[Undergrad] Will MBBS undergraduate degrees still be available after 2015?

[casey00]

Hi, this is my first time posting so I'm sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place, or if this has been already posted (I have very extensively searched the site, however)

It seems very early to be worrying about this, but I'm interested in entering undergraduate medicine in 2015, and recently a friend's mum who is a doctor told her that undergraduate medicine is being phased out altogether by 2015.

I've researched it, and it doesn't seem like it will be gone altogether by then, but basically, my question is:

What do you think the chances of undergraduate medicine entry still being a viable option by 2015? What degree it is doesn't matter to me, so long as I can go straight into medical school out of high school.

Thanks for your time!

 

[Havox]

It's a fairly ridiculous claim. Some Unis may phase it out but on the whole it'll still be around.

 

[casey00]

oh great, I'm so relieved! Thanks for responding so quickly.

 

[Rey]

There are some ethical challenges with phasing out undergraduate schemes altogether.

Something things I can think of the top of my head:

- the well off have a greater chance of doing a medical degree due to financial advantages. Could lose some talented people because of this. Pollitically speaking this could be a nightmare for academic institutions and governments.

- certain minority groups such as aboriginals (and in NZ- native Maori) are underrepresented in health care practice but are integral players in improving ethnic inequalities. Increasing the length of time to complete a medical degree may increase this underrepresentedness. Again, this maybe politically detremental as countries are bound by international treaties to reduce inequalities (I think Australia has made a comittment?) so there could be consequences.

Not sure how much weight these challenges carry but I'd imagine they are good counters to prevent undergrad being completely phased out. In any case 2015 seems too close of a deadline to remove them completely but hey, I'm just speculating.

 

[Jordan]

UoN and UNE are currently undergoing a massive curriculum reboot which is due to start in 2015. One of the stipulations was that the degree remain an undergraduate degree.

 

[Xenon Hexafluoride]

Even universities that have will have (or have already) phased out undergraduate MBBS programs will still have provisional entry pathways to guarantee a place in a graduate program. I know that this is what is currently done by UQ and before the introduction of the MD program in 2015 the provisional entry pathway was similar in length to an undergraduate degree (6 years).

 

[geeoftee]

Im very much in favour of a move to graduate level entry only (with provisional entry schemes as well) so long as there are minimal degree restrictions applied. The thing that I very much like about graduate level courses is the diversity of the cohort. In the provisional entry cohort, most of us where high achieving inner city 99+ers/high UMATers who all took maths and sciences in high school (much like what I expect a typical student at Monash or Adelaide to be). When the graduate cohort joined us to form the med cohort, the diversity in the cohort exponentially increased. You had people from all over the world, with all sorts of experiences, having studied things like accounting/journalism/maths/engineering etc and at all sorts of lifestages. The diversity makes PBLs and small groups interesting as we all have different experiences and quite unique cultures.

I also feel that giving highschoolers a chance to study soemthing else at an undergrad level before progressing to med allows us to actually expand ourselves out before trying to fit into the mould of a med student. Doing prov med has given us the chance to study abroad for a year, learn a language, pursuit our own interests in various feilds like economics and make frienships with people outside of medicine. I feel that my passion for research would not be as strong had I not had the chance to study a BSc before med.

Besides, doing an undergrad + grad mbbs is only 7 years. Thats only 2 more years than the fastest undergrad courses. You will still become a doctor by age 23/24 if speed is what you wish for.

 

[casey00]

That's all true, I suppose in the end there will always be medical schools and the chance to become a doctor, which is all that really matters I guess. 2 more years isn't a huge deal in the scheme of things. Thank you so much for all your replies!

 

[spanishcloister]

It's a fairly ridiculous claim. Some Unis may phase it out but on the whole it'll still be around.

^ Yep. Also, the Dean of Med at UWS specifically told us today (open day) that UWS doesnt want to be graduate. So you can at least count on them being around in 2015 as undergrad.

 

[dnzlcuz]

You shouldn't worry about the future, it's out of your control in they choose or choose not to phase out undergraduate Medicine
Just stay focused on school, do some UMAT exercises etc.

 

[Season]

UNSW is very proud of its undergraduate degree and is very unlikely to change to a graduate program in the forseeable future.

 

[Jordan]

UNSW are also doing a bit of an overhaul of their program aren't they Season? They'd hardly bother to do that and then switch to grad a few years later.

 

[Xenon Hexafluoride]

I wasn't implying that the graduate programs would be the only way to complete a medicine course, just reassuring the OP that even if that did happen it wouldn't matter. Sorry if I have offended people!