Doing Medicine from B.A

[grindr]

Do you guys know anyone who have gotten into medicine through B.A?

Also, I've heard that you can any undergrad degree before med, as long as you take biochem, anatomy and physiology at a second year level? What does this entail? Doing these subjects as a breadth? (If I do B.A) During first/second year?

Could someone clarify my confusion please?

[Alter]

If you want to do the MD at melb uni, yeah, you 100% need the pre-reqs. If you're in arts, that means all of them will have to be done as breadths afaik.

The pre-reqs you need (or equivalent subjects):
https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/current/ANAT20006
https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/current/bcmb20002
https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/current/phys20008

You need to do 1st year bio (both semesters) and have completed Chem 2 in order to complete all of those subjects. In other words, it's quite the logistical nightmare and you'll definitely need to sit down with a course planner if you really wanted to do this. Not to mention, you'd need the equivalent of year 12 physics for the GAMSAT.

Other unis (such as Deakin) have entrance into their post-grad med program which don't have subject pre-reqs, so they're worth investigating.

Hope this helps.

[vox nihili]

Do you guys know anyone who have gotten into medicine through B.A?

Also, I've heard that you can any undergrad degree before med, as long as you take biochem, anatomy and physiology at a second year level? What does this entail? Doing these subjects as a breadth? (If I do B.A) During first/second year?

Could someone clarify my confusion please?

To add to what Alter said re: pre-reqs

He mentioned equivalents. If you choose to study somewhere else, there are equivalents you can do so as to satisfy these pre-reqs, but you'll need to check on the UniMelb MD to make sure that these have been approved (the faculty produces a list of heaps of subjects at other unis that can be used to satisfy each of the pre-reqs for Melbourne).

Certainly at UniMelb it is probably a little more manageable trying to satisfy those pre-reqs via Arts, as you can do them in breadth (as Alter said).

Thoughts about Arts —> MD

There are only a handful of people who studied Arts before coming to the MD in my cohort. I know a couple who combined that with a Science degree, or who took a Science degree after they studied Arts. For all intents and purposes, these students are just like the other science/biomed students in med, with the added bonus of having those arts-skills under their belts.

I also know a few who studied Arts only. Their experiences of MD1, at least, have seemed to vary a bit. It seems that they probably struggle more with the science, and it was probably more of a stretch for them to adapt to the intensity of MD. All of that is to be expected, as their background isn't in science, so the type of study they're used to will be very different to the kind of study required in MD. Also, they have very little background knowledge to fall back on re: science, other than their pre-reqs.

With that said, I think they've still managed. Sure, they've had to work harder, but for some of them, having done a BA allows them to bring something different to MD. They certainly don't have a monopoly on the capacity for critical thought and analysis, but I think the BA probably prepares them for that better than other MDs. In my experience, they're more socially aware too, which I think perhaps is, in part, dictated by the BA itself, but also just comes from the fact that a certain kind of person is more likely to choose that pathway than another.

[tashhhaaa]

To add to what Alter said re: pre-reqs

He mentioned equivalents. If you choose to study somewhere else, there are equivalents you can do so as to satisfy these pre-reqs, but you'll need to check on the UniMelb MD to make sure that these have been approved (the faculty produces a list of heaps of subjects at other unis that can be used to satisfy each of the pre-reqs for Melbourne).

Certainly at UniMelb it is probably a little more manageable trying to satisfy those pre-reqs via Arts, as you can do them in breadth (as Alter said).

Thoughts about Arts —> MD

There are only a handful of people who studied Arts before coming to the MD in my cohort. I know a couple who combined that with a Science degree, or who took a Science degree after they studied Arts. For all intents and purposes, these students are just like the other science/biomed students in med, with the added bonus of having those arts-skills under their belts.

I also know a few who studied Arts only. Their experiences of MD1, at least, have seemed to vary a bit. It seems that they probably struggle more with the science, and it was probably more of a stretch for them to adapt to the intensity of MD. All of that is to be expected, as their background isn't in science, so the type of study they're used to will be very different to the kind of study required in MD. Also, they have very little background knowledge to fall back on re: science, other than their pre-reqs.

With that said, I think they've still managed. Sure, they've had to work harder, but for some of them, having done a BA allows them to bring something different to MD. They certainly don't have a monopoly on the capacity for critical thought and analysis, but I think the BA probably prepares them for that better than other MDs. In my experience, they're more socially aware too, which I think perhaps is, in part, dictated by the BA itself, but also just comes from the fact that a certain kind of person is more likely to choose that pathway than another.

do you happen to know anyone who came from environments or similar degrees lol? (was going to transfer to science but decided against it and I might just do as the OP is with breadth instead)

[vox nihili]

do you happen to know anyone who came from environments or similar degrees lol? (was going to transfer to science but decided against it and I might just do as the OP is with breadth instead)

Nope, don't know anybody from environments. Small course though that is unlikely to produce many people wanting to do med, so the fact that I haven't met anyone from that background isn't reflective of the fact that it's especially hard to do from environments, rather the small number of environments students and the unpopularity of medicine as a career among them

[tashhhaaa]

Nope, don't know anybody from environments. Small course though that is unlikely to produce many people wanting to do med, so the fact that I haven't met anyone from that background isn't reflective of the fact that it's especially hard to do from environments, rather the small number of environments students and the unpopularity of medicine as a career among them

fair point, thank you anyway. Our course is technically 'STEM' so there are opportunities to do science stuff but it's more earth science, environmental chemistry, engineering maths etc, not sure if that would be even slightly useful for the MD lol

[vox nihili]

fair point, thank you anyway. Our course is technically 'STEM' so there are opportunities to do science stuff but it's more earth science, environmental chemistry, engineering maths etc, not sure if that would be even slightly useful for the MD lol

Probably not useful, no. But hey, neither is biochem really so join the club :p