Facilities and environment are what you make of them. They're all pretty respectable.
Having come out of the cookie cutter system and having also entered another cookie cutter system (before bailing for a wholly different thing), no one really cares where you go. Simply enjoy yourself at uni, learn as much as you can and do as well as you can, avoid repeating exams, and connect with your hospital, your mentors, classmates. That is the best advice I can gratuitously offer.
Oh, go to UNSW. Only if you fail to be offered admission to UNSW but gain admission to UWS, then go to UWS. The reasons for this are too obvious.
Eh, depends on what you want out of life. But for the love of God, don't simply let the fact that UNSW being a longer degree markedly dissuade you from going there. On the other hand (that is, to be fair), don't let the fact that UNSW has all these societies and stuff draw you to it. Choose but after due consideration and do so naturally, as part of your process.
USYD Dean keeps saying USYD trains specialists. UWS trains GPs.
Course he would say that.
You have to take that with a grain of salt and you can accept that as being reputable, I'm afraid. There's a conflict of interest, real or perceived, whether anyone wants there to be or not, whether or not Robinson is telling the truth or like it is.
UWS Professors do not have a strong background in research in comparison to USYD and UNSW professors. This means there is less opportunities to get your name on a paper or be involved in research when you study at UWS. Professors at better ranked universities also have better connections so your paper will be likely to be published in a journal with a higher impact factor. That being said if you are a keen student you will find your way around it. Research is imperative if you want to enter a specialty in surgery, internal medicine, ons/gyn etc.
I am not sure about UWS or UNSW but USYD has a dissection course it runs for it's elective. This adds extra points to your CV if you want to apply for surgery training (SET).
No one tells you this prior to entering medicine. I wish I got told this earlier.
Many of these things that you've detailed here are plain falsehoods or misrepresentations, done wilfully or otherwise. Some of things things claimed are absurd too.
Look, if you want to succeed in medicine, you really have to work hard and smart, manage your time well, and be proactive. I hear that some crazy USyd kids also juggle MPhils, PhDs, MPHs, BAs, etc. while doing the SMP.
UNSW has prosection and dissection opportunities, not that it's the be all and end all. Just like research.
they both have their ups and downs. I go to UWS so naturally i would be inclined to say its better but i will try to be as objective as possible
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Another, more personal, consideration to make is how far the respective unis are for you.
Apples, oranges.
BTW, the ILP should be viewed as an opportunity, not a liability. It provides breadth and insight into something more than simply being an awesome doctor of whatever stripe. It also gives you a leg up and a taste of research. Not every one is cut out for it, whether they're stupid, lazy, disinterested, etc.
Social life, culture, and all that stuff depends. It varies from year to year as well. It's not really that important as you'll fit in anywhere and get involved anywhere. To be honest, juggling being on top of everything and gunning exams and doing extra stuff is pretty difficult. Manageable but not easy and not without an undesirable amount of stress. So basically, it's sort of a moot thing. (Which, I guess, could swing the pendulum from UNSW, I guess.) You'll invariably get to know your cohort, so much so that things become almost incestuous. You may indeed be at different teaching hospitals but that is true for any med school or any other school with such pooling.
Kiraken, so your horse in the race is UWS Med (not simply UWS), right?
If you can get into med anywhere straight away it would be more worthwhile doing that and then completing research, post-degree after you know whereabouts you're headed and finishing your degree with research PLUS extra research after your degree in the same time it takes someone to finish the first.
I strongly suggest this.
It only sounds reasonable. Though the research may not be related to your specialty, what's most critical is that you did the research. You learnt a process. You learnt how to critically think and write. You learnt specific techniques or techniques in general and you have proven that you can do this.
I managed to do a semester of culturing pathogens and running a bunch of studies on these as an in-semester additional thing. While I'll almost certainly never do this again, unless I were to go back in this for whatever unusual reason, I'm all the better for having that experience. I demonstrated that I could learn techniques, analyse scientific literature, perform and optimise techniques without supervision, design experiments, analyse data, and even churn out a piece of work!
I also managed to do chem and mathematical bio research and, though this seems totally left field, these have been looked upon favourably, again when I explained the work and what I gained from it all.
If it comes to UNSW and ILP time, try to do it with a lab that won't screw you over. Certain biomed labs at or associated with the uni are facing hot water, not only in the media, with their research practices. Go to these labs and researchers at your peril.
You should also note that some UNSW guys are actually at UWS or both now and, as stated above, researchers can take on board guys from other unis. The paperwork may be a bit of an issue but you'll work it out and it's not a big deal. UWS research is actually solid now, and it's utter bullshit that UWS is basically a production line of GPs whereas USyd, the premier university, is a breeding group for specialists.
Of course. I'm just saying Professors are biased and some prefer to take students from their universities (this is from hearing other people say so). Doing research post degree whilst working week days and some weekends gets tough, so it depends if you're willing to make that sacrifice. Only reason I brought up research pre-degree is to help you secure a spot in the specialty training programs (SET, BPT etc.).
It's brutal if you want a family and some sort of semblance of normalcy but it's worth it.
While you can do something like "Ps get degrees" in med, as said above, it depends on what you want from life.
Pre-degree research probably won't help a lot when you want to secure a public consultant position. If I was to do research post degree I would just do a PHD or masters. As any other research will have a lesser impact and won't help you as much in securing a public consultant position.
Not entirely true.
We all know the limitations and utility of anecdotes. Pardon me for this but I know a handful of folks that did Ph.D.s first, then went to med school. One year out, some were offered traineeships with the RACP.
To any and all, I strongly suggest not doing a Master's of Philosophy (unless you meant Master's of Surgery) if you do medicine. If you're going to do research, go for gold and do a Ph.D. Work something out so that you can do fewer hours in the clinic while juggling a Ph.D. No one really takes (terminal) research Master's too seriously.
