Subjects for Medicine (1 Viewer)

[KingKong^]

So at the moment my yr 11 subjects are:
- Standard English
- Standard Math
- Chemistry
- Biology
- SOR
- PDHPE
I was in maths advanced in Term 1 but was moved down with a bunch of other students, as we'd 'perform better in standard'. My goal is to get into Medicine but now I'm not so sure with my subjects. I know USYD needs a band 4 in advanced, but that's gone now. Are there any Unis that will take in a standard math student into medicine??

 

[quickoats]

Unis tend to make their prerequisites very clear both on their UAC/ xTAC pages and in their own websites. If you have not satisfied a prerequisite, you cannot be admitted into the course. Don’t mix this up with assumed knowledge, which they “expect you to know” before you walk in, but they won’t not admit you because you didn’t do the subject in high school.

I’d suggest looking at the uni websites and checking out their admissions criteria - they would change all the time. In terms of unis, from memory, USyd, UNSW, WSU, UNE/UoN JMP and CSU/WSU JMP (new this year) are the only undergrad pathways in NSW, so be sure to check their websites out! I’m sure not all of them would have a mathematics prerequisite, but might have it as assumed knowledge.

Not sure if they still have it, but USyd used to have a BA MD and a BMus MD program - they might not be subject to the same Band 4 Mathematics requirement as the BSc MD.

 

[idkkdi]

So at the moment my yr 11 subjects are:
- Standard English
- Standard Math
- Chemistry
- Biology
- SOR
- PDHPE
I was in maths advanced in Term 1 but was moved down with a bunch of other students, as we'd 'perform better in standard'. My goal is to get into Medicine but now I'm not so sure with my subjects. I know USYD needs a band 4 in advanced, but that's gone now. Are there any Unis that will take in a standard math student into medicine??

If you're only allowed to do Standard English and Standard Math, you're underperforming the Med barrier. med's looking unlikely.

Just being realistic here. Maybe Western Sydney Med. But even that's going to be unlikely. Maybe post-grad. Check what your school's cohort from last year got, and compare the rankings of those people with yours right now.

You need high band 5/low band 6 in those subjects to meet Western Sydney Med's cutoff.

If anyone knows of any universities with lower a much lower ATAR cutoff than Western Sydney, then I will delete this post.

 

[Accurate]

If you're only allowed to do Standard English and Standard Math, you're underperforming the Med barrier. If you don't get your sht together, med's looking unlikely.

Just being realistic here. Maybe Western Sydney Med. But even that's going to be unlikely. Maybe post-grad. But considering you got dropped from advanced, you really need to get your sht together. Check what your school's cohort from last year got, and compare the rankings of those people with yours right now. If your ATAR is looking messed up, you need to get your sht together even more.

You need high band 5/low band 6 in those subjects to meet Western Sydney Med's cutoff.

If anyone knows of any universities with lower a much lower ATAR cutoff than Western Sydney, then I will delete this post, and also question whether I would trust these guys with my health in the future.

Pretty sure WSU is the lowest, 93 I think but you need a decent UCAT as well.

 

[quickoats]

@idkkdi, there is no need to be so rude and condescending. It's fair that you're seemingly a high achiever, but that does not give you the right to berate @KingKong^ for having their own aspirations. I'm sure they appreciate you being 'realistic', but I'm sure they don't appreciate you telling them to "get their 'sht' together", and questioning their abilities (and the abilities of others) to become trustworthy medical professionals.

Just so you know, there are other professionals that society trusts with their health, and will continue to do so in the future. I'm 100% sure that some of the nurses, paramedics, midwives, and even some doctors didn't get 95+ ATARs. Demeaning the essential health services provided by most allied health professionals achieves nothing, and doesn't do amazing things for your character. "Just being realistic", but this attitude probably won't sit too well with admissions interviewers in overseas universities who are looking for the best of the best (of the best) in all aspects, not just academics.

@KingKong^ , please understand that any ATAR is achievable with any combination of subjects - that's how the aggregate process works. However, note that with your subjects, you'd need to be achieving top marks, rather than just 'high' marks which would suffice had you taken higher scaling subjects. I know someone who did a similar (but worse scaling) combination of subjects (Ag instead of PE and Inv Sc instead of Chem) and got around 95 with only 2 band 6s, so if you absolutely smash all your subjects, the sky is the limit in terms of ATAR.

Push as hard as you can, and make sure you do the UCAT and HSC exams to the best of your ability. Don't write off your aspirations to study medicine just because someone anonymous on the internet told you that you had little to no chance. If you give it your all, you can't be mad at yourself, whereas if you give up too early, you have plenty of reasons to have regrets. Also note that there are plenty of pathways into a medical career, so if Plan A doesn't work out, you can still pursue your dreams.

Good luck with your future studies

 

[idkkdi]

@idkkdi, there is no need to be so rude and condescending. It's fair that you're seemingly a high achiever, but that does not give you the right to berate @KingKong^ for having their own aspirations. I'm sure they appreciate you being 'realistic', but I'm sure they don't appreciate you telling them to "get their 'sht' together", and questioning their abilities (and the abilities of others) to become trustworthy medical professionals.

Just so you know, there are other professionals that society trusts with their health, and will continue to do so in the future. I'm 100% sure that some of the nurses, paramedics, midwives, and even some doctors didn't get 95+ ATARs. Demeaning the essential health services provided by most allied health professionals achieves nothing, and doesn't do amazing things for your character. "Just being realistic", but this attitude probably won't sit too well with admissions interviewers in overseas universities who are looking for the best of the best (of the best) in all aspects, not just academics.

@KingKong^ , please understand that any ATAR is achievable with any combination of subjects - that's how the aggregate process works. However, note that with your subjects, you'd need to be achieving top marks, rather than just 'high' marks which would suffice had you taken higher scaling subjects. I know someone who did a similar (but worse scaling) combination of subjects (Ag instead of PE and Inv Sc instead of Chem) and got around 95 with only 2 band 6s, so if you absolutely smash all your subjects, the sky is the limit in terms of ATAR.

Push as hard as you can, and make sure you do the UCAT and HSC exams to the best of your ability. Don't write off your aspirations to study medicine just because someone anonymous on the internet told you that you had little to no chance. If you give it your all, you can't be mad at yourself, whereas if you give up too early, you have plenty of reasons to have regrets. Also note that there are plenty of pathways into a medical career, so if Plan A doesn't work out, you can still pursue your dreams.

Good luck with your future studies

He got dropped from Advanced Maths, clearly he wasn't trying hard enough.

It's when you bring up people's hopes, that they get depression when they realise they were misled previously.

I'm telling them that there is a possibility of getting into med, but at their current rate, I.e. getting dropped from 2U maths, it's not very likely.

I don't think you realised that I was referring to doctors specifically. Specifically, doctors should be meticulous in nature, and the fact is, that aspect of personality is evidenced in HSC. There is no way that a person who is that meticulous would get a low ATAR, given that external factors did not contribute. By meticulous, I refer to not missing possible cases/diseases etc. Nurses/midwifes require lesser expertise and have a bigger room for error as opposed to anesthesiologists and heart surgeons. GP's would need a massive knowledge bank, and I assume that those with such abilities to grind through massive anatomy textbooks would be able to complete HSC subjects.

 

[KingKong^]

@idkkdi Nah you've got a point. I wasn't trying hard enough at all in advanced and lost the chance to prove myself worthy of a position in the course. I am a lazy student after all. Nonetheless, this is a wakeup call for me as I clearly need to get my act together.

I've had a couple meetings with my teachers discussing med. I need to get minimum band 6s in order to secure my position in the course. And frankly, to be honest, I think I have more of a chance of getting there, as previously in year 10, I was getting top marks in advanced but put in all my effort into the subject, whilst neglecting my other subjects. Now, I don't believe standard requires as much effort and isn't as fast-paced as advanced. Therefore, I now get to smash standard and put in more effort into my other subjects, simultaneously smashing all subjects.

@quickoats Thank you so much for the kind words and help. I will definitely put your advice to good use in my studies. Same for @idkkdi. I honestly couldn't care less if someone really was to berate me. Nonetheless, I appreciate all the help. Stay safe ya'll

 

[Time&moretime]

@idkkdi Nah you've got a point. I wasn't trying hard enough at all in advanced and lost the chance to prove myself worthy of a position in the course. I am a lazy student after all. Nonetheless, this is a wakeup call for me as I clearly need to get my act together.

I've had a couple meetings with my teachers discussing med. I need to get minimum band 6s in order to secure my position in the course. And frankly, to be honest, I think I have more of a chance of getting there, as previously in year 10, I was getting top marks in advanced but put in all my effort into the subject, whilst neglecting my other subjects. Now, I don't believe standard requires as much effort and isn't as fast-paced as advanced. Therefore, I now get to smash standard and put in more effort into my other subjects, simultaneously smashing all subjects.

@quickoats Thank you so much for the kind words and help. I will definitely put your advice to good use in my studies. Same for @idkkdi. I honestly couldn't care less if someone really was to berate me. Nonetheless, I appreciate all the help. Stay safe ya'll

I have been reading the comments from @idkkdi and @quickoats. Both of whom made valid arguments. Quite true what they said because securing a place in a medical program is a challenge, also I haven't seen any medical schools in NSW in exception to USYD that refers to standard Maths or/and English as a barrier in applying for Med. The truth is that medical schools have benchmarks & in reality applicants go over that & beyond; meaning if the minimum is 96ATAR, most applicants scored between 98 to 99ATAR. Saying this, its more complicated because in my opinion, the interview is the real dealbreaker. One can have a good UCAT ANZ score, ATAR but for some reason didn't make the cut in the interview. And some medical schools like UON/UNE even make you sign a confidentiality agreement ensuring you don't discuss the interview with anyone. The positive thing is that you win both ways. If you are unable to secure a place in Med, you probably will be able to apply into almost any other course at uni.

 

[yao_jahang]

is pdhpe or ancient history better for biomedicine? any advice would be great. thx

 

[Leadmen4y]

is pdhpe or ancient history better for biomedicine? any advice would be great. thx

high school subjects hardly matter unless for prereqs in uni, whatever subjects u do, if you get a high enough of an ATAR u get in the course u want, unless prereq stops u of course.

if u want to go into the health industry, just go with pdhpe lmao it's kinda obvious right? but regardless, there's people who do no STEM subjects and still get in med through like a double degree of bachelor of art and doctor of medicine, the point is high school knowledge don't matter much unless the uni specifies that a subject is a prereq.

and don't worry about scaling for either of the subjects, there's people coming out with a 99.95 every year in both (check UAC report).

 

[yao_jahang]

do the teachers for pdhpe matter? or is it just self discipline? because our school has a better band 6 record with ancient history than pdhpe, however i find pdhpe more interesting

 

[Leadmen4y]

do the teachers for pdhpe matter? or is it just self discipline? because our school has a better band 6 record with ancient history than pdhpe, however i find pdhpe more interesting

of course they do, frankly for every subject id suspect the teacher matters. but remember that band 6 records is not necessarily the best indicator of the quality of teaching because the performance largely depends on the students, ur school could just have a really dropkick cohort for pdhpe every year.

however, I would mention that teachers for pdhpe are not mainly to teach the content because its really not that hard, its more of helping u with writing ur responses such as providing high quality and specific examples, structuring ur answer in a logical and cohesive manner, and most importantly marking ur responses and giving u feedbacks so u can consistently put out band 6 responses in short answers.

id suggest u to just go with pdhpe only because u said u find it more interesting, because really, you cant do much about the teachers u get, its something outside ur control. At the end of the day, u putting more work and having more drive to study will outweigh the quality of ur teachers 10 out of 10 times.

 

[vanescott]

The education system leaves much to be desired