I'm a CSA and attended USyd, graduated Dec 2015 and matched to UBC for FM which starts this July.
I had a great time living and studying in Sydney. The people and city are great and the coffee is awesome. The school has a lot of flaws (mostly in the preclinical years prior to STEP 1) but reflecting on my time there, Usyd gave me a lot of opportunities to network, undertake research and complete electives in North america which put me at a great advantage come applying to CaRMS (I didnt end up applying to the states). Having said that, most of my classmates from NA did not try to match and instead opted to stay in Australia (mostly through CMI) for internship. This was for many reasons with lifestyle, the time difference between the academic year of NA vs Australia, and the difficulty of doing really well on all of the board exams probably being the main factors.
1)Matching in Canada/States/Australia --> the best way to cover bases is to aim for/consider all three major options (Canada/States/Australia) --> with that in mind, those who have studied for these tests (MCCQE,USMLE etc,) in the Ausi system, did you find it difficult to juggle all of these in a school that's not really tailored to prepping for these tests?
I wrote step 1 right before 3rd year clerkships began (Dec 31), Step 2 in August, MCCEE 1 week after that, step 2ck and NAC OSCE right after elective in March on the same weekend, and MCCQE1 during my PRINT rotation in October of 4th year. This was a lot of work and I considered studying for these (while doing research) a full time job. As an IMG the higher your scores the better, so aim for the stars. A high Step 1 score will open many doors for you come elective time for the states.
I scored 260s for the steps, 430s for the EE, high 70's for the NAC and 580's for the QE1. I found that self study was much more of an effective use of my time than going to the lectures. During 1st and 2nd year I pretty much went to only the things that I was required to attend and I golfed/went to the beach or studied on my own using First aid, Toronto notes, Pathoma, and the Kaplan videos. If you prepare well for the boards, it easily covers you for the exams that Usyd gives out.
Its very important to get good reference letters, so doing as many electives in NA as possible is crucial. Usyd allows you to do a core block (8 weeks), 8-10 weeks during elective and 4-8 weeks during PRINT overseas. I did 22 weeks of electives throughout Canada and USA. If you are gunning for the states, you really need 2 letters from American attendings.
It sounds like a **** tonne of work and it is, but it is doable. I think there were 12 or so from my class who applied to NA and I think everyone matched.
2) Financing -- largest loan for Canadians studying in med overseas is given by CIBC- 275k @prime interest. + Canadian federal/provincial loans. For Ontario it's 210/wk so approximately 8-10k a year (32-40k/4yrs). Tuition alone can range from 240-280k AUD. Ausi govt calculates living expenses (can vary per city) @ 18500/year. so this equates to approximately 315-350k total debt. How did you guys finance the remainder? (for those in school). How are you planning on financing? (for those considering applying). Are there any scholarships?
Most internationals who are studying at USyd have parents that are subsidizing the cost of tuition and living expenses. I have a LOC for 200K + 50K from government student loans and my parents are covering the rest until I can pay them back (I think they had to refinance their house for me). In total I am about 350K in debt. It is extremely stressful to take on this amount of debt without a guaranteed job at the end of it so you have to keep that in mind and bust your ass for good board scores if your plan is to go back to NA.
I was able to win a few scholarships, but they are competitive and I probably only got 5K from them.
I had a roommate who worked at a clinic part time to help offset the costs, some students tutored but for the most part a lot of the international cohort did not work during medical school. It's also hard to work with the schedule of med school especially during the clerkship years.
You also have to budget the cost of the board exams and the resources required to prepare for them + flights for electives + room & board during electives. This is probably around another 20K. Its a very expensive endeavour.
If you guys have any more questions feel free to ask away.
