Why Medicine? (3 Viewers)

[tristan88]

This may be slightly off topic, but I was wondering if anyone has any experience with how UMAT scores are handled at Monash for the Pharmacy course?

I know that the first section carries extra weight at Melbourne Uni for Medicine. I just haven't found out anything about what Monash does.

 

[1000words]

Hi everyone,

Seeing as I believe everyone has put in their preferences for university, I will have a break from visiting the BOS law forums to answer questions.

I have subscribed (to receive email notification) to the 'Answers about Law' thread in the University General -> Law forum so please feel free to post a question there and I will be happy to answer any queries for you.

Alternatively, feel free to email me (via http://1000words.net) if you have any questions!

I hope that I have helped in some way and wish you the best of luck in the future!

Regards,
David

 

[Kittycat]

I did work experience in nursing and found that it wasn't the right career for me because it wasn't stimulating enough; I couldn't hear about a patient's problem, discuss how it's manifested, how the patient is progressing and being treated.

I don't think you observed all that nurses do when you did your work experience. When I was doing my placements at the hospital, I had a work experience student from year ten following me for the day and trust me, she didn't see all that the nurses get to do. Nurses talk to patients alot about their problems, how they are progressing and how they felt towards treatments. Nurses moniter their health and how they are progressing all the time.
I think that nurses actually hear about a patient's problems, and sometimes even know a patient (and their problems) better than a doctor would as they are around the patients more often than the doctors. Doctors get information from both the patient and the nurses on how the patients are progressing with their problem.

 

[011]

I believe that money/prestige (which I'd wager is the sole motivation of some) is powerful enough to be a driving force to do medicine.
People would put up with an amazing amount for that.

 

[Lexicographer]

True, but they wouldn't stick with it. To get to the high paying jobs in medicine you need a lot more motivation than sheer avarice can provide.

As for Kittycat's comments on nursing, I agree with her. Doctors are far too busy researching cases and forming diagnoses/treatment plans to really talk to the patients. Sure med students and interns may be seen spending time with patients (and indeed, are instructed to do so) but the higher up the ladder you climb the less of your patient you actually see. Think of the Scrubs episode with the 12s countdown.

 

[CrashOveride]

Does anyone have any stats about salaries for doctors and other medial people?
One of the main reasons i didnt want to do medicine was because a mate of mine (who got full s'ship to melb uni) said they have to pay like heaps high insurance and if u made one mistake then ur whole career could be over etc. But a lot of ppl still go into med so i was wondering what is the situation like financially ?

Im enrolled in combined actuarial studies this year, and i basically went into that because i heard it pays well. Im ready to admit that im chasing a career(s) purely because of the bliing bling factor.

 

[inasero]

yep ur right its pretty stressful cos of the litigation cases...if u want money then u chose the right thing...otherwise...enrol in commerce and start a highly profitable business

 

[Estel]

Does anyone have any stats about salaries for doctors and other medial people?
One of the main reasons i didnt want to do medicine was because a mate of mine (who got full s'ship to melb uni) said they have to pay like heaps high insurance and if u made one mistake then ur whole career could be over etc. But a lot of ppl still go into med so i was wondering what is the situation like financially ?

Im enrolled in combined actuarial studies this year, and i basically went into that because i heard it pays well. Im ready to admit that im chasing a career(s) purely because of the bliing bling factor.

In parts...

I used government tables, subtracted average deductions (eg. running costs of practice, indemnity insurance) and then used the tax tables. All figures are averages provided by the government.
I stress this is take home pay. In brackets I have left the pay before deductions and tax.

Average specialist income:
106,897 (326,867)

GP Income
69,273 (212,833)

Radiologist
113,318 (339,457)

Psychiatrist
63,287 (155,501)

Dermatologist
118419 (464,330)

Gynaecology, obstetrician
128720 (424,009)

Anaesthetist
141080 (329,695)

Pathologist
67308 (228,890)

As you can see above, very fat pay check, shrunk very much by expenses and tax.
But I don't subscribe to the idea that medicine is penance of any sorts.

At least you have your priorities straight.
As for me... a small holiday home in the mountains and enough money to go on holidays every year/do part time study... I'm happy.
You can't starve on 6 figures of disposable income.

 

[CrashOveride]

Thanks estel

Yeah so its not too bad if you specialise or do something not so broad (GP etc). I imagine if you were some hardcore surgeon you could have 300k net p.a. But then, these ppl are always on stand by and have no lives.

If you wouldn't mind, could you post up the link to the gov site?

 

[velox]

tax takes soo much out! Hmm i should move to Dubai

 

[Waldo]

its not just only tax, insurance also takes out a huge chunk.

just curious why dubai?

 

[Lexicographer]

No Tax.

Anyway, ya for anaesthesia! Pity about the competition to get in.

 

[Skillo]

No Tax.

Anyway, ya for anaesthesia! Pity about the competition to get in.

My sister's boyfriend had his final anaesthesia exam or something rather today. He's been studying like a gun. They cost a lot don't they? Becoming an anaesthesiologist?

Ok, why am I applying for Med. I am one of those off centre cases...as in, I'm not straight and narrow on why I want to do it. Because the chances of me getting into the one course I can apply for is very slim. Extremely slim...at least I am able to admit this. So I have no false hopes.
I did the HSC in 2004, got 93.65. I am a rural student, have been all my life. I am applying for Med at Monash for 2006 Entry, for a place on the Dean's Rural List. I live 300km from Melbourne, 560km from Sydney. So I'm stuck in the middle.

Anywho, I first became interested in Med in Year 9, but in Year 11 my parents and teachers encouraged me to look into other options as I was not achieving the marks I required. So I'm deferred my offer from Bach Creative Arts at Uni of Melb. As I must admit my number one passion is theatre.

So you must be thinking I'm a total joke for med. But seriously...I want to do it because:

- It's a cliche to say I want to help people and be an asset to our society...I mean I'm not disputing the fact that Drs do add to society...but I want to do a little more. I'm really interested in the work of Dr Peter Spitzer (founder of the Humour foundation) who has researched into the idea of humour helping sick patients. All of the Clown Doctors in Australia are actors (except for when Dr Spitzer takes off his white coat and puts on his clown feet). I would love to be a professional clown doctor. I am not kidding. And this isn't un-realistic. The Big Apple Clown Care Unit in New York has professionals like the one I want to be working and thriving.
I think in working in this area, I'm using both of my 'talents' or rather praticising two of my passions.

- My little sister has a rare blood disorder Neutropenia. She was classified as Severe Chronic Neutropenia, but that was revised to just Chronic when she was placed on a drug in 1997.
For those people wanting to know what Neutropenia is...
Neutropenia is a blood disorder that can affect anyone. Some people are born with it. It can happen after a viral infection. In some cases the cause can be a side effect of a drug, or exposure to certain poisons. People can get neutropenia when treated for cancer with chemotherapy drugs. Sometimes it happens for no known reason.
As for my little one, she was born with it and there is no known reason. There are no resources to try and find out why she has it either.
So, simply, she wasn't born with an immune system (Neutrophils were less than 0.1 x 109 /L I think).
People with neutropenia are more probable to gain infection or disease. My sis has none of her own teeth left due to the number of uncontrollable gum diseases. But she likes the 'cool' fact that she has fake teeth to play with in class.
If you look at her, she looks like a 15yr old that likes branded clothes and hanging out with her friends, except she is not as tall as the rest of my family and is often pale with dark circles.

- I like to think I have seen stuff that other Med applicants haven't. I sit with my sister in the treatment room of the Haemotology/Oncology ward of the Royal Childrens Hospital and you just see some of the most tragic stuff. I want to help those kids and also support their parents cause I can not just 'try' and understand what they're going through but I've experienced a little of it. I know that 'finding a cure' or 'solving it' won't happen, but I can help.


So, I want to go into Paediatrics, oncology preferably, but its all up to what happens.

I could just be a theatre student who is a volunteer clown doctor one day.

Either way, I would be happy.

 

[VQ]

This is one question I probably have struggled most this year...I just can not say it right when I have to face interviews and have to answer this q since I am not 100% percents sure why I want to get into med

My dad is a doctor, and I was grown used to the fact that he wants me to be 1, one day...When I was a kid, I always say to myself...I DON'T WANT TO BE A DOCTOR! Even until yr.10, I said to my Bio teacher that I would not be a doctor...she just laughed at me and said.."U could not escape it! U'll be a doctor.."

and she's right...at yr. 11, I begin to think being a doctor (instead of doing econs or bus that I intended earlier)..several reasons I had in my mind are:

- I just could not escape my dad's path >.<
- I found no other subject I am TOTALLY interested in..I definitely can not see myself spending times in labs researching, I can not see myself doing econs/bus/law...other subject I am interested at is art/design, but I can not figure myself in it as well..I want to do something applicable, practical...and med is the one
- I can not deny I am interested in the money as it would be nice, but it will be considered more as a bonus to the prospect of doing something I like... In my thoughts, med is something tough, u need to be a strong person in doing med, u have to face heaps responsibility, u hav to work hard, but beside that, I will face something I like, to be practically involved in helping others, to be practically doing something useful...where else can you find a job that is rewarding emotionally as well as fulfilling monetary? This is my personal opinion, as it may not be true for others...
- Something that strengthen me more about my intention being a doctor is my grandma's illness..She has been ill for about few months and she physically and emotionally suffers from it...I haven't been able to see her since she was sick as we live in different city and I am having my HSC and we have never been so close in our lives, but I just feel that I want to be a doctor to help my grandma and other people survive from physical and emotional change during their sickness..sounds strange, eh?

Well, listening the stories about med school affected me (negatively)in my choice of pursuing medical career, but I am willing to try...I just dun know whether this reasons are strong enough to get me into med school and survive there...

 

[VQ]

Hey...maybe I sound weird and dishonest at the post above...

To be honest, I am in my low mode when typing it up...I am not sure about my choice at that time...mostly, because I am afraid of what I will be facing in the next 10 yrs...

However, I am quite sure that I WILL STUDY MED...for reasons I do not know how to put into words *I wish I can fluently say it in the interviews*, but I really want to do meds... = ) I am convinced that I should not be scared in facing anything and my worries (about what I will face in the next 10yrs) are quite unreasonable at this stage...

Whatever, I will just do my best! =)

 

[Lexicographer]

I must say that "I can't escape my father's path" and the biology teacher's comment are huge black marks in any interview. Many of the other things you've said are the beginnings of some excellent reasoning, but in all sincerity I tell you that you must reflect on it a lot more.

Medicine does fulfil you emotionally, but will crush you ten times more frequently. Even the study of medicine is a gauntlet - it takes twice as long as most other single degrees (MBBS is one, not two), has up to quadruple the contact hours of arts, twice the pace of learning and half the margin of error. The pressure is immense even before you are accepted into the course, and will never ever let up.

It is a rare moment indeed when someone says to you "take a rest - you've done well". Unless you can really prove to yourself (let alone the interviewers) that this is the only thing you want to do, there is absolutely nothing else you can imagine yourself doing and you can fight through fifteen years of blood, vomit and diarrhoea...hold back. Think about your real reasons - is being a doctor the ONLY way you can help these people? Is a doctor the ONE thing they need, to the exclusion of all else? Is there any reason YOU, and none other, should be that doctor?

These are questions I and every other student here had to struggle through and overcome. In fact, many of us find ourselves revisiting them rather frequently - I still get asked why I'm not doing Law instead. Please understand that I do not want to discourage you from medicine - but I do want to encourage you to meditate on it more. A lot more.

 

[VQ]

Lexi, thanks a lot, u really hav encouraged me to think about my choice...

And yes, I still wanna apply for med...I agree that the one I said about I can not escape my dad's path and else are really bad reasons and more, they just show my helplessness...but again, I wrote it just when I was in my low mode...I know it was no excuse for that...

I talked to my friend, and she encouraged me to think as well, she asked me this one question that she got from our teacher earlier this year when she was also confused what to do for her uni,"How do u see yourself 10 yrs from now? How do u want to see yourself?" (or sth sounds lyk dat) and this simple question challanged me to think...

When I think about this, I can not see myself sitting in a desk drawing a plan as if I'm an architect (this is the 2nd thing in my mind beside med right now) or doing business proposal or whatever, one thing I had in mind is that I am in a hospital, working with children having heart-illness or leukemia, talking and joking to them as they are being examined and seeing smiles on their faces...and on their parents' faces....I know this may sound too imaginative or too cheesy on some stage but really, when I have to answer this question and use my imagination, this is what I really imagine...

I always enjoy working and playing with kids, I know that working with sick child will be different, and although it will be enjoyable and emotionally fulfilling but it will more likely (as what u said) -though is not my expectation and hope- to be soul-crushing since the fact is, doctors do not have power over everything, they can only do the best to save one's life, but the rest is not in his/her hand...And sometimes, there are chances that the possibility for the kids to survive is really low...(Ppl may as well argue, that if u like kids, why dun u bcome kindergarten teacher/else...but no)

I also perfectly aware that before I can reach (if I eventually reach) such a dream is not easy. Medical school is, I know, not a place where you can have fun all the time, proscrastinate, having good times as always...it is supposed to be something require u to work extremely hard, to be strong, and it is just a continuous process of hard work. I am perfectly aware of that...and in fact, THIS IS THE REASON WHY I AM STILL THINKING "IS MEDICINE THE PLACE FOR ME?"...yet, after thinking...there's no such beautiful things that come w/o perseverance and I guess, all those difficulties are the cost to be paid for me to be a doctor...

Well, looking back and to answer that question, "why medicine?" (well, I usually answer this kind of question by "why not" but this is not the time)...I guess I have the answers, though it is not perfect yet, I still require a lot of thinking and a process of developing myself...

When I look back, it was not my dad who forced me, and in fact he never forced me to be a doctor..he EXPECTED me (this is why I said that I can not escape his path because sometimes expectation is juz what u need to feel forced), but gave me full right to decide... it was from him that I am introduced to medicine field, including hours I spent in the hospital (I enjoy the time I can see the nursery room and also how the doctors work in clinic...) and the hard work, things to endure, and the rewards...practically everything as background...

I think I would only found satisfaction, not satisfaction, I think I would only enjoy myself working in medicine field...for the case of emotionally rewarding? sure that medicine is not the only field that u can get the emotional reward (and in fact, there are heaps of others where u can find it without having to go through difficult paths of medicine-life), but it is the only field I can see myself in...it is in fact, the most "FULL" (as in complete) profession in my personal opinion. Complete as in it is practical, it is helping others, it is fulfilling monetary...and most importantly, it is the one I might enjoy most...

Am I ready for those years? I'm ready for it now. I was once afraid that I would not be emotionally ready and able to face challanges in med. But I'm ready... it would not be easy, surely...but I'm sure I'm ready...is there any reason, why me, being a doctor? I can not develop my answer for this now...but because I am willing to, because I think I will be able to...and because I will enjoy it and endure all the difficulties, that's why I choose medicine...

I have a lot to learn in life, I surely have to reflect back on these answers...yes, it is far from perfect...

sorry to keep u reading this long...anyway, the reasons skillo give are very good reasons...Good in sense that u r sincere and u really want to do it...I really want to do med, but I can not express why I want to do it....Well, it is just immediate thinking, I'll add when I know more why...

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

wow.. i dun think u realli need to justify ure answer with anyone here.. ... .. .... ..

mabbe ure insecure thats why ure justifying it.. cos.. i dunno if tats healthy.

i remember doing my soul searching after HSC.. personal experience tells me.. tat if u do it in private your comments would be more succinct

 

[VQ]

Yeah, maybe...
I like sharing things with others anyway >.<

Though, yes [pointdexter], I know that in this case, it may be unhealthy >.< for me to do so... *sigh* have a lot to learn in life....yes, but learning is a process of life

 

[Skywalker]

Wow that was a monster post above.

Yeah I agree with point. You don't need to have people here validate your reasons for getting into medicine - you need the interviewers to.

But hey, if typing it out helps you think then all the best to you.