Nursing/Midwifery, OR Nursing, then Midwifery? Is there a difference any way?

[The Cat In The Hat]

I'm trying to decide whether I should just do Nursing, or do the double, Nursing and Midwifery. Thus, I'm trying to find out if there would be a difference between doing Nursing and Midwifery, and doing Nursing, then Midwifery separately, afterwards, if I wanted. I don't know if I want to do Midwifery, but it seems that it would leave me more qualified for the areas I want to go into (maternity/paeds/something like that, probably). Would I be able to switch mid-course; if so, when, how would that change anything? In other words, should I hedge my bets and go for Nursing and Midwifery, or wait and see? What would change?
I feel I'm not being very clear here...
And yes, I'd want to do it at Monash either way.
It just seems ridiculously hard to find information on any of this, and I don't want to throw away my year 12 to find out what I should do for uni, by sinking tons of time in it.

TL;DR - is it quicker in any way, or different, to start out with Nursing and Midwifery, or to do Nursing and then Midwifery later, separately? Are there options to switch mid-course, either way? Doing Midwifery could make it more likely I get to do more what I want (paeds/maternity), according to heids at least. Trying to find information is confusing.

[AngelWings]

Nursing and Midwifery is not an area I know much about, but I’ll give it a crack anyway. Ultimately, the final choice comes down to you and your interests.

Is it quicker or different in any way to study Nursing/ Midwifery vs. Nursing, then midwifery?
Faster? Yes, it’ll cut down on 2-2.5 years if you do the double degree, as doing the Masters requires two years of clinical experience first, I think (see prerequisites here), and then the 1-1.5 years of Masters vs. 4 years for the double degree.

Different? If memory serves me correctly, you’ll be accredited either way for both nursing and midwifery via both pathways. In the case for accredited courses, you’ll learn roughly the same content regardless of institute and regardless of studying nursing and/or midwifery as undergrad vs. postgrad, so content-wise should be nearly the same. Perhaps the bigger differences will be time spent, type of qualification (if you go nursing, then midwifery, you’ll likely be doing a Masters so you’ll exit with a postgrad qualification vs. two Bachelors if doing the double degree) and money owed (postgrad courses cost more than undergrad). The other thing is simply getting more content if you do nursing, then midwifery, since you’d take more units (subjects).

Edit: Just did about 2 mins’ worth of research. The course map for nursing/midwifery double degree looks similar to the nursing single degree but they shift things around and add a bunch of midwifery stuff in for the double degree. You also don’t get electives doing the double degree vs. 1 in the nursing single degree.

Are there options to switch courses?
Most courses allow you to transfer in and out of double degrees, assuming you meet the grades and prerequisites. I don’t really think it would be that different here. Would probably check with Monash to be sure though.

Other
Not sure if it helps, but the Virtual Open Day for Monash is coming soon. Perhaps you could get more of an idea there?

[The Cat In The Hat]

Thank you - that was a very clear answer to my rambly and uncertain question!