UQ-Ochsner 2022

[deleted1093741]

Hi everyone!
I did see there was an initial thread started by @caterwaiter yet, it's unfortunate that it got initially derailed.
UQ-Ochsner does seem like a great program, and I'm personally really excited to be applying. Would love to hear updates from other applicants. How are we doing? Is this one of your top schools or more of a backup? (well, 'backup' might not be the right word given the University of Queensland is top 50 in the world)


It is never-racking deciding to be an IMG & I understand this program might not be for everyone. As for myself, I feel it's one of my top choices. Who knows what other time in my life I would have the opportunity to live in Australia, plus I do love global health & research - which it's safe to say UQ excels in. I'm at peace knowing that we will have quality clinical rotations through Ochsner. Personally, I think I might be choosing the program over low-tier MD schools in the US, although we do have the 'downfall' of being IMGs, I trust more the quality of education, research opportunities & connections at UQ.

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[Damson]

Consensus on SDN is that if your goal is to practice in the US, and you already have the stats to get into US MD school, go to your US MD school. The 'downfall' of being IMG is real because your residency application will generally be lower priority. Although you can probably find residencies that prioritize IMGs, I think there's only few of these. You may have to score higher than the average US MD student on USMLE step 2 in order to have the same opportunity. You'll also have to deal with ECFMG certification.

Some reasons to not do medicine in the states is if you don't want to go DO, study OMM, and write two board exams / you are interested in possibly staying in Australia for a variety of reasons. Otherwise "Who knows what other time in my life I would have the opportunity to live in Australia" is unfounded. You'll get a chance to visit and live in Australia during your time off as an attending physician in the US.

 

[andiii07]

Hi everyone!
I did see there was an initial thread started by @caterwaiter yet, it's unfortunate that it got initially derailed.
UQ-Ochsner does seem like a great program, and I'm personally really excited to be applying. Would love to hear updates from other applicants. How are we doing? Is this one of your top schools or more of a backup? (well, 'backup' might not be the right word given the University of Queensland is top 50 in the world)


It is never-racking deciding to be an IMG & I understand this program might not be for everyone. As for myself, I feel it's one of my top choices. Who knows what other time in my life I would have the opportunity to live in Australia, plus I do love global health & research - which it's safe to say UQ excels in. I'm at peace knowing that we will have quality clinical rotations through Ochsner. Personally, I think I might be choosing the program over low-tier MD schools in the US, although we do have the 'downfall' of being IMGs, I trust more the quality of education, research opportunities & connections at UQ.

im on the same boat as you ! im really excited about this program as well. I submitted my app today since I recently just learned about this program. I am however nervous about matching back into the states but they seem to have a really good match rate. When did you submit your app? and have you heard from them? ive seen other people post in the other thread that they have received II already

 

[deleted1093741]

im on the same boat as you ! im really excited about this program as well. I submitted my app today since I recently just learned about this program. I am however nervous about matching back into the states but they seem to have a really good match rate. When did you submit your app? and have you heard from them? ive seen other people post in the other thread that they have received II already

I'm also nervous about the match - being realistic as an IMG we will have to apply to more programs since some won't take IMGs. Yet, I'm also looking at the quality education at UQ & they do have great match locations and specialties at even a higher % than lower-tier MD US schools. I submitted my app at the end of Jan but my MCAT got postponed because of covid so I'm waiting on the score, I'm assuming I won't hear back until I submit my MCAT. I did get access to the portal but it says assessment in progress.

 

[deleted1093741]

Consensus on SDN is that if your goal is to practice in the US, and you already have the stats to get into US MD school, go to your US MD school. The 'downfall' of being IMG is real because your residency application will generally be lower priority. Although you can probably find residencies that prioritize IMGs, I think there's only few of these. You may have to score higher than the average US MD student on USMLE step 2 in order to have the same opportunity. You'll also have to deal with ECFMG certification.

Some reasons to not do medicine in the states is if you don't want to go DO, study OMM, and write two board exams / you are interested in possibly staying in Australia for a variety of reasons. Otherwise "Who knows what other time in my life I would have the opportunity to live in Australia" is unfounded. You'll get a chance to visit and live in Australia during your time off as an attending physician in the US.

Thank you for your input. I understand the harsh reality of matching as an IMG - I get why it's off-putting for US students to choose to do so. But not everyone is the same or has different priorities. Yes, it might be relatively "easier & smoother" to just go to a US-based school, but people still don't match even there. I personally want to go to a school that I know I'm receiving quality education & I'm prepared - I want to be happy in the environment I am in because I know med school will be hard. I would choose UQ over low-tier schools in environments not suitable for me, which have lower match rates than UQ anyways. All to say - thank you, but this wasn't the point of the conversation, I've done my research and I love the program & would love to hear from other applicants.

 

[WVDr2B]

Hello! I've applied and received an II. (3.0 cGPA, sGPA, 509 MCAT). I have all the same concern and excitement about the program as has been listed. Overall, I can't find any data specific to the program that makes me anything but excited about it! Obviously, general IMG statistics are worrisome but this program really does seem to put you in a solid position, unless there's anything I'm missing.

 

[Wolvvs]

Hello! I've applied and received an II. (3.0 cGPA, sGPA, 509 MCAT). I have all the same concern and excitement about the program as has been listed. Overall, I can't find any data specific to the program that makes me anything but excited about it! Obviously, general IMG statistics are worrisome but this program really does seem to put you in a solid position, unless there's anything I'm missing.

I'm a current first year student in this program. I've heard a lot of not great things here on SDN especially recently, and I wouldn't want to disregard the experience of others, but so far everything's been really good for me. I think it's important to understand the type of student who will do well is someone who is able to and wants to work independently. Not very many activities are required and there's very limited required BS, and that's great if you're the type of student who will use the extra time to study, not so much if you prefer to have more structure and guidance or can't effectively study independently. I think the problem is that many students don't choose UQO because it's a good fit but because it's where they can get in (especially since it's much more forgiving of low GPA than US schools). I think you just have to understand what you're getting into and be willing to drive the majority of your studying by yourself/with classmates.

 

[WVDr2B]

I'm a current first year student in this program. I've heard a lot of not great things here on SDN especially recently, and I wouldn't want to disregard the experience of others, but so far everything's been really good for me. I think it's important to understand the type of student who will do well is someone who is able to and wants to work independently. Not very many activities are required and there's very limited required BS, and that's great if you're the type of student who will use the extra time to study, not so much if you prefer to have more structure and guidance or can't effectively study independently. I think the problem is that many students don't choose UQO because it's a good fit but because it's where they can get in (especially since it's much more forgiving of low GPA than US schools). I think you just have to understand what you're getting into and be willing to drive the majority of your studying by yourself/with classmates.

I really appreciate your input! What are your thoughts on the cost of tuition and living in Brisbane (along with flights)?

 

[Wolvvs]

I really appreciate your input! What are your thoughts on the cost of tuition and living in Brisbane (along with flights)?

95% of the current first year class is not in Brisbane right now as Australia's borders are currently closed (a few students have unusual circumstances and managed to get in). So can't really comment on cost of living in Brisbane, although I've heard it's pretty similar to some of the bigger cities in the US. Flights right now are insanely expensive ($2000+ for one way) and not representative of the cost pre-pandemic, which would probably be $600-800 from LA depending on timing and flexibility and go up as you get further away. Of course this is super variable but things now are absolutely overpriced.

Tuition's expensive. If this were a US school, it would be the 7th most expensive school in the US. There's also no institutional financial aid available to international students (which makes sense as US schools don't generally provide aid to their international students either). If you take loans to cover full cost of attendance, you're looking at about $90K per year. It's definitely a lot, not much you can do about it other than try to minimize living expenses, pay off loans quickly as an attending, and choose a specialty that will facilitate making those payments.

 

[ouellette]

I'm a current first year student in this program. I've heard a lot of not great things here on SDN especially recently, and I wouldn't want to disregard the experience of others, but so far everything's been really good for me. I think it's important to understand the type of student who will do well is someone who is able to and wants to work independently. Not very many activities are required and there's very limited required BS, and that's great if you're the type of student who will use the extra time to study, not so much if you prefer to have more structure and guidance or can't effectively study independently. I think the problem is that many students don't choose UQO because it's a good fit but because it's where they can get in (especially since it's much more forgiving of low GPA than US schools). I think you just have to understand what you're getting into and be willing to drive the majority of your studying by yourself/with classmates.

Thank you for commenting!! What do you mean by not many activities required? And would you say the independence is due to covid or is a standard quality of the program itself?

 

[Wolvvs]

Thank you for commenting!! What do you mean by not many activities required? And would you say the independence is due to covid or is a standard quality of the program itself?

No worries! Most of the required wellness/study habits etc stuff was during orientation week so it didn't interfere with study. There have been a few of those things so far during the semester you could go to but none of them were required.

Lectures are all recorded and aren't mandatory. The only mandatory things are CBL, clinical coaching, and practical classes/tutorials. For example, here's what my schedule looks like for this coming week:

Day	Mandatory Activities	Optional Activities
Monday	None	Lecture (3 hours)
Tuesday	None	Lecture (2 hours)
Wednesday	Anatomy/Pathology Practical (2 hours) CBL (2.5 hours)	Lecture (2 hours)
Thursday	Clinical Coaching (2 hours)	Lecture (2 hours)
Friday	CBL (2.5 hours) Physiology Lab (1 hour)	Lecture (2 hours)

So overall, 10 hours of mandatory stuff and 11 hours of lectures, which really isn't a lot of time especially if you're going through lectures at 2x speed. In order to be successful, you've really got to put in minimum 20-30 hours of time on top of that, and that can be hard. I know this isn't unique and there are other medical schools that have similar schedules. But compare to a school like GWU (Structure and Schedule | The School of Medicine & Health Sciences) where they've got ~30 hours per week of required stuff.

The in-person students do have some additional stuff + the check in/check out process for the labs can take some time, but I don't think it makes a huge difference in the average number of hours of UQ-provided content.

 

[ouellette]

No worries! Most of the required wellness/study habits etc stuff was during orientation week so it didn't interfere with study. There have been a few of those things so far during the semester you could go to but none of them were required.

Lectures are all recorded and aren't mandatory. The only mandatory things are CBL, clinical coaching, and practical classes/tutorials. For example, here's what my schedule looks like for this coming week:

Day	Mandatory Activities	Optional Activities
Monday	None	Lecture (3 hours)
Tuesday	None	Lecture (2 hours)
Wednesday	Anatomy/Pathology Practical (2 hours) CBL (2.5 hours)	Lecture (2 hours)
Thursday	Clinical Coaching (2 hours)	Lecture (2 hours)
Friday	CBL (2.5 hours) Physiology Lab (1 hour)	Lecture (2 hours)

So overall, 10 hours of mandatory stuff and 11 hours of lectures, which really isn't a lot of time especially if you're going through lectures at 2x speed. In order to be successful, you've really got to put in minimum 20-30 hours of time on top of that, and that can be hard. I know this isn't unique and there are other medical schools that have similar schedules. But compare to a school like GWU (Structure and Schedule | The School of Medicine & Health Sciences) where they've got ~30 hours per week of required stuff.

The in-person students do have some additional stuff + the check in/check out process for the labs can take some time, but I don't think it makes a huge difference in the average number of hours of UQ-provided content.

Thank you for the insight!!

 

[eppendorf1.5ml]

Interviewing on 3/25! Anyone have any insight on how the interview is other than 8 MMIs? Not sure if there have been any interview dates prior to this one...

I obviously have the same concerns as stated above, especially with step being p/np now. Anyone know if there will be any time to ask questions and maybe hear from the school on how they plan to keep their residency match rates just as high despite the p/np change? Any info greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[Wolvvs]

Interviewing on 3/25! Anyone have any insight on how the interview is other than 8 MMIs? Not sure if there have been any interview dates prior to this one...

I obviously have the same concerns as stated above, especially with step being p/np now. Anyone know if there will be any time to ask questions and maybe hear from the school on how they plan to keep their residency match rates just as high despite the p/np change? Any info greatly appreciated! Thanks

Can't speak to this year, but last year the interviews were MMI only, no time to ask questions. They do offer webinars regularly, I would attend one of those, or you can email in your question!

 

[Achnologiast]

So how does the 4th year med students at UQ match into US residencies timeline wise? Since the year ends in November, and residencies start in July-ish, does that mean you have to spend another 6 months after the 4th year before you start residency?

 

[Wolvvs]

So how does the 4th year med students at UQ match into US residencies timeline wise? Since the year ends in November, and residencies start in July-ish, does that mean you have to spend another 6 months after the 4th year before you start residency?

Yes, there is a break between graduation and residency.

 

[unknown0710]

Interviewing on 3/25! Anyone have any insight on how the interview is other than 8 MMIs? Not sure if there have been any interview dates prior to this one...

I obviously have the same concerns as stated above, especially with step being p/np now. Anyone know if there will be any time to ask questions and maybe hear from the school on how they plan to keep their residency match rates just as high despite the p/np change? Any info greatly appreciated! Thanks

I just interviewed on May 20th. Was wondering if you heard back yet and if you did how long it took?

 

[Achnologiast]

May 20th interviewees hear back on June 8th I believe.

 

[gyngyn]

This thread can be followed here: UQ-Ochsner 2022 Cohort