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HSFY 2019

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Having serious qualms with Otago implementing a 'Threshold' for UCAT. Not that it's unfair as a system but that it will be unfair to to past cohorts and future cohorts of HSFY students. In the past, a good UMAT could easily offset lower grades and similar a bad UMAT could offset higher grades. Whereas this year, a good UCAT was meaningless provided you were above the threshold. What I anticipate will happen for future years is that the Med School will revert back some weighting system similar to what they had in the past which is unfortunate because this years cohort will then just be a guinea pig year. I really hope this doesn't effect too many people. They really needed to find a way of keeping things consistent with previous/ future years, which I don't feel will happen.
 
Fairy Bread said:
Having serious qualms with Otago implementing a 'Threshold' for UCAT. Not that it's unfair as a system but that it will be unfair to to past cohorts and future cohorts of HSFY students. In the past, a good UMAT could easily offset lower grades and similar a bad UMAT could offset higher grades. Whereas this year, a good UCAT was meaningless provided you were above the threshold. What I anticipate will happen for future years is that the Med School will revert back some weighting system similar to what they had in the past which is unfortunate because this years cohort will then just be a guinea pig year. I really hope this doesn't effect too many people. They really needed to find a way of keeping things consistent with previous/ future years, which I don't feel will happen.
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Hi there,

I am not sure why it would be unfair to others. You only get compared to your cohort. I don't even see the point in trying to compare it to other cohorts. I don't believe UMAT could easily offset low grades given the weightings. Furthermore, only a small number of people had such extreme results that they really got saved by the other assessment tool. There was a high correlation between UMAT and grades. For most people, if one was good, the other was also good. I don't think they will be going back to the old system soon. You need to give them enough time to reassess their changes first. They have been using thresholds for the graduate entry for many years, no issue there.
 
Not denying that, all I'm saying is that a good UCAT this year round is almost meaningless in comparison to previous years where a good UMAT would have at least improved your rank score.
 
Hi everyone,

Is anyone checking eVision? I suspect something will be out between 11:00 and 2:30.

Good luck.
 
Stuart said:
Hi,

There is a chain of processes from you completing the exam, to physical transfer of exams, to marking, to meetings and to examinations/release.
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As you say you've been following the trends etc in the previous few years, have the semester 2 exam results historically come out earlier than the date they are said to be "confirmed" than the semester 1 exam results? Would just be interesting to know how you made the prediction
 
Blackmores said:
Kind of off-topic but I heard that oral therapists will be able to treat adults too in the near future. seems like a bad time to be a dentist tbh.
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Had a conversation with my dentist about this... apparently more Oral Therapists are now being hired over dentists (cheaper labour as they have a lower wage) to do more of the simpler work that Dentists would have done in the past. Apparently the system is becoming corrupt with Oral Therapists being pressured into performing complex procedures that they weren't exactly trained to perform (saves money for the business) and the scope of work that dentists now perform is narrowing (as they only perform the more complex procedures now).

This is coming from someone who owns their own clinic, whose Daughter also recently graduated from dental school 🤔
 
I
Gemma said:
Had a conversation with my dentist about this... apparently more Oral Therapists are now being hired over dentists (cheaper labour as they have a lower wage) to do more of the simpler work that Dentists would have done in the past. Apparently the system is becoming corrupt with Oral Therapists being pressured into performing complex procedures that they weren't exactly trained to perform (saves money for the business) and the scope of work that dentists now perform is narrowing (as they only perform the more complex procedures now).

This is coming from someone who owns their own clinic, whose Daughter also recently graduated from dental school 🤔
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It comes down to graduates wanting too high pay, if dentists (especially graduates) were willing to settle for roughly the same salary as Oral therapists, then everything should be fine.
 
Bootleg said:
It comes down to graduates wanting too high pay, if dentists (especially graduates) were willing to settle for roughly the same salary as Oral therapists, then everything should be fine.
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Then who would want to be a dentist? 5 years degree vs 3 years degree, plus the astronomical cost of dental school. That'd be quite unfair wouldn't it?
 
Bootleg said:
I

It comes down to graduates wanting too high pay, if dentists (especially graduates) were willing to settle for roughly the same salary as Oral therapists, then everything should be fine.
Click to expand...

The problem with this though is that dentists have spent 5 years instead of 3 years studying and are often better equipped with skills that oral therapists do not have since dentists had extra time studying. It's like comparing nurses and doctors. Nurses are amazing and can do a lot of the work that doctors can. You're pretty much saying that doctors should cut their pay the same as nurses and "everything would be fine" right?

Likewise entry into nursing or oral health is not as competitive as med or dent etc.
 
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