Quantum44’s Medical Journey

[Quantum44]

Hello there, I’m Quantum44, a state moderator here on AN and I’m going to be studying medicine at the University of Adelaide. Since starting university is supposed to be a big deal, I’ve decided to hop on the bandwagon and make a journal .

My first year subjects:
Scientific Basis of Medicine
Clinical Practice
Medical Professional and Personal Development
Fundamentals of Biomedical Science

I really don’t know what to expect from my course. I assume it will be intense and require endurance as it lasts six years, but aside from that I’m not really sure. Hopefully there’ll be lots of studying biology and moderate amounts of drinking and partying . I’ll also be staying at a college.

If you have any questions about VCE, undergrad med admissions or my course, feel free to ask .

[fantasticbeasts3]

woooo another uni journal! i have a few questions:
1. what interests you about medicine?
2. what field of medicine would you like to get into after uni?
3. are you excited about moving interstate?

super excited to read your updates :-)

[K888]

Super keen to follow your updates this year, Quantum!

How are you feeling about living interstate?

[vilamonikoro1]

Given you're living on campus, there’s going to be plenty of booze and sex, don’t worry about it bud! Enjoy yourself!

[Quantum44]

woooo another uni journal! i have a few questions:
1. what interests you about medicine?
2. what field of medicine would you like to get into after uni?
3. are you excited about moving interstate?

super excited to read your updates :-)

Thank you

1. On a whole I think medicine is exciting because there is a huge breadth of careers available such as dealing with patients in a clinical setting, doing clinical research, academics and teaching. Then within that breadth there is the possibility of really becoming an expert in a certain specific field which sounds awesome. Obviously I love science, and medicine incorporates this so well as you do a lot of learning and are then able to solve problems and directly impact people’s lives in a positive way.

2. I honestly don’t know as specialising is a long way off . The only field I’m really interested in at the moment is neurology, as the brain is a such a complex organ that we have a limited understanding of. I’ve also had quite a personal experience with neurodegenerative diseases in my family.

3. There’s definitely something exciting about moving interstate, although at the moment this is quite overshadowed by the daunting nature of having a completely fresh start in terms of home life and uni life. College should be great though and I’m very keen to meet new people and get involved .

Super keen to follow your updates this year, Quantum!

How are you feeling about living interstate?

As I said above, I’m pretty nervous about moving interstate, but I think with the right mindset I’ll be able to make lots of good friends that I’ll be getting to know very well over the next six years.

Given you're living on campus, there’s going to be plenty of booze and sex, don’t worry about it bud! Enjoy yourself!

Thanks! I’m sure it’ll be a unique experience.

[cookiedream]

Why didn’t you just go to Monash med. your atar was really high?

One of his section scores for UMAT were below 50 and Monash has the 50/50/50 rule, so he wasn't eligible for Monash.

[Quantum44]

Why didn’t you just go to Monash med. your atar was really high?

As Cookiedream said, Monash unfortunately have the 50/50/50 rule in place and I failed Section 3 of the UMAT. I was honestly considering deferring my place to take a gap year and reapply for Monash but the thought of studying the UMAT and going through that whole process again was awful.

[persistent_insomniac]

Hi there!
Im a year 11 student and if you don't mind answering I have a few questions about VCE:
- How many hours did you personally study on weekdays and weekends?
- Did you do tutoring for any of your VCE subjects if so which?
- Did you have a personal "life" during the VCE period - like did you have spare time?

Thanks so much!

[vcestressed]

Did you quit social media/youtube during VCE?

[Quantum44]

Hi there!
Im a year 11 student and if you don't mind answering I have a few questions about VCE:
- How many hours did you personally study on weekdays and weekends?
- Did you do tutoring for any of your VCE subjects if so which?
- Did you have a personal "life" during the VCE period - like did you have spare time?

Thanks so much!

Hey! I studied around 2-4 hours per night during the week and approximately 5-8 hours each day on the weekend. You could probably get away with less, but that’s what I felt comfortable with. I had tutoring for spesh (because it’s hard), Latin (because it’s really hard) and English (because it has to be in top 4 and I’m a maths/science person). I found I had a lot of spare time during VCE. I didn’t really socialise that much but I had plenty of time to binge watch netflix .

Did you quit social media/youtube during VCE?

I didn’t see any need to quit social media during VCE as it feels like a bit of an overreaction. I always enjoyed coming home from school and lying on the couch checking Facebook and other media while eating some food before getting down to study. I’ve never really been into YouTube so it wasn’t a problem for me.

[Quantum44]

So today was my first day of medical school. O’week was jam-packed with college and uni activities so I knew a decent proportion of the cohort (~150 people), which made it a lot of fun. Started off early at 8am with an introductory lecture on anatomy. They really emphasised the importance of respecting the cadavers, as it’s key for the university that people are willing to donate their bodies towards medical education. We also have a memorial service for the families of people who donated their bodies to the university on Wednesday. I think it’ll be humbling to meet and thank everyone for their incredible contribution.

Pretty soon after that, I had my first anatomy lab session. It’s a very unsettling experience. The room is completely white and temperature controlled at 18 degrees. They had a full cadaver for us to look at, and it was just so weird to look at the face and realise that the person used to be alive. The smell of death isn’t overpowering or disgusting, but quite subtle and generally discomforting. Aside from that, it was a very interesting experience and I’m looking forward to further studying the human body once I’ve become accustomed to the lab setting. It also ties in quite well to our Case Based Learning program, so they’ll be teaching us the anatomy of the cardiovascular system and particularly the heart as we investigate the case of someone coming to the doctor with chest pain.

Later in the day there was an introduction to Clinical Practice, which I have a tute for tomorrow at 8am. Apparently we will be starting off basic by learning how to properly wash hands, but soon we’ll be learning how to do cardiovascular histories and physical examinations, which also tie in with the CBL.

Overall, today was definitely an enjoyable and eye-opening experience, and I’m looking forward to getting deeper into all my subjects. That’s about it for now, time to get back to some anatomy study.

[K888]

Sounds great, Quantum!

I remember my first practical anatomy session. You really appreciate how people donate their bodies to science to educate future medical professionals. You get desensitised to the cadavers after a while, so it's nice for me to have a reminder about this!
I reckon it's really cool that they do a memorial service.

Good luck for the rest of your week!

[vox nihili]

Wasn't even aware that you'd started Med at Adelaide! So glad to see you kicking goals, mate. Not in the slightest bit surprised that you made it, but still great to see you have.

Looking forward to hearing about your experiences—Adelaide Uni is fantastic (have some friends there finishing their final year) and I am sure you will enjoy it a lot


Also, crazy that you had your first Anatomy Lab on day 1! As K888 said, a really full on experience. Hopefully down the track you'll reflect on how you felt at that point and how foreign, and indeed bizarre, that experience was.

[lazaward]

So today was my first day of medical school. O’week was jam-packed with college and uni activities so I knew a decent proportion of the cohort (~150 people), which made it a lot of fun. Started off early at 8am with an introductory lecture on anatomy. They really emphasised the importance of respecting the cadavers, as it’s key for the university that people are willing to donate their bodies towards medical education. We also have a memorial service for the families of people who donated their bodies to the university on Wednesday. I think it’ll be humbling to meet and thank everyone for their incredible contribution.

Pretty soon after that, I had my first anatomy lab session. It’s a very unsettling experience. The room is completely white and temperature controlled at 18 degrees. They had a full cadaver for us to look at, and it was just so weird to look at the face and realise that the person used to be alive. The smell of death isn’t overpowering or disgusting, but quite subtle and generally discomforting. Aside from that, it was a very interesting experience and I’m looking forward to further studying the human body once I’ve become accustomed to the lab setting. It also ties in quite well to our Case Based Learning program, so they’ll be teaching us the anatomy of the cardiovascular system and particularly the heart as we investigate the case of someone coming to the doctor with chest pain.

Later in the day there was an introduction to Clinical Practice, which I have a tute for tomorrow at 8am. Apparently we will be starting off basic by learning how to properly wash hands, but soon we’ll be learning how to do cardiovascular histories and physical examinations, which also tie in with the CBL.

Overall, today was definitely an enjoyable and eye-opening experience, and I’m looking forward to getting deeper into all my subjects. That’s about it for now, time to get back to some anatomy study.

Anatomy sounds super cool! I know at Monash they have some sort of 3D printing machine for body parts, do they have that in Adelaide? At what point during the course do you start dissection?

[lazaward]

So today was my first day of medical school. O’week was jam-packed with college and uni activities so I knew a decent proportion of the cohort (~150 people), which made it a lot of fun. Started off early at 8am with an introductory lecture on anatomy. They really emphasised the importance of respecting the cadavers, as it’s key for the university that people are willing to donate their bodies towards medical education. We also have a memorial service for the families of people who donated their bodies to the university on Wednesday. I think it’ll be humbling to meet and thank everyone for their incredible contribution.

Pretty soon after that, I had my first anatomy lab session. It’s a very unsettling experience. The room is completely white and temperature controlled at 18 degrees. They had a full cadaver for us to look at, and it was just so weird to look at the face and realise that the person used to be alive. The smell of death isn’t overpowering or disgusting, but quite subtle and generally discomforting. Aside from that, it was a very interesting experience and I’m looking forward to further studying the human body once I’ve become accustomed to the lab setting. It also ties in quite well to our Case Based Learning program, so they’ll be teaching us the anatomy of the cardiovascular system and particularly the heart as we investigate the case of someone coming to the doctor with chest pain.

Later in the day there was an introduction to Clinical Practice, which I have a tute for tomorrow at 8am. Apparently we will be starting off basic by learning how to properly wash hands, but soon we’ll be learning how to do cardiovascular histories and physical examinations, which also tie in with the CBL.

Overall, today was definitely an enjoyable and eye-opening experience, and I’m looking forward to getting deeper into all my subjects. That’s about it for now, time to get back to some anatomy study.

Anatomy sounds super cool! I know at Monash they have some sort of 3D printing machine for body parts, do they have that in Adelaide? At what point during the course do you start dissection?