2015 Entry for internationals to University of Wollongong MBBS

[lyndal]

UOW GSM NORTH AMERICAN MBBS ADMISSIONS INFORMATION EVENTS 2014

Are you in North America and interested in studying medicine at University of Wollongong? Applications are open and the GSM Admissions team are on their way to the USA and Canada - this is a great opportunity for prospective international applicants to learn about our admissions criteria and selection process, our unique curriculum and have all of your questions answered.

A/Prof Lyndal Parker-Newlyn and Katie Pijper will be visiting the following cities:

*Denver, COLORADO - Monday 20th –Tuesday 21st April 2014
*Vancouver, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Thursday 24th – Friday 25th April 2014
*Ottawa, ONTARIO – Sunday 27th – Tuesday 29th April 2014
*Montreal, QUEBEC – Wednesday 30th April - Thursday 1st May 2014
*Toronto, ONTARIO – Friday 2nd May- Saturday 3rd May 2014

In each city we will be holding a range of events including informal meetings, open information sessions and admissions interviews. We are also available to hold webinars or Skype meetings with applicants living a distance away from our planned venues. We’d love to meet with interested people at any stage of their application process, including those thinking about future applications. To book a time to meet with us, attend an event or find out more contact:
[email protected] and let us know which city you are closest to

For more information download our brochure here -->
http://smah.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@gsm/documents/doc/uow093615.pdf

Look forward to meeting you!
Lyndal

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[qldking]

The only thing that matters is that you inform prospectives honestly and legitimately about gaining internship in Australia. Otherwise you're stealing people's money.

 

[lyndal]

Thanks qldking - a good point but don't be concerned, that's something we have always been honest and upfront about - both here on forums and with our applicants directly. We have been circulating information regarding the difficulties of obtaining internship positions in writing to our applicants since 5 or 6 years ago - back when it wasn't always even being mentioned by other schools. With our small cohort the last thing we want is unhappy or disillusioned students who were not clear what decisions they were making. We have always tried to provide as much information as possible (although it is a changing field and its hard to predict what will happen in four years time). Information is also included in our international brochure (along with links to the appropriate government sites so people can check policies for themselves). So far I'm happy to say that all of our graduates who have sought Australian internships have gained them ... but we know that may not always be the case.

 

[RateMyResidency]

I can second what Lyndal said. I'm a Canadian currently studying at the University of Wollongong's Graduate School of Medicine and they've always been very upfront about the internship issues. If anyone is considering applying, I'm always up for answering any questions you might have!

 

[qldking]

Thanks for the reply lyndal. It's clear that Australian medical schools have adopted the American model of treating education as a corporate entity. It would be very depressing to be in 300k debt at a high interest rate for an education and to receive no internship offer. Most people of older generations (Baby Boomers) cannot begin to comprehend this as they did not face these issues in their 20s.

These issues never existed before in Australia and now an entire generation of doctors is being forced into indentured service and ruthless and unnecessary competition, all because Australian med schools decided they wanted more money. Well in the US now 7% of American MD medical students (at US medical schools) do not even match (most with well over 300k debt) and Australia is facing a similar scenario. I don't know much if anything about Wooloongong MBBS but shame on schools like UQ MBBS that promote this mentality.

 

[pitman]

Um. The primary reason there is increasing competition in Australia is because of doctor shortages that were not recognized by the (subsidizing) federal govt (and other political parties) as far back as the 1980s, compounded by schools of medicine relying on int'l students in the 1990s to prevent from going broke from a lack of sufficient HECS funding, eventually leading to the medical student tsunami in the 2000s when shortages were addressed by increased federal funding.

You're also convoluting issues of domestic vs. int'l students in your gross generalizations.

Get at least some of your facts right, qldking.

 

[neulite30]

These issues never existed before in Australia and now an entire generation of doctors is being forced into indentured service and ruthless and unnecessary competition, all because Australian med schools decided they wanted more money. Well in the US now 7% of American MD medical students (at US medical schools) do not even match (most with well over 300k debt) and Australia is facing a similar scenario.

I'm curious about people's take on this particular topic. The Australian internship is not required for a medical degree award, only for general registration. The placement of medical school graduates in Australia is not based on merit, as of yet, and thus there is no competition (i.e. you either have Australian citizenship/permanent residence or you don't). In the US, the vast majority of employers require some postgraduate training (e.g. residency), and this training is competitive and based on a host of applicant-dependent factors (USMLE, LoRs, experience, etc.).

Comparing the inability to gain placement after graduation in both countries is not accurate, as they both use different systems of allocation. I'll ask you this, if you're unable to get an internship spot in Australia, why not enter the Match in the US? (this question is semi-rhetorical, as you can see what I am pointing out)

 

[qldking]

I'm curious about people's take on this particular topic. The Australian internship is not required for a medical degree award, only for general registration. The placement of medical school graduates in Australia is not based on merit, as of yet, and thus there is no competition (i.e. you either have Australian citizenship/permanent residence or you don't). In the US, the vast majority of employers require some postgraduate training (e.g. residency), and this training is competitive and based on a host of applicant-dependent factors (USMLE, LoRs, experience, etc.).

Comparing the inability to gain placement after graduation in both countries is not accurate, as they both use different systems of allocation. I'll ask you this, if you're unable to get an internship spot in Australia, why not enter the Match in the US? (this question is semi-rhetorical, as you can see what I am pointing out)

I think everyone should be guaranteed internship and from there on it's merit based--so you can go into whatever College you want (Physicians, GP, Surgery, etc) or be a permanent house officer; in other words we should all be ensured that we are employed as a physician. At least you're in the stream, which is what matters. But if even one medical graduate does not land an internship then the medical schools have failed in their duty.

Check out what's going on in the United States: This is what we want to avoid here in Australia

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2014/04/15/how-a-nobel-economist-ruined-the-residency-matching-system-for-newly-minted-m-d-s/

 

[neulite30]

I think everyone should be guaranteed internship and from there on it's merit based--so you can go into whatever College you want (Physicians, GP, Surgery, etc) or be a permanent house officer; in other words we should all be ensured that we are employed as a physician. At least you're in the stream, which is what matters. But if even one medical graduate does not land an internship then the medical schools have failed in their duty.

Check out what's going on in the United States: This is what we want to avoid here in Australia

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2014/04/15/how-a-nobel-economist-ruined-the-residency-matching-system-for-newly-minted-m-d-s/

I can see why you are concerned.

I'm curious, why do you think "5.6%" of allopathic seniors didn't match?

 

[qldking]

I can see why you are concerned.

I'm curious, why do you think "5.6%" of allopathic seniors didn't match?

Because the geniuses in the US haven't increased the number of residency spots/training programs but all the while are increasing the number of medical schools and medical students each year with the result being further competition between students. Not only that, some residencies are actually collapsing and leaving residents high and dry, while other residencies then poach them and offer them training but won't pay them...imagine that!

The same thing that's going on in Australia. Then you also have the fact that Americans pay well over 250k for tuition for medical school so no one is going to want a crappy residency where they will never be able to pay off their loans...then factor in that actually going through the Match itself costs several thousand dollars. It's a racket! If this article doesn't absolutely disgust you, then you've simply being brainwashed by the universities...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/h...ialties-see-dream-jobs-disappearing.html?_r=0

But for some reason there's no outrage against the common denominator--the greed of the universities.

There's people like pitmann on here who will argue you to death that the government for some reason has a duty to increase training spots just because the medical schools are greedy and have decided to jack up student numbers in order to stay afloat. I don't agree with him at all.

If you go to your hospital attachment (PA, RBWH, etc whatever) the doctors will outright tell you that this is the first time there has been an oversupply of doctors in the city. Hell, 1/3rd of all interns last year at the PA were not offered another year at the hospital. That's pretty damn alarming.

 

[pitman]

Guys, this is lyndal's thread about Wollongong med. We should respect that by not derailing it.