BSc/BE @ monash?

[TrueLight]

anything to do with biology is a no no

Ive read the BioMed course and it actually seems really interesting

have you changed your mind?

not sure if anyone here does biomed/science ... if someone does they could probably be more specific

but in terms of difficulty i would say both are difficult and would require a lot of work and dedication with the biomed/science a lot of prac reports, tests, assignments, exams etc... but i guess the difficulty would depend on how much you are enjoying the course because usually if you really like something it doesn't matter what work your given you do it and if you hate the course you usually find it very difficult... look through the course structure and units you will be doing

job salary not sure scientists don't get a lot of money but if you want to do science you better do it for interest rather than for money cause you'll be dissapointed... but it also depends what job you get...if you work in industry you usually get more money than in research work...and monash has good ties with research side of things so if your a good student and motivated + a sprinkle of luck then it should be no problem, although it is competitive...

lol yeah my mind changed after watching xmen

so pretty much if my interest is scientific, should i try and get 95.05+, science advanced with honours? although... i dont see if that leads anywhere with good job/pay

what about doing biomed/sc... specialising in something (ie. pathology or pharmacology)... then becoming a specialist in that area? that sounds like it would be interesting and also get paid a lot.
im just unsure if htat would require some sort of post grad education or if the bachelor of bbiomedsc and bachelor of sci is enough. masters or something?

lol after watching xmen....
good job= you have an interest in it
pay= comes with time

i was thinking about pharmacology...but decided against it...
but i think pharmaceutical companies pay decent wages but that also depends...
you keep thinking about money lol
well if you want to do research, you should do at least honours but even then you would be stuck at research assistant.. you need phd to head your own lab

america always has good opportunities...but australia is good too
i guess what you have to decide first is what you want to do in 2011

[98.40_for_sure]

hahah yeah XMEN IS THE SHIZZ!
just tryin to find that balance with something ill enjoy doing for the rest of my life as well as being able to live a comfortable life with a fair amount of money.
i dont really care how long it takes at uni to get qualifications as long as the stuff im studying is in my interest and i love learning about it.
i dont have a preference between research and working in industry... but as working = more money, seems like the way to go haha

[TrueLight]

yep... so i guess all you got to do now is decide what you want to do next year

[Cthulhu]

Yeah, i was thinking maybe move to USA? Cos there's NASA and astro is a bigger thing over there than in aus... but it seems so risky heading down that pathway, might end up jobless

Not true. Australia is currently in the running as one of two places(the other being South Africa) to build the Square Kilometer Array. It's not just a square kilometer of radio telescopes. It's a square kilometer of sky. This is a fucking huge piece of sky and it will change the way we see the universe.

Anyway, to be a 'fully qualified' astrophysicist/astronomer you need a PhD and I'm telling you now that a PhD in theoretical astrophysics contains more maths than TrueTears brain. Observational Astrophysics contains quite a bit of maths too but you spend most of your time observing instead of theorising.

It's also very difficult to get a job in astrophysics even with a PhD as there are so few jobs in the field at the moment and you'll most likely end up as a professor at a university.

Edit: You should probably read this. It will give you an idea of whats involved in becoming an astrophysicist.

[98.40_for_sure]

Yeah, i was thinking maybe move to USA? Cos there's NASA and astro is a bigger thing over there than in aus... but it seems so risky heading down that pathway, might end up jobless

Not true. Australia is currently in the running as one of two places(the other being South Africa) to build the Square Kilometer Array. It's not just a square kilometer of radio telescopes. It's a square kilometer of sky. This is a fucking huge piece of sky and it will change the way we see the universe.

Anyway, to be a 'fully qualified' astrophysicist/astronomer you need a PhD and I'm telling you now that a PhD in theoretical astrophysics contains more maths than TrueTears brain. Observational Astrophysics contains quite a bit of maths too but you spend most of your time observing instead of theorising.

It's also very difficult to get a job in astrophysics even with a PhD as there are so few jobs in the field at the moment and you'll most likely end up as a professor at a university.

Edit: You should probably read this. It will give you an idea of whats involved in becoming an astrophysicist.

LOL "more maths than TrueTears brain"

that links very interesting... shame theres no 'astronomy club' at my school

the other thing that kind of worries me is that if i go straight for Bachelor of Science and end up not liking astrophysics, (as in the massive load of maths/physics rather than studying space etc) theres no where else to go.

"Contrary to popular opinion, you don't spend most of your time looking through a telescope; you hardly ever use an eyepiece at all!"
i... dont wanna end up playing around on a computer lol. im trying to avoid computer jobs such as programming now because i dont wanna sit at a desk typing all day

It seems like i would prefer observational astronomy over theoretical as i just read this"
"The other route? If instrumentation or observing doesn't do it for you, there's theory, which is the route I went down. This is incredibly math and physics intensive, and you will spend most of your time writing COMPUTER CODE, running simulations, and trying your best to find approximate solutions to unsolvable equations. "

COMPUTER CODE! NOOOOOOO

"there are many more people with PhDs than there are jobs as professional observers or professional theorists!"
Make more jobs!!

[Russ]

i was thinking about pharmacology...but decided against it...
but i think pharmaceutical companies pay decent wages but that also depends...

It's apparently australia's biggest growth area in the near future if that influences your thinking at all.

[98.40_for_sure]

i was thinking about pharmacology...but decided against it...
but i think pharmaceutical companies pay decent wages but that also depends...

It's apparently australia's biggest growth area in the near future if that influences your thinking at all.

to become a pharmacologist, does that require medicine? like doing biomed then postgrad med?

[Russ]

I'm not a pharmacy student but it doesn't require a medicine degree, it requires a pharmacy degree. Pretty sure some universities offer it at undergraduate level, whilst others offer it at postgraduate level...so you'd need to sit the GAMSAT if you wanted to apply after doing your BSc/BBiomed (in that sense it's like medicine)

[98.40_for_sure]

Isn't pharmacy and pharmacology like completely different? Pharmacy reqs UMAT and has a separate course, whereas pharmacology is apart of Science and Biomed

[Russ]

Yeah you're right, I evidently got confused 

[luken93]

Bachelor of Pharmacy

Career outlook
Graduates work in various areas of the pharmaceutical industry, including in community and hospital pharmacies and in research. (Note: Australia is experiencing a severe shortage of registered pharmacists, especially in rural areas.)

Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science

Career outlook
Graduates will be able to find employment in the pharmaceutical industry. Opportunities also exist in associated industries such as food, agricultural, chemical and cosmetics.

So it seems pharmacy is becoming a pharmacist, pharmaceutical science is working for big companies making new products?

And Severe Shortage = Big $$$

[98.40_for_sure]

My dad said that pharmacy in melbourne is saturated, and that if i wanted to do htat, i would probably have to move outside of melb to 'rural areas'

Does anyone know how pharmaceutical science is different to pharmacology?

I can't study pharmaceutical science as it isnt offered at clayton monash, only parkville. but pharmacology is available through biomedical science

[Toothpaste]

So it seems pharmacy is becoming a pharmacist, pharmaceutical science is working for big companies making new products?

Yep that's the main pathway, and you can expand on that i.e. pharmacist = hospital/community/industry/research; pharm sci = manufacturing/industrial/research etc

And Severe Shortage = Big $$$

Though I wouldn't pick pharmacy because of the shortage since it's actually getting relieved due to the pharmacy student numbers rising. Monash used to market the course as being "oh we have 99.4% of graduates being employed" now it's "97._%" lol. The internationals were pretty bummed when they realised pharmacist is off the list of skilled occupations here: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/new-list-of-occupations.pdf. Not surprising most of them picked it for easy PR, but it's too bad now.

My dad said that pharmacy in melbourne is saturated, and that if i wanted to do htat, i would probably have to move outside of melb to 'rural areas'

Does anyone know how pharmaceutical science is different to pharmacology?

I can't study pharmaceutical science as it isnt offered at clayton monash, only parkville. but pharmacology is available through biomedical science

It's not that bad that you have to go rural ... yet, but yes your dad is probably right in saying it's approaching saturation.

Pharmaceutical science students (both formulation and med chem majors) have units incorporating pharmacology (it's also a stand-alone core unit in second year semester 2). In pharmacy, pharmacology is ongoing from second year - pharmacy just has a more healthcare/patient theme to it and they try relate everything back to the pharmacist profession. I would assume that "pharmacology" in a different course may have a stronger, probably more deeper focus (in a more inquisitive scientific sense) rather than broadly exploring pharmaceutics, cell biology, product development & physical chemistry which all leads to the pharmaceutical science degree. So you could say pharmacology branches out from pharm sci and you look at that certain branch in detail if you do a major in it or something. Med/nursing/other health students also have to touch on pharmacology.

If you want more insight into pharmacology, check out a textbook called Rang and Dale's Pharmacology.

[98.40_for_sure]

Would doing eng/sci majoring in chem eng possibly lead to engineering pharmaceuticals? so instead of doing biomed/sc and majoring in pharmacology

[Toothpaste]

Would doing eng/sci majoring in chem eng possibly lead to engineering pharmaceuticals? so instead of doing biomed/sc and majoring in pharmacology

In a broad sense, it could. You'd just have to find the right way to do it. If you're an exceptional student and have a clear intention on getting there I don't see why not. The course just won't have a huge focus on pharmaceuticals as pharm sci (or even the double campus pharm sci/eng) would. It would probably suit someone more willing to lean the chemistry but not so the drugs and in a sense the biological component of pharmaceutical science. The manufacturing, development of products and 'engineering' is what separates it from pharmacology (I would also say pharmaco has a more biological base too - lots of rote learning). If you asked a chemical engineer and then a pharmaceutical engineer/scientist the mechanism of action of say, antihypertensives such as certain beta-blockers or ACE inhibitors you'd get respective responses of WTFs and blahblahblahs.