UoM Chancellor's Scholar's program Vs Monash MBBS

[mr.politiks]

Your brother has a 99.95 ATAR! For reference, dude who went to my school got 99.95 and 55th percentile and got into med last year.

Hey thushan, was this guy who got in Bonded or CSP open?

I'm leaning right towards Monash right now because I definitely want to be a Doc, better cohort, faster into work (less time), more incentive, less HECS debt, lifelong friends and learning exactly what you set out to learn (med material) at least two and a half years ago.

But, don't know if I should go

1: CSP open monash 2: UoM BBioMed and MD 3: CSP Bonded at Monash                              or


1: CSP open monash 2: CSP Bonded at Monash 3: UoM BBioMed and MD

On preferences.

Anyone's help will be much appreciated. 

Got into UoM already BTW (guarenteed MD) 

[thushan]

He was CSP unbonded - open.

With your bonded thingy I would go Open monash/MD/Bonded Monash coz I'm very wary about being forced to work in specific areas, which could mess with your life a bit. Sure, you can do that, but I'd prefer to do it with the choice rather than by contract.

[mr.politiks]

Thanks man.

So with 92/99.95 I got more chance for unbonded than I thought...

But, If i can't pull the unbonded, then I will get the UoM. Considering my brother is 99.95/97, he has higher chance for open, so we might end up going different unis as I will put UoM on second preference. Don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but I reckon it is mostly bad (more to do with fragmentation and dislocation until clinical years)

So... Bit of a dillemma?

Any thoughts?

[shinny]

1: CSP open monash 2: UoM BBioMed and MD 3: CSP Bonded at Monash                              or


1: CSP open monash 2: CSP Bonded at Monash 3: UoM BBioMed and MD

I would probably avoid bonded if you could, but just so you know in case this affects the decision, you can actually pay your way out of bonded. It makes bonded effectively equivalent to a full-fee place if you do. You also only need to pay off these years pretty much after you specialise (since you can only finish off your bond once you're specialised anyway). Still, I don't think tying yourself down with a contract (or paying the equivalent of full-fee) is worth going to Monash for.

Thanks man.

So with 92/99.95 I got more chance for unbonded than I thought...

But, If i can't pull the unbonded, then I will get the UoM. Considering my brother is 99.95/97, he has higher chance for open, so we might end up going different unis as I will put UoM on second preference. Don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but I reckon it is mostly bad (more to do with fragmentation and dislocation until clinical years)

So... Bit of a dillemma?

Any thoughts?

Go to different unis so we can use you two as a study on whether Monash or UoM makes a better doctor

[mr.politiks]

Go to different unis so we can use you two as a study on whether Monash or UoM makes a better doctor

LOL. But, 7 years vs 5 , twin v twin is a bit too competitive 

On a more serious note, do you think it is a good enough gamble to but bonded no. 2 to go to same uni as bro?

[funkyducky]

My personal opinion is that you'd be better off taking UoM Chancellor's with guaranteed entrance to CSP MD over a bonded place at Monash - there's zero room to back out of a bonded place, it's a huge commitment to be making. Just doing it to go to the same uni as your brother is a bad idea too: you'd only be on campus together for the first two years anyway.

[shinny]

On a more serious note, do you think it is a good enough gamble to but bonded no. 2 to go to same uni as bro?

Despite my love for Monash, I'd say go to UoM. It's not worth the contract or payment to break it just to go there in my opinion. And as funkyducky said, you'll only be together for the first 2 years. After that it's very likely you'll be split.

[Russ]

Putting BMP over CSP is pretty much the definition of a bad idea.

If you definitely want to be a doctor, then I will shelve my dislike of undergraduate medicine and say go to Monash. You can always do postgrad study later if you change your mind. If you're interested in medicine and like the idea of working as a doctor, go to Melbourne and spend some time finding out.

[mchli]

(I wish I could quote everything that's been said so far)
After spending countless hours weighing up all the factors, considering all future pathways, I'm considering UoM as first pref.
This was a really tough decision but in the end, what got me was a combination of these factors:
Quality of the degree, Emphasis on research, Better opportunity for higher study overseas, Greater opportunity for postgraduate research, Stronger academic focus (+ other really minor things: location/breath/travel time etc.)

Personally, my end goal is to do a mixture of clinical work and research, something that aligns more closely with Melbourne than Monash.
(If I was in fact set on doing pure clinical work and was searching for an emphasis on the practical, then it would have been Monash without a doubt...)

At the end of the day, from a financial perspective, Monash is definitely the winner.  In 7 years time you will have gotten 30k from your scholarship plus earned well over 100k as an intern and be debt free, whereas at UniMelb you will just be finishing your degree and still have around 25k of HECS debt remaining if you use your 15k from undergrad to pay it off. 

However, in the long term/distant future, the deficit perhaps corresponds to 1 or 2 years of work (?). Also, there is a chance that Melbourne will have more graduate scholarships available in the future...

Samad/Istafa, I don't want this to affect your decisions - at the end of the day, the decision should be based on your personal situation, motivations and future aspiration.

Go to different unis so we can use you two as a study on whether Monash or UoM makes a better doctor

[paulsterio]

Putting BMP over CSP is pretty much the definition of a bad idea.

Don't put BMP over CSP, like Russ says, it's a bad idea, firstly because if you get CSP, you'll still end up with a BMP, either way, it limits you to BMP or nothing

Istafa, I'd personally recommend Monash. I think 5 years is a great advantage, if you're already deadset on being a doctor then go for it, it's a more integrated course and there's more of a family environment throughout the clinical years.

Personally, even if I had a 99.90/95 I'd still strongly prefer Monash because it's really close to where I live (10 minute drive), it's a shorter course, which means less HECS debt, faster to get on with life...etc.

Medicine is long enough, especially when you factor in post-graduate (fellowship) training as well, it's basically 10-12 years already, adding on another 2 years might not be much, but when you're 32, it's probably a little different and knowing myself, if I were to take the Melbourne option, I'd probably be kicking myself when I'm 32-33 because I want to settle down and have a family and work already, not spend 2 more years in fellowship training

But either way, I think you'll be fine - there's no real advantages/disadvantages per se, just nifty things that tip it in favour of one option or the other

Bonded surely does tip the scales, but hey, look at it this way, you're doing a service to Australia by taking on a bonded medical place, that's how I think of it anyway, I'll be happy to work for 5 years in an area of shortage cause I know that I'm making a difference and contributing, btw, the areas aren't that bad, there are some which are around 50km or so from Melbourne

[samad]

Yeah. we both went UoM 1st pref. in the end, due to the added certainty and many of the reasons that mcchli has outlined.

@paulsterio.

you're right- the pros and cons of each are fairly balanced and ultimately we would have had a blast either way.

[Pixon]

Yeh I've gone UoM 1st pref as well.

mchli - "Better opportunity for higher study overseas, Greater opportunity for postgraduate research"

^^This is what tipped me in the end. It was a tough decision...and I spent hours discussing it with my careers department, but in the end, UoM came on top (that and the fact that I haven't been offered a Monash place yet). However, I'm reassured by the fact that I would have been happy going to either university.

[thushan]

Fair enough! Good luck there hehe.
A fair number of ppl went Melbourne out of the Chancellors dudes.

I went Monash despite mchli's outlined reasons because I think that whilst Melbourne has better opportunity for higher study overseas, Monash is not far behind. As for postgrad research, I plan to do that with Melb uni once I finished my med degree - assuming I get into Monash! I also like how at Monash you have the option of the BMedSci at Year 3, so you can learn the biomedical sciences at Years 1 and 2, then do intense research on say pharmacology for Year 3 (and really learn pharmacology in depth). What really swung me most was the non-competitve learning environment and the scholarship - I doubt I could get a scholarship for the MD, it'd be just too competitive. Plus, personally I'd want to work with patients straight away in a clinical setting .

[samad]

Hi Thushan

good luck to you to!!! both degrees have real good advantages to them.
btw, who else picked Melb? (PM me)

[Russ]

I picked Melb (my shameless bias is pretty obvious already though)

What really swung me most was the non-competitve learning environment

I still don't get this, I cannot imagine a more friendly and enjoyable environment than the one I've just spent three years in

Good luck to everyone regardless though, I trust you'll all be valuable members of the profession