Radiography plans (1 Viewer)

[Sintrix]

Hi all

Im doing my HSC this year and im hoping to get in to radiography next year at usyd. Im concerned that i dont have the right subjects (maths 2U, english stan, legal, eco, ipt) so i have a few questions:

Since im not doing the right subjects, would it be beneficial if i did both the physics and biology bridging courses? Would this be enough to get me through?

Also if i dont make the UAI cutoff for radiography, can i do radiation therapy which has a lower cutoff and since they both have the same first year, would it be easy to swap to radiography after that?

After that im looking at doing a postgrad course in sonography...there are 3 courses for this and i dont really know the difference in outcomes they will have, could anyone explain this to me?

Cheers

 

[krayzie_]

Well if you haven't done any science related courses at all during your HSC, and if you feel uncomfortable with taking on the science in university then by all means do the bridging courses.. but meh, I didn't do any science in during the HSC and I was fine without the bridginc courses.

No difference, you can do any 3 of the MRS courses and apply to do postgrad sonography AFTER you finish your bachelor's degree.

 

[Sintrix]

Yeah i think i might do the bridging courses just to get like standard concepts so i dont say "wtf" so much during lectures...
Most people say its to get you in to way of thinking but i rekon i already think heaps like the physics people. I love figuring out all physics kinda stuff, like ive been obsessed the speed of light and how it is relative to time and stuff, its freakin aweseom... but the biology stuff i'll still want to do.

What i meant by the 3 post grad courses was what are the dfferent outcomes, like i know that masters is the highest but what would the point of doing that be?
The ammount of time doing them is sooo different.

Also another question, how much maths is involved in the radiography course? Is it basic stuff and mainly biology/physics kinda stuff or what?

 

[krayzie_]

Yeah just do what you want to do.

Oh one is the masters, one is graduate certificate and a graduate diploma. For the grad certificate you don't get accreditation which is kinda pointless if you want to get a job as a sonographer they usually would want you to be accredited. The difference between the other two is not so clear meaning I don't know except for the time difference. Maybe someone else here will reply.

Maths, yeah you should know some maths, if your in radiation therapy then I heard theres alot of maths because your involved with planning etc. and you got to calculate. Radiography - your taking x-rays, ct's, mri's, ultrasound etc. So just looking at the handbook there looks like more physics then anything else, except for the first year subjects with are pretty general for science degrees across all uni's.

 

[d00d34]

The bridging courses will prolly help you, but it is up to you. I know a whole bunch of people that went 'wtf?' when we were doing the bio component of the lectures since they didn't do bio in year 12.

Not that much maths in diagnostic radiography. The physics concepts are more important anyway.

As for sono, I did a bit of searching of the Usyd site and here's what i found:

Masters (3 years part time)

"The first two years of the program covers physical principles and instrumentation, professional issues encountered in the field of sonography and a wide variety of the applications of sonography. The third year provides qualified sonographers with the opportunity to further their studies in a specialist area of sonography."
May be eligible for accreditation

Grad diploma (1 year full time)

"These courses are intended for those seeking a course similar to the Masters Degree but of shorter duration or with multiple exit points. In most circumstances students can articulate to the master’s course on satisfactory completion of the graduate diploma."
This is fully accredited.

Grad cert (6 months full time)

"While the course does not lead to sonographer accreditation, the Graduate Certificate of Health Science (Medical Sonography) may suit those with specific interests or requirements in diagnostic ultrasound."
No Accreditation

As far as i can tell, masters is the hardcore program, where you cover everything and also specialise in a particular area of sono. Grad diploma is basically the faster way to become a sono, without the specialisation and covering the wider issues (research also?) of sono. Grad cert is basically just to see if your interested, kinda like a Sono 101 or something.

I've linked each of the 3 degrees to its own webpage on usyd, so you can have a read.

 

[Sintrix]

wow thanks for the help, yeah i think i'll be doing a bio and physics bridging course just to be on the safe side.

Looks like the diploma would be the most common one for me to get in to that field.
Thanks d00d34

 

[krayzie_]

Also, if you want to do sonography. You must be accreditted already from your bachelors degree.. meaning you have to of finished your PDY to get into the postgrad sono.

 

[Sintrix]

Yeah i plan on doing my year after i leave uni, but apprently to do the postgrad course i also have to spend a certain ammount of hours working in the sonography field during that 1 year after i finish uni.

 

[overfloater]

hi sintrix. u need to finish ur pdy in ur chosen mrs stream before u can apply to do teh sono post grad course, and in order to gte into teh course u will need to find a trainee sono job for urself taht will be part time along with ur post grad studies.
just a piece of advice if ur interested in doing sonography as a post grad make sure u do the radiography course.... even though the radiation tehrapy degree is also marketed as a medical imaging degree and one u can use to do post grad sono, most places offering sono traineeships dnt take on rts cos radiology deps and rad onc deps arent linked....total load of b/s and usyd really needs to cahnge teh way they market teh degree. take it from me, i'm a struggling RT! if i knew better i wouldnt have wasted my time....