UNSW Med Sci 08: ROLL CALL! (1 Viewer)

[Rekkusu]

SCIF is a complete load of Sh*#
However Babs1201 isn't that bad, I enjoyed most segments in that course, biochem and molecular biology were pretty good. But I guess the labs drag this course down to the level of ZZZZzz....

I'd just be enjoying whilst you can the relatively light work load. 2nd year is more interesting but it's a constant battle to keep your head above water.

Microbiology mid semester tommorow, wish me luck!

The mentoring program has closed unfortunately. I think the Faculty of Science officially invited students during their Faculty welcome day. However if you really still wish to join the mentoring program (which should have finished last week), send me a Pm with your student number and I'll notify our coordinator).

In terms of microbiology, this year since they've more than likely combined two courses into one, you'll have an extremely hard time understanding everything. I'm not sure about how good the lecture notes are, but simply study the notes, the textbook goes into quite some detail. Ahh how'd the test go Tim?

Hope it went well!

 

[Survivor39]

What would you like to know about the course? First year is generally ok just because it is basic science (chem, bio). The degree gets better and better from 2nd year onward because you are specialising into your area of interest. In terms of difficulty, it entirely depends on your subject selection and what you are good at. If you are into research, complete an Honours year (4th year) which would give you excellent training for a PhD.

 

[Tim035]

Micro test went pretty well, 2 of the questions were from the 'example questions' sheet they gave us in the tute before hand. So that was a couple of nice free marks. Their were 18 questions each worth 1/2 a mark each, but most of them wanted a lot of information or even involved 2 parts for only 1/2 a mark.
Histology worries me, one of the drawings we had to do I really hadn't studied and so really couldn't think of more then 3 things to label.

 

[Survivor39]

The micr mid-session was not hard at all. There was really only 1 trick question asking about why E. coli was oxidase positive. Many students didn't know E. coli was suppose to be Oxidase negative.

 

[Forbidden.]

seems like a pretty good thread to ask in. but

whats the med sci course like?

high demand = high uai

so study

 

[Rekkusu]

In regards to the Medical Science Degree question, unless if you're planned to study like you've never studied before for 4 years (Including Hons) in order to gain a place for Graduate Entry Medicine, then it's much better to simply enrol in Bachelor of Science in UNSW or any University.

B Med Sci forces you take an array of courses, and by the end of 2nd year you'll have had a take for Pathology, Microbiology, Molecular level of your cells, anatomy of the human body and its tissues, and a dose of pharmaceutical courses. Then in 3rd year you focus on a specialisation such as Microbiology, then move into Honours based upon that specialisation.

In terms of HSC courses, really you only need English Adv and Maths 2 Unit Adv, and Chemistry. When you get into Uni, it's almost like repeating your whole of high school during the first year (i.e. Maths, Chemistry).

B Sci allows you much more flexibility in for example just completing Microbiology majors (Then you won't need to be forced into taking subjects like Anatomy which you most likely won't need unless if you're focusing on Anatomy as a major).

The best thing you should do is come along to Course Information sessions, currently UNSW has had ALOT of school students come over, if you're one of them, make full use of the people there and ask as much as possible.

@Tim:

That's awesome man! At least in your year you had free marks, in my year we knew nothing of what was to be asked, only that they covered all the lectures till the Mid-Session. I'll assume that you did a Theory-based examination.

Last year MICR2011 had a practical exam, and we basically got to draw conclusions based on tests we did, and also some streaking. Easy easy marks You get like 20% of the Prac marks just for culturing properly

Haha survivor, John literally forced us to remember E Coli, he was like, if I ask any identification question, just remember how to isolate E coli based on Biochemical tests!

 

[diamond*dreams*]

Physics is helpful if you're doing higher chem.
Biology would make BABS easier.

 

[diamond*dreams*]

The course isn't that hard. SCIF is just tedious and very time consuming...btw what does SCIF stand for? Lolz, I'm too lazy to look it up. When people ask what SCIF is, I'll be like "Science communication, um -if"

Chem and maths (elective) is probably the hardest part.

Also 99.9999999999999% of the people doing med sci are trying to gain entry into medicine, so it's very very...very...very... very...very competitve. Particularly coz some got very high UAIs are feel cheated out of med...like the OP.

 

[Survivor39]

Also 99.9999999999999% of the people doing med sci are trying to gain entry into medicine, so it's very very...very...very... very...very competitve.

lol.. so I'm one of those 0.0000000000001%.

 

[diamond*dreams*]

thanks guys.

i dont think ill be looking to go into med.

Oh, I didn't really mean it like that...

The thing is, that most won't actually make it into medicine. I know there are going to be a lot of disappointed people.

Also med science isn't all about trying to get into medicine, it can lead to many (health) science careers, like doing research in labs and other things...I'd elaborate but I don't really know that much. I'm sure there's a bunch of threads or posts in threads on it already...or Survivor could tell you.

lol.. so I'm one of those 0.0000000000001%.

Hahaha, I probably should have said that 99.9999999999999% of FIRST YEARS are aiming for med...

As you progress through the year, people doing med sci have more realistic expectations and perceptions...I suppose it's the realisation of how fierce some of the competition is as well as the amount of work they're going to put in to try and get into med. At this point, the only advantage that I see of doing med science over any other science degree to get into medicine is the lateral entry scheme...*shrugs*

 

[Survivor39]

Hahaha, I probably should have said that 99.9999999999999% of FIRST YEARS are aiming for med...

As you progress through the year, people doing med sci have more realistic expectations and perceptions...I suppose it's the realisation of how fierce some of the competition is as well as the amount of work they're going to put in to try and get into med. At this point, the only advantage that I see of doing med science over any other science degree to get into medicine is the lateral entry scheme...*shrugs*

Well, I wouldn't say 99.9999999999999% even for first years. Maybe half?! Many students go on and complete a second bachelor or masters degree in pharmacy, dentistry and optometry. A significant proportion of students, like me, go on to complete a PhD.

I agree with you that the competition is fierce for MedSc-Med entry or to do well enough to get into graduate medicine. However, the competitve atmosphere is quite dissimilar to that of the HSC. In reality everyone can acheive HDs and Ds provided that they have completed all assessment tasks and exams to a high standard.

 

[Survivor39]

where can it take you career wise??

A science degree with Honours by itself is normally sufficent to get ja ob as a research assistant in laboratories and hospitals, leading towards a research career. Many students, therefore, choose to go on and complete a PhD to gain jobs in more prominent positions such as a postdoctoral researcher and academia. PhD students often take up casual academic teaching (tutorial/lab demonstration).

Science is distinct from other fields in that a higher qualification is normally required for a "good" job. This is due to the dynamic nature of science and its rapid evolution in the understanding of our surrounding.

 

[Surf's zUp!!]

Hahaha, I probably should have said that 99.9999999999999% of FIRST YEARS are aiming for med...

:rofl:
I actually agree with that statistic, I only know of 2 or 3 people doing med sci that aren't aiming for med.

 

[Tim035]

The thing is, if you're doing med sci with no intention of doing a PHD, post grad bachelor, medicine or masters in pharamacy, dentistry or optometry then you're just making life hard on yourself for no reason.
You could've just done a B science and focused solely on courses you want to do, then having to take on a whole field of courses. So with that in mind, it would actually almost be more suprising if the majority of students in med sci were only planning on completing med sci.

@ Rekkusu. I wish we just had a prac test towards the end of semester, instead we have a sauerkraut experiment that runs over 4 weeks that we have to document each week with CFU calculations of counts on half a dozen different plates + gram stains of major colonies on each plate + gram stains of the sauerkruat juice + pH of the sauerkraut juice.
None of which is hard, just freakin time consuming to do and document on top of what ever is the 'main experiment' for that micro lab. If they ask for feed back on the course at the end of semester I'll definately be telling them to scrap that project.

Also I got my PCR 16s rRNA results back for my cellulose degrading bacteria and it turned out to be Arthrobacter, which is a faculative anaerobe with strictly oxidatative metabolism....

 

[Tim035]

Some people were saying today that they received emails saying the WAM to stay in med science is going up to 70 this year, but I received nothing in my unimail.
I'm studying harder than ever atm but on a whole my results this year compared to last are 10 - 15% lower, is this normal for 2nd year?

Well.... except for the microbiology mid semester, 99%

 

[ichiraku]

I heard about this through a friend as well. I think you would have only received the email if you were already near that borderline WAM. It's not like it has that big an impact anyway - you can do exactly the same subjects we do in a B Sci.

Congrats on your Micro mark. I received 91% (or 9.1) which begs me to wonder how the hell did I get 0.1 of a mark?

 

[Azamakumar]

lol post grad bachelor. lol.



And he means that in a B Sc you can choose any stream you want and do electives in areas that interest you, rather than do what is set out for you in that course.

EDIT:
A B MedSci restricts you in the same way a B Acc would restrict commerce students.

 

[BigBear_25]

Some people were saying today that they received emails saying the WAM to stay in med science is going up to 70 this year, but I received nothing in my unimail.
I'm studying harder than ever atm but on a whole my results this year compared to last are 10 - 15% lower, is this normal for 2nd year?

Well.... except for the microbiology mid semester, 99%

I think this is true. They are intending on increasing the WAM to 70 in order continue into third year. I know of three people that have recieved this email and the reason they recieved one is because during the course of first year they recieved a WAM of <70 in either one or both semesters.

 

[Survivor39]

Well done Tim and ichiraku for getting amazing Micro 1 mid session results!

 

[Tim035]

yeah my 0.1 came from calling one of the species of proteobactiera- meta-proteobacteria, instead of delta-proteobactiera.