Bachelor of science vs biomed for dentistry

[hogp321]

Hey, I have a few questions in regards to which melbourne uni pathway is better for dent.

1. I put biomed first because i heard that there are more spots located to post grad med students, im not sure if this is the same for dent. Can anyone confirm?

2. I heard that science is more flexible in terms of subjects whereas biomed is more restricted and that GPA is a really important factor when it comes to post grad med/dent. So theoretically, if i chose easy subjects (in science) and got a high GPA, wouldn't that give me a better chance of getting into dent? But then if this is true, I guess its also the reason why there are less spots allocated for science undergrads.

[Stormbreaker-X]

Hey, I have a few questions in regards to which melbourne uni pathway is better for dent.

1. I put biomed first because i heard that there are more spots located to post grad med students, im not sure if this is the same for dent. Can anyone confirm?

2. I heard that science is more flexible in terms of subjects whereas biomed is more restricted and that GPA is a really important factor when it comes to post grad med/dent. So theoretically, if i chose easy subjects (in science) and got a high GPA, wouldn't that give me a better chance of getting into dent? But then if this is true, I guess its also the reason why there are less spots allocated for science undergrads.

For Monash medicine there are 50 spots allocated to biomedical science students, but only 25 spots allocated to science students. I am not too sure about Melbourne, but I heard similar things happen at Melbourne as well. My tip is if you enjoy certain majors that is offered in Biomedical science you should definitely go into that.

[sweetcheeks]

There is no favouring of biomedicine over science students at Melbourne Uni for medicine or dentistry. Both degrees offer equal chance of being admitted.

Science is definitely more flexible, as there are a lot more majors to choose from and there aren't subjects that the entire cohort needs to take. The science cohort are also generally much larger and will contain a variety of people, some of whom only really care about passing (many masters require an average of 65 in the best 4 third year subjects). This can make it easier to do well in (you still need to put in a lot of effort). Biomedicine students as a cohort, are generally more competitive. I've taught both first year science and biomedicine students. The science students had a large distribution in the quality and effort of the work that they submitted. Biomeds had a much higher standard to their work (not to say that some of the science students didn't hand in exceptional work). For certain subjects and majors (e.g. pharmacology), these subjects will be a mix of science and biomedicine students.

I always recommend science to people, as I believe the more flexibility can be particularly helpful, especially as interests change over time and you may decide you don't want to do dentistry or medicine. I know people who wanted to do medicine but got to the end of their degree and went a completely different route (maths, physics etc.). I did a science degree at Melbourne Uni and was offered a position for medicine. I turned it down as I realised that I could help a lot more people by doing research than I could as a doctor.

I personally don't see the advantage of the biomedicine degree over a science degree. I understand that some people see it as more exclusive and competitive, but you will find in science there are still people who are highly competitive (my friends in third year were super competitive).

[hogp321]

There is no favouring of biomedicine over science students at Melbourne Uni for medicine or dentistry. Both degrees offer equal chance of being admitted.

Science is definitely more flexible, as there are a lot more majors to choose from and there aren't subjects that the entire cohort needs to take. The science cohort are also generally much larger and will contain a variety of people, some of whom only really care about passing (many masters require an average of 65 in the best 4 third year subjects). This can make it easier to do well in (you still need to put in a lot of effort). Biomedicine students as a cohort, are generally more competitive. I've taught both first year science and biomedicine students. The science students had a large distribution in the quality and effort of the work that they submitted. Biomeds had a much higher standard to their work (not to say that some of the science students didn't hand in exceptional work). For certain subjects and majors (e.g. pharmacology), these subjects will be a mix of science and biomedicine students.

I always recommend science to people, as I believe the more flexibility can be particularly helpful, especially as interests change over time and you may decide you don't want to do dentistry or medicine. I know people who wanted to do medicine but got to the end of their degree and went a completely different route (maths, physics etc.). I did a science degree at Melbourne Uni and was offered a position for medicine. I turned it down as I realised that I could help a lot more people by doing research than I could as a doctor.

I personally don't see the advantage of the biomedicine degree over a science degree. I understand that some people see it as more exclusive and competitive, but you will find in science there are still people who are highly competitive (my friends in third year were super competitive).

Great response! Could you touch on question 2 more  (in terms of GPA and if its easier to get in)?

[rirerire]

There is no favouring of biomedicine over science students at Melbourne Uni for medicine or dentistry. Both degrees offer equal chance of being admitted.

Science is definitely more flexible, as there are a lot more majors to choose from and there aren't subjects that the entire cohort needs to take. The science cohort are also generally much larger and will contain a variety of people, some of whom only really care about passing (many masters require an average of 65 in the best 4 third year subjects). This can make it easier to do well in (you still need to put in a lot of effort). Biomedicine students as a cohort, are generally more competitive. I've taught both first year science and biomedicine students. The science students had a large distribution in the quality and effort of the work that they submitted. Biomeds had a much higher standard to their work (not to say that some of the science students didn't hand in exceptional work). For certain subjects and majors (e.g. pharmacology), these subjects will be a mix of science and biomedicine students.

I always recommend science to people, as I believe the more flexibility can be particularly helpful, especially as interests change over time and you may decide you don't want to do dentistry or medicine. I know people who wanted to do medicine but got to the end of their degree and went a completely different route (maths, physics etc.). I did a science degree at Melbourne Uni and was offered a position for medicine. I turned it down as I realised that I could help a lot more people by doing research than I could as a doctor.

I personally don't see the advantage of the biomedicine degree over a science degree. I understand that some people see it as more exclusive and competitive, but you will find in science there are still people who are highly competitive (my friends in third year were super competitive).

for the science then medicine pathway, how does that work like do they give the top students in the science cohort a place in the medicine course or...?

[sweetcheeks]

Great response! Could you touch on question 2 more  (in terms of GPA and if its easier to get in)?

I'll start by explaining what GPA is for those that don't know. When you study at Melbourne (and most universities in Australia), you get both a numerical grade and a letter grade. At Melbourne, a score between 80-100 is a H1 (first class honours), 75-79 is H2A, 70-74 H2B, 65-69 H3 and 50-64 Pass. Most university students are simply interested in the Weighted Average Mark (WAM), which is exactly as it sounds.

However, for certain courses, they use GPA rather than WAM. GPA is calculated based upon the types of grades you get. It varies between universities, however, at Melbourne, a perfect GPA is 7. It is the average of the 'points' that you accrue depending on what grade you receive. A H1 = 7, H2A = 6.5, H2B = 6, H3 = 5.5 and Pass = 5. So for GPA, at the end of the day getting 80 or 100 doesn't matter, whereas getting a 79 vs. and 80 can be a big deal. Usually, when calculating GPA for medicine entry, first year is worth less than second year which is worth less than third year. You can read about this in the entry requirements of the courses.

In general terms, the university will try to make sure that there is a fair distribution of grades. For example, they generally like there to be  around 20% of students getting H1's. In the biomed cohort, most people have the intention of wanting to do medicine, so they are aiming for H1's. In science, since the entry requirements for graduate courses varies drastically, you end up with students who just want to pass or meet the bare minimum. Thats not to say that there aren't students in biomed who are the same.

GPA is only one component of entry. For dentistry and medicine you also need to sit the GAMSAT. If you want to know more about that, I believe there are some good threads. For medicine, you also need to sit the multi-mini interview.

Ultimately, you can't really say if biomed or science is 'easier' or if one is going to help you get into med over the other. I have found in my experience that the biomed cohort is much more competitive when it comes to assessments, which means they are often made more challenging than science due to the need to achieve a good grade distribution. You might enjoy being in a more competitive cohort with a little bit more structure. Thats not to say that science isn't challenging either, I majored in chemistry and they really know how to challenge students.

My advice is to pick the course that you think you will enjoy the most and pick subjects where you will be challenged and learn interesting and important content. If you enjoy a subject, you generally will do better rather than picking a subject. You won't realise it at the time, but you'll look back on your undergraduate and there will be subjects that you wished you took.