Engineering Student transferring to MBBS

[madfire89]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi guys, I'm new here...

I'm a 19 year old,second year mechanical engineering student, at Curtin University - Perth- WA Australia. I have discovered I have no passion for engineering, and that my passion lies elsewhere, and feel that medicine would be a good career for me.

However I was extremely unmotivated in high school and only studied the bare minimum to get into engineering school (low requirements). I did manage to scrape a 70% Course weighted average after finishing first year engineering, however I've done pretty poorly in my first semester of mechanical engineering as I quite frankly hate it. I chose engineering not because I had the passion (which I don't) but because it was really the only 'good' thing I could get into, and all my friends were doing it... Shame...

I realise I have to sit GAMSAT tests and have a GPA high enough to be accepted into universities in Australia. If I were to pursue medicine in Australia, I would then switch now to a degree I would personally enjoy, such as a bachelor of science, and achieve a High GPA and sit GAMSAT, correct? My high school marks shouldn't be a factor any more if I am not mistaken...

I have however been thinking of doing my MBBS in a country such as China or India, where the requirements are apparently much less, and the cost is less too! I believe I have just missed the application deadlines, however I plan to ring the universities abroad and enquire about enrolment ASAP. If I have indeed missed the chance, I would then have to either take a gap year and work on the side, till next year where I can apply to China or India... Or just switch degrees to Bachelors of science and perhaps apply for both Australian MBBS and over seas?


My question to you is: What are your thoughts on my options? Have you any experience with anyone who has left a country such as Australia to study MBBS abroad? How was the application process etc?
What do you think in my situation is the best course of action? I've wasted 1.5 years in engineering and don't want to waste any more, being 19 time for me is a priority.


Thank you!

 

[bashwell]

Don't go to China or India if you want to stay in Australia! Things are only getting more tight and no guarantees you'll be able to come back or at least not as a doctor. You'd have to go through the AMA exams and OSCEs in Melbourne after your medical degree and from what I've seen when I was briefly at the AMA the vast majority have a hard time getting through. Also there have been heaps of medical students graduating in the last few years, the med student tsunami, which impacts the rest of the medical system in various ways which may be less than favorable to IMGs, or so I'd imagine. Definitely do your best to stay and get into medicine in Australia. You can also try to go to an undergraduate medicine program as your first degree without finishing your bachelors degree then doing a postgrad medical course. If you do postgrad, consider doing a bachelors in medical science.

 

[madfire89]

Don't go to China or India if you want to stay in Australia! Things are only getting more tight and no guarantees you'll be able to come back or at least not as a doctor. You'd have to go through the AMA exams and OSCEs in Melbourne after your medical degree and from what I've seen when I was briefly at the AMA the vast majority have a hard time getting through. Also there have been heaps of medical students graduating in the last few years, the med student tsunami, which impacts the rest of the medical system in various ways which may be less than favorable to IMGs, or so I'd imagine. Definitely do your best to stay and get into medicine in Australia. You can also try to go to an undergraduate medicine program as your first degree without finishing your bachelors degree then doing a postgrad medical course. If you do postgrad, consider doing a bachelors in medical science.

Seriously? I heard going abroad is rather promising. I have quite a few extended family members who have done it recently/ are doing it currently... granted they live in South Africa.
I feel that going through the wholeprocess in Australia would take me another couple years to just get accepted at the least, and this I am not happy with ofcourse...
Besides, I'm not sure if I'll even come back to Australia. It would depend on China's standard of living for a doctor, and the pay, etc. Living in the UK or USA, etc is an option too, if Australia is really that strict with doctors who have studied abroad...

 

[bashwell]

Generally speaking, I'd say medical education in South Africa is viewed better by Australia than China or India. Lots of South African doctors here in Sydney.

Actually, the UK is next to impossible to get an internship without the equivalent of PR/citizenship. If you have UK PR/citizenship, then that's good. But you'll still have to get your medical education in China or India recognized by the UK as well, which involves sitting exams (PLAB), etc. This itself won't be easy.

I know the US very well. You have to sit the USMLE Step 1, 2CK/CS and eventually 3. Often you need to get US clinical experience. Get good letters of reference from American physicians. All this is just to apply, not be accepted. And like here in Australia there are new medical schools which have recently opened in the US over the last few years which means more medical students graduating, but the internship/resident/registrar level positions opening up in the US are still disproportionate to what's needed for all these med students. It shouldn't be a problem for Americans, but it'd be a problem for IMGs who will face stiffer competition over the years. (This is very similar to what's already happening in Australia.) Unless you're an American green card holder (PR) or citizen, you'll need to compete with the thousands of IMGs applying each year. And not all US residencies will provide H-1 or J-1 visas.

I'm not saying it's impossible to go from a Chinese or Indian medical school to the UK, US, or Australia/New Zealand. But it's going to be a tremendous uphill battle for you, and you should realize it's at the very least just as likely you will graduate from a Chinese or Indian med school and be an MD but find yourself unable to practice in any of these nations. Of course, if you wish to stay in China or India, then that'd probably be your most realistic possibility if you graduate from a Chinese or Indian medical school.

Look at it this way. It's going to be hard either to get into med school or it's going to be hard to practice once you're finished with med school. So you can face the hardship now (i.e. trying to get into med school) or later (i.e. trying to practice medicine from a Chinese or Indian med school). If I were in your position, and if it has to be hard one way or the other, then I'd rather face the hardship now and try to get into med school than face the hardship later and try to get back to Australia, New Zealand, the UK, or the US. In fact, I'd say it's much easier getting into med school in Australia than it is getting licensed and so forth to practice medicine in Australia coming from a med school in China or India.

Also, you're only 19. Honestly, you have heaps of time to get into med school. For example, many if not most Americans and Canadians don't even start med school until their mid-to-late 20s. I have even met other doctors who told me they didn't start med school until their 30s, 40s, and a couple even in their 50s. Seriously, time is not an issue for you.

Just my opinion.

 

[Medstart108]

Seriously? I heard going abroad is rather promising. I have quite a few extended family members who have done it recently/ are doing it currently... granted they live in South Africa.
I feel that going through the wholeprocess in Australia would take me another couple years to just get accepted at the least, and this I am not happy with ofcourse...
Besides, I'm not sure if I'll even come back to Australia. It would depend on China's standard of living for a doctor, and the pay, etc. Living in the UK or USA, etc is an option too, if Australia is really that strict with doctors who have studied abroad...

The situation in China with doctors is bad. They are paid very very little, only very senior successful doctors get paid a lot and mainly its through underhand money. Look up doctors in China and you'll see the situation, most are not even able to support themselves.

The other thing of course is that you really won't be able to go anywhere with a degree from China or elsewhere. Stay in Australia. There is no better option trust me. Even in China they value an Australian MBBS over their own schools.

 

[bashwell]

Sorry AMA should be AMC. That's what I meant but just typed too quickly while in hospital.

 

[Medstart108]

Hi guys, I'm new here...

I'm a 19 year old,second year mechanical engineering student, at Curtin University - Perth- WA Australia. I have discovered I have no passion for engineering, and that my passion lies elsewhere, and feel that medicine would be a good career for me.

However I was extremely unmotivated in high school and only studied the bare minimum to get into engineering school (low requirements). I did manage to scrape a 70% Course weighted average after finishing first year engineering, however I've done pretty poorly in my first semester of mechanical engineering as I quite frankly hate it. I chose engineering not because I had the passion (which I don't) but because it was really the only 'good' thing I could get into, and all my friends were doing it... Shame...

I realise I have to sit GAMSAT tests and have a GPA high enough to be accepted into universities in Australia. If I were to pursue medicine in Australia, I would then switch now to a degree I would personally enjoy, such as a bachelor of science, and achieve a High GPA and sit GAMSAT, correct? My high school marks shouldn't be a factor any more if I am not mistaken...

I have however been thinking of doing my MBBS in a country such as China or India, where the requirements are apparently much less, and the cost is less too! I believe I have just missed the application deadlines, however I plan to ring the universities abroad and enquire about enrolment ASAP. If I have indeed missed the chance, I would then have to either take a gap year and work on the side, till next year where I can apply to China or India... Or just switch degrees to Bachelors of science and perhaps apply for both Australian MBBS and over seas?


My question to you is: What are your thoughts on my options? Have you any experience with anyone who has left a country such as Australia to study MBBS abroad? How was the application process etc?
What do you think in my situation is the best course of action? I've wasted 1.5 years in engineering and don't want to waste any more, being 19 time for me is a priority.


Thank you!

Think about it this way, if it were the case that there was a cheaper and easier to get into alternative why would anyone even go to an Australian medical school in the first place? The biggest catch is i'm not 100% sure on this but i'm sure there are restrictions to returning to Australia.

 

[bashwell]

Think about it this way, if it were the case that there was a cheaper and easier to get into alternative why would anyone even go to an Australian medical school in the first place? The biggest catch is i'm not 100% sure on this but i'm sure there are restrictions to returning to Australia.

I worked (briefly) with the AMC. I've seen what it takes for IMGs to return to work in Australia including IMGs who have Australian PR/citizenship but studied medicine outside Australia. The only successful Australian IMGs I saw were ones who studied medicine in other developed nations (e.g. UK, Canada). (Obviously just my anecdotal evidence, and best to see the actual numbers from AMC.) For example it used to be that one didn't have to pass both parts of the AMC exams to get an internship/RMO position, but now the rules have changed and one has to pass both exams in order to do the same (i.e. MCQ and OSCE). Here is more information for the OP.

 

[mcat_taker]

Dude you are 19. How can you say that time is a priority for you and you don't want to waste anymore time. The average matriculant's age for U.S. med schools is like 24 to give you an example (plenty of people in their late 20s applying also). You have plenty of time to shore up your application for Australian schools.

 

[pitman]

I was 36 entering med school, to start my third "career". I'm very glad I got wasted a few of those years.

 

[deleted158872]

I was 36 entering med school, to start my third "career". I'm very glad I got wasted a few of those years.

i guess you already have a family by the time you were in med school? if so then how did your family manage while you were in med school?

 

[pitman]

Nah, no family aside from the parents and sibs back in the US.