Doctor or Pharmacist

[Jenny_2108]

Hi, can anyone help me?
Whats the main differences between doctor and pharmacist?
I have to write down the courses I wanna apply next term and I'm considering about it.
I have no idea what course I should do and which one is better for me.
I wanna become a doctor actually but the ATAR is very high (not sure if I can get in) and postgraduate's fee is so high.
Pharmacy requires lower ATAR and lower fee but I'm not interested in it as much as doctor.
I asked my parents. They said they let me decide what I like.
I dont really know which one I should choose to apply for uni course.

[Scooby]

Hi, can anyone help me?
Whats the main differences between doctor and pharmacist?
I have to write down the courses I wanna apply next term and I'm considering about it.
I have no idea what course I should do and which one is better for me.
I wanna become a doctor actually but the ATAR is very high (not sure if I can get in) and postgraduate's fee is so high.
Pharmacy requires lower ATAR and lower fee but I'm not interested in it as much as doctor.
I asked my parents. They said they let me decide what I like.
I dont really know which one I should choose to apply for uni course.

There's your answer

[Jenny_2108]

But if I cant pay the fee and have high ATAR, I cant get into the course I want. Becoming a doctor is very hard. Thus I just consider about pharmacy as well, just in bad situtation

[paulsterio]

Postgraduate fees are high? Where did you get that? It's all HECS these days, so essentially it's "free" - technically not free - but no out of pocket expenses.

Well a doctor and a pharmacist are two completely different fields of work, surely you would have come across doctors and pharmacists before, you probably know a bit about what they do and the environments in which they work.

Btw, what's this about fees - don't worry about fees - you don't pay anything, it's all HECS

But if I cant pay the fee and have high ATAR, I cant get into the course I want. Becoming a doctor is very hard. Thus I just consider about pharmacy as well, just in bad situtation

Well becoming a doctor is hard, I'll give you that, but if you want to become a doctor, you have to take that challenge.

But becoming a pharmacist isn't easy either, it's very hard to find good employment these days, according to friends who are doing pharmacy.

[Jenny_2108]

I'm an international student LOL
Studying post-graduate for doctor is like $70,000/yr
If I finish undergraduate and cant study post-graduate, what will I do then?

[shinny]

I'm an international student LOL
Studying post-graduate for doctor is like $70,000/yr
If I finish undergraduate and cant study post-graduate, what will I do then?

Then do pharmacy first, then go try for Medicine post-grad. If you don't get Medicine, you're forced to become a pharmacist anyway Win.

[paulsterio]

Just note that if you do pharmacy, you can't study MD at UoM, so basically if you're looking to stay in Victoria, you'll either be at Monash Gippsland or Deakin. Interstate you can try out for USyd, UQ...etc.

[Jenny_2108]

@ Shiny: If I study Pharmacy, I cant apply post-graduate for medicine at Mel Uni because they are different course.
@Paul: I dont like Deakin personally. Monash requires interviewing I guess?

[paulsterio]

@ Shiny: If I study Pharmacy, I cant apply post-graduate for medicine at Mel Uni because they are different course.
@Paul: I dont like Deakin personally. Monash requires interviewing I guess?

No, you cannot apply to study MD at UoM if you study pharmacy because you wouldn't have done the required pre-reqs for Anatomy

Monash requires interview and GAMSAT, so does Deakin, btw, this is Deaking Geelong, not Deakin Burwood, but either way, if you become a doctor you become a doctor, where you graduate from doesn't really matter at all.

[Jenny_2108]

I think GAMSAT for local students only?!? Btw, whats ATAR requirement in Monash and Deakin?
My friend studied at Deakin Geelong and he said the teaching quality wasnt good so I perfer Mel Uni or Monash

[shinny]

There's more universities than just UoM. In Victoria, you've also got Monash and Deakin, and then there's plenty interstate as well. If you're really looking to getting into Medicine, you really should consider going further than just UoM. UoM is extremely competitive and the university you go to doesn't ultimately matter too much in Medicine.

As an aside though, it should still be possible via pharmacy. You should be able to enrol solely in anatomy units in other universities to satisfy the pre-req. Just do them as Summer school some time during the pharmacy degree. Don't take my word on this, but I recall my brother looking it up and finding some way around it. However, he eventually realised it'd just be easier to go elsewhere to do Medicine. Anyway, look it up yourself if you're actually interested in doing this - I don't know much more than this.

[Jenny_2108]

So if I study Pharmacy, I need to apply other uni to study anatomy? Do they really have during summer school? I've never heard about that

[shinny]

A quick Google gives this link. Not sure which of those units would be available at a convenient time and how you'd get to accessing them from outside their respective courses. Note that I have a very limited understanding of how university units and whatnot work given that Medicine is a preset course and I've never needed to touch that stuff. Anyway, might need to send a few emails around perhaps to find out. I think it'd be your best option though to do this by the sounds of things.

One warning though; as an international student, you're no longer guaranteed an internship in either course as far as I'm aware. International students doing Medicine in Victoria have lost that guarantee this year, and at the current rate, it's only going to get worse. So unless the government fixes it soon, by the time you graduate, it could be incredibly bad. Bewareeeeeeeee.

[Jenny_2108]

Is the difference between pharmacy and medicine only anatomy? Do they allow students from different uni to study it?
Btw, about pharmacy undergraduate, can I choose bachelor of pharmacy in Monash and study anatomy course as well?
If international students arenot guaranteed an internship, what will happen? I dont really understand the importance of internship

[shinny]

Is the difference between pharmacy and medicine only anatomy? Do they allow students from different uni to study it?
Btw, about pharmacy undergraduate, can I choose bachelor of pharmacy in Monash and study anatomy course as well?
If international students arenot guaranteed an internship, what will happen? I dont really understand the importance of internship

Not sure what you mean by your first question (nor will I probably know the answer anyway). I don't think you can study an anatomy course as a actual part of your pharmacy course, but I'm sure there's a way to do it outside of it. The internship is the year of paid on-the-job training after you graduate from your course. You can't work in Australia as a registered pharmacist/doctor until you finish an internship. Hence, even if you get your Med degree but fail to secure an internship, you won't be able to work, rendering your degree  a pretty useless (albeit expensive) bit of paper.