how much did you have in savings before starting med school in Australia?

I had essentially no savings but my grandmother gave me a substantial ampount of money. Then again, when I was there the exchange rate was very favorable for US citizens.

I had $20k USD saved up before school started. I got $10k in Stafford loans for the first semester and paid the rest out of my savings. In the future, I'll have to get GradPLUS loans in addition to the Stafford loans.

As far as "how much is enough", that depends entirely on where you go to school and how much you get in loans. Personally, I never worried too much about it - I know I'll run out eventually, and when that happens, I'll be relying on the GradPLUS loans.

shan564 said:

I had $20k USD saved up before school started. I got $10k in Stafford loans for the first semester and paid the rest out of my savings. In the future, I'll have to get GradPLUS loans in addition to the Stafford loans.

As far as "how much is enough", that depends entirely on where you go to school and how much you get in loans. Personally, I never worried too much about it - I know I'll run out eventually, and when that happens, I'll be relying on the GradPLUS loans.

Click to expand...

Jake,

If you do end up getting your PR after two years you will able to qualify for NewStart or Youth Allowance as well as HECS so that should help. However in terms of private loans you might be able to get something favourable from a local bank so look into that as well.

It really depends upon where you live and lately the Aussie dollar is beginning to rally again. If you are in Sydney, at least 30,000 AUD a year. No not a misprint, a decent apartment in an area close to uni will be at least 300 to 400 AUD a week, it will not be luxury living either, living and transport costs have to be added in as well. In smaller cities maybe you could get by with 20k a year, but if you are from the US you should qualify for loans.

JanikeyDoc said:

It really depends upon where you live and lately the Aussie dollar is beginning to rally again. If you are in Sydney, at least 30,000 AUD a year. No not a misprint, a decent apartment in an area close to uni will be at least 300 to 400 AUD a week, it will not be luxury living either, living and transport costs have to be added in as well. In smaller cities maybe you could get by with 20k a year, but if you are from the US you should qualify for loans.

Click to expand...

20K a year? wow...

I was surviving on 6-10K a year as a student. But that was Hobart..YMMV.

Edit:
In my brief holidays to Sydney I did see plenty of ads around the power poles for apartments for $120/week with all utilities included. No idea what quality they were.

jaketheory said:

so i have searched for apartments in sydney and they are definitely available under 300-400/week. the financial aid offices of most sydney uni's state you can find places for around 160/week. obviously the individual's budget is the determining factor.

from what i found it is reasonable to live off of 24 AUD/year in sydney. this is per 12 months, not per 9 month academic year.

anyway, i wasnt talking about for loans. i was talking about to cover things beyond loans. i dont think id get loans in time to find my apartment search. i also think i'd probably need a car for clinical years and loans probably wont cover that. further, not all schools even provide US federal loans. as far as i know, only tivel 4 schools for a medical degree are UQ, USyd, and Flinders, thus going to any other school, i couldnt get us loans.

btw, i got my PR visa earlier this week. im flying to aus to validate my visa next week. ill be checking out UQ, griffith, and monash gippsland while im there (these schools, in addition to USyd, which i've visited previously, are the only GPA hurdle only schools). i antiicipate taking pics, so if any SDN'ers are interested in seeing them, contact me.

comment about red****s earlier reply:

never heard of newstart, but im too old for youth allowance. the aus govt does have a similar program for older students. i'd be eligible for Austudy and rental assitance through centrelink after 2 years.

PR's are not eligible for HECS-Help unless they hold a humanitarion PR visa.

Click to expand...

Jake congrats on the PR. Off topic but how long did it take you to get a case officer?

Actually the problem with having to do an internship means that you are applying as an off shore applicant, even though you are on shore. So that means I'm second in priority to the state sponsored people...it was an option but I didn't want to get stuck with a particular sponsor for two years.

If you're visiting NSW send me a PM.

JanikeyDoc said:

It really depends upon where you live and lately the Aussie dollar is beginning to rally again. If you are in Sydney, at least 30,000 AUD a year. No not a misprint, a decent apartment in an area close to uni will be at least 300 to 400 AUD a week, it will not be luxury living either, living and transport costs have to be added in as well. In smaller cities maybe you could get by with 20k a year, but if you are from the US you should qualify for loans.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure where you're getting your facts, but for $300-400 a week, you can get a spectacular place (especially if you don't mind sharing). Even UniLodge is cheaper than that. I pay $200/week (with utilities) for a decent place, and it takes me less than 5 minutes to walk to class in the morning. I know people who get away for under $160 for a tiny room, or possibly for a decent room if you don't mind traveling 30-40 minutes a day.

I've been here for three months... I haven't kept close track of my spending, but I can say with certainty that it's nowhere near $30k/year. I have a tendency to spend an excessive amount of money on daily expenses like food, but I still think I've spent under $5k in my first three months (not including one-time expenses... for instance, I felt the need to buy a 42" TV, a digital piano, and an amp for my guitar).

shan564 said:

I'm not sure where you're getting your facts, but for $300-400 a week, you can get a spectacular place (especially if you don't mind sharing). Even UniLodge is cheaper than that. I pay $200/week (with utilities) for a decent place, and it takes me less than 5 minutes to walk to class in the morning. I know people who get away for under $160 for a tiny room, or possibly for a decent room if you don't mind traveling 30-40 minutes a day.

I've been here for three months... I haven't kept close track of my spending, but I can say with certainty that it's nowhere near $30k/year. I have a tendency to spend an excessive amount of money on daily expenses like food, but I still think I've spent under $5k in my first three months (not including one-time expenses... for instance, I felt the need to buy a 42" TV, a digital piano, and an amp for my guitar).

Click to expand...

I pay about $2000 AUD a month for a dump in the CBD, the cost of living in Sydney is astronomical, it got a bit better when the US Dollar strengthened, but now the Greenback is sliding again. Sydney's transportation network is HORRIBLE, and I would not set foot in the Western suburbs which make the ghettos of the US look like luxury communities.

Also the programs in Australia do not prepare you for the USMLE, and many people in Aussie schools fail the Step 1.

jaketheory said:

ok, i think i get it: JanikeyDoc thinks Australia is a bad idea.

i don't care too much about how others have done on the USMLE. I have permanent residency and it doesnt make sense to pay 35k+ USD/year in tuition when i could pay 9k AUD/year. I'm not even sure I'd want to do residency in the US. But if I decide i'd like to give the USMLE a go but bomb it, i be happy remaining in Aus. and maybe lots of aussie grads fails step 1 (note, i question the accuracy of that statement), there are plenty that make it to respectable residencies as well. blanket generalizations have no utility.

Click to expand...

I do not think Australia is a bad idea, in fact I am in Australia right now but the facts are that if you want to work in the USA, you are better off going to an American medical school. Most people who would be competitive for an Aussie school usually have MCATs of 30+, which means they should have a good chance at getting into a US MD or DO program assuming they have a decent GPA.

Australia is great if you want to work in Australia but here is another pitfall, there is a tsunami of new medical graduates entering the workforce in a few years, who do you think will have priority? It will always be Australian citizens or Permanent Residents. If you really want to study in Australia my advice is to get PR first and then apply to medical school, you will save yourself a lot of headaches and save a lot of $$$. Well Jake, you are obviously doing things right with having a PR before applying to med school
but I think international students have to be very careful.

JanikeyDoc said:

I pay about $2000 AUD a month for a dump in the CBD

Click to expand...

I guess that depends on your definition of a "dump." I'm happy with the place I got for $200, right next to campus... so for jake's purposes, he can get away with that.

the cost of living in Sydney is astronomical, it got a bit better when the US Dollar strengthened, but now the Greenback is sliding again.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's true. If you're moving to Sydney, anticipate a high cost of living. But still, it's not that bad if you don't mind living like a student. It's much more expensive than where I came from (St. Louis and Columbia, MO), but don't expect to pay $2000 a month.

Sydney's transportation network is HORRIBLE

Click to expand...

Compared to what? New York might be better than Sydney, but I think that Sydney is better than Boston or San Francisco (which I think are #2 and #3 in the US, respectively, in terms of public transport). So far, I've been able to go anywhere in Sydney easily via trains and buses... that's more than I can say about any American city (except for New York).

and I would not set foot in the Western suburbs which make the ghettos of the US look like luxury communities.

Click to expand...

Maybe if you compare it to the ghetto of Beverly Hills. The Western suburbs may not be the prettiest part of Sydney, but they're certainly 10 times better than the ghettos of North St. Louis (which I saw regularly). If you compare it to places like East St. Louis or South Chicago, West Sydney is heaven.

The Western suburbs have smaller houses, but everything is well-maintained. And the crime in Sydney is not even close to any American city - a common front page headline in the daily paper is "how to buy a digital camera" or "the couple whose marriage was invalidated after 7 years."

I think it's ridiculous to even think about comparing West Sydney with any ghetto in the US. What part of the US are you from?

Also the programs in Australia do not prepare you for the USMLE, and many people in Aussie schools fail the Step 1.

Click to expand...

Yeah, beware of this... you'll have to study a bit on your own. Still, USyd has restructured their curriculum recently and they do have more emphasis on the basic sciences now. I have a friend who got a 235 on Step 1 (just a couple of months ago), and I think I already know immunology at least as well as he does (4 months into my program).

shan564 said:

I guess that depends on your definition of a "dump." I'm happy with the place I got for $200, right next to campus... so for jake's purposes, he can get away with that.


Yeah, that's true. If you're moving to Sydney, anticipate a high cost of living. But still, it's not that bad if you don't mind living like a student. It's much more expensive than where I came from (St. Louis and Columbia, MO), but don't expect to pay $2000 a month.


Compared to what? New York might be better than Sydney, but I think that Sydney is better than Boston or San Francisco (which I think are #2 and #3 in the US, respectively, in terms of public transport). So far, I've been able to go anywhere in Sydney easily via trains and buses... that's more than I can say about any American city (except for New York).


Maybe if you compare it to the ghetto of Beverly Hills. The Western suburbs may not be the prettiest part of Sydney, but they're certainly 10 times better than the ghettos of North St. Louis (which I saw regularly). If you compare it to places like East St. Louis or South Chicago, West Sydney is heaven.

The Western suburbs have smaller houses, but everything is well-maintained. And the crime in Sydney is not even close to any American city - a common front page headline in the daily paper is "how to buy a digital camera" or "the couple whose marriage was invalidated after 7 years."

I think it's ridiculous to even think about comparing West Sydney with any ghetto in the US. What part of the US are you from?


Yeah, beware of this... you'll have to study a bit on your own. Still, USyd has restructured their curriculum recently and they do have more emphasis on the basic sciences now. I have a friend who got a 235 on Step 1 (just a couple of months ago), and I think I already know immunology at least as well as he does (4 months into my program).

Click to expand...

Everyone says they have friend who did this or did that. I actually know someone who is faculty member of a major Australian med school that caters to North Americans, the overall pass rate is around 62 percent on the USMLE. Still there is increasing bias against IMGs in the US. Many programs are being cut and new medical schools, especially DO programs, are opening up, which means it will be much harder to match into a US residency in the future.

Maybe St. Louis is not one of the nicest places in the US, I have lived all over the country, the infrastructure in America is far superior to what is found in Australia. Just look at broadband and mobile phones here, the minute I go a bit away from the CBD my cell phone starts dropping calls, and you have very strict limits on broadband here, not to mention its slower too.

I dare you to drive here, the roads here suck, everything is poorly marked and its easy to get lost. Not to mention that automobiles in Australia are overpriced.

Another big problem is that Australia has some serious racial issues, its like America in the 60s here. Trust me.

JanikeyDoc said:

Everyone says they have friend who did this or did that. I actually know someone who is faculty member of a major Australian med school that caters to North Americans, the overall pass rate is around 62 percent on the USMLE. Still there is increasing bias against IMGs in the US. Many programs are being cut and new medical schools, especially DO programs, are opening up, which means it will be much harder to match into a US residency in the future.

Maybe St. Louis is not one of the nicest places in the US, I have lived all over the country, the infrastructure in America is far superior to what is found in Australia. Just look at broadband and mobile phones here, the minute I go a bit away from the CBD my cell phone starts dropping calls, and you have very strict limits on broadband here, not to mention its slower too.

I dare you to drive here, the roads here suck, everything is poorly marked and its easy to get lost. Not to mention that automobiles in Australia are overpriced.

Another big problem is that Australia has some serious racial issues, its like America in the 60s here. Trust me.

Click to expand...

As for broadband prices being higher, that's true but it's because of the highcost of international data, that will be addressed with the NBN - America's broadband is going to look like third world broadband when compared with FTTH that 90% of the population will get in the next few years. The government has also ear marked around 200 million for building out international transit capacity, which along with the continued private investment will drive Australian prices inline with the rest of the world.

Automobiles overpriced? Compared to the US perhaps, but not to Canada...it's pretty much the same (for the average car). Also the life of an autombile is much better here because you don't need to salt your roads in winter, compared to most of Canada requiring huge amounts of salt in the winter.

Now my experience with the US is admittedly poor, but the "ghettos" of Sydney in no where compare to what I saw in the US - especially the southern parts of the country like in and around Houston. I could walk around Kings Cross in the day (and in fact I did a few weeks ago) and not fear for my life as much as in Houston in broad day light...but of course the "ghettos" in Canada are like parks compared to both Australia and the US.

Racism? I think it really depends on where in the US you live. I think the fact that Australian culture is not as PC as in the US means that any racism you experience is not as subtle or underground as that in the US. That doesn't mean that the racism in the US is any less...it's just in a different form. Edit - I had to laugh at the dropped calls comment. You do realise that Verizon advertises itself as "having the fewest dropped calls" that just shows you how poor the performance is of the American mobile network. Not to mention that most of the country still uses the antiquated CDMA network - I'm sorry but if you frequent any technology forum you'll know that America has one of the most outdated and poorest performing networks in the world. Even Australia beats it handsdown.In fact video calling isn't even available in the US because of the notoroiusly slow and unreliable network...yet I get unlimited usage here on Optus/Virgin and Vodafone. That's one of the main reasons' Apple didn't introduce it with the Iphone 3G because their main market (the US) didn't even offer it...


And another thing - in the US people are free to advertise outright lies with the use of the word "unlimited". In fact you've already demonstrated that you were duped by the unlimited data plans available with Verizon and ATT...yet they are no where near unlimited. In fact they offer the same standard 5 gigs you get here or the rest of the world (except Europe where you can get 13gigs). And they actually cost more. The standard 5 gig plan for Verizon costs about $60 USD...you can get that here with most networks for $30 - $50AUD (and that's comparing 7.2mbps HSUPA networks with an outdated and quaint EVDO/Edge network, where I doubt you could even acheive 5 gigs of downloads)...

JanikeyDoc said:

Another big problem is that Australia has some serious racial issues, its like America in the 60s here. Trust me.

Click to expand...

IMO. the USA (not America, because America is used as in North and South America) is much more racist than it is in Canada (state dependent of course) and so far everyone I know that has gone to Australia, has said that Canada is much more racist than Australia.

I can't speak for all of Australia, but Sydney is by far the LEAST racist city I've ever been to (sample includes several US/Canadian cities, Karachi, Kuwait, Dubai, and a few others). In America, everybody sees me as a foreigner (because of my brown skin), even though I'm a US citizen and I speak perfect American English. In Australia, everybody sees me as a foreigner because I'm a US citizen and I speak American English.

Sydney is a highly multicultural city - especially in the USyd area. A couple of days ago, I went out to get a sandwich (in Broadway, near USyd and the city) and decided to count the racial mix on my way to the fast food joint. Of the 14 people who I passed by after I decided to start counting, 3 (three!) were white - most of the other people were South Asian, East Asian, Arab, or something along those lines.

I can honestly say that, as a South Asian, I feel less out-of-place in Sydney than I do anywhere else in the world. In America, I'm Pakistani... in Pakistan, I'm American. In the Middle East, I'm a leech. Here, people don't even think to imagine that I'm not Australian until I start speaking American English.

As far as infrastructure, it depends on your definition of "nice". A lot of the buildings in Sydney are very old, since 200 year-old buildings are made of brick and they last forever. In the US, the old wooden buildings have been torn down and replaced with steel.

Still, if you want to talk about "niceness", RPA Hospital is the nicest-looking hospital I've ever seen - and that includes Barnes Jewish Hospital (at Washington University), Brigham & Women's Hospital (Harvard), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard), etc. Also, the Westfield malls here are spectacular.

Some things might be less aesthetically pleasing here, but there are tradeoffs... for instance, everything is less clean and decorated. That's because the general culture here is that it would be a waste to spend money just to make something look pretty. Also, the people here (including the people who clean the facilities) aren't as hard-working - which also means that you don't have to work as hard.

Honestly, when it comes to the differences between the US and Aus, a lot of it is personal preference. Most Aussies don't like the American environment, and vice versa. Since I've spent a bit of time in several different countries, I've developed a tendency to be relatively flexible with my "preferences"... every place has pros and cons; the question is just how you look at it.

shan564 said:

I can't speak for all of Australia, but Sydney is by far the LEAST racist city I've ever been to (sample includes several US/Canadian cities, Karachi, Kuwait, Dubai, and a few others). In America, everybody sees me as a foreigner (because of my brown skin), even though I'm a US citizen and I speak perfect American English. In Australia, everybody sees me as a foreigner because I'm a US citizen and I speak American English.

Sydney is a highly multicultural city - especially in the USyd area. A couple of days ago, I went out to get a sandwich (in Broadway, near USyd and the city) and decided to count the racial mix on my way to the fast food joint. Of the 14 people who I passed by after I decided to start counting, 3 (three!) were white - most of the other people were South Asian, East Asian, Arab, or something along those lines.

I can honestly say that, as a South Asian, I feel less out-of-place in Sydney than I do anywhere else in the world. In America, I'm Pakistani... in Pakistan, I'm American. In the Middle East, I'm a leech. Here, people don't even think to imagine that I'm not Australian until I start speaking American English.

Click to expand...

I don't think racism is that bad in Australia but some things irritate the hell out of me. First of all I am black and people say that I am African in Oz instead of plain American. In fact people always say "Where are you really from?" For crying out loud the President of the United States looks like me.
I didn't say it was whites that I find racist here, I went into a few shops here and got weird looks in the mall above Paddy's Markets. I am mainly based out of Miami when I am in the US to give you a point of reference.

My girlfriend is Lebanese and she lived here her whole life, there is definitely xenophobia in Australia, she knows people who are routinely denied entrance in some of the nightclubs in Sydney just because of their background. Maybe St. Louis is bad, I never spent much time in the Midwest except in Chicago. The coastal regions of America are not that bad. Go to Miami or New York, most people in those places are not even white.

Realtors in Sydney are racist jerks, its almost impossible to get a place in the Eastern or Northern suburbs if your are not white.

And how does the Harvard study explain Obama, Will Smith, Oprah, Rihanna(who is huge in Australia), etc? Also Miami is the third largest city on the East coast of the USA and is mostly Hispanic. I actually do not get the "Where you are really from?" line from white Aussies, its mostly from the East Asians here, some Aussies told me Asians are pretty racist towards blacks.

shan564 said:

I can't speak for all of Australia, but Sydney is by far the LEAST racist city I've ever been to (sample includes several US/Canadian cities, Karachi, Kuwait, Dubai, and a few others). In America, everybody sees me as a foreigner (because of my brown skin), even though I'm a US citizen and I speak perfect American English. In Australia, everybody sees me as a foreigner because I'm a US citizen and I speak American English.

Sydney is a highly multicultural city - especially in the USyd area. A couple of days ago, I went out to get a sandwich (in Broadway, near USyd and the city) and decided to count the racial mix on my way to the fast food joint. Of the 14 people who I passed by after I decided to start counting, 3 (three!) were white - most of the other people were South Asian, East Asian, Arab, or something along those lines.

I can honestly say that, as a South Asian, I feel less out-of-place in Sydney than I do anywhere else in the world. In America, I'm Pakistani... in Pakistan, I'm American. In the Middle East, I'm a leech. Here, people don't even think to imagine that I'm not Australian until I start speaking American English.

Click to expand...

If you go to Miami you will see something like you saw on Broadway. Also in NYC or even LA. My girlfriend grew up here, by American standards she is white, but Aussies used to call her "Wog".

Maybe I should not care about being American these days anyway. A lot of people see America going downhill as is much of the English speaking world in general is headed into mediocrity.

So you're seriously saying that a Lebanese person with a middle eastern accent would get a free ride in the US? I doubt it. I had plenty of Egyptian Canadian (Christian) friends who got stripped/body cavity searched just because of their names while flying through the US. Never happened to them in Oz.

What about racial profiling in the US? When was the last time you got pulled over while driving simply because you were black in Oz?

As for being called African, it's unfortunate but as I said there isn't as much PC here. Also most of the "Black" people here are African refugees, so other then by hearing you speak how would they know you were African-American, and not African? It's not that common to meet an African-American here...so naturally the logical conclusion would be to assume you're from Africa...

Hold on a second.

You're complaining that life is bad in Australia. Let's look at facts:

- You're an immigrant with a very strong accent, that's irritating (the American one) to Australian ears
- You're a person of colour
- You can afford an apartment for $2000 AUD/month
- You already have an Australian girlfriend (who it looks like you plan to dump in a few months) who is not of the same ethnic group as you
- You clearly make posts while you should be working at your job
- You have already made contacts in the medical field, and you have time to "quiz" medical students

And you have the nerve to complain about a country that gave you a job/gives you income and you are not even a Citizen or Resident of that country??? How many immigrants with a thick accent could land in the US and hope to accomplish what you've accomplished? People would probably be making fun of their accent behind their backs and discounting their qualifications. You complain that Australians don't work hard - but you clearly prove that you don't either, but forget to mention this fact.

JanikeyDoc said:

Also the programs in Australia do not prepare you for the USMLE, and many people in Aussie schools fail the Step 1.

Click to expand...

I don't know where you got the information from. Sure you need to study on your own, but it's not impossible. Out of the people I know at UQ who've taken the USMLE step 1, the lowest score was a 233/97.

Speaking of transportation, I'm in New Orleans at the moment, and the public transport system is so bad that Brisbane seems like a heaven now.

Excanuk said:

Hold on a second.

You're complaining that life is bad in Australia. Let's look at facts:

- You're an immigrant with a very strong accent, that's irritating (the American one) to Australian ears
- You're a person of colour
- You can afford an apartment for $2000 AUD/month
- You already have an Australian girlfriend (who it looks like you plan to dump in a few months) who is not of the same ethnic group as you
- You clearly make posts while you should be working at your job
- You have already made contacts in the medical field, and you have time to "quiz" medical students

And you have the nerve to complain about a country that gave you a job/gives you income and you are not even a Citizen or Resident of that country??? How many immigrants with a thick accent could land in the US and hope to accomplish what you've accomplished? People would probably be making fun of their accent behind their backs and discounting their qualifications. You complain that Australians don't work hard - but you clearly prove that you don't either, but forget to mention this fact.

Click to expand...

I work for a US company not an Australian one, an American company pays me, I am sure you have seen our gigantic office building in the CBD, its starts with a German sounding name.

Oh yeah I said Australia is okay, its just not AMAZING, so please don't flame me for saying Australia is not Awesome. I also want to clarify to people that Australia is not some paradise.

Who said anything about dumping my girlfriend, she is coming with me. And she has been to the US several times, no problems. As I said she is Lebanese but is Caucasian in appearance. Want me to post her photo?? Oh and she is a doctor.

Excanuk said:

Hold on a second.

You're complaining that life is bad in Australia. Let's look at facts:

- You're an immigrant with a very strong accent, that's irritating (the American one) to Australian ears
- You're a person of colour
- You can afford an apartment for $2000 AUD/month
- You already have an Australian girlfriend (who it looks like you plan to dump in a few months) who is not of the same ethnic group as you
- You clearly make posts while you should be working at your job
- You have already made contacts in the medical field, and you have time to "quiz" medical students

And you have the nerve to complain about a country that gave you a job/gives you income and you are not even a Citizen or Resident of that country??? How many immigrants with a thick accent could land in the US and hope to accomplish what you've accomplished? People would probably be making fun of their accent behind their backs and discounting their qualifications. You complain that Australians don't work hard - but you clearly prove that you don't either, but forget to mention this fact.

Click to expand...

Aussies hard working???! Muuuhahahhahah. Pllleassse. Don't make me laugh that is why my employer sent me here, they needed a project that they needed to be completed quickly.

I have met many Aussies/Brits, Europeans, and others who work in America and do just fine.

I don't recall anyone ever saying Australia is some "sort of paradise". However I was countering your posts. You are obviously wasting company time by posting while you are at work...again enjoying some of that "Aussie lazyness" you quote so much. Are you sure you would last in the US?

Seems like to me the only one pro anything is you - and you seem pro America. That's fine the problem I have is that you are flip flopping more then Kerry in your posts. I have no idea what you are trying to say since each post seems to contradict the last.

As for your girlfriend...she won't be a doctor in the US. Good luck to her, she'll have to redo all of her training if she even manages to get a match. Not exactly a brilliant career move...but it's her choice.

Also it doesn't matter if a US company is paying you, the fact is they are getting paid from an Australian company - so your job is still in Australia.

Yadda Yadda Yadda. Yes I am very pro USA. As I said I work for a US company not an Australian one, heck, most of the major corporations in Sydney are predominantly foreign. Even the phone company, Optus, is actually based in Singapore. Many of the corporations dotting the city are either European or American.

Aussies publicly say the US sucks, but privately they wish they could be like us. I had friend in Europe who told me Aussies are USA wannabees, not outwardly but inwardly yes...they are.

Pollux said:

I don't know where you got the information from. Sure you need to study on your own, but it's not impossible. Out of the people I know at UQ who've taken the USMLE step 1, the lowest score was a 233/97.

Speaking of transportation, I'm in New Orleans at the moment, and the public transport system is so bad that Brisbane seems like a heaven now.

Click to expand...

Yep. I know virtually all UQ grads who've taken the USMLE from 2005 to 2008, and I know of only one fail, who then retook it and is now a surg res in California.

And UQ is not some kickass school or anything. So I'm not sure what sorry school JanikeyDoc is referring to! shall it forever remain nameless..

JanikeyDoc said:

Aussies publicly say the US sucks, but privately they wish they could be like us. I had friend in Europe who told me Aussies are USA wannabees, not outwardly but inwardly yes...they are.

Click to expand...

For someone who's a minority, with a gf of another minority, who experiences racism...you have to admit it seems just a bit odd that you wouldn't be more conscientious about not stereotyping (?)

What's the world coming to when I agree with Pitman?

As far as Aussies being US wannabes that's funny. If anything they are more likely to be British wannabes.

Excanuk said:

What's the world coming to when I agree with Pitman?

As far as Aussies being US wannabes that's funny. If anything they are more likely to be British wannabes.

Click to expand...

lol...and British people LOVE publicly making fun of Americans.

pitman said:

For someone who's a minority, with a gf of another minority, who experiences racism...you have to admit it seems just a bit odd that you wouldn't be more conscientious about not stereotyping (?)

Click to expand...

I spent a lot of time in Europe, Europeans think Aussies and Yanks are all the same in their eyes. They cited many examples, Sydney could seriously fit in with San Francisco, a bit more downmarket version of San Francisco. I said Australia is okay, its not like I am going to down George St. singing that I am happy to be in Oz. Australia is lot like North America but less advanced, you have shopping malls, traffic congestion, the rat race, but nicer beaches, but its very boring here. Honestly, I found Europe a lot more fascinating from my North American perspective, a mix of ancient tradition and modern technology(200mph high speed trains traveling along bucolic European countryside, amazing), Euro babes are hotter than Aussies, even Aussie guys blankly admit this, I even know a guy who works at USyd who spends half the year in Russia. I will seriously look at Atlantic Bridge schools in Ireland over Australia, those schools are also more well known with US PDs.

My gf is blonde.

Aussies love Oprah, another reason I don't like it here, I can't stand her.

If you love Europe so much try Airasia.com you can get a return flight from Melborne to London via KL for under $1000 AUD

redshifteffect said:

If you love Europe so much try Airasia.com you can get a return flight from Melborne to London via KL for under $1000 AUD

Click to expand...

Epic Fail. London isn't really Europe, its way too Americanized, when I go overseas I want to experience something exotic. Try Berlin or Barcelona, that is real hard core Europe, you will turn your head at all the beauties in those two cities, in fact, often the best looking women I see in Sydney are never Aussie but always foreign tourists, usually European or Latin American. If you are true connoisseur the blondinkas of Moscow or the Crimea are something that has to be seen to be believed. My Aussie colleagues give me a hard time because I am dating a Lebanese woman, but she is fine as hell, so I don't care.

I think Janikey is a troll. :troll:

AcerExtensa said:

I think Janikey is a troll. :troll:

Click to expand...

agreed

Australia has serious problems with racism:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10484723

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Cronulla_riots

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/26/2474732.htm

http://www.theage.com.au/national/train-gang-bashes-indian-student-20090511-azbq.html

Australia a well functioning multicultural society??? Give me a break.

Do you really think white youths would be able to racially beat up a black male in New York or LA and get away with it? I really doubt it. Melbourne and Sydney are Australia's two most international cities.

redshifteffect said:

If you love Europe so much try Airasia.com you can get a return flight from Melborne to London via KL for under $1000 AUD

Click to expand...

Your comment is so ignorant. The UK never really was a part of Europe, its one of the few Western European countries where you have to go through immigration if you are traveling from another European country. Example, fly from Paris to London and you have to go through customs. If you fly from Berlin to Paris, you do not go through any immigration.

I guess you don't know your own country too well:

http://www.demos.org/inequality/article.cfm?blogid=2396A9F5-3FF4-6C82-5328C5C5298B9226

http://www.demos.org/inequality/article.cfm?blogid=2396A9F5-3FF4-6C82-5328C5C5298B9226

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2121612.stm

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25518170-5006784,00.html

International students at Newcastle being beaten and robbed by teenagers. USA >>>> Canada >>> Australia.

The bottom incident involved hooligans and Police, it does not matter what your skin color is, when you deal with cops or any LE in America you should really behave yourself. Come to think of it I met an Aussie who said he got interrogated and was briefly arrested at LAX, no he is not of Middle East origin, he is a white Anglo Aussie male.

Jena happened in a little backwater in the Deep South. The racial incidents I mentioned that occurred in Australia happened in both Sydney and in Melbourne, the two most international and multicultural Australian cities.

I have been to a number of countries around the world: Germany, Netherlands, France, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea, etc, Australia is easily the most xenophobic of them all.

So now the UK isn't part of Europe? I don't think I'm going to waste anymore time with you. So they are part of the European union for fun? This is an honour that a country that is part of Europe (Turkey) hasn't been able to get for years.

They are about to get kicked out, the EU wants the UK just to sink. Britain is experiencing an economic meltdown that is far worse than the US. The nations on the Continent want it out. They have snubbed the Euro for several years and now Britain's finances are in the toilet. A very high profile German politician even placed the brunt of the blame for the global economic meltdown on both Britain and the USA, its been a plan of both the Germans and French to see the UK out of the EU, Britain has been the biggest pain in the neck for the EU's transformation into a Superstate. President Obama is also planning to change the Transatlantic relationship considerably...by moving away from the UK and coming closer to Berlin and Paris.

I also love how Aussies think that Asia is going to back them up even if America loses its power in the world. I know a lot of Asians who have experienced some very serious racial incidents here, many Asians really don't think much of Aussies as nothing but a bunch lazy drunks. The minute that happens Australia will likely see itself in a major military confrontation with either Indonesia or China. This is one reason why every single Australian leader makes it a point to keep good relations with Washington.

JanikeyDoc said:

I also love how Aussies think that Asia is going to back them up even if America loses its power in the world. I know a lot of Asians who have experienced some very serious racial incidents here, many Asians really don't think much of Aussies as nothing but a bunch lazy drunks. The minute that happens Australia will likely see itself in a major military confrontation with either Indonesia or China. This is one reason why every single Australian leader makes it a point to keep good relations with Washington.

Click to expand...

whoa what?

Every Asian I know that has ever traveled or lived in Australia, LOVE the people, and love the country. (I know a lot of Asians) most would easily rank Australia nicer than Canada, which is also ranked much better than the USA (except of you are there to visit Flordia, California, NYC, Hawaii, or Las Vagas)

Being of Asian decent, in most of my travels, I'd easily put the USA as one of the most racist countries i've ever been to. Racism exists EVERYWHERE, deal with it. Even in Canada, you will see overseas born Asians be racist towards those born in Asia (or "fobs" being the derogatory term).

I know a few people in Australia right now that I keep in contact with, most of them in fact of Asian decent, and all this talk about racism that you bring up seems to be very isolated, and very skewed information that you are giving out. It's down to the point where some of my friends (who are of Asian decent) have family who LIVE in Australia, and also love it there and they have asked their relatives about racism, and again their experiences seem to be the opposite of what you are saying.

In all my research, tales told by people who have experienced Australia, I cannot say I find Australia any more racist than Canada, because it seems that Australia is less racist than Canada. Now where there SEEMS to be a problem with racism is against the aboriginal community, this is in Australia and in Canada. I would find it hard to believe if someone told me they have NEVER pre-judged someone on ANYTHING based on their ethnic background.

Also, what actions do you define as 'racist', some people are much more sensitive than others.

I still don't think you live in the same America as the rest of your fellow citizens. Backwater parts of the South? What about these in places like New York?

http://www.janet.org/~ebihara/aavn/aav_dennys_incident.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/25/n...sive-incidents.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t51636.html
- Instead of condemning the act take a look at what your fellow citizens think the solution should be.

http://www.newser.com/story/12073/hate-crimes-up-racial-incidents-dominate.html

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/constantine_chronis/index.html

more...

http://oscarhanesbeating.blogspot.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/11/n...endant-in-racial-beating-case.html?sec=&spon=

http://www.city-data.com/forum/poli.../43773-media-blackout-no-jail-long-beach.html

http://repositories.cdlib.org/issr/volume4/19/

http://www.howardwfrench.com/archiv...ve_uva_after_slurs_students_rally_for_change/

http://repositories.cdlib.org/issr/volume4/19/

http://www.howardwfrench.com/archiv...ve_uva_after_slurs_students_rally_for_change/

http://media.www.thequindecim.com/m...veal.Deep.CenturiesOld.Tensions-3049471.shtml

http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/news/cu-campus-incidents.pdf

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...racist_grafitti_hits_east_new_york_grade.html



Here are some International students having a great time in the "land of the free" and the "home of the great"

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2002/12/08/2002-12-08_asian_students_hit_in_rash_o.html

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jan/20student.htm

http://pluralism.org/news/article.php?id=1607

http://www.indypressny.org/nycma/voices/111/news/news/

http://www.democracynow.org/2001/10/3/arab_asian_taxi_drivers_beaten_and

http://www.ocanational.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=367&Itemid=94

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_10866820

http://gothamist.com/2007/03/22/teen_beaten_for.php

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-13-asian-teens-bullied_x.htm

http://www.aznlover.com/vbulletin/n...fun-14-y-o-student-beaten-brass-knuckles.html

http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/03/03/korean-exchange-student-beaten-to-death-at-penn-state/

http://www.asianweek.com/2000/06/08/suny-binghamton-wrestler-pleads-guilty-to-attempted-assault/

Or this one in New Jersy?

http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2009/05/15/news/doc4a0d9b4040c29777471072.txt

Take a look at the comments made by your fellow Americans, they sound like a friendly bunch. Definitely the type you'd want to have as neighbors.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5317532

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/racial-incidents-and-thre_b_144061.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ial-incidents-sour-Barack-Obamas-victory.html

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/racial-bias-seen-in-hiring-of-waiters/

I guess rich folks don't like to see coloured people when eating their food? Sounds like an awesome place to live!

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/news.php?viewStory=597 - More about Obama.

Anyway the list goes on.