UoA 'What papers should I do at UoA for graduate entry' Chat/enquiries

[YogiBearified]

Thanks for that Inches and Corn_Add_Risk =) That was really helpful.

Just to follow up, what option did you guys choose to go into for 3rd year? e.g Neurobiology, Genetics and Development etc
Also, with the Medsci labs, are they all held at Grafton and is the structure of said labs the same as MedSci142?


[MENTION=13454]inches[/MENTION]: I'm looking to do those same papers as you for this year ^_^. I'm really tossing up between 201 and 204. But, in choosing 204 I read on the UoA webpage that there is an assignment, how did you find that? Also, there aren't any labs listed when enrolling, but does that mean that there are some extra online things to be done?

[MENTION=8906]Corn_Add_Risk[/MENTION]: Congrats on finishing Biomed =) Are you looking at going into the Honours programme? Thanks for your insight into those 2 papers. Having finished Biomed, how would you weigh up the workload over the 3 years? Was the structure for Medsci 201 labs similar to that of the Medsci142 labs?
Again, thanks for the heads up on the Biosci202 paper. I don't think I would've been able to anticipate that, but it's good to know what to expect.

I hope my bombardment of questions wasn't too horrible =/ Thanks for replying again =D And again, still open to anyone else who wants to drop an opinion?

 

[ep1kness]

Thanks for that Inches and Corn_Add_Risk =) That was really helpful.

Just to follow up, what option did you guys choose to go into for 3rd year? e.g Neurobiology, Genetics and Development etc
Also, with the Medsci labs, are they all held at Grafton and is the structure of said labs the same as MedSci142?


@inches : I'm looking to do those same papers as you for this year ^_^. I'm really tossing up between 201 and 204. But, in choosing 204 I read on the UoA webpage that there is an assignment, how did you find that? Also, there aren't any labs listed when enrolling, but does that mean that there are some extra online things to be done?

@Corn_Add_Risk : Congrats on finishing Biomed =) Are you looking at going into the Honours programme? Thanks for your insight into those 2 papers. Having finished Biomed, how would you weigh up the workload over the 3 years? Was the structure for Medsci 201 labs similar to that of the Medsci142 labs?
Again, thanks for the heads up on the Biosci202 paper. I don't think I would've been able to anticipate that, but it's good to know what to expect.

I hope my bombardment of questions wasn't too horrible =/ Thanks for replying again =D And again, still open to anyone else who wants to drop an opinion?

Heya, I finished biomed in 2010 and like [MENTION=13454]inches[/MENTION] said,

biosci201,202,203 and medsci 203,204,205 seem to be a 'standard' choice for 2nd years. (I did the same also)

So firstly regarding medsci 204 assignment, they are really nothing to worry about. Though it requires you to produce a massive report (something like 10-12 pages excluding references, can't remember exactly sorry.) about one drug (they usually give you about 6 drugs to choose from), they provide you with a very clear instruction (let you know specific topics you need to include in your report as sub-headings e.g. generic names, chemical formula / mechanism of action / adverse effects, contraindications / market size etc. etc.)

From then all you need to do is to research internet, jounral articles about that drug and do a massive 'para-phrasing' work. So unlike a creative writing where it might take you an hours to even write one paragraph, this type of report, once you get the hang of it, can be written quite quickly.

so yeah, you will be sweet and yes the 204 lab is a more of 'online-exercise' you just need to go through (think there are about 10 'labs'? you are supposd to review every week, but there is no deadline or anything and) they are actually quite helpful for studying for finals also, I remember printing some of them out for my notes.

on the other hand, 201, from what I heard is pretty intense (I'm sure you will be able to manage though ) and like @Corn_Add_Risk pointed out, it is a great great course, you get to learn about essential fundamental stuff about human biology.

All in all, personally, I would definitely recommend 204 over 201.


medsci 205 and 206 labs will be on the 2nd floor of the grafton building (not the same one as 142). it's where the department of physiology is at. (at least where the physiology labs are lol).


And finally, it is NOT compulsory to choose a specialisation from what I Know? (there was a change of regulation from my year that you can choose whatever paper you want without having to worry about meeting requirement for specialistion). Unless you are aiming to go into honours year, i don't think it's a bad idea to not specialise.


Hope this helps.(yy)

 

[Smac]

Hi YogiBearified!

I just would like to give some info about MEDSCI 201 and 204.

Medsci 201 - very anatomy. I mean, literal memorisation of every detail of the knee, shoulder, upper limb anatomy. I just don't know if they changed the content. It is a fun paper but challenging as well. Have fun!

Medsci 204 - drug names. lecture content are not that bad but it can be very dull. Actually, knowledge of MEDSCI 204 helped me in the interview as this paper discusses the details of drug discovery and clinical trial procedures for a drug. The essay is not that hard - YOU just need to start as early as possible and make it as presentable as possible 'coz your peers will mark it. haha.. The labs are all online (I suggest you just printscreen every single one of them if you like). Overall, it's a good paper and very informative.

General advice: In any paper in the 2nd year and 3rd year, A+ is attainable as long as you work for it. Someone told me this before when I was in 2nd year. Upon experiencing it myself, I found out that it's really possible.

Hope this helps!

 

[ep1kness]

Hey guys Just wondering whether people are going to study 6 stage three papers or 5...I'm considering doing 6 at stage three but that's because I want to aim for honours...however it might be clever to just take 5 because of GPA calculations etc...So what is everybody planning on doing?Also, is it necessary to take all or at least two of the highly recommended papers for a particular specialisation?Cheers in advance

Heya inches, though I am liberated from doing all that planning (finished biomed in 2010), thought I could share what I did (yy) (I used to think about/weigh possible options/combinations all the time, especially toward the end of the second semester in my second year up until the start of my third year..)

If your goal is to get into med via graduate entry, and you have got good grades from last year (i.e. at least 8 gpa, and actually, 'good' would mean something much higher than 8? ), then I personally think it's a good idea to just take 5 and give yourself no option but med. At least that's what I did, and it worked. (and also I did not worry about speicalising in any either, at the end of the day, 'biomedical sicence' is our speicalisation in itself.)

 

[Corn_Add_Risk]

Thanks for that Inches and Corn_Add_Risk =)

@Corn_Add_Risk : Congrats on finishing Biomed =) Are you looking at going into the Honours programme? Thanks for your insight into those 2 papers. Having finished Biomed, how would you weigh up the workload over the 3 years? Was the structure for Medsci 201 labs similar to that of the Medsci142 labs?
Again, thanks for the heads up on the Biosci202 paper. I don't think I would've been able to anticipate that, but it's good to know what to expect.

Cheers! It was a slog but the end result was worth it! I would say that the end of second year and start of first year was probably the hardest in terms of workload and difficulty of content. But this really depends on what times you take different papers and when you do your general ed. However it is doable if you are willing to put in the work, obviously if you just want to pass it's not too hard at all.
In regards to 201 labs, yea they are pretty much the same as 142 labs, if just slightly harder mainly due to the fact that it is a 2nd year paper more than anything. As I say again the hard part is remembering all the stuff in the labs for the two lab tests. Oh and no I'm not going for honors heading over to aus for med

 

[inches]

Hey ep1kness

Thanks for your advice bro

Lol my GPA is not up to scratch(a few unfortuante events happened) so I am kinda hoping for a miracle...
I know that they look for a GPA of around 8 but I think I can only give them a 7 ,which will be a stretch too.

Anyways, I think that the best option for me is taking 6 papers, illogical as that may sound

Congrats on getting in That's pretty much awesome

 

[YogiBearified]

Thanks so much for the responses, it's been really insightful and definitely has been a huge help. I think this might be a bit much, but are there any general pointers on the somewhat compulsory papers?
Would you guys recommend keeping any notes from 1st year for future papers? or is everything fresh new content?
Also, with stats- is there a difference between 101 and 108? Did you take this during the semester or in Summer School?

[MENTION=8906]Corn_Add_Risk[/MENTION]: Congrats on getting into Aussie med =D Does that mean you sat GAMSAT as well as UMAT(if you also applied for UoA)? Ah and I really don't plan on just passing, I just hope hard work pays off eventually =) Was it more difficult applying as a graduate student in the sense of being able to maintain a high GPA (from what I heard 8.5) over that period of time?

[MENTION=12693]Smac[/MENTION]: Thank you for the information on 201 and 204, that was extremely helpful. With peer-marked papers, will it be marked fairly? and does that just mean your assignment is marked by only one other person? Also, thank you for the general advice =) I think that was something I needed to hear. Hopefully an A+ will be attainable in the near future! Good things come with hard work anyways. =)

[MENTION=13407]ep1kness[/MENTION]: Thanks for the heads up on the 204 assignment! Good to know there's a structure to it instead of having free reign =D I'm assuming there'll be guidelines on how to reference also? Your recommendation was also helpful, I'm taking workload and labs into account when I'm thinking of the next few years.
Also, I didn't know that it was an option to not specialise in 3rd year. D= How would a person decide which field to head into? Was this change in regulation a permanent one? or something AU decided to do to test the waters?

Argh. Again, so many questions =/

 

[Smac]

Thanks so much for the responses, it's been really insightful and definitely has been a huge help. I think this might be a bit much, but are there any general pointers on the somewhat compulsory papers?
Would you guys recommend keeping any notes from 1st year for future papers? or is everything fresh new content?
Also, with stats- is there a difference between 101 and 108? Did you take this during the semester or in Summer School?

@Smac : Thank you for the information on 201 and 204, that was extremely helpful. With peer-marked papers, will it be marked fairly? and does that just mean your assignment is marked by only one other person? Also, thank you for the general advice =) I think that was something I needed to hear. Hopefully an A+ will be attainable in the near future! Good things come with hard work anyways. =)

Also, I didn't know that it was an option to not specialise in 3rd year. D= How would a person decide which field to head into? Was this change in regulation a permanent one? or something AU decided to do to test the waters?

Argh. Again, so many questions =/

Hey YogiBearified,

The peer-marking scheme was used during my time. I just don't know if they will change any of that in 204. The essay is a drug review that will require you to include facts about the drug with evidences from literature (ie. Ibuprofen, what are the side-effets? Absorption? Bioavailabilty? etc..) This marking scheme is highly subjective as it depends on how you will present your data. Five students from the same essay topic that you have chosen will mark your essay. For example, you chose to write a drug review about a certain drug from the list of drugs they gave you to choose from and from there, those who also chose the same thing will mark your work with a lot of comments and criticisms, etc.. Just be prepared.

General pointers:

BIOSCI 201 - not really hard, pretty much memorisation. Note: Get the textbook for this one by "Lodish". I highly recommend that you have your copy.
BIOSCI 202 - I agree to what was written above, this one is quite hard. haha. Get the "Griffiths" textbook if you want.
BIOSCI 203 - approach is similar to BIOSCI 201. Don't buy the book/s.
MEDSCI 205 - you will have to write lab reports here. As many view it, this has been "branded" as the hardest 2nd year paper as it jumps from simple lab assignments to writing a legitimate scientific report. Also, little-to-no notes are given which trains you to do your own notes. For me, it is a good physiology paper. Buy the "Boron" book or get a constant hold of one at least. I also tutor in this paper. haha
MEDSCI 206 - Neuroscience. Memorise and understand. Approach is similar to BIOSCI 201/203. It's up to you to buy the "Purves" book. If you plan on taking Neuro-based 3rd year papers, then, buy it.
PSYCH 202 - Did not take it. But heard it was hard due to the essay assessments. up to you.
STATS 101 - it's better to take it during the regular semesters. Enjoy the break! haha

For me, the only notes you want to keep is your MEDSCI 142 and BIOSCI 107 notes. It will help you in some 2nd and 3rd yr. papers. Also, specialise in what you WANT to do and you will get good results.

Okay, Hope these help!

 

[Corn_Add_Risk]

Yup I did both UMAT and GMAST (n) but I did UMAT in 2nd year and gamsat in my final year. GAMSAT is a pain in the butt, you have to fly to wellington and then sit the exam, all 6 hours of it :bored:!!!. However it does open doors to aussie if you are that way inclined. Yes it is harder to maintain the same GPA as a graduate, obviously due to increasing difficulty of papers however you are also allowed in 2nd and 3rd years to do papers that interest you, so the material may actually fun to study! 8.5 is quite high if you can maintain or even raise your GPA to that you deserve a medal! It's very doable however and just means you gotta put in the extra hard yards, which can be challenging as maintaining that kind of drive and focus over three years is not easy. My advice to you is to do papers that you are going to enjoy/are easy, have a chat with some other students who have just finished 2nd year and see what their take on the papers are. Personally I say to get that little extra boost in your GPA you want to do COMPSCI 111 or ECO 151G as your gen eds/supplementary science papers, as these are super easy A+ papers.

Also you dont have to keep any notes you made as a 1st year, although as [MENTION=12693]Smac[/MENTION] said if you are going to MEDSCI 142 and BIO 107 are probably the ones you want to hang on to. TBH all the stuff you need is given to you in the lectures and and little background info can be found in many of the textbooks you will buy or failing that wikipedia.

 

[Marilia]

Hi, just to add to this topic- I am doing a BSc but I just changed majors to Pharmacology and now I am kinda forced to do MEDSCI 205 (it's the only required choice of the 3 we are given that suits my timetable once I have taken all the other papers that I actually enjoy and want to do) so I was wondering if some kind person who has taken MEDSCI 205 could give a quick break down of the challenges of the course and maybe some tips on how to best overcome or avoid those challenges please? I have heard from soo many people that this is a hard course and I'm feeling quite anxious about the fact that minimal notes are given so it would be nice to go into the paper having a bit of a heads up...god knows a heads up with some of last years papers would have gone a long way..

 

[Marilia]

1. I was wondering for Auckland and Otago Medicine if I did 1st year papers in the first or second semesters of my 2nd or 3rd year of biomedicine would it count towards my GPA calculation for the last 2 years for Auckland and overall for Otago? I heard for Otago medicine, stage 1 papers are 0 GPA if done in 3rd year so is it the same for 2nd year? For Auckland medicine do stage 1 papers count for 0 GPA if done in 2nd and 3rd year in the 2 semesters and not in Summer School?

Tupac4life*^_^

Hey Tupac4life, I was just wondering if you found an answer to this question of yours as I was wondering the same?
This year (my 2nd year) I am doing 2 stage 1 papers in 1S as they are prerequisite papers for other S2 papers I want to take in 2S and also next year (year 3) I was wanting to take my GenED and my Elective which would both be stage 1 papers (which gives me exactly 12 stage one papers in my degree including first year papers) - none of them are in summer school though, I have taken at least 12 papers over stage 1 and from what I know I have met all the other requirements for a BSc degree in itself but will that suffice for med entry as post grad?

 

[ep1kness]

Hi, just to add to this topic- I am doing a BSc but I just changed majors to Pharmacology and now I am kinda forced to do MEDSCI 205 (it's the only required choice of the 3 we are given that suits my timetable once I have taken all the other papers that I actually enjoy and want to do) so I was wondering if some kind person who has taken MEDSCI 205 could give a quick break down of the challenges of the course and maybe some tips on how to best overcome or avoid those challenges please? I have heard from soo many people that this is a hard course and I'm feeling quite anxious about the fact that minimal notes are given so it would be nice to go into the paper having a bit of a heads up...god knows a heads up with some of last years papers would have gone a long way..

Heya, firstly I think you made a good move (changing majors to Pharmacology). It's a nice specialisation/background to have under your belt if you're going for graduate entry medicine (you will always be haunted by a myriad of drugs during your medical studies and will be very handy to have a solid base at pharmacology) and there is greater job opportunities post graduation compared to biomed also. lol

Anyway, though it's been a while (did it in 2009 S1), quick heads up for MEDSCI20 off the top of my head :

Firstly,this could come across as either a relief or a nightmare but just like the most other MEDSCI papers, it is a 'relatively' assessed course. In other words there is no set boundaries for A+, A, A-, B+ etc. for example for A+, the percentage varies from year to year i think it could go as low as 80~81?(or even below 80) depending on how good your year's cohort performs.

So as long as you can stay around the top 10% of your class you will get one of A's. (From what I remember the class size is ~300, so top 10% = top 30ish).


Another tip I can think of is, just like you said, most of the lecturers don't give out notes so I would strongly recommend you to record the lectures, and make notes out of what they say. Some of the lecturers, I remember really know what they're talking about. along with this, you could maybe get some notes off 3rd years? who have fared through well.

And there will be a tutoring programme offered by the department at the start of the semester. (They recognize 205 as a difficult course and hence employ a handful of past 205 students who did well and they are paid to run a weekly tutorials for those who want one). I suggest you make most it as they are the ones who know exactly what it's like and can give you really practical tips and advices. (e.g. for lab-report writing, study method etc)


And lastly have an early look at the exam papers (maybe now?), as the MCQ (mid-term test) as well as the final exams tend to be similar (mid-term papers are not available online but you will see some of exactly the same questions in the past year's MCQ part of final exam coming up in your mid-term test this year.lol) Just as many other courses, they pick questions out of a 'MCQ/question bank'. By doing so you will get the idea in terms of what you need to focus on/how you should make your notes etc.


That's about it that I can think of right now (in the midst of work) at the moment, hope this helps !

 

[Corn_Add_Risk]

[MENTION=13577]Marilia[/MENTION]
Quick breakdown of the challenges? Sure.
1. Lab reports. If you are starting 2nd year Biomed this will be an whole new type of assessment that you have not done before. Many people I know struggled with the first lab report purely because they had never written anything scientific before and honestly has no clue where to begin. It's important that you listen at the start of each lab to what your tutors say. They WILL give you all the information and how much detail you are required to go into. Also there is a lot of stuff in the lab manual which is also helpful, but combine this with the tutors info and you will be fine. Also after you get your first lab report back read the comments they give you, it will help and eventually as you keep writing more lab reports you will get the hang of it.
2. Lack of resources. By this I mean that some lectures just have no information on the slides or in the course manual all the info is given in the lecture itself so if you miss it or dont listen...well you are going to have to borrow someone elses stuff. TBH it's not that big a deal but it's a change from the spoon feeding you get in first year. Also some people have had problem with the reccomended textbook (boron and boulpep) and have opted instead to go for another one (guyton and hall). Personally I didn't find it so bad, but using both books really helped me out big time.

 

[miso]

textbooks

Hey,

I am going into second year Biomed and am currently looking at what textbooks to get.

I was hoping someone could give me some advice on what (if any) text books would be useful to get for MEDSCI 203?
And is it worthwhile me buying Lodish Et Al - molecular cell biology 6th ed for BIOSCI 201?

I am already going to get Guyton and Hall as have been told by a few people it's a handy book to have, but apart from that feel a little bit in the dark. So any tips/opinions would be fantastic

Thanks

 

[Smac]

Hey,

I am going into second year Biomed and am currently looking at what textbooks to get.

I was hoping someone could give me some advice on what (if any) text books would be useful to get for MEDSCI 203?
And is it worthwhile me buying Lodish Et Al - molecular cell biology 6th ed for BIOSCI 201?

I am already going to get Guyton and Hall as have been told by a few people it's a handy book to have, but apart from that feel a little bit in the dark. So any tips/opinions would be fantastic

Thanks

I highly recommend Lodish et al. This can be used in BIOSCI 201, Lab reports in MEDSCI 205, and some 3rd year Biomed papers. Also, Guyton and Hall is good physiology textbook but I recommend you should get the Boron and Boulpaep textbook, which is the recommended one. About MEDSCI 203, I have little idea if you really need textbooks as I didn't do it - I heard this is just rote learning the course guide. Hope these help!

 

[lambchops]

BIOSCI 209 (Biometry) is a fairly straightforward paper if you are good at and/or enjoy statistics. If you've taken STATS 101 (or even NCEA Level 3) and did well in that then BIOSCI 209 shouldn't be a problem at all. A few years ago they even had recorded lectures

I also enjoyed PSYCH 202 (prerequisite is 15 points from BIOSCI 101/103).

 

[Tupac4life]

Is it possible to take Stage 1 papers in 3rd year such as BIOSCI 102 or PHYSICS 108 during the Second Semester if you only plan to apply for medicine at Auckland and in Australia not Otago. Cheers guys.

 

[Smac]

Is it possible to take Stage 1 papers in 3rd year such as BIOSCI 102 or PHYSICS 108 during the Second Semester if you only plan to apply for medicine at Auckland and in Australia not Otago. Cheers guys.

Yup, taking stage I papers in the 3rd year is just fine with regards to the case you mentioned. I recommend you include COMPSCI 111 in your possible options, it's easy. This teaches you how to email, how to write a simple programme, MS Office things, and how to make a powerpoint about your family.. haha!

 

[Marilia]

@ep1kness - Thank you for taking the time to give me a heads up- I will definitely take your advice on looking at the past papers and getting a feel for them and I will also look into the peer tutoring thing because yeah I was definitely spoon fed last year in terms of notes and stuff so this year will need some independent work! And that's good to know about the grade boundaries!

I think what I will do is pay attention and make basic notes in the lectures and also record them so after the lectures I can make more specific in depth notes and as I learn predominantly by learning notes that will come to my advantage. Thanks again for your feedback, I appreciate it! Best of luck for your studies this year!!

 

[Marilia]

@Corn_Add_Risk - Thanks too for taking the time to reply, appreciate it!
Yeah, I have heard that the lab reports are quite intense but luckily back in high school I did IB and so as part of that I had to do weekly lab reports that were pretty much the same as the ones that we have to do in MEDSCI 205 (i looked through the course website at the example lab reports) so hopefully that will come to an advantage.

The lack of resources is what I am mostly anxious about but hopefully if I keep up to date with everything and remain one step ahead in terms of organization and planning throughout the semester I will be fine - would you reccomend I actually buy the books or would it be okay if I just borrowed them from short hand loans and just photocopied the pages I need? I brought Tortora last year but I ended up leaving it at home most of the time and just borrowing from uni short loans. Best of luck for the year ahead!