Otago HSFY chat - archive

[patkirtan]

Hey guys

Sorry if this has been asked before, but im currently completing my HSFY 2011 enrolment form on online and it asks you to select the papers that you'll be doing next year. I've entered the 7 compulsory papers but I dont know if im meant to also select the optional 8th paper now, or if i should do that in semester two? Keeping in mind that i don't know whether i want to take an 8th paper...but i'm worried that if i don't select it now i wont be able to at another time...

Any help would be most appreciated .x

You can select your optional 8th paper on course approval at the beginning of 2nd Semester 2011. Just add the 7 compulsory papers for now, you'll have the whole of 1st semester to decide.

 

[groovejet]

Sweet. Thank you

 

[Deleted member 4350]

UMAT results in a week-ish! Good luck everyone. I really hope they come up with an alternative admissions scheme for the subsequent cohorts. I still think its a really unfair system even though I understand this is all they have to work with for now. Regardless, GL!

 

[patkirtan]

UMAT results in a week-ish! Good luck everyone. I really hope they come up with an alternative admissions scheme for the subsequent cohorts. I still think its a really unfair system even though I understand this is all they have to work with for now. Regardless, GL!

Thanks =) Although, I've already started at looking at post-grad papers, UMAT was such a huge upset for me last year and it seems it'll be the same this year.SIGH.

 

[Ben]

HSFY structure and Maori entry to med.

Hi everyone, been browsing these forums for a while now and thought I might as well ask a couple of questions that have been bugging me.

Note: These questions are directly aimed at anyone who has done HSFY. ^_^

• HSFY paper structure.
  
  Q1) Is the paper structure, such as which papers you do in the first and second semester the same every year?
  
  Q2) More of a request really. Care to rank, in your opinion (or your believed opinion of the masses ), the papers for each semester in regards to difficulty?
  
  
• Maori entry to med.
  
  Q1) What kind of mark is needed, UMAT and GPA, to gain med entry in the maori catagory?
  
  Q2) What proof of identification would be required to prove maori heritage?
  
  Q3) I have read on a different thread that "The Health Sciences faculty may also ask for an interview, in which they will also consider your cultural involvement and Maori heritage as well as academic performance." does this mean if I am not culturally active, i'm not entitled to my heritage?
  
  [OFFTOPIC]I'm not culturally active. :huh: "different thread": https://www.medstudentsonline.com.au/showthread.php?t=7270&page=52[/OFFTOPIC]
  

Thanks all, am looking forward to reading any answers.

EDIT: Have striked out questions that have been answered.

 

[patkirtan]

Hi everyone, been browsing these forums for a while now and thought I might as well ask a couple of questions that have been bugging me.

Note: These questions are directly aimed at anyone who has done HSFY. ^_^

• HSFY paper structure.
  
  Q1) Is the paper structure, such as which papers you do in the first and second semester the same every year?
  
  Q2) More of a request really. Care to rank, in your opinion (or your believed opinion of the masses ), the papers for each semester in regards to difficulty?
  
  
• Maori entry to med.
  
  Q1) What kind of mark is needed, UMAT and GPA, to gain med entry in the maori catagory?
  
  Q2) What proof of identification would be required to prove maori heritage?
  
  Q3) I have read on a different thread that "The Health Sciences faculty may also ask for an interview, in which they will also consider your cultural involvement and Maori heritage as well as academic performance." does this mean if I am not culturally active, i'm not entitled to my heritage?
  
  [OFFTOPIC]I'm not culturally active. :huh: "different thread": https://www.medstudentsonline.com.au/showthread.php?t=7270&page=52[/OFFTOPIC]
  

Thanks all, am looking forward to reading any answers.

Q1)

It's pretty much the same structure each year, with the exception of Heal192 it seems to be different every year but the overall structure is the same, just how the content is tested is different.
Q2)

Hardest to Easiest

Chem191
Phsi191
Heal192
Bioc192
Cels191
HUBS192
HUBS191

The ones in Red are generally the harder papers, but with Chem and Physics, if you are mathematically inclined and you are good at these subjects then these might be the easiest papers you do. [note that this is my opinion of the difficulty of the paper, some people might find the red ones the easiest papers]

 

[Matt]

• Q3) I have read on a different thread that "The Health Sciences faculty may also ask for an interview, in which they will also consider your cultural involvement and Maori heritage as well as academic performance." does this mean if I am not culturally active, i'm not entitled to my heritage?

No, I don't think that's what it means. If its anything like the interviews for Aborginal Australians its simply a discussion about whether you're cut out for medicine and whether or not you're committed to improving the health of indigenous people. Of course, the relative disadvantage for indigenous Australians is far greater here than in New Zealand and so it may well be different.

In Australia, medical schools are desperate for any indigenous students that are capable academically and committed to improving the health of Aboriginal Australians. Incredibly, even with these simple requirements we haven't any where near the number of indigenous medical students we should have.

 

[Ben]

Thanks for the information patkirtan and Matt, ^_^.

Q1)

It's pretty much the same structure each year, with the exception of Heal192 it seems to be different every year but the overall structure is the same, just how the content is tested is different.

Any idea on which papers are in the first semester and which are in the second though? If that's the same every year.

If its anything like the interviews for Aborginal Australians its simply a discussion about whether you're cut out for medicine and whether or not you're committed to improving the health of indigenous people.

Assuming that the interviews will be similar to that of the Aborginal Australians in Australia, unless I indicate that I'll be culturally active in the future, in terms of medical practice, I'm not entitled to my heritage? :mellow:

 

[Matt]

Assuming that the interviews will be similar to that of the Aborginal Australians in Australia, unless I indicate that I'll be culturally active in the future, in terms of medical practice, I'm not entitled to my heritage? :mellow:

Well, lets put things into context here. The indigenous entry scheme isn't about what you're entitled to. It's about improving the health of indigenous people and correcting the health inequalities they suffer from. I suspect (and personally would hope) that if your only claim to your heritage was a blood link that the school wouldn't be much interested in you as a Maori applicant.

I don't think what you need to demonstrate is really that hard, though. As Australian and New Zealanders we should all be committed to improving the health of our indigenous fellows and I'm sure that's all you need to demonstrate, some committment. It's not like you need to go and perform cultural song and dance every weekend.

 

[patkirtan]

Any idea on which papers are in the first semester and which are in the second though? If that's the same every year.

Chem191, Cels191 and Hubs191, Phsi191 are all [and for the past couple of years] have been taught and tested in First Semester.

Bioc192, Heal192, Hubs192 are all second semester papers and as above has been taught and tested in Second Semester for the past couple of years.

Unless they radically change the Health Science course, the papers should be taught and tested similar to previous years. It is very unlikely that there will be significant changes for 2011 since the Health Science course was 'revamped' in 2007.

 

[Ben]

I suspect (and personally would hope) that if your only claim to your heritage was a blood link that the school wouldn't be much interested in you as a Maori applicant.

Thanks Matt! :huh:

It's not like you need to go and perform cultural song and dance every weekend.

Good to know. ^_^

Chem191, Cels191 and Hubs191, Phsi191 are all [and for the past couple of years] have been taught and tested in First Semester.

Bioc192, Heal192, Hubs192 are all second semester papers and as above has been taught and tested in Second Semester for the past couple of years.

Awesome, just what I was looking for, for Q1. , I guess (considering the harder papers you ranked such as Phsi191 and Chem191 are in the first semester) that there are a few.. leavers from the HSFY course after semester 1 results?

 

[skyglow1]

Definitely CELS191 and PHSI191 are the harder in first semester. These two papers require you to actually understand concepts (PHSI is purely concepts...nothing needs to be memorised, you even get given a cheat sheet to write things on to bring into the exam!). Unfortunately for healthsci students, understanding concepts seems to be a real difficulty with many. I feel this is due to number of factors. For instance some concepts are taught pretty poorly by lecturers in my opinion. Also, many students coming through the NCEA pathway have done up to Level 3 statistics, and yet can't do simple things like rearranging maths equations! That's obviously going to impact on how well they can do in physics.

HUBS tends to be the easiest because it's about 90% just rote learning, and everyone can do this with enough time and effort. CELS tends to be a bit more difficult because the exam itself is harder than in HUBS.

HEAL used to be more difficult, but now it's fairly manageable. Again, HEAL requires a deep understanding of concepts (as well as a lot of memorisation) so students struggle here. BIOC is mostly memorisation, and when the terms test results come out, that will give a good idea of how students are performing in that paper.

Yes, a significant number of students drop out after 1st semester. Maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of students. It's most apparent in the hall that you stay at...because many of your hsfy friends you worked with in first semester are now suddenly doing other papers, and there's not many hsfy students actually left! (depends on which hall you go to though).

 

[patkirtan]

Thanks Matt! :huh:

Good to know. ^_^



Awesome, just what I was looking for, for Q1. , I guess (considering the harder papers you ranked such as Phsi191 and Chem191 are in the first semester) that there are a few.. leavers from the HSFY course after semester 1 results?

Chem191 has the highest fail rate, sometimes as much as 40 percent. But it doesn't reflect the performance of Health Science students because this paper is taken by an additional non-health science students which amounts to about 600 people.

Phsi191 is mostly taken by health science students and it has a high fail rate as well.

We had 1260 people doing Health Science at the beginning of year and now we are down to 1000 Health Science students. From that 1000 students i'm unsure how many are eligible for place in a health professional course and how many are eligible for Med. I'm assuming somewhere around 800. There are 180 seats for Health Science students for Medicine so competition is tough even AFTER 1st semester.

Definitely CELS191 and PHSI191 are the harder in first semester

You mean CHEM191?

 

[Ben]

PHSI is purely concepts...nothing needs to be memorised, you even get given a cheat sheet to write things on to bring into the exam!

Wow, I didn't know this, is it to be used as a formula sheet or are we given a separate sheet with formulas written?

HEAL used to be more difficult, but now it's fairly manageable.

Regarding content, what exactly is HEAL? A couple of key subject words I can chuck into Google will suffice.

Chem191 has the highest fail rate, sometimes as much as 40 percent. But it doesn't reflect the performance of Health Science students because this paper is taken by an additional non-health science students which amounts to about 600 people.

Phsi191 is mostly taken by health science students and it has a high fail rate as well.

Looks like a lot of my summer will be CHEM191 and PHSI191 preparation in between a summer school paper, (CHIN131 hopefully). Any idea how I can prepare?

[OFFTOPIC]Loving the quantity of information I've been receiving, so many questions being answered. Thanks![/OFFTOPIC]

 

[patkirtan]

Wow, I didn't know this, is it to be used as a formula sheet or are we given a separate sheet with formulas written?

Regarding content, what exactly is HEAL? A couple of key subject words I can chuck into Google will suffice.



Looks like a lot of my summer will be CHEM191 and PHSI191 preparation in between a summer school paper, (CHIN131 hopefully). Any idea how I can prepare?

[OFFTOPIC]Loving the quantity of information I've been receiving, so many questions being answered. Thanks![/OFFTOPIC]

The physics cheat sheet is basically an A4 sheet of paper where you can cram as much of the material you have learnt to take into an exam. They provide a formula sheet as well.

HEAL-
Keywords- Epidemiology
Public health model

You don't need to prepare for Phsi191 or Chem191, it's just a waste of your summer when you should be enjoying yourself.

 

[greenglacier]

For PHSI191 the cheat sheet is a double-sided sheet of A4 paper with anything you like on it. It is in addition to a formula sheet (taking up a whole page) and reference diagram which are given in the exam. Effectively you get 4 pages worth of information in the exam... it's because PHSI191 doesn't test factual recall.

In terms of difficulty, it definitely varies by people. I know some people who found PHSI the easiest first semester paper (personally I thought it was the easiest paper out of the 7 core HSFY papers), and some who found it the hardest paper in all of HSFY. It all stems down to how good you are at physics - it is a deceptively difficult subject and if you have trouble with it you will find PHSI191 quite challenging. At the same time, if you have studied physics at school and feel quite competant at it then you shouldn't have a problem.

CHEM191 - same sort of deal as PHSI in that it really depends on your existing knowledge. The contrast isn't as dramatic though - even if you have a really good chemistry background you'll still have to work fairly hard, and someone having trouble has a better chance of catching up.

I won't bother listing the papers by difficultly as it varies so much person to person. I would say that you're likely to find HUBS191 and 192 quite easy though.

HEAL192 deals with epidemiology and public health - google those if you want a background. Most of the paper is basically just learning who gets what diseases, why they get those diseases, and how people found this out. Traditionally this has given out the worst marks out of any of the papers though this may change this year... yet to see.

 

[Ben]

Oh epidemiology. -_-

I'm studying Epi/Public Health Model at Foundation (along with the other main subjects, including, Physics, Chemistry, and Human/Plant Biology in the Health Science stream) at the moment, so that's a pleasant surprise.

Going more in depth into PHSI191 and CHEM191, how well does NCEA level 3 prepare students for these papers? Would a student that got Merit/Excellence have a much larger advantage than those that got Achieved?

Since i'm at Foundation I don't really have a clear comparison between my marks and NCEA students' though, it'd just be nice to have a vague 'round about idea- since I can always check the NCEA website for previous exams and see how well I can do.

 

[patkirtan]

Oh epidemiology. -_-

I'm studying Epi/Public Health Model at Foundation (along with the other main subjects, including, Physics, Chemistry, and Human/Plant Biology in the Health Science stream) at the moment, so that's a pleasant surprise.

Going more in depth into PHSI191 and CHEM191, how well does NCEA level 3 prepare students for these papers? Would a student that got Merit/Excellence have a much larger advantage than those that got Achieved?

Since i'm at Foundation I don't really have a clear comparison between my marks and NCEA students' though, it'd just be nice to have a vague 'round about idea- since I can always check the NCEA website for previous exams and see how well I can do.

You can't really compare someones performance in High School and University, everyones study priority changes, some do A LOT more work in UNI and some do A LOT less/struggle with bulk memorizing.

The best thing to do is ignore all the competition [ including how well others are doing] and stay on task and reach your goal for each terms test/ exam and that is to get an A+.

 

[ChickenPie]

Advice for healthsci- get A+ in everything.

and don't bother preparing before you start HSFY.

 

[silentregrets]

I've just started reading this forum. I'm getting a little afraid...

Many people on this forum seem to be getting really high GPA's like 97.. Which is incredibly good (congrats on that) but is pretty much impossible for me!

In the first semester i got a GPA of 91. I'm pretty sure if i work hard this semester I can pull that up to about 94.

Is it a bad score? I mean for getting into medicine next year.

UMAT's going to be released in a few days... What would be my minimum (roughly)...?

Thank you!!