UQ-Ochsner Packing List for Brisbane

[Mata Hari]

Thinking about those moving to Oz to start in the UQ-Ochsner MBBS program in January and inspired by the Caribbean med school packing lists I see online, I thought a thread on packing would help. Anyone in the know, please contribute!

I'll stick to major themes and provide some suggestions:

Things are EXPENSIVE in Australia compared to the US. I'm a rather simple person with simple needs and all of those needs are EXPENSIVE: Food, Clothes, Rent, and Books. Obviously you can't do anything much proactive about food and rent, but clothes and book expense could be minimized.



CLOTHES
You'll live in mostly casual clothes through 2 distinct seasons: Hot/Wet and Cold/Dry. Your life dependent on public transport, you will walk a lot, so you'll need good/comfy shoes. You don't want to pay for dry cleaning here, so washable, durable fabrics are a must.
--Hot/Wet: shorts/surf shorts + t-shirt/polo shirt + sneakers/flip-flops
--Cold/Dry: jeans/casual khaki + t-shirt/polo shirt + fleece jacket/sweater + sneakers

Note 1: I went through 2 pairs of everyday sneakers in 1 year in Oz from all the walking, so think about packing an extra pair of shoes (you don't want to buy them here... my generic $40 New Balance cross-trainer= AUD$175)
Note 2: Aussies don't worship A/C the way Americans do... so the lecture halls/hospital wards/shopping mall will always be warmer than you'd expect.

On the wards/In hospital:
The "uniform" is a dress shirt, and slacks (make that Dockers khaki in dark or khaki color). Wear some form of conservative yet comfy leather shoes (Ecco, Rockport, etc.). There is a ties dilemma: Medical school policy is ties whenever in wards; Queensland Health hospital policy is no ties. So take 1 tie. I never wore a tie on wards, except to do a thing in Obstetrics because the surgeon was an older doctor who expected a tie (to meet and greet patients) until you changed into scrubs. Note: buy a stethoscope in the US before coming. You will use it in "clinical coaching" every week, as well as on your year 1 elective, and on your Ochsner cohort required year 2 elective.



BOOKS
(You're bringing a laptop too, I hope...with power cord converter)
(You're also buying a stethoscope in the US too, I hope...)
Books are double the price in Australia, yet you will find that UQ expects you to teach yourself medicine from your own books! Target your book purchases and reading to what you need to know for USMLE Step 1, because if you can do Step 1, you can pass the written UQ exams. Step 1 is harder. Now, there are 3 strategies to solving this problem depending on your personality/learning style:

Strategy 1 (read off computer screen the whole year while tied to internet):
UQ Library subscribes to AccessMedicine giving you all of the Lange series textbooks, as well as other publishers so you can access Robbin's Pathology, etc., all for free (as part of your tuition). The downside is the need to be attached to internet which you will find is difficult to come by, sometimes patchy, and always pricey (Australia charges for internet by the gigabyte of download and upload). There is a reprieve: accessing library books online while on campus is free (no download quota) but this ties you to campus.
www.library.uq.edu.au/mbbs
This webpage gives you access to all online ebooks/databases and is very comprehensive.

Strategy 2 (Ebook on iPad offline with ability to also do strategy 1):
Buy needed ebooks and put it on your iPad/Kindle/other e-reader. Ensure you have an Australia/New Zealand power plug. Read/study anywhere. As more books come out on ebook format, this may become the de facto strategy in coming years.

Strategy 3 (read actual books):
Buy actual books, write name in front cover and peel off price tags (so customs control treats them as personal property and doesn't charge you tax/duty), pack them in one of your 2 checked bags (50 lb weight limit each) and fly. See another thread for suggestions.



FOOD & RENT
You'll have to adjust to the food prices. Some ways to adjust: there's a bakery in St Lucia suburb near campus behind Nando's run by a Vietnamese family that has rather cheap sandwiches on fresh baked bread... grab one/two there for lunch before heading up to campus. Wake up early on Saturdays to go to the farmer's market in West End for produce.

Rent is charged in two-week increments (called fortnights). Cheapest rent is renting a single bedroom in a house/apartment (AUD$150-200/fortnight= AUD$600-800/month). Now homelessness/camping is not an option, because your visa to enter Australia requires you to establish a residence with a mailing address and report it to UQ, or you get kicked out of country.

The best strategy to survive Australia's living expense I saw amongst my classmates was bringing a husband/wife to Australia and having them work part-time or full-time ($15/hour minimum wage).


----------------------In conclusion...
Now, Australia is not some dinky island with only fish and coconuts necessitating you to bring every little thing you need for daily living. Brisbane is a city (2 million people). There's theater (on screen and live on stage), and orchestra, and art museums, and street festivals, and travel, and shopping. If you need something, go to K-mart (the Oz version) or Big-W (the Oz version of Wal-mart), OfficeWorks (the Oz version of OfficeMax/Staples) or the Chemist (for drugs). You'll get around on the Bus/Ferry/Train just fine, or you'll ride a bike as well. Now, there will be culture shock... and its funny when you'll realize it, no doubt about that! (I broke down over not finding Graham Crackers one day... they don't make them... funny in hindsight!)... but you'll adjust and live, and you'll find things that make you happy and you'll make good memories. Bon Voyage! Godspeed! and Enjoy!

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[gunslinga]

Thank you very much. Hopefully I see you down under

 

[pre med 2014]

so are you starting your M1 right now?

I was surprised by the $800/month rent, I was looking at some of the apartments and that price seemed to include furniture and really nice brand new appliances/ granite countertops. I was expecting New York/Cali pricing for Brisbane apartments. This is a little comforting given the $52K a year tuition.

 

[Phloston]

so are you starting your M1 right now?

I was surprised by the $800/month rent, I was looking at some of the apartments and that price seemed to include furniture and really nice brand new appliances/ granite countertops. I was expecting New York/Cali pricing for Brisbane apartments. This is a little comforting given the $52K a year tuition.

$200/wk is actually a lot. Most of the housing right around UQ is ~150-180, fully-furnished.

 

[pre med 2014]

This is for 2 bedroom right? ~150/week per person? Or you talking single bedroom?

 

[Phloston]

This is for 2 bedroom right? ~150/week per person? Or you talking single bedroom?

There's really so much variation. I've seen housing as low as $95/wk and as high as ~$400.

One-bedroom accommodations will likely cost more, but they can be just as cheap if you're willing to drive ten minutes to Uni as opposed to being near campus.

For the past two years, I've paid 165/wk in a 6-person house. However, in just a couple weeks, I'll be paying 155/wk in a 3-person house. Both are two-second walks from Uni.

The farther you go from Uni, the cheaper it gets. The $95/wk house I had seen was in Taringa, ~10 minutes by bus to Uni. The only reason I didn't take it was because there was no washing machine. Whereas some people wouldn't mind handwashing, it just wasn't worth it to me.

 

[deleted158872]

For the past two years, I've paid 165/wk in a 6-person house. However, in just a couple weeks, I'll be paying 155/wk in a 3-person house. Both are two-second walks from Uni

Would you mind telling me where these accommodations are?

 

[Phloston]

Would you mind telling me where these accommodations are?

Already told you in a prior PM. I don't think posting actual street names on a public forum is appropriate though.

 

[qldking]

Anything below $180/wk surrounding St Lucia will be a dump, believe me. The places you find for under $100 will be essentially a tiny box with one bathroom shared by more than five people, an old dirty single bed, communal kitchen with tiny refrigerator, no internet access, you'll have to pay electricity/gas, etc...completely unlivable as a medical student. Anything cheap thats 10-15 minutes drive from Brisbane means you need a car or will need public transport(public transport in Brisbane is gawd awful and expensive, so you'll already erode your profit margin just in public transport and it takes about an hour by bus for what would be a 10 minute car ride)...

Best bet is to get a more expensive accomodation, work a part time job and save on other expenses. If you are commuting by bus every day to St Lucia or living in a ****ty situation it will severely impact your education.

 

[deleted158872]

Wow, really?
Thanks for informing me.

On-campus housing on the other hand is expensive as hell: $350/week excluding food...

 

[qldking]

Check out CityLinks in Toowong. I stayed there for a few weeks when I did a term in Brisbane as a second year doctor. It's $220/wk with large studio rooms and two bathrooms shared by 5 people, which isn't too bad. It's very clean and is cleaned daily by on-site management.

I had a couple of terms at the Mater as a student that I couldn't get out of (only other options were Redlands and Redcliffe) and I was living in Ipswich so I tried looking for places in the city because the walk-public transport added 4 hours to my day, and it's basically impossible to find anything livable thats under $170/wk or so in the city.

 

[pre med 2014]

Remember Aussie dollar is pretty weak at the moment, dropped about 15% since I got here which equates to pretty good savings on rent (good for us, not good for Aussies). Make sure to have your loans dispersed into your American bank

Correction: dropped about 20-22%, from ~91 cents to the current 71 cents for 1 Aussie dollar

 

[smectutor]

Remember Aussie dollar is pretty weak at the moment, dropped about 15% since I got here which equates to pretty good savings on rent (good for us, not good for Aussies). Make sure to have your loans dispersed into your American bank

Correction: dropped about 20-22%, from ~91 cents to the current 71 cents for 1 Aussie dollar

Which American Bank do you use? Are your transactions based on market rates? some banks buy currency at lower frequency making their exchange rate different than the current market rate. For the rent, do you pay by check, credit card, cash?

 

[deleted158872]

What can we do to avoid rent scam?

 

[pitman]

What can we do to avoid rent scam?

Go through an agency. The rental market is heavily regulated, so it's hard to get too screwed. On the other hand, they are slightly slanted in favor of the home owner. For example, make sure you do a walk-around with the agent to do a checklist of the condition of the place so that you know what condition to leave it in (many places require you to hire professional carpet and/or house cleaners when you vacate, but if the place started out not so clean, you'll need documentation to defend not hiring them). Include in the checklist any thumbtack/nail holes in the walls, since you'll likely be responsible for filling any that you have made (easy to do if the walls are flat white).

Otherwise, ask the usual questions -- ask for sample utility bills (and which ones are covered), is gardening/mowing included, who takes care of the pool + chemicals, what are the terms for breaking the lease, etc. Talk to the current tenants re: any issues with the landlord, and what sort of insect infestation there is (ants are a given in the sub-tropics but uncontrolled nest trails can suck). Whenever anything is found in dis-repair, either fix it (if your fault) or report it in *writing* to the agency.

 

[sh5678]

Already told you in a prior PM. I don't think posting actual street names on a public forum is appropriate though.

can you list websites on where i can find these houses with shared people? Also, did you get to choose who lived with you or was it random? Lastly, how early before the semester began did you secure this housing? And so you didnt do temporary housing to look around before deciding etc? Any information is helpful. Thank you in advance

 

[sean80439]

can you list websites on where i can find these houses with shared people? Also, did you get to choose who lived with you or was it random? Lastly, how early before the semester began did you secure this housing? And so you didnt do temporary housing to look around before deciding etc? Any information is helpful. Thank you in advance

Use your facebook group - there will be other people coming the same time as you that will need a place for the same duration.

 

[Phloston]

can you list websites on where i can find these houses with shared people? Also, did you get to choose who lived with you or was it random? Lastly, how early before the semester began did you secure this housing? And so you didnt do temporary housing to look around before deciding etc? Any information is helpful. Thank you in advance

Gumtree for off campus, through the uni if on campus; before I arrived in Australia; nope; no worries good luck

 

[mcat_taker]

can you list websites on where i can find these houses with shared people? Also, did you get to choose who lived with you or was it random? Lastly, how early before the semester began did you secure this housing? And so you didnt do temporary housing to look around before deciding etc? Any information is helpful. Thank you in advance

Gumtree for share houses (people post there looking to rent out their extra bedrooms etc). However, I just used realtor agency websites like realestate.com.au because I didn't want to live with random people. I found classmates to live with when I got to Brisbane 2 weeks before classes started and used realestate.com.au to find places to check out. Many ochsner students found other students to live with through the fb group before landing but I wanted to meet people face to face before committing.

Airbnb for temporary housing is the most common way to secure a roof for when you land and from which to begin your search. Or hostels, but airbnb a little more civilized.