Which degree is best for postgrad medicine?

[bigbrownsurfer]

I'm seriously trying to get into a degree that helps later in postgrad medicine. I wanted to do an health science degree or a science degree majoring in immunity and stuff but i've been hearing other people's opinion that biomed would be more of an advantage. I want to get into medicine in monash but im still keeping my options open to other med schools that are willing to just accept me So yeah which degree is beneficial in the pursuit of medicine.

^currently doing year 12 btw

Hope someone actually sees this
*notice me senpais

[Calebark]

Hey,

If you're keen for Monash's med program, the best option would be to study Biomedical Science. This isn't necessarily because it'll prepare you more (I'm not well-versed in this), but because of Monash's new grad-entry program. In short, Monash now only accept Monash students for their grad-entry med program. This is based on WAM and interview, as GAMSAT is no longer used. There are 75 places available, 50 of which are reserved for Biomedical Science students, and 25 of which are for anyone from Biomedical Science, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, and Science.

You can read more about it here.

I also see this is your first post, so allow me to be the first person to welcome you to ATAR Notes

[auds]

Just going to chime in and say for biomed degrees, you will still cover immunology/microbiology. I'm not sure for other unis, but speaking as an Immunology major doing Biomedicine @ Melb U, you get the option of picking different majors So you can still do immunology in Biomedicine. There are other factors though that you would want to consider re science vs Biomedicine.

[vox nihili]

Just going to chime in and say for biomed degrees, you will still cover immunology/microbiology. I'm not sure for other unis, but speaking as an Immunology major doing Biomedicine @ Melb U, you get the option of picking different majors So you can still do immunology in Biomedicine. There are other factors though that you would want to consider re science vs Biomedicine.

At both Melbourne and Monash you do more than enough immunology to get you through med, even without the major.




There are obviously advantages to doing biomed at Monash, because of the way they've set things up. Likewise, similar advantages exist for science, pharmacy there. Otherwise, I'm not sure it matters enormously. There are Arts students doing Med at Melbourne, and although they initially struggled with the science, they bring to the degree a lot of extremely relevant skills that people with a science/biomed background don't have, and all of us are better for getting to study with them.

[bigbrownsurfer]

Hey,

If you're keen for Monash's med program, the best option would be to study Biomedical Science. This isn't necessarily because it'll prepare you more (I'm not well-versed in this), but because of Monash's new grad-entry program. In short, Monash now only accept Monash students for their grad-entry med program. This is based on WAM and interview, as GAMSAT is no longer used. There are 75 places available, 50 of which are reserved for Biomedical Science students, and 25 of which are for anyone from Biomedical Science, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, and Science.

You can read more about it here.

I also see this is your first post, so allow me to be the first person to welcome you to ATAR Notes

Thanks for the warm welcome and reply!

Just going to chime in and say for biomed degrees, you will still cover immunology/microbiology. I'm not sure for other unis, but speaking as an Immunology major doing Biomedicine @ Melb U, you get the option of picking different majors So you can still do immunology in Biomedicine. There are other factors though that you would want to consider re science vs Biomedicine.

Thanks for replying much appreciated!

At both Melbourne and Monash you do more than enough immunology to get you through med, even without the major.




There are obviously advantages to doing biomed at Monash, because of the way they've set things up. Likewise, similar advantages exist for science, pharmacy there. Otherwise, I'm not sure it matters enormously. There are Arts students doing Med at Melbourne, and although they initially struggled with the science, they bring to the degree a lot of extremely relevant skills that people with a science/biomed background don't have, and all of us are better for getting to study with them.

Thanks for the Info much appreciated!

Mod edit: Merged triple post. Please edit your existing post. You are able to multi-quote.

[A1P]

I'm seriously trying to get into a degree that helps later in postgrad medicine.

Doing one of the Monash degrees gives you the advantage of being eligible for Monash as well as other grad schools. But you also need to consider what if you don't get into Monash, will its GPA make you competitive outside (i.e. versus doing a degree that's more suited to you getting a high GPA). Another important factor is what if you can't get into Med anywhere at all, what can you do with that degree career-wise.

[vox nihili]

What's the difference between Bachelor of Medical Science and Bachelor of Biomedical Science? Also, does Monash ONLY accept students from Monash for it's postgrad Med-entry course or can someone from UNSW or Usyd Medical Science course get in (if they've got a good transcript)? And what's WAM?

1. Probably not a lot of difference. Depends on the university, but largely the same stuff I think?
2. Can't really say what their reasoning was behind barring other people from getting in to Monash postgrad med, but it likely has to do with the fact that in doing so they encourage people to choose Monash for their undergrad. Since enforcing this policy—which I'll admit I personally think is unfair and makes Monash med sadly homogenous—their clearly in for Biomed has absolutely skyrocketed, so I guess it's worked. And no, no one from UNSW can get into Monash postgrad med
3. Weighted average mean. It's the mean score for your degree, weighted according to year. So each third year score is worth triple a first year score and a second worth double.

[Alter]

The nomenclature can get pretty confusing. Typically speaking though, a Bachelor of Medical Science is a degree completed by those who already have a medical degree, while Biomedical Science is an undergraduate degree that is essentially a glorified/specific science degree that focuses on biology, chemistry, etc. BMedSci is typically one year long (I believe) and revolves around research/a research project.

For all intents and purposes, if you're a high-school leaver, you should only be concerned with degrees to do with Biomedical Science/Biomedicine. However, universities can arguably call the degree whatever they want, so it's best to check on a case-by-case basis. For example, I think there are universities in QLD which have BMedSci degrees which are equivalent to our 3 year Biomedical Science degrees, albeit with a different name. I understand this can be pretty confusing, which is why it's safest to go with the university's description of the course, because names of degrees can change between institutions while the core premise stays the same.

Have a nice day.

@vox: "Weighted" in WAM is simply to do with credit points, I think, not the actual year of completing the units. wGPA (used for med entry) takes into account the year.

[VanillaRice]

@vox: "Weighted" in WAM is simply to do with credit points, I think, not the actual year of completing the units. wGPA (used for med entry) takes into account the year.

To also add to this, I believe first year units are only weighted as 0.5 (half) compared to other units.

[vox nihili]

@vox: "Weighted" in WAM is simply to do with credit points, I think, not the actual year of completing the units. wGPA (used for med entry) takes into account the year.

My apologies, this is absolutely correct.

To also add to this, I believe first year units are only weighted as 0.5 (half) compared to other units.

This isn't typically the case, and certainly isn't at UniMelb: http://ask.unimelb.edu.au/app/answers/detail/a_id/6018/~/weighted-average-mark-%28wam%29

Thanks a lot for your responses. I heard that University of Melbourne requires the GAMSAT test for entrance to their Graduate Medicine program (MD).
What's the GAMSAT test out of and what's the minimum required for entrance to their MD course? Is the test hard (same difficulty as UMAT perhaps)?
They also look at your grades (GPA) or something of that sorts for your Bachelor degree. What's the highest GPA possible and what's the entry GPA requirement for their MD course?

Some of these questions you could have answered with a really quick google.

There is no minimum GAMSAT for most courses, though suffice to say it's competitive. Hard to say what you need. Also impossible to say that it's easier or harder than UMAT. Personally, I found GAMSAT easier. I know plenty of others had the opposite experience.

The highest GPA is typically 7, though some universities mark it out of 4. There is no entry requirement for most MD courses, but once again, it's competitive, just like GAMSAT.

[A1P]

What's the GAMSAT test out of and what's the minimum required for entrance to their MD course? Is the test hard (same difficulty as UMAT perhaps)?

Except UMelb the other dozen grad med schools don't have any prereqs on your Bachelor course. Potentially one with an Architecture degree can enter Med with no previous Chem/Bio... studies. GAMSAT is used to partially measure their suitability to studying med.

UQ sets a GPA hurdle of 5.0, no interview, place offers are based solely on GAMSAT scores so you need upwards of 97%ile. USyd also GPA hurdle 5.0, interview offers are based on GAMSAT then place offers on GAMSAT+Interview combo. The rest use combo of GPA+GAMSAT+Interview, very high in one can compensate for the other two, there's no clear-cut line of what score is good enough particularly when it's balanced with your unknown interview score.

People generally say GAMSAT is easier to study for than UMAT, but... not that much.

[VanillaRice]

This isn't typically the case, and certainly isn't at UniMelb: http://ask.unimelb.edu.au/app/answers/detail/a_id/6018/~/weighted-average-mark-%28wam%29

My bad, seems I was only speaking from a Monash perspective.

So a GPA of 5 out of 7 is minimum requirement? What kind of marks are usually in for a GPA of 5? Mostly Distinctions or is it more HD?

Marks in more recent years of your degree are weighted more heavily, but it is important to note the minimum 5 GPA is generally a hurdle only. Entry is in most cases much more competitive, so in my opinion you would want to be aiming more towards the HDs, especially in the more recent years.

EDIT: I can't read   

[A1P]

So a GPA of 5 out of 7 is minimum requirement? What kind of marks are usually in for a GPA of 5? Mostly Distinctions or is it more HD?

For each study unit HD=7 D=6 CR=5, add them up then divide by the number of units (assuming they're all equal credit points) for GPA.

For UQ & USyd with the 5.0 hurdle their CR is 65-74 so GPA 5 typically equates to approx 70 WAM. But at Melb/Monash you only need approx 65 WAM to get GPA 5, I don't know how they handle this difference.

Also note it doesn't make UQ/USyd easier to get in. A low hurdle inevitably pushes up the other score extremely high, it just suits better the students who are GPA poor but GAMSAT talented.

For the non-hurdle combo schools you typically need 6.5 GPA + 90%ile GAMSAT. GPA 6.2 can sometimes make it but you need much higher GAMSAT to compensate.

[VanillaRice]

Also, you said something about 65-74 credit points equating to 5 GPA points, could you explain on how you can obtain those credit points? Apologies for my confusion, but considering I'm in Year 10 I don't know much about Uni grading systems.

I believe the "credit" A1P is referring to a credit grade (like Distinctions, High Distinctions, etc.). Credit points basically help tell you how many subjects you need to do to complete a degree/course (e.g. at USyd, each subject is worth 6 credit points, and since there's 48 credit points in the first year, means you essentially complete 48/6=8 units in first year).

If you scroll to the last two pages of this document, I believe the table will give you a general guide as to how marks are translated into grades/GPAs.

[A1P]

Apologies for my confusion, but considering I'm in Year 10 I don't know much about Uni grading systems.

I feel like explaining this now and it'll all change by the time you get there

A semester is typically 4 units of 6 credit points. A year = (4 x 6) x 2 semesters = 48 cr pts, times three years = 144 cr pts.
Some courses have a double unit worth 12 cr pts, if you get HD for it you effectively get two lots of 7. Credit point is a different thing to the Credit grade CR.

At UQ/USyd if your unit's mark is between 65% & 74% you are given CR grade which is worth 5 GPA points. At Melb/Monash it's between 60 & 69 for same, so someone with a unit mark of 72% gets a D = 6 GPA points instead.