'What papers should I do at UoO for graduate entry' Chat, Enquiries and Help

[Snidget]

Hi guys!
I've been browsing around the possible degrees and the majors offered for quite some time and have narrowed the list down to a degree in biomedical sciences majoring in either functional biology or reproduction, genetics and development. After going through these threads I've read a lot of posts on functional biology and from what I understand it's like a continuation of hubs (please correct me if I have the wrong idea). But I haven't seen many people talking about repro. According to some websites, the compulsory genetics papers in repro are really hard, so that worried me. If any of you guys have any insights or information about these majors please let me know, I would really really appreciate it! Thanks so much for all your help

Hi, I finished my bbiomedsc in regede in December.

In terms of genetics papers, there's a lot of people who really hate them, I've always found them the easiest type of science paper to do, so who knows. I think it really depends on whether you get genetics or not. I did every gene paper uni offers except for GENE312, and got an A or A+ in all of them. They repeat the same questions over and over again every single year, with maybe one or two surprises. If you download every past exam, sort each question by the lecturer, and then make sure you can answer each lecturer's like 3 questions that they've repeated over and over again, you'll do well.

Lots of people like anatomy papers, I hate them and did as little of them as I could - they're so content heavy and expect so much memorizing. 300 level papers were better because they required more understanding compared to memorising, but were still twice as content heavy as gene papers.

If you like understanding topics, I'd go for regede and don't be scared of the genetics. If you like memorising stuff, I'd go for functional human biology - I hear phsl papers are also very content heavy like anat ones, but I could be wrong.

Personally if I were you, this is what I'd do. Take ANAT241, PHSL231 , and GENE221 in first semester. Throw in another paper if you want, and put whatever papers for second semester. After you've done your first sem papers, then you can decide whether you'd prefer to go the phsl/anat/etc route, or the anat/gene/etc route, and correspondingly change your paper choices. Note that 241 is very memorising heavy especially the last two modules, and GENE221 is apparently the hardest gene paper which lots of people struggle with (I did not and I don't really get why people found it harder than the others), so if you hate one of them by the end of the semester, don't throw the subjects away too quick. I absolutely hated ANAT241, it was awful and I almost changed majors so I wouldn't have to do anymore anat, but I gave ANAT243 a go because I am really interested in the repro/dev anatomy, and I enjoyed it a lot more so then I was happy to take a 300 level anat paper each semester.

Also either way, for everyone - I highly recommend bitc201, it's super super interesting, low time commitment, and really easy. The class averages for the essays were like 85% for the first one and 83% for the second, and they were worth 50% altogether. This is probably my favourite paper I've done at uni.

 

[rarabro]

Hi, I finished my bbiomedsc in regede in December.

In terms of genetics papers, there's a lot of people who really hate them, I've always found them the easiest type of science paper to do, so who knows. I think it really depends on whether you get genetics or not. I did every gene paper uni offers except for GENE312, and got an A or A+ in all of them. They repeat the same questions over and over again every single year, with maybe one or two surprises. If you download every past exam, sort each question by the lecturer, and then make sure you can answer each lecturer's like 3 questions that they've repeated over and over again, you'll do well.

Lots of people like anatomy papers, I hate them and did as little of them as I could - they're so content heavy and expect so much memorizing. 300 level papers were better because they required more understanding compared to memorising, but were still twice as content heavy as gene papers.

If you like understanding topics, I'd go for regede and don't be scared of the genetics. If you like memorising stuff, I'd go for functional human biology - I hear phsl papers are also very content heavy like anat ones, but I could be wrong.

Personally if I were you, this is what I'd do. Take ANAT241, PHSL231 , and GENE221 in first semester. Throw in another paper if you want, and put whatever papers for second semester. After you've done your first sem papers, then you can decide whether you'd prefer to go the phsl/anat/etc route, or the anat/gene/etc route, and correspondingly change your paper choices. Note that 241 is very memorising heavy especially the last two modules, and GENE221 is apparently the hardest gene paper which lots of people struggle with (I did not and I don't really get why people found it harder than the others), so if you hate one of them by the end of the semester, don't throw the subjects away too quick. I absolutely hated ANAT241, it was awful and I almost changed majors so I wouldn't have to do anymore anat, but I gave ANAT243 a go because I am really interested in the repro/dev anatomy, and I enjoyed it a lot more so then I was happy to take a 300 level anat paper each semester.

Also either way, for everyone - I highly recommend bitc201, it's super super interesting, low time commitment, and really easy. The class averages for the essays were like 85% for the first one and 83% for the second, and they were worth 50% altogether. This is probably my favourite paper I've done at uni.

Thank you so much for the super detailed reply- it was really helpful!

Personally, the reason why I prefer doing repro instead of functional biology is because functional biology seems to look into bits of all the major body systems, whereas repro is more focussed on a few.

I also wanted to ask you two questions if that's all good. The first one is: are there a lot of people doing the repro major? The second, (and this is a bit personal so feel free to just ignore it): did you manage to get into med school through the graduate pathway?

Again thank you so much for the advice

 

[Snidget]

Thank you so much for the super detailed reply- it was really helpful!

Personally, the reason why I prefer doing repro instead of functional biology is because functional biology seems to look into bits of all the major body systems, whereas repro is more focussed on a few.

I also wanted to ask you two questions if that's all good. The first one is: are there a lot of people doing the repro major? The second, (and this is a bit personal so feel free to just ignore it): did you manage to get into med school through the graduate pathway?

Again thank you so much for the advice

I'm biased, but I loved doing regede so I'd pick that one. But the best thing to do is take all the first-sem major requirements of the majors you're interested in. In my first sem second year I did ANAT241, GENE221, MICR221, and BIOC221 so that I could figure out which I liked most, and it was really helpful.

1) I'm not sure. They never got us all together or anything haha. At a guess I'd say about 10 people were doing it maybe? It wasn't a lot I don't think. But I could be wildly wrong!

2) I wasn't aiming to get into med and I didn't apply

You're welcome

 

[PostGrad4Life]

Hi guys!
I've been browsing around the possible degrees and the majors offered for quite some time and have narrowed the list down to a degree in biomedical sciences majoring in either functional biology or reproduction, genetics and development. After going through these threads I've read a lot of posts on functional biology and from what I understand it's like a continuation of hubs (please correct me if I have the wrong idea). But I haven't seen many people talking about repro. According to some websites, the compulsory genetics papers in repro are really hard, so that worried me. If any of you guys have any insights or information about these majors please let me know, I would really really appreciate it! Thanks so much for all your help

I cant help you as far as genetics goes, but if youre worried about difficulty then I'd tell you not to. For graduate entry the most important thing is to stay motivated and the best way to do that is through interest. If youre more interested in genetics over FUB, go with genetics, vice versa. I did a degree in biomed majoring in FUB and the physiology papers were like you said, a continuation of hubs. They go into a lot more depth than you do in HUBs.

More importantly, a biomed degree is very flexible, i. e., you can study physiology, anatomy, genetics papers, pharmacology, micro, and some others. So long as you do the two core physology papers (i think it's two?) you can choose whatever else you want so long as you meet the two hundred and three hundred level points.

If you decide you dont like genetics or FUB, you can comfortably switch over to the other major after semester one of your second year (which i assune is 2019), you just have to make sure you take the core papers of each major either in 2019 or 2020.

 

[rarabro]

I'm biased, but I loved doing regede so I'd pick that one. But the best thing to do is take all the first-sem major requirements of the majors you're interested in. In my first sem second year I did ANAT241, GENE221, MICR221, and BIOC221 so that I could figure out which I liked most, and it was really helpful.

1) I'm not sure. They never got us all together or anything haha. At a guess I'd say about 10 people were doing it maybe? It wasn't a lot I don't think. But I could be wildly wrong!

2) I wasn't aiming to get into med and I didn't apply

You're welcome

Thanks so much! This info has seriously helped me out!!

 

[rarabro]

I cant help you as far as genetics goes, but if youre worried about difficulty then I'd tell you not to. For graduate entry the most important thing is to stay motivated and the best way to do that is through interest. If youre more interested in genetics over FUB, go with genetics, vice versa. I did a degree in biomed majoring in FUB and the physiology papers were like you said, a continuation of hubs. They go into a lot more depth than you do in HUBs.

More importantly, a biomed degree is very flexible, i. e., you can study physiology, anatomy, genetics papers, pharmacology, micro, and some others. So long as you do the two core physology papers (i think it's two?) you can choose whatever else you want so long as you meet the two hundred and three hundred level points.

If you decide you dont like genetics or FUB, you can comfortably switch over to the other major after semester one of your second year (which i assune is 2019), you just have to make sure you take the core papers of each major either in 2019 or 2020.

Thank you for the reply!

I am swaying more towards repro right now, but the flexibility of this degree, as you said is really valuable. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

Like most people on this forum, I’m really trying to get into med through this pathway, so I was wondering if you got into med through FUB. Again I know this is a really touchy subject so please feel free to ignore it

Thanks so much again!

 

[PostGrad4Life]

no worries

Thank you for the reply!

I am swaying more towards repro right now, but the flexibility of this degree, as you said is really valuable. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

Like most people on this forum, I’m really trying to get into med through this pathway, so I was wondering if you got into med through FUB. Again I know this is a really touchy subject so please feel free to ignore it

Thanks so much again!

no worries
I, like many, am on the waitlist lol

 

[rarabro]

no worries


no worries
I, like many, am on the waitlist lol

All good bro! Best of luck and thanks again

 

[sk123]

Hi there, I just completed HSFY at UoO and unfortunately didnt get into medicine which was a bummer as it is the only career path i want to pursue. I am taking taking the grad entry route however I am so torn up between doing a Biomedical Science degree vs doing a BSc majoring in Anatomy. I know i need to do a degree which I will enjoy thoroughly as well as scorewell in. I know lots of people aiming to do med postgrad who are doing a biomed degree. Does anyone know what are some general career options from a BSc majoring in Anatomy vs a biomed degree. Also, are there any benefits from doing a Biomed degree rather than a anatomy degree when itcomes to medicine and med school /med school admissions? Also what is the general difference in difficulty between doing biomed vs doing an anatomy degree? I am extremelty passionate about medicine. Just want to be as well informed as possible to maximise my chances while also having a fufilling and enjoyable degree to fall back on if i unfortunately dont get into med or circumstances change. Honestly, I would appreciate any advice at this time.

(edited by LMG for formatting).

 

[zoeb]

Hi guys!
I've been browsing around the possible degrees and the majors offered for quite some time and have narrowed the list down to a degree in biomedical sciences majoring in either functional biology or reproduction, genetics and development. After going through these threads I've read a lot of posts on functional biology and from what I understand it's like a continuation of hubs (please correct me if I have the wrong idea). But I haven't seen many people talking about repro. According to some websites, the compulsory genetics papers in repro are really hard, so that worried me. If any of you guys have any insights or information about these majors please let me know, I would really really appreciate it! Thanks so much for all your help

Hi! I have just completed my biomed degree in the repro major and thought I’d also add in my thoughts just so you have another opinion too!

I was also warned against genetics but I chose to go with it anyway. Personally, I found genetics fine and found getting good marks in gene papers achievable with hard work. I did all gene papers except for 360 and 312 and, on the whole, I found them very similar in that you had to have a pretty decent understanding of the content to do well in them and could not get through by just regurgitating lecture content like you can in some other subjects. Although this was a bit of a change after hsfy, it was good practice for other papers, especially at 300 level. I also found the papers relatively interesting with the exception being GENE221 which was tedious and not a good reflection of what the rest of the gene papers were like. A bonus is also that the genetics department are a nice department that seem to genuinely want you to do well and many papers’ finals are quite repetitive!

In terms of Anatomy, I loved the two reproductive papers I took (243 and 333) and my friends and I actually found ourselves looking forward to going to the lectures! They are content heavy and some of the stuff they teach you is really in depth but really interesting and particularly ANAT333 has some content that is quite medical which really appealed. ANAT241 was awful though and was one of the worst papers I have taken. Some of the things covered in it were useful in other papers later on though.

Overall, I enjoyed my degree and am pleased I chose the major I did. I love having all the knowledge I now have from my degree and found that I learnt so much – even more than some of my friends who were in 3rd year med did about reproduction and development at times!

Also, sorry I’m not entirely sure of your situation, but if you (or anyone else reading this!) have missed out on med via health sci, try not to be too upset about it. I know, from personal experience, that it is a real kick in the guts to miss out after working so hard all year but looking back now, I can honestly say that missing out on med in first year is one of the best things that have ever happened to me! By doing a degree first I have had so many opportunities that I never would have otherwise had if I’d got in through health sci and I'm sure you will find the same!

 

[rarabro]

Hi! I have just completed my biomed degree in the repro major and thought I’d also add in my thoughts just so you have another opinion too!

I was also warned against genetics but I chose to go with it anyway. Personally, I found genetics fine and found getting good marks in gene papers achievable with hard work. I did all gene papers except for 360 and 312 and, on the whole, I found them very similar in that you had to have a pretty decent understanding of the content to do well in them and could not get through by just regurgitating lecture content like you can in some other subjects. Although this was a bit of a change after hsfy, it was good practice for other papers, especially at 300 level. I also found the papers relatively interesting with the exception being GENE221 which was tedious and not a good reflection of what the rest of the gene papers were like. A bonus is also that the genetics department are a nice department that seem to genuinely want you to do well and many papers’ finals are quite repetitive!

In terms of Anatomy, I loved the two reproductive papers I took (243 and 333) and my friends and I actually found ourselves looking forward to going to the lectures! They are content heavy and some of the stuff they teach you is really in depth but really interesting and particularly ANAT333 has some content that is quite medical which really appealed. ANAT241 was awful though and was one of the worst papers I have taken. Some of the things covered in it were useful in other papers later on though.

Overall, I enjoyed my degree and am pleased I chose the major I did. I love having all the knowledge I now have from my degree and found that I learnt so much – even more than some of my friends who were in 3rd year med did about reproduction and development at times!

Also, sorry I’m not entirely sure of your situation, but if you (or anyone else reading this!) have missed out on med via health sci, try not to be too upset about it. I know, from personal experience, that it is a real kick in the guts to miss out after working so hard all year but looking back now, I can honestly say that missing out on med in first year is one of the best things that have ever happened to me! By doing a degree first I have had so many opportunities that I never would have otherwise had if I’d got in through health sci and I'm sure you will find the same!

Hi there,

Thanks so much for the reply! Just want to say thanks to you and everyone else who responded. After taking what you’ve all said into consideration, I decided to enrol in the repro major. I think it’s more inline with my interests, so hopefully it’ll work out well.

Yeah I was one of those healthsci’s who couldn’t make it into med the first try. I really was gutted with that result but your feedback is super reassuring - thanks for that! I was wondering if you managed to make it into med through this pathway. Please feel free to ignore that question, I know it’s a pretty personal topic.

Thanks again for your comment

 

[DrDrLMG!]

I was wondering if you managed to make it into med through this pathway.

2018 Graduate Category Scores & Offers Thread

 

[zoeb]

Hi there,

Thanks so much for the reply! Just want to say thanks to you and everyone else who responded. After taking what you’ve all said into consideration, I decided to enrol in the repro major. I think it’s more inline with my interests, so hopefully it’ll work out well.

Yeah I was one of those healthsci’s who couldn’t make it into med the first try. I really was gutted with that result but your feedback is super reassuring - thanks for that! I was wondering if you managed to make it into med through this pathway. Please feel free to ignore that question, I know it’s a pretty personal topic.

Thanks again for your comment

No worries! And yes I did! Good luck for your degree

 

[rarabro]

No worries! And yes I did! Good luck for your degree

Awesome! Congratulations!! And thank you.

 

[nz_637]

hey! does anyone have any info on exercise physiology papers? like SPEX203? cheers

 

[doggo]

Hi has anyone got any info about the PHAL 200 level papers and their relative ease? Did nayone aiming for med graduate entry do PHAL?
Thanks

 

[blastoff]

FOSC202 anyone? I'm struggling to fit all my papers and the only way is to take something a bit random

 

[zoe179]

Hey guys,

Just wondering what people think of buying textbooks for second year science papers? Do they get used, or is it a waste to buy them?

 

[Luke521]

Hey, has anyone got any advice on the third year anatomy and genetics papers? I am planning on doing Bioa301, Anat333, 331, and 332. I have heard that ANAT331 is a killer. Thanks in advance.

 

[Fili]

Hey guys,

Just wondering what people think of buying textbooks for second year science papers? Do they get used, or is it a waste to buy them?

What papers are you planning on doing? Imho you don't need them and I've probably only ever used them a few times so I just went to the library to confirm certain info - however this does depend on your papers aka the MICR books I used because they were required for pre-labs which they let you use before the lab itself

P.S. you'll be surprised how many PDFs of the books you can get from the internet for free