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March 29, 2024, 11:55:22 pm

Author Topic: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):  (Read 6089 times)

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lazaward

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VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« on: February 18, 2018, 07:53:25 am »
+23
Hi everyone,

I’m currently doing my final year of school in Victoria. I guess it’s good to know a little about me first. I’m the eldest of 5 siblings, an ex-swimmer and an aspiring medical student!

Why medicine?
Honestly, when I was younger I had dreams of doing a lot of things on the creative side: fashion designer, interior designer even a lawyer at one point. I don’t know why since I got a D in art so that was never going to happen.  Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint just one defining moment where I decided that I wanted to do medicine. Honestly, I don’t have one. I love science, helping people and making a difference in the world. Also, I really want to make my parents super proud after they’ve given up so much for me. My dad especially has been working overseas for around 4 years now. I guess doing medicine would be my way of making all of that worth it for him. I’m not choosing to do medicine for my parents, I genuinely believe it’s the best career path for me. Being an older sister to 5 siblings makes you pretty protective. At one point my little sister had to go through a surgery on her heart. At the time, it was a really foreign thing for someone in the family to have anything wrong with them. I was yet to experience any deaths of grandparents or uncles or aunties. So it was a really scary thing for me. I remember I went to some appointments with her and the doctor was really nice and supportive and helped her recover quickly. I also remember thinking that I wanted to be the one to help my little sister get better. Soon after, one of my aunties was diagnosed with cancer and she passed away. It was the first time I saw my dad cry. My dad has 7 sisters and 4 of them have had cancer. Thankfully, no one else has passed but it’s really sad sitting back and seeing someone you love become really sick and not being able to do anything about it. For that reason I really want to go into family medicine or paediatrics, I want to be able to help families and children get better. The doctor who helped my sister didn’t only help her, he helped an entire family by making her healthy again and I can’t think of another career that’ll be as fulfilling as that.

What subjects are you doing?
• Chemistry
• Psychology
• Biology
• Methods
• English

What are you aiming for?
I don’t like to put numbers on things and jinx it. But of course I’m aiming for pretty high if I want to get into med. I think I would be truly happy with a 97 ATAR. I do not expect at all to get anywhere near a perfect score, I just want to try my best and hopefully get something high enough to get me into med. A 97 would be great though . My strongest subjects are definitely biology and psych. Not only do I enjoy them but I also excel at them and I’m hoping to get 45+ for both. My weakest subject is definitely Methods! I honestly used to love maths but when I rolled into year 11 I got smacked in the face with some bad scores and ever since I’ve been struggling to get anything over 70%. I’m not too worried, I only want a 30 and I’ll try to make it up with doing well in my other subjects. English and chemistry are my middle subjects. I’m not sure why since I average similar to bio and psych in them but I do enjoy them a little less. There’s time in English where I want to fall asleep but I do enjoy writing. Chemistry can be super super interesting and super super dry at times so it’s a bit of a mixed subject for me, I still do enjoy it though. Aiming for a 40+ in Chem and English hopefully 🏼.

What is my backup option?
I think it’s important to think about this because I don’t want to put so much stress on me getting into med. I really want to and hopefully I do but the chance is so slim and I’ll be sure to work at it with everything I’ve got but I know sometimes things don’t work out. I’m going to apply all over Australia for undergrad med just to increase my chances and I’m also thinking about applying overseas. I’m hoping that at least one of the uni’s will take me. I really want to go to Monash though, the people there are really nice and I love the environment there. If for some reason the med gods decide not to get me into medicine, I want to get into Monash pharmacy/pharmaceutical science. Through that if I still want to I can go into medicine but pharmacy and pharmaceutical science are the next best thing to med for me, it would still be amazing to create medicines that could save people’s lives or at least numb their pain.

I guess that’s all for my intro, hopefully I’ll keep this updated throughout the year

sarangiya

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2018, 09:15:24 am »
+7
Awesome journal! Let's go fellow premedder!! <3
Your story was so touching. I think you'd be a great holistic, family-orientated physician that treats the whole patient - not just their symptoms.
I'm also sorry to hear of your losses in your family. That is a high incidence of cancer on your Dad's side; it might pay to be vigilant about your own health into the future.
I also think it's great you're considering alternatives to med. Have you considered post grad med? That's my plan B but maybe you have reasons it isn't your cup of tea?
What's your plan to improve your methods scores?
And
Who is your favourite sibling? (haha)

Best of luck and can't wait for future updates!
Sometimes you make choices, and sometimes choices make you.

♡ Subjects ♡
2015: Japanese SL [42]
2016: Psychology [43] Philosophy [36] Japanese SL [50] [Premier's Award]
2017: UMEP Further Advanced Japanese [4.5]
2018: Methods [24] English Language [41] Chemistry [31] Psychology [41] Cert III in Allied Health Assistance [4.3]
ATAR: 97.45
2019-2024: Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine @ UNSW

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cookiedream

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2018, 11:29:19 am »
+9
Love seeing how genuinely passionate you are about the field, and your story is so inspiring! I'm really sorry for your losses; sending my prayers to you and your family <3

Really happy to see that you're considering interstate unis too! Many of my friends who were fellow med hopefuls only applied to Monash, when they had scores which were competitive for unis in other states, and unfortunately didn't get in. Most of them are either considering postgrad, dent or the biomed pathway to Monash med. Also it's really good that you have a backup option as well (this may or may not be asked in some of your med interviews)

Looking forward to future updates! Best of luck for VCE, UMAT and your medicine journey!!

- cookiedream
VCE: (click the links below to view my guides)
2016: Methods [44], Psych [48]
2017: Bio [50], Eng Lang, Chem, Spec
ATAR: 99.75 | UMAT: 88th
2018-2022: Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine @ Monash University

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lazaward

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2018, 11:31:52 am »
+7

Awesome journal! Let's go fellow premedder!! <3
Your story was so touching. I think you'd be a great holistic, family-orientated physician that treats the whole patient - not just their symptoms.
I'm also sorry to hear of your losses in your family. That is a high incidence of cancer on your Dad's side; it might pay to be vigilant about your own health into the future.
I also think it's great you're considering alternatives to med. Have you considered post grad med? That's my plan B but maybe you have reasons it isn't your cup of tea?
What's your plan to improve your methods scores?
And
Who is your favourite sibling? (haha)

Best of luck and can't wait for future updates!

Thanks sarangiya!
I’ll probably go down the route of post grad med if I’m still set on being a doctor after pharmacy, but that isn’t an easy or guaranteed pathway either .
I’ve started tutoring for methods so hopefully that helps, but my main focus is on subjects I know I can do well in.
Hahaha, I love them all equally!
Good luck to you too, thanks for reading

lazaward

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2018, 11:34:17 am »
+4

Love seeing how genuinely passionate you are about the field, and your story is so inspiring! I'm really sorry for your losses; sending my prayers to you and your family <3

Really happy to see that you're considering interstate unis too! Many of my friends who were fellow med hopefuls only applied to Monash, when they had scores which were competitive for unis in other states, and unfortunately didn't get in. Most of them are either considering postgrad, dent or the biomed pathway to Monash med. Also it's really good that you have a backup option as well (this may or may not be asked in some of your med interviews)

Looking forward to future updates! Best of luck for VCE, UMAT and your medicine journey!!

- cookiedream

Thanks cookiedream! Congrats on your uni acceptance btw, definitely my inspo hahaha.

K888

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2018, 12:46:03 pm »
+6
Really looking forward to reading your updates through the year! :D

It's awesome to have a passion to guide you through year 12 - I was always really set on getting into physio and having that desire always helped me keep on going when things got tough at school :) Good luck for this year, and I hope you enjoy your final year of high school!

Quantum44

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2018, 12:59:25 pm »
+6
Looking forward to reading your journal. All the best for year 12 and getting into undergrad med! :)
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Yertle the Turtle

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2018, 08:27:45 pm »
+3
Great start to your journey journal, keep it up! It's great to see how much you care about what you want to do in life, just keep an attitude like that in your life and it will be both worthwhile and enjoyable, so good luck! :D
2017-2018: VCE
Methods | Specialist | Physics | Chemistry | English | Texts and Traditions

2019: B. Eng (Hons) | Monash
2019-?: Certificate III  in Bricklaying and Blocklaying

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lazaward

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2018, 06:54:30 pm »
+10
It feels weird writing a journal to myself for other people to read. Anyways, I have an English SAC tomorrow which is basically just memorising and regurgitating my creative. I’ve memorised it but I’m really mad that it’s even a SAC to begin with, I know some people would find it really stressful and I’ve wasted time I could be using more productively remembering things that I’ll only need for two periods since it’s not even on the exam. I got my psychology practice test back and I got 87% which isn’t that bad but I’m not really happy about it. It’s annoying because my mistakes weren’t based on lack of knowledge but super silly little things that cost marks I could’ve easily gotten. My actual psychology sac is next week on Tuesday and I’m really looking forward to hopefully smashing it out. Chemistry sac this Friday which I am superrrr nervous/excited about! It’s more the theory that worries me and the fact it’s based on a practical which means it can ask really weird questions that don’t even relate to what we’ve learnt like “what do you do when a fire is caused by propanol”. I have to read through pages of safety data sheets for like one question which is really annoying but I guess easy marks. I skype called my dad and I’ve decided I won’t be putting an application in overseas for med, chances are if I don’t get in in Australia I won’t be able to overseas. Despite the difficulty of getting into med there is so many universities and pathways in Australia and they take in a fair amount of students so there are plenty of opportunities! I am finding it extremely difficult to keep my motivation up for methods, I feel like it’s impossible to improve really since I put in so much effort last year for nothing. I feel horrible because my parents are paying for tutoring for a subject I don’t have the motivation to do well in :(. Overall school has been good so far, I’m not feeling too stressed at all but that’s probably because I haven’t received any sac marks back . I’m expecting bio by Thursday, I will be disappointed if I don’t get 100%, I literally know that topic to the point where it’s never leaving my memory so I’m praying that it’ll be a good start to the year. Hoping after my sacs have calmed down I can get to working on some drills for section 1 off medentry! It’s my worst section by far and Monash’s 50/50/50 rule means I can’t afford to slip up on it in the UMAT, it’ll take a lot of work to get my marks up for it.

That’s it for my second journal entry, it was mostly just complaining. By the time I check in next I should have some sac results to rant or rave about :)

Joseph41

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #9 on: February 23, 2018, 04:45:13 pm »
+3
How did your English SAC go? :)

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lazaward

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2018, 04:29:57 pm »
+7
My sacs went well this week, apart from chem :( I went home really upset after it, I know I screwed up. For some reason I forgot how to balance equations when I literally can do it at home in my sleep, the nerves really got to me. It was also based on a practical, so the question types were not something I had practiced at home which really bummed me out. I guess at least now I know that when it comes to practical sacs I should do some research at home and try to think of the types of questions I’ll be asked instead of wasting my time smashing out checkpoints. I hope I get at least 80%, any lower and it’ll be tricky to come back from. In good news I got my bio sac results back, 24/25!! That one mark really annoys me, but it is a good start to the school year and hopefully I can keep it up. I’ve been really sick the past few days, so studying has been the last thing on my mind unfortunately, so I’ve been doing the bare minimum but I have camp this week so hopefully that’ll be the break I need to get back into it. How was everyone else’s week?

Vaike

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2018, 09:11:32 pm »
+9
My sacs went well this week, apart from chem :( I went home really upset after it, I know I screwed up. For some reason I forgot how to balance equations when I literally can do it at home in my sleep, the nerves really got to me. It was also based on a practical, so the question types were not something I had practiced at home which really bummed me out. I guess at least now I know that when it comes to practical sacs I should do some research at home and try to think of the types of questions I’ll be asked instead of wasting my time smashing out checkpoints.

I know it's easier said than done but don't dwell on it too much! One SAC won't make a world of difference, and it's a good experience to have in a SAC so you can work on being able to cope if it does occur in the exam. It's great to see you're already thinking about how you can improve for next time! Head up, you've got this (and get well soon!) :)
« Last Edit: February 25, 2018, 09:24:06 pm by Vaike »

sarangiya

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #12 on: February 25, 2018, 09:27:13 pm »
+4
Congratulations on your amazing biology mark! Vaike's wise words are exactly my sentiment towards you with regards to chemistry so I won't dwell on that. Best wishes.

Camp sounds great! Is it camping or glamping? (Haha)
Hopefully your sickness passes soon too... It's the worst being sick!

Good luck and looking forward to further updates !
Sometimes you make choices, and sometimes choices make you.

♡ Subjects ♡
2015: Japanese SL [42]
2016: Psychology [43] Philosophy [36] Japanese SL [50] [Premier's Award]
2017: UMEP Further Advanced Japanese [4.5]
2018: Methods [24] English Language [41] Chemistry [31] Psychology [41] Cert III in Allied Health Assistance [4.3]
ATAR: 97.45
2019-2024: Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine @ UNSW

Sarangiya's 사랑하는 VCE Journal
Is Repeating a VCE Subject Worth It?

lazaward

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2018, 07:43:38 am »
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Can’t believe term 1 is nearly over, time is going way too fast. I’m pretty content with how I’ve been doing at school, but not all my sacs have been over 90 which isn’t ideal but I guess I have plenty of time to improve! I seem to drop my marks over the silliest little things which is super frustrating. UMAT preparation has been on the side for a bit now, just under 4 months to go. I’m very anxious to start proper revision since I don’t want to do badly, especially since medentry shows you your percentiles compared to other students. Hoping that over the holidays I can put my own strategy list together based on the guides and knock out a couple practice exams. The online practice exams are kinda putting me off since I like to do everything on paper, but too late to change that now - don’t want hundreds of dollars going down the drain. I’ve started doing weekly essays for English, hopefully by the time I get to my sac and the exams I’ll be very comfortable with my writing. My bio teacher is telling me an A+ is 96%, which means that each sac I can only afford to drop 1 out of my 25 marks which is really stressful, but I feel like this information is what’s making me more careful of mistakes. My psychology teachers are extremely harsh markers and there are a lot of people who are good at psychology so the atmosphere is a bit tense. I definitely feel like the competition between everyone is getting to me and I do think about it a lot. Regular walks was something I put on my year 12 to do list but I haven’t been doing it, I think I need to, just so I have some time to clear my head everyday. My dad works overseas and he’s coming back to visit over the Easter holidays which I am really looking forward to - it’s really hard not having him physically there, especially for my Mum. The other day she got really sick was vomiting and fainting before me and my four siblings had school, so I drove my sisters to high school with her puking in the passenger seat, then drove my brothers to primary school and took her to the doctors. We were there for about an hour and they gave her an injection for the vomiting and some medicine. By the time I drove us home, I didn’t see the point in going to school and my mum is always there to look after all of us so the least I could do was stay home to look after her. Became a housewife for a day and did all the cleaning/cooking, taught myself how to make pasta

That’s all from me, I’ll try to update more often from now on

K888

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Re: VCE Journey Journal To Medicine (hopefully):
« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2018, 09:37:46 am »
0
Sounds like you're doing an awesome job! Don't put too much pressure on yourself, though :)

I definitely recommend making time for regular walks - staying physically active is so important and beneficial for your health, plus having time to yourself and being away from school related things is really good, too.

Do you have anything special planned for the school holidays (besides catching up with your dad)? :)