chemistry subject designed to be equivalent of Queensland Senior high school chemistry (and its equivalents in other Australian states). Completion of this subject satisfies the chemistry entry requirements for many JCU degree programs."

> Subject Search - JCU Australia

It's one semester run three times a year
Cairns semester 1 (no good)
Townsville semester 2 (possible but requires attendance)
Townsville semester 3 - Face to face teaching 17-Jan-2019 to 11-Feb-2019. Presumably there will be one Jan to Feb 2020.

Since it's in Jan-Feb I remember LMG! was required to show proof of enrollment in the Chem bridging course when applying for (or being offered) UTas Med. Ask Curtin if they will accept the same. Best of luck.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Yessir I have - that's what I was alluding to when I said that Curtin "can't help me" :)

That UTAS unit you did - do you know whether it now appears on your transcript? Because Curtin's admissions guide states that Curtin Course Switchers (me) cannot have a "tertiary record" from any other institution, which I'm led to believe means you can't have done any formal units elsewhere (whereas bridging style courses etc would be OK).

If you have a link to the UTAS unit handy I'll pass it on to Curtin for review if it approximates their own units' learning outcomes closely enough.

Cheers!

Chemistry Foundation Unit (KRA001) - Courses & Units - University of Tasmania, Australia

This is the unit I did. It was specifically designed to meet UTAS first year needs though (Chem subjects, BPharm, and MBBS), so I’m not suggesting it will be universally acceptable. For example, it wasn’t acceptable for JCU, they wanted me to do the course A1 has linked. Needless to say, I didn’t bother.

The UTAS summer school course has two full lab days (9-5) back to back that you’d have to attend in person, so this may not be feasible for you.

And I actually have no idea if this is on my transcript, it’s never mattered so I’ve never checked.
 

TKAO

oowah!
Valued Member
Not quite sure if anyone cares but I think this year will actually be 90 places - not 80.

working backwards from 110 places in 2022, would leave 90 places for 2020, which is corroborated by:
under 'How many places are available'
An interesting thing to note about Curtin is that their 4th and 5th year students have to go to midland instead of their normal Bentley campus in 1st/2nd/3rd. This is a huge difference considering the distance between those two is a 25 minute drive compared to UWA and its health campus which is only 5 minutes away from the main campus.
 

Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
Anyone know what the Curtin medicine course is like compared to say UWA?
What exactly would you like to know? One of the key differences would be the duration (Curtin = 5 years, UWA = 6 years with 3 years in an undergraduate degree first). I’ve also heard that Curtin has a bit more of a focus on general practice and rural medicine.
 

Dacato10

Member
What exactly would you like to know? One of the key differences would be the duration (Curtin = 5 years, UWA = 6 years with 3 years in an undergraduate degree first). I’ve also heard that Curtin has a bit more of a focus on general practice and rural medicine.
I would like to know more about the actual course itself. I've heard that Curtin focuses less on lecture based learning and more on tutor based learning. How true is this, and how does this compare to UWA? Also, since Curtin's course only recently began, how well has it progressed since and is it comparable to UWA?
 

Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
I would like to know more about the actual course itself. I've heard that Curtin focuses less on lecture based learning and more on tutor based learning. How true is this, and how does this compare to UWA? Also, since Curtin's course only recently began, how well has it progressed since and is it comparable to UWA?
Hopefully there’s a current Curtin student that sees this and can offer some insight. Though, PBL is a central component of most medical school’s curriculum, so that is definitely not unique to Curtin.
 

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TKAO

oowah!
Valued Member
I know that Curtin, when they came to our school, talked about how they implemented a thing where you would be assigned an elderly person/couple that you and maybe another two people need to take care of. This meant meeting up regularly at their home or some place else to check up on health and wellbeing. The associate dean reasoned that the population is getting older, and so geriatric care is going to be of greater importance. She made it seem like only Curtin and not UWA does this, so there's that.

This was told to us several months ago and I may not have gotten all the details correctly, but the general jist of it should be good. I'm not sure how useful this information is to you though.
 

Dacato10

Member
I know that Curtin, when they came to our school, talked about how they implemented a thing where you would be assigned an elderly person/couple that you and maybe another two people need to take care of. This meant meeting up regularly at their home or some place else to check up on health and wellbeing. The associate dean reasoned that the population is getting older, and so geriatric care is going to be of greater importance. She made it seem like only Curtin and not UWA does this, so there's that.

This was told to us several months ago and I may not have gotten all the details correctly, but the general jist of it should be good. I'm not sure how useful this information is to you though.
Yes you're right, I saw a video about that on Youtube. Link if you're interested.

Hopefully there’s a current Curtin student that sees this and can offer some insight. Though, PBL is a central component of most medical school’s curriculum, so that is definitely not unique to Curtin.
Yup, hoping a Curtin student sees this, but it seems there are not many WA students on this forum, let alone ones doing Curtin med.
 

CatzDreaming

Medical Student 🐐
Hi, I am curious if you guys are able to fill up the predicted Atar form from Curtin University. I am not able to do that; however, the website states that it is fillable. Here is the link Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, requirements - Study | Curtin University, Perth, Australia

Could someone test it and tell me if it is fillable or is it just me
You're required to print out the form and fill out the first page. The second page is to be filled out by your principal and they will send the form to Curtin Uni.
 

MedicHP

Curtin MBBS IV
How many seats are at Curtin right now, I looked at the table A1 made but I'm pretty sure the amount of seats has increased.
The table hasn't held true because from what I know there are currently 90 or 91 students in the 2019 intake meaning they took in 10-11 more extra than originally intended
 

MedicHP

Curtin MBBS IV
What exactly would you like to know? One of the key differences would be the duration (Curtin = 5 years, UWA = 6 years with 3 years in an undergraduate degree first). I’ve also heard that Curtin has a bit more of a focus on general practice and rural medicine.
I would disagree about the focus on general practice however the rural aspect is to an extent true. In the second year, there is a rural immersion week which pairs students with a volunteer family in a rural area in order to foster an interest in rural health and lifestyles. Beyond that, the involvement in rural medicine isn't so big as the focus on Indigenous health, which I think is definitely a more notable tenet for the basis of Curtin's curriculum.
 

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Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
I would disagree about the focus on general practice however the rural aspect is to an extent true. In the second year, there is a rural immersion week which pairs students with a volunteer family in a rural area in order to foster an interest in rural health and lifestyles. Beyond that, the involvement in rural medicine isn't so big as the focus on Indigenous health, which I think is definitely a more notable tenet for the basis of Curtin's curriculum.
Thanks for the update, glad to have some info from a Curtin student directly! From memory I got the GP focus info from the third page on the admissions guide which talks about an emphasis of the course on “generalists” and primary care:

Would you say the guide is probably inaccurate, then?
 

A1

Rookie Doc
Moderator
from what I know there are currently 90 or 91 students in the 2019 intake meaning they took in 10-11 more extra than originally intended

Med Deans data show 2017 intake was 60, 2018 was 73, 2020 is 90 according to Curtin's Admissions guide. There's a clear planned increase of 10 per year so 2019 intake should have been around 80. The actual 90-91 was likely due to the elementary error someone at Curtin made in the calculations of ATAR+UMAT; after being challenged these 10-11 extra places were offered to the applicants who had been erroneously rejected.
 

MedicHP

Curtin MBBS IV
Thanks for the update, glad to have some info from a Curtin student directly! From memory I got the GP focus info from the third page on the admissions guide which talks about an emphasis of the course on “generalists” and primary care:

Would you say the guide is probably inaccurate, then?
I'd say just as of second year, there hasn't been an obvious focus on GPs that would seem to be more or less than any other uni.
 

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