Medical Science.. A stupid decision? (1 Viewer)

[wannabesurgeon]

This year I started Medical Science at UTS. So far I'm enjoying the course and have made heaps of friends.

I was always completely set on Med Science through high school but I started to think the other day about what will happen after if I don't get into Grad Med. I have heard so many stories about Medical Science graduates struggling to find jobs and some of them don't find a job for months. Besides that I don't want to end up as a lab rat or stuck in an office. I don't think I want to spend 30000k and have no job or a job I hate at the end. I think I got sucked into the "Med Sci will get me into Med so I don't need to worry about what happens after" attitude.

I'm starting to think about other options such as transferring to a Bachelor of Nursing at UTS. I think I would enjoy being a nurse especially in the areas of surgical/CCU/ER and others in that nature. Also I think it would be good to see the nurses side of things when becoming a doctor. Obviously I'll be trying to get into Med but if I never make it, at least I will probably have a secure job at the end of it which can lead me into many directions if I do this degree

I want to ask for your thoughts and opinions!!
Thanks!


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[Medman]

Firstly you should not have picked medical science for the sole reason of getting into medicine. If you don't like what the job entails you should not have picked it. Most medical science graduates don't get into medicine, this is the frank truth. Medicine is getting more competitive in the future and you are not guaranteed a job after your initial 2 years contract with a hospital. Don't think just because you have a medical degree you will automatically be given a job. The people who are finding it difficult to get jobs when they graduate are those lazy and those who didn't put the effort into doing work experience or have poor social skills.

I would suggest you transfer to a more practical degree if you don't want to be a lab rat. Med science does prepare you well for the GAMSAT.

 

[wannabesurgeon]

Firstly you should not have picked medical science for the sole reason of getting into medicine. If you don't like what the job entails you should not have picked it. Most medical science graduates don't get into medicine, this is the frank truth. Medicine is getting more competitive in the future and you are not guaranteed a job after your initial 2 years contract with a hospital. Don't think just because you have a medical degree you will automatically be given a job. The people who are finding it difficult to get jobs when they graduate are those lazy and those who didn't put the effort into doing work experience or have poor social skills.

I would suggest you transfer to a more practical degree if you don't want to be a lab rat. Med science does prepare you well for the GAMSAT.

I definetley get what your saying. I knew there was no guarantee and I knew the jobs at the end were either as a lab rat or stuck at a desk but still I chose it soley on thinking it was the degree to do if you wanted to do Med. I now realize that this was probably a huge mistake and I didn't look at it for the future. I had no backup plan... Stupid, absolutely stupid of me.

So in your opinion, would nursing be the best degree for me because of its practicality? Would it be worth the extra year in the end?

 

[bangladesh]

dude, chill, it's not the end of the world. Firstly, if you work hard enough and study consistently for gamsat, then chances are that you will get in post-grad med. However medman is right about most med-sci students not getting into medicine, but that's not because of the nature of the degree, it's just that people assume they're going to magically score well in the gamsat and get into medschool when they barely put much effort into their studies and mock around all the time/party all the time. It's good to have a balanced life, however scoring well in gamsat requires consistent studying and a deep knowledge of chem/bio/phys and that is not something you can develop overnight.

Anyway, sorry i went off track a little bit. As for your degree, I personally am doing medical science as well and I think it's quite a good prep for gamsat. Having said that if you can't see yourself doing medical research, then it's probably better if you transfer to nursing and prepare for gamsat in your spare time. Lots of applicants that score well in gamsat aren't even science students so your chances in post-grad med wouldn't drop dramatically if you change to nursing.

 

[OzKo]

This year I started Medical Science at UTS. So far I'm enjoying the course and have made heaps of friends.

I was always completely set on Med Science through high school but I started to think the other day about what will happen after if I don't get into Grad Med. I have heard so many stories about Medical Science graduates struggling to find jobs and some of them don't find a job for months. Besides that I don't want to end up as a lab rat or stuck in an office. I don't think I want to spend 30000k and have no job or a job I hate at the end. I think I got sucked into the "Med Sci will get me into Med so I don't need to worry about what happens after" attitude.

I'm starting to think about other options such as transferring to a Bachelor of Nursing at UTS. I think I would enjoy being a nurse especially in the areas of surgical/CCU/ER and others in that nature. Also I think it would be good to see the nurses side of things when becoming a doctor. Obviously I'll be trying to get into Med but if I never make it, at least I will probably have a secure job at the end of it which can lead me into many directions if I do this degree

I want to ask for your thoughts and opinions!!
Thanks!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That's pretty much standard for all graduates.

 

[Axio]

Just putting this out there: I did work experience in a medical science lab and all the scientists seemed to think that the actual work was fantastic but the pay and hours were terrible (they restricted the number of hours the scientists could work so that they could pay them less).

 

[Squar3root]

This year I started Medical Science at UTS. So far I'm enjoying the course and have made heaps of friends.

I was always completely set on Med Science through high school but I started to think the other day about what will happen after if I don't get into Grad Med. I have heard so many stories about Medical Science graduates struggling to find jobs and some of them don't find a job for months. Besides that I don't want to end up as a lab rat or stuck in an office. I don't think I want to spend 30000k and have no job or a job I hate at the end. I think I got sucked into the "Med Sci will get me into Med so I don't need to worry about what happens after" attitude.

I'm starting to think about other options such as transferring to a Bachelor of Nursing at UTS. I think I would enjoy being a nurse especially in the areas of surgical/CCU/ER and others in that nature. Also I think it would be good to see the nurses side of things when becoming a doctor. Obviously I'll be trying to get into Med but if I never make it, at least I will probably have a secure job at the end of it which can lead me into many directions if I do this degree

I want to ask for your thoughts and opinions!!
Thanks!

that doesn't sound right. obviously one will not get a job the day after they graduate but if your expectations aren't that high (ie, 6 figure salary working from a penthouse) you should be able to easily find a job in a small medical practice somewhere

That's pretty much standard for all graduates.

But medicine though? i would understand business/commerce/engineering but not med

 

[bangladesh]

But medicine though? i would understand business/commerce/engineering but not med

Yeah, there's guaranteed internship for med atm (who knows how long that'll be in place) but it's still hard to get into a post-grad training program that you want.

 

[Squar3root]

Yeah, there's guaranteed internship for med atm (who knows how long that'll be in place) but it's still hard to get into a post-grad training program that you want.

if you want to specialize in something then sydney is not the best (or a good) option for that matter. you have to look overseas ie london, america, europe

 

[bangladesh]

if you want to specialize in something then sydney is not the best (or a good) option for that matter. you have to look overseas ie london, america, europe

uhm? is that your personal opinion or what?

 

[Squar3root]

uhm? is that your personal opinion or what?

this is my opinion and have also heard it from many doctors. realistically; where could one train to become a specialist in sydney?

 

[bangladesh]

this is my opinion and have also heard it from many doctors. realistically; where could one train to become a specialist in sydney?

please tell me this is some sort of a troll or a joke

 

[Squar3root]

please tell me this is some sort of a troll or a joke

a bit of both

but seriously some tranning is better here like iirc when i wanted to be a doctor urology, kidney and some other stuff is fine is syd but other things like neuro and spine is better in america

 

[ProtoStar]

If you're dead set on med, medsci, isn't THAT bad. If you do get in , you will be ahead of the other kids that got in from unrelated degrees. Of course, by no means does it guarantee you'll get in. Just be sure to maximise your chances by not limiting yourself only graduate med. Sit the UMAT for the first 2 years of your degree (assuming it's 3yrs) as you can still go for undergrad as long as you haven't finished your first uni degree, and GAMSAT for the last 2. Also, apply to any med school you may be eligible for every year. That's my plan at least.

 

[Medman]

if you want to specialize in something then sydney is not the best (or a good) option for that matter. you have to look overseas ie london, america, europe

I think in the future it will be harder to come back. Europe depends where you go, some countries train too many doctors and many end up here and now are screwing us over. England will need doctors but pay will not be as good as Australia. America is tough as they take preference for locals not international students for internship in addition you will need to sit more exams although the upside is your training is shortened by many years.

If you strongly believe you will get into medicine through med science you stick to your current degree. Definitely try for undergraduate every year.

 

[wannabesurgeon]

Thanks for all your replies! I will probably consider Nursing or Paramedic Practice as alternative degrees because of their practicality. I'll definetley be trying every year for Undergraduate so hopefully UMAT treats me well...