Engineering after Biomedicine

[kenhung123]

What is wrong with doing biomed and enquiring about back up plans if he does not get into any health science courses? If his sole reason is to do engineering, that is another story.

I really want do a health science such as med, dentistry, physio or optometry. That's why I choose biomedicine because it provides a thorough preparation for it, plus the cohort strength and competitiveness appealed to me. I'm thinking about the possibility of not getting in a health science degree later on. I don't want to be stuck in a research which doesn't interests me.

[Starlight]

What is wrong with doing biomed and enquiring about back up plans if he does not get into any health science courses? If his sole reason is to do engineering, that is another story.

As Hancock mentioned:

It's not because "everyone" is doing Biomed for the wrong reasons. It's just that he wanted to do Chemical Engineering as a backup and it would be a shitload easier to do Chem.Sys + Med pre-reqs through Science rather than forcing a M.Eng (Chem) after a Biomed degree.

The Biomedicine course is not really suitable for people who are looking at pursing engineering (with the exception of biomedical engineering), rather it is designed for what some would argue a more "in-depth" look at health sciences (which you can major in science anyway). Science is always going to be the better option for other types of engineering because of its flexibility.

[Hancock]

Chem 1   Bio 1   Calc 2    Breadth
Chem 2   Bio 2   Lin Alg    ESD2

CPA 1   Eng Maths               Reactions and Synthesis    ANATOMY
CPA 2   Trans. Processes     BIOCHEM                         PHYSIOLOGY

Reactor Eng.               Heat and Mass Trans.     ELECTIVE    BREADTH
Fluid Mech & Thermo   Process Eng Cases         ELECTIVE    BREADTH

As you can see, you would need to take one breadth subject (need minimum of 4) under the CAP system (costs ~2500 per subject I think) but it works out more nicely and you don't lose a year if you don't get into any Med Schools. You can't change any of the electives in 3 year because you need to take at leata 75 points of science courses at level 3.

[golden]

We need to consider the context which sucker was used, because it can be offensive if used in specific ways. I am pretty sure that John President wasn't trying necessarily to offend/hurt you, it may have just been a fun jab (if I am not mistaken this is the person who previously had the words 'genital fungus' in their personal text lol) because constant abuse is against the rules, and Mr. President knows his rules!

With regard to your 'pedantic' questions which have been already addressed in the forum various times, a lot of us at one stage have been an offender, including me, because sometimes we just have to not just make sure, but double make sure, and see if the information that may have been addressed in the past still applies today. Considering that biomedicine is undergoing a few key changes next year with regard to its course, and especially as someone entering University who isn't as acclimatised to the environment, I think this is warranted. However, if you find that you cannot understand the answer provided etc. you could ask for elaborations, or personal message those for clarifications, because super repetitiveness with regard to the same issue all over the boards isn't following forum 'etiquette' and will get on the nerves of many. Random I know, but jinny1 asks who kenhung123 is. Well it is the kenhung123 himself! This person sent me the first PM I received on VCE Notes. Guess what it was about: clarification of something I was confused about, which may have been repeated already.

Next, with your mention that there are no 'good' answers, that in itself can be insulting to those who genuinely want to help, and extremely subjective to say at the least.

To somewhat address some questions, and other questions that may be common, I will summarise the details in this thread and within other threads, along with including some of my general thoughts:

• If you want to do postgraduate medicine, doing either Science and Biomedicine is fine; if you're absolutely sure on the long term on Health Sciences, then biomedicine is another consideration. If you aren't so sure, or want to possibly reach into other fields, Science offers you this option to a great degree.
  
• Do Science if you plan on doing Engineering, unless you specifically want to do bioengineering, which you may want to do biomedicine.
  
  • If your back up is engineering, and you're not too sure if you're stuck on bioengineering, do Science, because:
    1. Neither gives you an advantage on the GAMSAT etc. etc.
    2. If you happen to end up choosing this pathway, you're open to more engineering options, perhaps more relevant to your situation.
    
  
  Because I don't know much about how the specifics of the allocation, standardisation etc. of subjects, I will not argue too much about this point, but often it is said that subjects work so that not too many people get H1 (or H2A, or H2B, H3, P etc.) scores, and because Biomedicine may have a more competitive cohort etc. it may be harder to get a higher GPA from a purely generalising view. So it may be a disadvantage doing Biomedicine unless of three points:
  1. You work really hard and smart etc. etc. as a student.
  2. You have the username stonecold, mavisgibbons, darlok, Hancock (and others but it would take all night so I will leave you to ponder about it as you twiddle your thumbs) where it doesn't matter what you do.
  3. You have the username stonecold, mavisgibbons, darlok or Hancock (and others but it would take all night so I will leave you to ponder about it as you twiddle your thumbs) where it doesn't matter what you do.
  
  If you're not too keen on mathematics, you are made to do a year of it in biomedicine, and also physics. Statistics and physics as a combination are quite painful, because they are at times harder to relate to and intuitively understand. This may or may not support the disadvantaged view above for your situation. Because in my opinion, you cannot purely wing statistics, because you'll have weekly quizzes every week, have an assignment that is an extremely painful thing to do (I think last year was an exception because we had a new lecturer which made the assignment hard according to the tutors), have a computer test, so you need to know some computer commands and so forth. But this is just an opinion.
  
  Apologies for getting off topic.
  
  If you still want information about engineering after biomedicine, you could alternatively talk to the appropriate people in person, or PM someone, especially if you feel it you aren't getting your questions cleared up. With regard to bioengineering, I know a few people doing it who I can ask, which may be of some relevance as I don't know if there are many here on these forums. I hope you change your mind about this forum and the members, they are great people!
  
  References:
  

  who are you?
  

  
  

  Even though I can get repetitive, it is because there are no good answers.
  

  
  
  Tl;dr: I guess everyone is reading this part?

[John President]

Ok, firstly I'd like to clarify that I meant to say that Melbourneguy was easily attracted by the prestige of Biomedicine, seemingly at the expense of other considerations - that was what I meant by "sucker".

Additionally the benefits of Science vs Biomedicine have been discussed dozens of times on this board, and a common argument in favour of Science is that it offers alternative, non-health science majors in the event that you decide against doing Med, plus enabling you to potentially undertake a broader variety of postgraduate degrees - including Chem Eng via the path Hancock suggested above. So I strongly disagree with the suggestion that this board lacks information on the subject.

And I have great respect for people who make a considered decision to pursue medicine instead of other career paths - I think these people are the majority. In the end it's about knowing yourself in terms of your strengths and life aspirations.

Finally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKjJh1NJXf0

[jaydee]

does anyone think it's a good idea to sticky a thread under UoM forum titled Biomedicine vs Science?  Just so the same questions aren't asked over and over again

[golden]

its too restrictive and lacks freedom of subject choices

That's only an issue if you were considering branching away from the health sciences field, but otherwise it is similar. For reference if I sound like I'm attacking biomedicine, I'm not, I do this course.

If you're 100% set on doing a health-science, do Biomed. The competitive cohort should motivate you to work harder, it'll essentially be like going to another selective-school cohort (and since you went to MHS, we can both see how that environment helped us).

If you also have other career aspirations/interests that aren't limited to health care, do Science, because it's more flexible and you may end up liking a career that's not medicine. However, if you go into Science wanting to do medicine, chances are, you'll be tailoring your course to match the Biomedicine course but you'll lack the cohort value.

Just to contrast:

As far as i know from my friends in biomed, you can't actually major in anything.

Biomed is an incredibly structured (and some would say restrictive) course. Most of the subjects you do are compulsory and everyone has to do them. You get very little wiggle room as compared to a Science degree.

[John President]

Thanks for letting know about the  forum etiquette, I will know better next time. Yeah, it was a misunderstanding about the "sucker". Just on the debate about Science vs Biomedicine, sometimes I can get turned off by doing Biomedicine, because of all the criticisms, that it's harder to get a high GPA, its too restrictive and lacks freedom of subject choices. But why have a Biomedicine degree at the University of Melbourne, when there a more flexible degree in the Bachelor of Science? The opinions of Biomed by some are completely different to those who have actually done Biomed. no offence to anyone. 

Many prospective med students, who get offered a place at both Melbourne and Monash, face a dilemma when choosing between both universities. Having a Biomed degree helps Melbourne attract top students to its university at the expense of Monash. If the Biomed degree were removed today, Melbourne would certainly lose some top students to Monash.

And whether Biomed is better than Science depends on the person - for people who are sure they want to study health sciences, it is definitely the better degree despite its rigidity. The Biomed pathway is certainly more rigorous and with the more competitive cohort, you'll be motivated to work harder. However, for those who are thinking about med but also considering other areas of study, Science is the recommended option.