WEEKEND Q+A #2: VOX

[jamonwindeyer]

THIS Q+A HAS CLOSED!

WEEKEND Q+A #2: VOX
FRIDAY 5PM - 8PM

A LITTLE ABOUT VOX

Vox Nihili is a third year medical student at the university of Melbourne, who completed a Bachelor of Biomedicine (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) in 2015. He has been a moderator at ATAR Notes for a number of years.
Vox Nihili is the current chair of the UMMSS global health collective and is a policy author with the Australian Medical Student Society. The UniMelb Adventures blog was edited by Vox Nihili in 2015, after its founder Daphane Ng moved to the workforce.
Proudly from a low SES background, Vox Nihili attended his local public school in Geelong and maintains a strong commitment to fighting educational disadvantage, which is the reason for his continued presence on ATARNotes, as well as his roles as coordinator of the Teaching Support Office at VCESS and HR Officer at SWOT. Vox is proud to have worked with VCAA at their Plain English Speaking Award, which sees students from all backgrounds compete to be named the best public speaker in Victoria. His work in education recently saw him awarded the Geelong Youth Award for Leadership.
Outside of medicine, Vox is learning Chinese and enjoys spending time with friends, reading and watching the footy.

HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?

1. If you haven't already, register for an ATAR Notes account by clicking here!
2. Scroll down to the Quick Reply window at the bottom of this page
3. Type your reply and click Post!

[vox nihili]

Hey everyone! Vox here the thread is now open, so feel free to fire away!

[Joseph41]

Do you think doing Biomed before Med was advantageous to you?

Say, hypothetically, you could go back to Year 12: if you could choose between either, would you go undergrad or postgrad Med? Why?

Thanks for doing this.

[vox nihili]

Do you think doing Biomed before Med was advantageous to you?

Say, hypothetically, you could go back to Year 12: if you could choose between either, would you go undergrad or postgrad Med? Why?

Thanks for doing this.

I think as I get older I will probably value my biomed degree less and less. In a practical sense, biomed was a bit disappointing because it focuses so heavily on the recitation of facts and does very little to develop skills; the small mercy of my degree being that I did a biochem major, which at least does equip you with the skills to critically appraise scientific literature and design lab-based experiments. This criticism could be broadly levelled at most university degrees though, I think. That funding is so tight now makes it really challenging to put together subjects that challenge people to think, because lectures are both a good way to teach cheaply (and poorly) and didactic examinations are much easier (and cheaper) to mark.

Having said all of that, if I went back I would still do my biomed degree. I wasn't sure that I wanted to do med until I finished my first year. Even now I'm not entirely sure that I want to be a doctor; not at least in the same way that some of my colleagues are, who live and breathe medicine (which is great!). Biomed provided a great opportunity to do that. It also exposed me to a very interesting cohort, where I made great friends. The opportunity to study Spanish and Ancient Greek was also really cool. 

Thanks for having me

[sdfg]

Even now I'm not entirely sure that I want to be a doctor; not at least in the same way that some of my colleagues are, who live and breathe medicine (which is great!).

Just curious, what do you think you'll do after med school if you don't end up being a doctor?   

[vox nihili]

Just curious, what do you think you'll do after med school if you don't end up being a doctor?   

Not really sure to be honest. A lot of people go into policy. A lot go into consulting as well. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up in teaching or medical administration. There's a part of me that would also consider politics too, but I think it's slowly dying.

[sweetiepi]

What has been your favourite and least favourite parts of med so far?

[PhoenixxFire]

What made you decide to do biomed? And was there anything in particular that made you realise that you did want to continue on to do postgrad med? What would you have done if you had decided not to continue with med?

[Quantum44]

I’m still a year away from thinking about clinical placements, but I’m curious as to how to found transitioning from the pre-clinical to clinical side of your degree. Going from learning about anatomy, physiology, pathology and management along with clinical skills in a controlled environment seems such a huge step away from actually using your knowledge in a hospital setting, even if there are doctors and nurses to help you along the way. Was there anything you found easier or more difficult than you anticipated?

[vox nihili]

What has been your favourite and least favourite parts of med so far?

Favourite is genuinely the cohort. They're really just a wonderful bunch of people and it gives you a lot of confidence that, y'know, when my loved ones need doctors that they'll be really well served.
Least favourite is the culture. It's definitely changing and that gives me a lot of hope, but I'm also really aware of just how many people get bullied in medicine and just how awful senior doctors can be. Really gives you that heartsink feeling know that the same people who are saving lives are ruining others.

What made you decide to do biomed? And was there anything in particular that made you realise that you did want to continue on to do postgrad med? What would you have done if you had decided not to continue with med?

I sort of fell into biomed towards the end of high school. Some of my teachers really worked hard on me to make sure I'd do chemsitry and maths, and keep the med option open .Then I really enjoyed those subjects, swapped into biology and enjoyed that too. I decided I wanted to go to UniMelb because of KLD, then decided I want to do science but, tbh, switched to biomed because it was more "prestigious" (yep, idiotic) and because I had a good friend who was going to do it (who ended up going to med -______-).

Nothing really made me think I wanted to continue. I continued into med because that was the vague plan from high school and because I ran out of time to work out what else I wanted to do with my life. I feel a little guilty about that sometimes knowing that there are others who break their backs trying to get into med, but at the same time I'm also aware that the fact that I enjoy other things than med is probably a big strength I have in med. Tbh if I didn't do med I would have ended up in education.

I’m still a year away from thinking about clinical placements, but I’m curious as to how to found transitioning from the pre-clinical to clinical side of your degree. Going from learning about anatomy, physiology, pathology and management along with clinical skills in a controlled environment seems such a huge step away from actually using your knowledge in a hospital setting, even if there are doctors and nurses to help you along the way. Was there anything you found easier or more difficult than you anticipated?

The leap wasn't as much as I thought, tbh. It's still quite controlled and a lot of the doctors won't let you anywhere near doing anything with a patient. It's also pretty straightforward most of the time; you just ahve to be a decent person and you're fine.
One thing that was pretty shocking was that on our first ward round (I'd already spent two weeks on ED), we had a code and the patient passed away. That was pretty tricky to deal with, but very gladly I had a meeting with my tutor afterwards who is a psychiatrist so that was really helpful.

[DBA-144]

Hey Vox,

Thanks for doing this, really appreciate it.
 
Do you think that the culture at your high school was better, or at university? What is it like and what are the biggest differences? In what ways do you think the teachers or students are different?

Did you find it hard to stay committed to Biomedicine/Medicine throughout high school and your degree?

Thank you very much. 

[Vaike]

Throughout your university experience thus far, did you ever had any doubts about studying biomed, and then moving onto medicine? Did it always just 'feel right', or did you at some point seriously consider possible alternatives?

[andytime]

Hello Vox!

Firstly I just wanted to say I went to the SWOT lecture for biology last year and you were really engaging when breaking down concepts and made us students laugh a lot - something that was greatly needed during exam period so thank you! 

- What do you personally think are the benefits of following a postgraduate pathway to medicine?
- Did you experience postgraduate entry into medicine as a really difficult pathway to take? Do you think your mindset had a significant impact on your entry into med?
- Do you think you would want to become an academic or would you prefer teaching secondary students if you pursued education later on? (tbh you'd be a great lecturer)
- Where did your interest in learning Mandarin come from? I'm currently learning the language too so I was wondering how you go about learning it?
- Could you give us some study tips that we could apply to our VCE subjects?

十分感谢 Vox!!! 

[vox nihili]

Hey Vox,

Thanks for doing this, really appreciate it.
 
Do you think that the culture at your high school was better, or at university? What is it like and what are the biggest differences? In what ways do you think the teachers or students are different?

Did you find it hard to stay committed to Biomedicine/Medicine throughout high school and your degree?

Thank you very much. 

The cultures were very different. My school was in a very disadvantaged area, so that really played a role in the culture. Not many people had parents who had been to university (nor had I), and academics wasn't really the done thing. To that end more than half of our cohort had dropped out before year 12, and of those who remained they averaged an ATAR of about 30. It meant that classes were very different at school, particularly in the younger years. I can't remember a class where the majority of it was spent learning something. Good classes were spent faffing about, bad classes being yelled at by the teachers. Despite that, they still managed to cram some knowledge into us, and to keep those who were interested going. At the end of the day though, everything was overwhelmed by the fact that you had a cohort of students who came from some pretty horrible backgrounds, who had life experiences unimaginable to most people (thank God). Trying to deal with one individual with that background is challenging enough, but a whole class is impossible. Hence the arguments around the fact that public schools need extra funding, because they're more likely to have students who need extra support. This is absolutely the case and I feel dreadful for everyone involved.
Despite all those challenges, the culture was good, particularly towards the late years. Everyone was very supportive, and a lot of the tall poppy syndrome left the cohort. I really enjoyed how collaborative people were. There was never any semblance of competition; so nobody ever refused to work together with others etc.

Uni was more of a culture shock than I expected. I really wasn't prepared for the level of wealth. I came out of high school feeling like I was the privileged/cultured/probably somewhat snobby student, and got a real wake up call. There was a distinct moment in my first week of uni when someone asked me what my favourite country in Europe was, and I had to explain to them that I'd never been overseas and they were genuinely shocked. They simply wouldn't believe me when I said I had friends who'd never left the state. I guess that was probably the first time I recognised that my upbringing was not the same as everyone else's and became aware of the differences between people of different socioeconomic backgrounds.

I was also really not prepared for the academic side of things. I didn't know how uni worked, and felt really overwhelmed at times because literally no one fucked around in class. To this day I still don't understand entirely how people can maintain attention for an entire tute :p I felt very much like a small fish in a big pond, coming from a place where I was one of two to get an ATAR of 90 to a place where my ATAR was below the clearly-in. It took me a while to recognise that I belonged there and to adapt to that environment, which turned out really well in the end. Just took time

And yes, to your second question. Not so much in high school. I just wanted to do well in high school so Ihad the options. Likewise in uni to be honest. I've never really worked towards an overarching career goal. I just want to do well and contribute, then work out what I want to do later.

[vox nihili]

Apologies about the double post!

Throughout your university experience thus far, did you ever had any doubts about studying biomed, and then moving onto medicine? Did it always just 'feel right', or did you at some point seriously consider possible alternatives?

I still have doubts about it. Earlier this year I had a period when I was just like "I really don't want to be a doctor, this is not what I enjoy". That's happened plenty of times all through the process. There was a time in second year when I really considered transferring to Arts and just bobbing around there. Then applying for medicine was filled with enormous doubt about whether I really wanted to do it.

It doesn't bother me as much as it used to. Despite those doubts I've kept on the same track. At this point I recognise that medicine will open doors for me no matter what I want to do, so even if I decide I really hate medicine and want to do something else, it's really not the end of the world and my degrees won't have been wasted. That's not to say this is necessarily likely—I do enjoy medicine—but it could be the case that I end up enjoying something more and, like many former doctors, sort of slowly slide away from practicing.

Hello Vox!

Firstly I just wanted to say I went to the SWOT lecture for biology last year and you were really engaging when breaking down concepts and made us students laugh a lot - something that was greatly needed during exam period so thank you! 

- What do you personally think are the benefits of following a postgraduate pathway to medicine?
- Did you experience postgraduate entry into medicine as a really difficult pathway to take? Do you think your mindset had a significant impact on your entry into med?
- Do you think you would want to become an academic or would you prefer teaching secondary students if you pursued education later on? (tbh you'd be a great lecturer)
- Where did your interest in learning Mandarin come from? I'm currently learning the language too so I was wondering how you go about learning it?
- Could you give us some study tips that we could apply to our VCE subjects?

十分感谢 Vox!!! 

I'm really glad you liked the lectures! A student I lectured in my first year at SWOT is now in my old role as Biology coordinator, so I look forward to seeing you on our team in a few years time :p

1. Mainly that it gives you more time to think about whether you want to be a doctor. I think the other great thing is that you get exposed to a cohort that is a little more grounded and with a little more life experience. The diversity of our cohort is a real strength.
2. Mindset has an impact, but I think it's an easier pathway for most people than undergraduate med.
3. Teaching will be an absolute must for me. No matter what I do in the future, I'll be really keen to teach. That would probably involve teaching university level—seems more likely at this point. That said, there are opportunities for doctors to go spend some time with young people and give them a little bit of advice regarding health, so that would be cool too. Would love to be one of those doctors who drops into a high school and drops some truth bombs :p
4. I've put Mandarin on hold for the moment, mainly because I couldn't attend classes last term. I've been going to the Confucius Institute at Melbourne, which is a fairly slow paced class (which suits med during the year). Decided to learn it because I wanted to learn another language and Chinese seemed like a different challenge.
5. Love what you're doing. That's probably the best advice I got. If you're not trying to find enjoyment in your subjects, it'll be a shit time and you'll do shit.