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

Planning second and third year biomed

Hello,

I have just finished first year biomed and I am looking for help planning my second year and third year, I am looking for any suggestions that could increase my chances of getting into medicine (e.g. easier papers for a higher gpa or certain paper which I missed and am required to take for medicine).

At this stage I am planning to major in nutrition or cardiovascular biology, it will probably be just the one of them but I have planned my papers for both, if I were to take some of the 300 level papers out what could I replace them with?

I am considering applying in otago, auckland, australia and to be honest anywhere else in the world that has international recognised medical degrees (e.g. UK)

2012 - S1
BIOSCI201
MEDSCI201
MEDSCI203
MEDSCI205
2012 - S2
BIOSCI202
BIOSCI203
MEDSCI206
PHIL105G

2013 - S1
BIOSCI209
MEDSCI315
MEDSCI311
MEDSCI316
2013 - S2
MEDSCI312
BIOSCI358
MEDSCI309

Thanks for your help :)
 
Last edited:
Nasty Nas said:
Hello,

I have just finished first year biomed and I am looking for help planning my second year and third year, I am looking for any suggestions that could increase my chances of getting into medicine (e.g. easier papers for a higher gpa or certain paper which I missed and am required to take for medicine).

At this stage I am planning to major in nutrition or cardiovascular biology, it will probably be just the one of them but I have planned my papers for both, if I were to take some of the 300 level papers out what could I replace them with?

I am considering applying in otago, auckland, australia and to be honest anywhere else in the world that has international recognised medical degrees (e.g. UK)

2012 - S1
BIOSCI201
MEDSCI201
MEDSCI203
MEDSCI205
2012 - S2
BIOSCI203
BIOSCI204
MEDSCI206
PHIL105G

2013 - S1
BIOSCI209
MEDSCI315
MEDSCI311
MEDSCI316
2013 - S2
MEDSCI312
BIOSCI358
MEDSCI309

Thanks for your help :)
Click to expand...

Hi Nasty Nas,

The choice of specialisation looks good. Generally, all your choices are good. I just would like to comment on some papers:

1. PHIL 105G - This is a gen.ed paper which is either you'll do really good or really bad. I took this in my first year but then immediately switched it to SPANISH 104G. If you need gen.ed, just choose language papers or compsci or econ papers - they are easier.

2. MEDSCI 309 - Warning: Do not take this paper (except if you really like physics and can manage to get A+ due to that). It is really hard to get A+ or A in this paper as I've heard from markers, lecturers, and students. They actually scaled down the marks for this paper very much just give some people decent marks. This is a hard paper but not impossible (but you want better ways to get GOOD marks, right?).

3. BIOSCI 358 - Not bad but it's better to take BIOSCI 353 if I were you. This BIOSCI 358 is harder compared to BIOSCI 353 in terms of assessments, workload, and exams.

All other papers are okay (A+-able ) if you put work on it. Remember, yes, it is good to do what you like but it is also highly essential that you'd be practical in choosing your papers wisely with regards to medicine application (that is, if you really wanted to get into it).

Enjoy! And Good luck! ^^

Smac
 
Hi Smac,

Thanks a lot for your help, it helps heaps to get advice from older students!

1. PHIL 105G - I enrolled for this last year and pulled out the night
before after getting feedback from others, however two friends of mine
took it and told me what it was like while doing it. From what they
said it is definitely something I would like to do and something I
think I will be good at.

2. MEDSCI 309 - I only picked this paper as it was a requirement for
the cardiovascular major, but since you said it is very hard, I think
I will just major in nutrition. (y) Thanks Smac! I was leaning towards
nutrition before and you helped me with the final decision.

3. BIOSCI 358 - Thanks for the heads up on this being a hard paper,
but to be honest I am still going to take it, I think this paper will
be one of my best memories of biomed :lolers: (it's quite interesting to
me, totally worth it the effort!)

Since I am no longer specialising in cardio (or taking medsci309) I
have altered my plan a little below, if anyone else has anymore
feedback on the new plan feel free to drop a comment!

2012 - S1
BIOSCI201
MEDSCI201
MEDSCI203
MEDSCI205

2012 - S2
BIOSCI202
BIOSCI203
MEDSCI204 (instead of MEDSCI3206 as it is easier / I’m not doing cardio anymore)
PHIL105G

2013 - S1
BIOSCI209
MEDSCI315
BIOSCI350 (instead of MEDSCI311 as it is easier / I’m not doing cardio anymore)
EASIEST MEDSCI/BIOSCI 300 level paper??? (Instead of MEDSCI316 as it is easier / I’m not doing cardio anymore)

2013 - S2
MEDSCI312
BIOSCI358
BIOSCI353 (instead of MEDSCI30- as it is easier / I’m not doing cardio anymore)
EASIEST SCIENCE SCHEDULE SUBJECT E.G. PHYSICS107 or COMPSCI111 (to meet biomed requirements)
 
Hmm.. just to add, I think MEDSCI 206 is (i think) easier than MEDSCI 204 in terms of workload and assessments. 'Coz in 204, you have an essay and lab exam plus usual assessments (ie. test and exam). In 206, it's just weekly lab reports plus the usual assessments as well. Well, it's up to you. If you like memorising drug names and all, do 204. If you like neuroscience, do 206.

Another thing, I think BIOSCI 356 is good. The only thing is that there is a LOT of content but that's it. Also, MEDSCI 313 would be good as well ( i guess) from what I've heard.

Cool g.
 
I've enrolled in both medsci 206 and medsci 204, i'll decide later because i'm confused now. I think I just assumed neuroscience would have more content and thus be harder. But I guess that isn't necessarily true...

I hope you enjoy first year medicine / freshers.
 
Hey, thanks for all the information everyone! I'm eager to get my teeth into second year biomed content! :)

Just wanting to clarify the information on what books to buy as I don't have that much money.

So far I'm thinking:
biosci201 - lodish
and
medsci205 - boron

You guys mentioned medsci 203 doesn't have anything but how about medsci201?
 
Okay so I looked more into it and decided to take pharmacology. Originally I was put off by having to do 4 medsci pharmacology papers in level 3, but then as a major pharmacology has less requirements than biomed, thus I can do easier papers and less papers.

I'm still doing the biochem paper, here's my new plan:

2012 - S1
BIOSCI201
MEDSCI201
MEDSCI203

2012 - S2
BIOSCI203
MEDSCI204
PHYSICS107
PHIL105G

2013 - S1
MEDSCI303
MEDSCI304
MEDSCI205

2013 - S2
MEDSCI305
MEDSCI306
BIOSCI358
MEDSCI206
 
There's a textbook called Lakhani et al but when I asked the course co-ordinator virtually most of the stuff that's examinable is in the course guide.


Nasty Nas said:
Hey, thanks for all the information everyone! I'm eager to get my teeth into second year biomed content! :)

Just wanting to clarify the information on what books to buy as I don't have that much money.

So far I'm thinking:
biosci201 - lodish
and
medsci205 - boron

You guys mentioned medsci 203 doesn't have anything but how about medsci201?
Click to expand...
 
I believe Lakhani et al is for MEDSCI203 and other people on the forum have already said that the course guide has most of the content, so I am not getting that and will only check it out from short loan.

But in regards to MEDSCI201 should I look at getting Martini et al or should I just buy the access card for master a&p?
 
Hi Lakhani et al is for medsci203 and I have already decided I'm not getting that one, but in terms of medsci201 should I get the book?
 
Yeah sorry for the miscommunication concerning MEDSCI 203.

For MEDSCI 201 I'm just planning to short loan it. I think it's a textbook which is used for one semester usually? I don't know if we can still use parts of Tortora and Derrickson for MEDSCI 201?!

Yeah for MEDSCI 205 there's also Guyton and Hall I think I need to try both out before I decide. Have you had a brief skim over Boron?

Nasty Nas said:
Hi Lakhani et al is for medsci203 and I have already decided I'm not getting that one, but in terms of medsci201 should I get the book?
Click to expand...
 
Hey, it's okay.

Okay I will just short loan medsci201 at this stage but talk to the course coordinator next week to check, it's quite insane how they charge $170 for Martini et al and the access, whereas they charge $85 just for the access.

I'm not actually doing MEDSCI205 this coming semester any more, I switched from biomed to pharmacology as the requirements are much easier so higher chance of getting into med. What made you choose biomed over pharmacology?

But I had a brief look at boron and it looks like something I would buy. One think you might want to consider is the number of copies of boron vs guyton? As you don't want to buy boron and try get guyton from short loan and find it's always taken...
 
Yeah Martini et al costs a bit too much for my budget eh!!! Haha I'd be broke if I had to buy all the textbooks for my courses. I've cancelled buying Lakhani et al for MEDSCI 203. I'm still going to buy Lodish et al.

Um ok this is my main reason why:
True for Pharmacology you can avoid doing STATS 101/108 or BIOSCI 209 which you need STATS 101/108 to do, but listening to some close friends of mine who did Pharmacology as their major the courses at 3rd year level are not necessarily "easier". I'm not trying to be "antagonistic" here but from what a really intelligent and hardworking friend of mine [he got all A+s in 1st year of biomed but didn't want to do medicine and ended up taking pharmacology] told me that some of the pharmacology courses can be very challenging at times. He had an incourse test in one of his courses which was full of Pharmacokinetics calculations that they were supposed to be taught after their incourse test. The class average turned out to be in the 30s according to him. When they asked why they did this they said by learning material this way it could be "more firmly embedded in their minds". It does sound like a far fetched story when you first hear it, but it did happen 3 years ago so it's not long ago but it's very possible it could happen again.

However, I'm not choosing to do Pharmacology or Physiology because of the less requirements, I want to do BSc because I really want to do BSc Biomed majoring in Cancer Biology and Nutrition. I carefully weighed up what were my strengths and interests, but I think from all the numerous possible combinations for my major I could only think of doing these two specialisations. I am not planning to study to BSc Hons or postgraduate diploma level, because after finishing my degree I'm thinking of applying to Australian graduate medical schools particularly the University of Melbourne. I don't plan on applying to NZ medical schools or other medical schools worldwide.

Anyway I'm planning to buy Boron. Oh well something I want to get second hand preferably!!!

Nasty Nas said:
Hey, it's okay.

Okay I will just short loan medsci201 at this stage but talk to the course coordinator next week to check, it's quite insane how they charge $170 for Martini et al and the access, whereas they charge $85 just for the access.

I'm not actually doing MEDSCI205 this coming semester any more, I switched from biomed to pharmacology as the requirements are much easier so higher chance of getting into med. What made you choose biomed over pharmacology?

But I had a brief look at boron and it looks like something I would buy. One think you might want to consider is the number of copies of boron vs guyton? As you don't want to buy boron and try get guyton from short loan and find it's always taken...
Click to expand...
 
Quick question for preparation of the semester:
Does anyone know of any preferred textbooks, or ones that are more commonly referred to by the lecturers for any of the Biomed papers in Year 2?

-edit-
I've read above, but there hasn't been anything said for MedSci 203 and there are 4 recommended texts for this paper, does anyone know whether any of them will come in handy?
[TABLE="width: 620"]
[TR]
[TD]Basic Pathology An Introduction to the Mechanism of Disease
[/TD]
[TD]RECOMMENDED
[/TD]
[TD]LAKHANI ET AL
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Essentials of Rubin's Pathology
[/TD]
[TD]RECOMMENDED
[/TD]
[TD]RUBIN Emanuel / REISNER Howard
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]General & Systematic Pathology
[/TD]
[TD]RECOMMENDED
[/TD]
[TD]UNDERWOOD & CROSS
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease
[/TD]
[TD]RECOMMENDED
[/TD]
[TD]KUMAR ET AL
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Open question to anyone with recommendations =D Thanks! ^_^
 
Last edited:
Hey Yogibearfriend I've emailed Dr Finlay and he said pretty much all examinable material will be in the course guide but he did mention Lakhani et al in particular was just helpful in enhancing understanding. I'm not planning to purchase them but short loan Lakhani et al instead for assignments perhaps which there are of three throughout the semester. Lakhani et al is pretty thin but costs $80 at UBS whoa!!!


YogiBearified said:
Quick question for preparation of the semester:
Does anyone know of any preferred textbooks, or ones that are more commonly referred to by the lecturers for any of the Biomed papers in Year 2?

-edit-
I've read above, but there hasn't been anything said for MedSci 203 and there are 4 recommended texts for this paper, does anyone know whether any of them will come in handy?
[TABLE="width: 620"]
[TR]
[TD]Basic Pathology An Introduction to the Mechanism of Disease[/TD]
[TD]RECOMMENDED [/TD]
[TD]LAKHANI ET AL [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Essentials of Rubin's Pathology[/TD]
[TD]RECOMMENDED [/TD]
[TD]RUBIN Emanuel / REISNER Howard [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]General & Systematic Pathology[/TD]
[TD]RECOMMENDED [/TD]
[TD]UNDERWOOD & CROSS [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease[/TD]
[TD]RECOMMENDED [/TD]
[TD]KUMAR ET AL [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Open question to anyone with recommendations =D Thanks! ^_^
Click to expand...
 
Just wondering, does anyone know about medsci 302 (cancer biology) like how hard it is and if there are any assignments we have to do (or if it's more test focussed)

Cheers in advance
 
inches said:
Just wondering, does anyone know about medsci 302 (cancer biology) like how hard it is and if there are any assignments we have to do (or if it's more test focussed)

Cheers in advance
Click to expand...

Hi inches,

I did MEDSCI 302. It's really a good cancer paper if you plan majoring on it. Firstly, I suggest taking BIOSCI 356 to somehow train you the basics about handling cancer-related papers, such as memorising great details of information (i mean in great detail). Okay, this cancer paper has a lot of detail in it and that is what I think is the only hard thing in this paper. As for assignments, it's pretty much straightforward and by the time you are to take this paper, i think you've already mastered making lab reports. The assessments are pretty simple: 15% mid-sem test, 25% lab assignments, and 60% exam (you can lookup the past exam paper). All lectures will be cecil and all the things you need to know are in the course guide, so, yeah.

Well, good luck in choosing papers!^^
 
Hi, i currently just finished year one biomed, but didn't get into med. I am just wondering what papers i shuld take as i want to enter postgrad medicne. I am having a hard time deciding as there is little time left to enrol in papers, so can anyone give some advice on specifically the medsci papers, as i heard some are more difficult than others and i wuld like to have a good chance of making it into med. Thanks :)
 
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