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They're also very good at taking your money in exchange for junk degrees
UQ-Ochsner MBBS 2013
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They're also very good at taking your money in exchange for junk degrees
Bitterness, deserved or not, is never becoming. At a minimum it muddles a genuine message and allows people to dismiss someone without thought. In any event it certainly makes one look like a douche.
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Congratulations. Best of luck wherever you choose.
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hey guys, I got into the program and am considering going. Just wanted to clarify on any last remaining questions I had.
1. For kids in the Ochsner program, what are the next steps taken if one fails the Step 1 exam at the end of 2nd year? Do they have to wait and study for a retake and then pass the exam before starting 3rd year at Ochsner? Or will they start at Ochsner and then have to pass the step 1 exam while doing their clinicals?
2. Going back and reading what Phloston said about the UQ curriculum, I am having to think about the exam time we will need to be devoting to USMLE prep. Since UQ doesn't cover some of the subjects in depth that are on the Step 1 exam, how much time do you think/suggest one has to put in on their own to prepare to take their step 1 exam on time? Furthermore, is it possible to succeed while also fulfilling the requirements of the MBBS track?
3. In the same vein as question 2, will we be provided a schedule to kind of guide us through Year 1 and 2 for the USMLE exam?
As you can tell, my primary concern is whether one can remain on the mbbs track while also adequately preparing for the Step 1 exam...
Also, would it make a marked difference doing the program at the Ipswich campus versus the St. Lucia campus?
I would appreciate your help and wisdom!
1. For kids in the Ochsner program, what are the next steps taken if one fails the Step 1 exam at the end of 2nd year? Do they have to wait and study for a retake and then pass the exam before starting 3rd year at Ochsner? Or will they start at Ochsner and then have to pass the step 1 exam while doing their clinicals?
2. Going back and reading what Phloston said about the UQ curriculum, I am having to think about the exam time we will need to be devoting to USMLE prep. Since UQ doesn't cover some of the subjects in depth that are on the Step 1 exam, how much time do you think/suggest one has to put in on their own to prepare to take their step 1 exam on time? Furthermore, is it possible to succeed while also fulfilling the requirements of the MBBS track?
3. In the same vein as question 2, will we be provided a schedule to kind of guide us through Year 1 and 2 for the USMLE exam?
As you can tell, my primary concern is whether one can remain on the mbbs track while also adequately preparing for the Step 1 exam...
Also, would it make a marked difference doing the program at the Ipswich campus versus the St. Lucia campus?
I would appreciate your help and wisdom!
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I stayed and never sat the USMLE, so can't comment on those questions, but Ipswich vs. Brisbane is mostly about the geographical location -- students at Ipswich have always rated the training there well despite having different resources (some deficits, but also some advantages -- I don't know all the ins and outs though, just the survey results). The exams are the same for both, and as far as I know there's no difference in results.
So it'll mostly come down to whether you want a big town (Ipswich, pop 150,000), or the biggest city in Queensland (St. Lucia is a close suburb of Brisbane, pop. 2,000,000) with faster access to the northern beaches and slightly faster access to the Gold Coast.
* appended:
...I forgot to consider USMLE preparation -- I think you'll need to be in Brisbane, to have more study resources (particularly a critical mass of other int'l students).
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Just for the record, my USMLE experience is the exception rather than the rule. I am enrolled in the full medical degree in Australia (i.e. I am NOT in UQ-Ochsner). It is very possible, no matter what medical curriculum your school offers, to do exceedingly well on the USMLE, within the normal timeframe in which most people sit the exam.
Most Ochsner students get a jump start on their USMLE prep from the time they enter MS1 because they know they're going to have to sit it eventually. In their case, they might do additional biochem, micro or pharm studying outside of class, for instance, whereas people not necessarily studying for the USMLE might only do what they need to for class alone. USMLE prep ultimately comes down to the individual's motivations and his or her goals, not the school itself.
In terms of SoM and USMLE overlap, my take is that if you predominantly focus on the USMLE, you'll also be studying for class as well indirectly, and in actuality, be doing better class-studying than you realize.
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As far as whether you choose St. Lucia vs Ipswich, that really just depends on whether you want a life at all while you're in Australia. If you want to enjoy your time here and actually meet people and do things, St. Lucia is the no-brainer. Ipswich is out in the middle of nowhere, and you could probably learn how to milk some cattle while you're out there.
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Thank you for your reply guys.
Coming from a small town in Cali.. I thought ipswich wouldn't be that bad. But it seems like it will be difficult to receive the USMLE prep being there and it won't be as exciting as being in St. Lucia; which is something I don't appreciate at all.
Then, is it reasonable to forgo my spot in the program this cycle to apply again next year so that I can end up at the St. Lucia campus?
Coming from a small town in Cali.. I thought ipswich wouldn't be that bad. But it seems like it will be difficult to receive the USMLE prep being there and it won't be as exciting as being in St. Lucia; which is something I don't appreciate at all.
Then, is it reasonable to forgo my spot in the program this cycle to apply again next year so that I can end up at the St. Lucia campus?
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You do realize my opinion is purposely poignant, don't you? There are many people at Ipswich who love it there. I even know one guy who was at St. Lucia for first-year and then switched to Ipswich for second-year. Apparently the Ipswich learning is a lot more personalized. The class size is smaller and the students form more closely knit groups.
I personally just much prefer St. Lucia over Ipswich because I'm from New York and want to be around lots of people. That's just me.
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Hey I think Phloston is giving you very crummy/false advice re:Ipswich. I am commenting here because I was bored this morning and stumbled upon this topi and felt obligated to reply to some of the nonsense being spewed here.
If you want to send me a private message I can explain to you why Ipswich is a far better choice than St. Lucia. There's quite a few reasons why Ipswich is a far better place.
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Just for the record, there's no right or wrong. Some people love St. Lucia. Others are fond of Ipswich. It's really just based on your person. Done deal. It's like arguing whether Boston is better than New York.
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You wrote:
'As far as whether you choose St. Lucia vs Ipswich, that really just depends on whether you want a life at all while you're in Australia. If you want to enjoy your time here and actually meet people and do things, St. Lucia is the no-brainer. Ipswich is out in the middle of nowhere, and you could probably learn how to milk some cattle while you're out there.'
That's simply not true. Ipswich is a perfectly nice area. You make Brisbane out to be some sort of paradise when the truth is that 95% of the city is a complete dump, including all of areas surrounding St. Lucia. the Gold Coast is roughly the same distance from Ipswich as it is to Brisbane, but you make it seem as if Ipswich is in the middle of nowhere. It has a population of over 100k.
It's a 50 minute train ride from Ipswich into the Valley with last trains leaving at 3:50 am so any guy with a pair of balls can pick up rather than going to the lame med parties with self impressed dorky med students. Hell, I'd rather go to Cocktails in Ipswich with a bunch of drunken local 18 year old girls than have to be spend any time outside of class with other med students. That's not to even mention that Ipswich campus is much, much nicer and more accessible than St. Lucia, where students actually have to go to PAH or RBWH for their PBL. You'd be crazy to advocate being in a cohort with 450 other students set in a huge auditorium when you can instead be in a small lecture hall and actually be able to see people's faces.
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Just depends on what you're looking for out of your experience. If you're not a city person, then no one will hold that against you.
Lol. I love your 3:50am comment though.
Lol. I love your 3:50am comment though.
Sorry I missed on these updates for a bit - was actually on a holiday.
First off, Phloston is dead right on this one. I mean 100%. Not on the St. Lucia is better, comment, but on the fact that it is ultimately a personal preference. I mean seriously, when your rebuttal is a childish diatribe about how incredibly bad somewhere else is and how self absorbed the med students are yadda yadda... ever consider there might be some bias there? Hmmmm??
In any event, it IS a personal preference and some people like things differently than others. I personally would not have liked Ippy and my fiance would have HATED it. See how anecdotes work qldman? They can prove any point you want them to.
Moving on to gunslinga's actual questions:
1) If you fail the Step 1, then you have some options. You will not be barred from beginning 3rd year since there is no proviso for doing this. However, you will certainly be set back and have the option of taking a leave of absence to study for it again, or you can just go ahead with your rotations and study concurrently. I believe there IS a proviso for failing twice, however, which involves a leave of absence and time to study. In any event, nothing good ever comes from failing the Step, and I wouldn't focus on that.
In poker we say that you should never play to not lose. That is a losing strategy. You should always play to win. The same applies here.
2) There is PLENTY of time to devote to USMLE study. Besides the fact that the Ochsner Medical Student Association (OMSA) currently leads Year 1 tutorials weekly to prep you, you will have time on your own. While the UQ curriculum doesn't teach specifically to the USMLE (though that is changing with the adoption of the IFOM as part of the curriculum and a move towards including more IFOM style shelf-exam questions as part of assessment in the works) science based medicine is medicine. The topics you DO cover (with small exception such as very specifically Australian guidelines, laws, and ethics - though many are borrowed from US case law and precedent anyways) are of course tested on the USMLE. In most cases at least a bit more depth is required. In some cases a lot more depth. Specifically biochem, micro, and pharm require more in depth study than the UQ curriculum tends to provide, but once again the curriculum has changed and is changing so that may be true to a lesser and lesser extent.
As Phloston correctly said, studying for the USMLE first and then augmenting it with UQ specific materials and ensuring you cover the breadth of what UQ wants is a winning strategy. If you learn a topic in more depth than UQ requires, you will not do worse for it. The key is to ensure you don't focus SOLELY and EXCLUSIVELY on the USMLE, and ensure you are meeting the breadth and overall requirements of the UQ curriculum.
3) OMSA will help with this process. Our academics office is devoted to specifically ensuring a robust academic experience specifically for Ochsner students which includes focus on the USMLE. Most of the work is self driven, however, which is true no matter where you go. Med school is like trying to drink from a fire hose and swallow as much as you can. It will be overwhelming at first, but the vast majority of people figure it out and do just fine. Once again, play to win, not to not lose.
As for backing out in order to try for St. Lucia... that would be stupid, IMO. There are unhappy people at Ippy but there are also unhappy people at St. Lucia. In general though, Ippy kids are quite happy and I have only heard good things from the Ochsner students who are already there. Furthermore, you will have access to the same resources since most of them are electronic or library books anyways, with the exception of the weekly tutorials in Year 1 as those are videoconferenced in. Those genuinely are not quite as good as being there live, but certainly quite a reasonable substitute. Future efforts will be to establish in person tutes in Ippy.
TL;DR: Yes, you will have some guidance and tutorials to help prepare for the USMLE. Yes, you will have resources available. Yes, it is quite reasonable to study for USMLE and UQ concurrently and manage quite well. And yes, Ippy is currently not QUITE as attractive as St. Lucia to MOST people, but the objective differences are small and the subjective differences are, well, subjective.
First off, Phloston is dead right on this one. I mean 100%. Not on the St. Lucia is better, comment, but on the fact that it is ultimately a personal preference. I mean seriously, when your rebuttal is a childish diatribe about how incredibly bad somewhere else is and how self absorbed the med students are yadda yadda... ever consider there might be some bias there? Hmmmm??
In any event, it IS a personal preference and some people like things differently than others. I personally would not have liked Ippy and my fiance would have HATED it. See how anecdotes work qldman? They can prove any point you want them to.
Moving on to gunslinga's actual questions:
1) If you fail the Step 1, then you have some options. You will not be barred from beginning 3rd year since there is no proviso for doing this. However, you will certainly be set back and have the option of taking a leave of absence to study for it again, or you can just go ahead with your rotations and study concurrently. I believe there IS a proviso for failing twice, however, which involves a leave of absence and time to study. In any event, nothing good ever comes from failing the Step, and I wouldn't focus on that.
In poker we say that you should never play to not lose. That is a losing strategy. You should always play to win. The same applies here.
2) There is PLENTY of time to devote to USMLE study. Besides the fact that the Ochsner Medical Student Association (OMSA) currently leads Year 1 tutorials weekly to prep you, you will have time on your own. While the UQ curriculum doesn't teach specifically to the USMLE (though that is changing with the adoption of the IFOM as part of the curriculum and a move towards including more IFOM style shelf-exam questions as part of assessment in the works) science based medicine is medicine. The topics you DO cover (with small exception such as very specifically Australian guidelines, laws, and ethics - though many are borrowed from US case law and precedent anyways) are of course tested on the USMLE. In most cases at least a bit more depth is required. In some cases a lot more depth. Specifically biochem, micro, and pharm require more in depth study than the UQ curriculum tends to provide, but once again the curriculum has changed and is changing so that may be true to a lesser and lesser extent.
As Phloston correctly said, studying for the USMLE first and then augmenting it with UQ specific materials and ensuring you cover the breadth of what UQ wants is a winning strategy. If you learn a topic in more depth than UQ requires, you will not do worse for it. The key is to ensure you don't focus SOLELY and EXCLUSIVELY on the USMLE, and ensure you are meeting the breadth and overall requirements of the UQ curriculum.
3) OMSA will help with this process. Our academics office is devoted to specifically ensuring a robust academic experience specifically for Ochsner students which includes focus on the USMLE. Most of the work is self driven, however, which is true no matter where you go. Med school is like trying to drink from a fire hose and swallow as much as you can. It will be overwhelming at first, but the vast majority of people figure it out and do just fine. Once again, play to win, not to not lose.
As for backing out in order to try for St. Lucia... that would be stupid, IMO. There are unhappy people at Ippy but there are also unhappy people at St. Lucia. In general though, Ippy kids are quite happy and I have only heard good things from the Ochsner students who are already there. Furthermore, you will have access to the same resources since most of them are electronic or library books anyways, with the exception of the weekly tutorials in Year 1 as those are videoconferenced in. Those genuinely are not quite as good as being there live, but certainly quite a reasonable substitute. Future efforts will be to establish in person tutes in Ippy.
TL;DR: Yes, you will have some guidance and tutorials to help prepare for the USMLE. Yes, you will have resources available. Yes, it is quite reasonable to study for USMLE and UQ concurrently and manage quite well. And yes, Ippy is currently not QUITE as attractive as St. Lucia to MOST people, but the objective differences are small and the subjective differences are, well, subjective.
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Boston is better than New York.
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"I mean seriously, when your rebuttal is a childish diatribe about how incredibly bad somewhere else is and how self absorbed the med students are yadda yadda... ever consider there might be some bias there? Hmmmm?? "
No I was responding to his comments that Ipswich is a land of nothingness and a terrible Australian experience, actually, which is a grossly misinformed statement on his end.
And you don't seem perceptive enough to see the irony in your own comments.
Anyways, I think all his comments on the USMLE etc are spot-on-I was only responding to the attacks on Ipswich.
I'm not going to argue with you because I don't care much for it. I am just trying to let the potential 1st year know that Ipswich is a better place than St. Lucia.
No I was responding to his comments that Ipswich is a land of nothingness and a terrible Australian experience, actually, which is a grossly misinformed statement on his end.
And you don't seem perceptive enough to see the irony in your own comments.
Anyways, I think all his comments on the USMLE etc are spot-on-I was only responding to the attacks on Ipswich.
I'm not going to argue with you because I don't care much for it. I am just trying to let the potential 1st year know that Ipswich is a better place than St. Lucia.
You are correct that Phloston was also quite incorrect in disparaging Ippy for the same exact reason you are incorrect in disparaging St. Lucia. The difference is that in his second comment he clarified the missed point that it was tongue in cheek and clearly a personal preference with others finding Ippy quite enjoyable and even preferable. And then responded to your comment with an appropriate rebut, further demonstrating the fact that it is a personal preference.
You chose to respond to his first tongue-in-cheek comment, and completely ignore the following two in your diatribe listing your personal and subjective reasons as to why Ippy is objectively better ("95% of the city is a complete dump, including all of areas surrounding St. Lucia," "rather than going to the lame med parties with self impressed dorky med students," "I'd rather go to Cocktails in Ipswich with a bunch of drunken local 18 year old girls than have to be spend any time outside of class with other med students," "You'd be crazy to advocate being in a cohort with 450 other students set in a huge auditorium when you can instead be in a small lecture hall and actually be able to see people's faces,")
Do you now, perhaps, see the difference? You are making a claim of objectivity and then go on a subjective diatribe about your own personal preferences to back that up. It is a disservice to those who genuinely have a decision to make and could use unbiased advice; in other words exactly the opposite of your "feeling obligated to reply to some of the nonsense being spewed here." And considering you utterly ignored the follow up of two posts clarifying the issue, you hardly "[were] responding to his comments that Ipswich is a land of nothingness and a terrible Australian experience, actually, which is a grossly misinformed statement on his end" and " just trying to let the potential 1st year know that Ipswich is a better place than St. Lucia." You were trying to give your biased opinion that it is better. Which is totally fine, as long as you don't act like a douche and pretent it is an objective fact.
I realize that this is the internet and people can say and do as they please - and get away with it 99% of the time. But if you spew biased nonsense at people with genuine questions, expect to be called out on it from time to time. If you have something actually objective, reasonable, and unbiased to contribute (or even your own admittedly biased POV, rather than pretending it is some sort of objective analysis) then by all means do so. Otherwise stop wasting everyone's time, including your own, soapboxing for how incredibly awesome you think Ippy is.
I'm sorry Randal you are objectively wrong here. Clearly, New York is objectively better than Boston, because Boston Baked Beans suck and Fenway is a monstrosity, both of which are objective facts that trump any positives Boston may actually have (as if there are any, 96.28% of the city is a total dump).
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All things aside, and objectively speaking, getting laid by the local women is a far more rewarding experience than attending any sort of med function.
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Does anyone know how the first year match results went? They should have heard back now right?
Can anyone tell me anything about the financial aid process for this school? Like, were you able to get funds to pay off the whole tuition and how easy the process was. Or did any of you had to go our of pocket. I'm considering going for the 2014 entering class but the only thing stopping me is the funding of course. Please let me know how that works!
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Everyone did match. Here's the list I got from Dr. Volpe's email:
Eastern Virginia Medical School - OB/GYN
Emory University - Physical Medicine and Rehab
(University of Louisville - Internal Medicine Preliminary)
Ochsner Medical Center - Internal Medicine
Ochsner Medical Center - Internal Medicine
Ochsner Medical Center - Internal Medicine
Ochsner Medical Center - Internal Medicine
University of Denver - Family Medicine
University of Hawaii - Pathology
Wayne State University - General Surgery
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This is great news! So did all 9 of these students graduate back in December then?
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Can anyone tell me anything about the financial aid process for this school? Like, were you able to get funds to pay off the whole tuition and how easy the process was. Or did any of you had to go our of pocket. I'm considering going for the 2014 entering class but the only thing stopping me is the funding of course. Please let me know how that works!
I'm wondering about this too because the program starts in January.
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Yep, they all graduated in December.
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I guess what I really wanted to ask is what they've all been doing since during the gap.
Can anyone tell me anything about the financial aid process for this school? Like, were you able to get funds to pay off the whole tuition and how easy the process was. Or did any of you had to go our of pocket. I'm considering going for the 2014 entering class but the only thing stopping me is the funding of course. Please let me know how that works!
It's just like any school in the US. Apply for Stafford and Grad Plus loans and you are done. Easy as pie and you get all the debt burden you can handle. You can opt private, but I don't know that those are better for most people.
Bottom line, money for tuition is not an issue.
The only issue is "start up" costs. The SoM cannot begin disbursements of federal loans until after the school year has started. This means you won't get the money until 4ish weeks after the start of school (sometimes delays sometimes faster). So you will need to fund your own moving costs, including rent (which must be cash) in the beginning. You also need to pay up front the deposit for your tuition which is a few grand. All said, you will need at least $2k in cash on arrival plus another $4k (give or take) in cash or credit to get the hold over the process until you actually get your first loan disbursement.
Those match results are correct. I can also add that of those, at least 4 got their first choice for match, and 2 got their 2nd choice.
As for what they have been doing - they have each been doing different things. Some are actually get paid as interns in Australia. Some are just vacationing or hanging out at home. Some are doing research. One has been working on an MPH at Johns Hopkins.
Correct. The first graduating class of the UQ-Ochsner cohort was 9 in size. Which is a big part of why I had cautioned in many other threads to not read into or be so eager for match results since the sample size is so small.
I think this positive outcome is definitely... well.. positive. However, it would be silly to think it definitive one way or another. Consider it a pilot study with the more rigorous ones coming in the next few years.
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What are the current and expected class sizes?
My year (I graduate this year) has 31 students total, with a few who will not be graduating on time for various reasons so I do not know the ultimate size of the graduating class of 2013. The year behind me is similarly numbered. The current second years number ~90 and the current first years ~105. The steady state is intended to be ~120 per year.
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Has anyone applied for this january?
Hi,
I'm from Canada and want to apply for the next intake of the UQ MBBS. I just have a question:
From what I have been told, for this university, as long as you have the minimum requirements and there is still space available in the program, you will be offered an interview? Is that right or I have been misled? If it's right, doesn't that seem a bit easy?
I'm from Canada and want to apply for the next intake of the UQ MBBS. I just have a question:
From what I have been told, for this university, as long as you have the minimum requirements and there is still space available in the program, you will be offered an interview? Is that right or I have been misled? If it's right, doesn't that seem a bit easy?
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Checking in.
Yup, my completed application was sent from Mededpath to Australia on March 26, and I received an acceptance email on May 4th, so the timeline they give you is pretty accurate. Has anyone else been accepted yet? I can't wait, it's gonna be an awesome time
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Probably not true. Likely it was just someone over-exaggerating the admissions to make a point.
Its definitely easier than Canadian medical schools. The top 2 international schools by # of Canadians are RCSI and UQ. UQ is willing to accept people with 26 MCATs or even 3.3-4 GPAs.
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Yup, my completed application was sent from Mededpath to Australia on March 26, and I received an acceptance email on May 4th, so the timeline they give you is pretty accurate. Has anyone else been accepted yet? I can't wait, it's gonna be an awesome time
I applied in March and was accepted on May 2nd. I can't wait.
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I would really appreciate some input from those of you familiar with this school:
Does my 6 in verbal completely ruin my chances at UQ-Ochsner?
cGPA: 3.57
sGPA: 3.52
MCAT: 26 [10 BS 10 PS 6 VR]
Yes. You can have a single 7 now if your total is 24 or more. But not a 6 sorry
It used to be all 8/8/8
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Yup, my completed application was sent from Mededpath to Australia on March 26, and I received an acceptance email on May 4th, so the timeline they give you is pretty accurate. Has anyone else been accepted yet? I can't wait, it's gonna be an awesome time
Are your parents gonna help you at all with tuition? Going like 240K in debt just for tuition before counting even the interest is so unappealing
...But going to Australia is so very appealing lol
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Hi ehsan,
The Ochsner program is only available to US citizens and permanent residents, just to clarify. We have had a couple of Canucks who were PR join in, but just wanted to make sure you weren't confusing it with the general UQ MBBS program which is a different application and different stream. Not sure if the requirements are different or not, but the major difference is that you are not *guaranteed* the ability to do rotations at Ochsner (you likely can, but it depends on space and Ochsner students obviously get to fill spots first) and you can do no more than 2 rotations at Ochsner (though that may be 3... they are finagling the rules and it is not 100% clear at this point where it will go, but 2 seems to be the limit).
Also, having the numbers and getting a spot certainly used to be the case but now there are more applicants than spots so I do not think that is still something to bank on. That said, they do a rolling admissions, so if you apply early with a good enough application you are likely to get an acceptance. However, I do not know how they actually gauge it and what "good enough" may mean early on since the average numbers are certainly higher than the minimums.
Also, there is no interview. You merely get accepted or rejected.
This is almost certainly correct. When I applied it was 8/8/8 min and I know that they did not fill the class quota that they were looking for, but an acquaintance of mine applied at the same time and got rejected (which sucked for him, but boosted my confidence in that they were actually enforcing some standards and not merely trying to fill seats with warm tuition paying bodies). So I think it is unlikely that having a 6 will be able to garner an acceptance.
Also, there is a FaceBook group for those accepted into the incoming class (Class of 2017)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/488136277926647/
It is a closed group that is moderated by Ochsner Medical Student Association officers and includes others currently in the program. I go by the handle of Docta Drey on FB.
It is a good place to ask some questions (and there will also be a "Welcome to Brisbane" guide that is just wrapping up being updated that will get posted early next week to answer many of the basic moving, living, and studying in Brisbane questions), meet your future classmates, etc.
Lastly, our website *is* up and running but is *very* much a work in progress. As you may imagine, finding time to build and update a website while doing the med school thing is tough. However, we hope to be doing significant improvements and updates over the next few weeks and will ultimately have a (moderated) forum to obviate the FaceBook groups that have been used in the interim, as well as FAQ's, guides, etc all from a student perspective, vetted to be as accurate as possible, with, of course, the caveat that in all things ultimate responsibility is shouldered by the individual, so very important things (like Visas) should be verified by each person directly with the relevant authorities (i.e. Aussie immigration rather than OMSA or MedEdPath)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/488136277926647/
It is a closed group that is moderated by Ochsner Medical Student Association officers and includes others currently in the program. I go by the handle of Docta Drey on FB.
It is a good place to ask some questions (and there will also be a "Welcome to Brisbane" guide that is just wrapping up being updated that will get posted early next week to answer many of the basic moving, living, and studying in Brisbane questions), meet your future classmates, etc.
Lastly, our website *is* up and running but is *very* much a work in progress. As you may imagine, finding time to build and update a website while doing the med school thing is tough. However, we hope to be doing significant improvements and updates over the next few weeks and will ultimately have a (moderated) forum to obviate the FaceBook groups that have been used in the interim, as well as FAQ's, guides, etc all from a student perspective, vetted to be as accurate as possible, with, of course, the caveat that in all things ultimate responsibility is shouldered by the individual, so very important things (like Visas) should be verified by each person directly with the relevant authorities (i.e. Aussie immigration rather than OMSA or MedEdPath)
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Most people will tell you go to an osteopathic school, yes there will be frustrations, but your life will still be much easier than if you went abroad.
Not only that but its easier to get into residency and easier to get into better residencies by going DO.
Unless you absolutely cannot stand OMM or don't like a DO name (which honestly is going to improve over time) I would choose DO.
