From biomed to teaching

[Billuminati]

Hello everyone,

So I'm thinking of doing a MTeach in case I fail to get into med. I'm doing 1st year biomed and have a few questions to ask about whether I'm allowed to get in with the subjects I will be doing.

There's a few things to know about MTeach and my current degree. I'll list some relevant info here.

-You need 2 specializations with at least one being a major to teach in secondary schools.

-I'm thinking about specializing in chem and bio. The plan is majoring in chem but I'm stuck about the bio requirement.

-Biomed students are NOT allowed to major or minor in any area of study related to biomed eg microbiology, immunology, dev bio, physiology etc

-However some of my core units have prohibitions. BMS1021 prohibits BIO1011 and BIO1022 while BMS2031 prohibits PHY2011 and PHY2032. Our course coordinator told us it's because the content is very similar. If you add these together it's the equivalent of a physiology minor.

-On the website the only requirement for keeping the scholarship is a WAM of 70+. However in the enrollment handbook scholars are required to take a research project in year 3, which might prevent me from doing a major.

1. Can my BMS core units be considered equivalent to a minor in any of the biological areas of study?
2. Can I drop out of the scholars program if a 3990 unit interferes with my course requirements (chem major)?
3. Will I still be given/keep the scholarship if I leave the scholars program, if not how do I refund the uni?
4. If you did a chem major, is it true that you only get awarded it if you do one of CHM3911/CHM3952 and one of CHM3941/CHM3922 in third year? I'm leaning towards doing medicinal and inorganic in S1 and organic and sustainable in S2, so no analytical or physical for me.
5. I heard rumors about CHM3952 being poorly run, is it still true now and is it better than CHM3972 (sustainable)?
6. How does CHM2942 compare to CHM2922? There's no reviews of it on the megathread, it sounds similar to the chem taught in BMS.
7. If I can't get into MTeach from biomed is there any detour I can take to get there?

Thank you guys so much for taking the time.

[VanillaRice]

Hi there!

1) I would say that since the Biomed course covers a wide range of areas in biomedical science (and is classified as a 'specialist course'), that the BMS units would suffice for a minor/major in biological sciences (for me, it wouldn't make sense for it not to). https://www.monash.edu/education/future-students/teacher-education/master-of-teaching/secondary-specialisms
However, it would be best to submit a query directed to the course co-ordinators of the MTeach via ask.monash to clarify whether your BMS units can count towards the major/minor requirements of the MTeach.

2) As part of the scholars course, you are required to do at least 2 biomedical science electives (one of which is a 3990 research unit). This would leave you with 6 free electives, meaning that you would not be able to complete a chemistry major (i.e. it will interfere). I have had a friend drop out of the scholars program after 2nd year, but I'm not sure what happened regarding their scholarship money (again, ask.monash would probably be the best place to direct this query).

Sorry that I haven't been able to provide any definite answers, but I hope this helped somewhat!