[Ask Me Anything] #9: mtse

[Durnity]

Hi,

I've got a few questions if thats alright:

1) When did you first become interested in medicine, and how?
2) Did you ever prepare for the umat? If so, when did you start?
3) In year 12, roughly how many hours would you study per day? I believe Jamon said he could manage 20-30 hours a week, were you able to do more than this?
4) What type of interview setup does Monash use for medicine? What questions were you asked, and of those which ones did you find the hardest to answer?
5) I've heard that certain universities look for specific types of people; for example, because the UoN's course is best suited for training GPs and surgeons, they mostly accept students who would be best in these fields. What in particular do you think Monash interviewers would be looking for in medicine student candidates? If you don't really know, what trends do you see in the students accepted in your year? Are you all hoping to become surgeons, go rural or maybe there's a lot of students who would like to go into research?

I'm really sorry about all the long questions, and you're probably quite busy. So if you'd like to skip a few, I'd completely understand.

Thanks!

[mtse]

A few questions for Mtse:
1. How has your summer break been so far (besides the binge watching, that is)?
2. This one's for the Class of '17 and beyond: What struggles did you have in VCE and why? Has that changed since starting uni?

1. Summer has been pretty good. Spent most of December on a the largest cruise ship in Australia which was an amazing experience. January so far has been continuous work :') Monash med interviews everyday until the 9, then VCESS started, as well as work with UMAT training, working at Kumon and starting to tutor VCE students etc. But with CNY around the corner, my relatives will be coming so should be pretty fun from now.

2. VCE struggles - I am possibly the laziest person in the world. Procrastinating is a permanent habit and I was so good at it that I even procrastinated going to bed even if I was falling over from exhaustion. I have to say I haven't really improved all that much on this front. However I have found the more busy I am, the less I procrastinate = the more productive I am, hence why I've made myself work so much during the holidays. I've also realised that once I've set myself a routine (took a while but got there in the end) I am a lot more efficient and I don't waste as much time writing to-do lists and timetables and everything else that makes you look productive but isn't actually.

Aside from that I'm sure I had a lot of other struggles during Year 12, but my brain seems to have locked all the stressful memories all up in a box and thrown away the key, cause right now (especially after seeing my uni timetable for this year) I'd very happily repeat VCE ahahhahahaha

[mtse]

So sorry to double post @mods Answering in one post was just getting super long

1) When did you first become interested in medicine, and how?

Since the start of time, I was a science nerd - loved everything about it and wanted to become a vet. Except I have no pets and have barely any contact with them Also realised I was allergic to cats so....
As time went on, i progressed from wanting to help animals to help humans. I was fascinated by the human body and also loved dissections (the bull's eye never forget) during high school. Once I realised that, I knew I was pretty much set on medicine and studying it now really just confirms that for me. Like I do moan and groan about the 20+ contact hours at uni, but honestly enjoy everything I learn soooo much. And anyone who's Facebook friends with me would know that even my Facebook activity is med related (surgical videos, Xray photos and diagnostics, and even the memes) It basically runs my life now :') but #noragrets

2) Did you ever prepare for the umat? If so, when did you start?

Yes but I wouldn't say my preparation for it was the reason I got the score I got. I started preparing around when school started (late Jan) and then left it for several months. I started looking at it during the Term 1 holidays (april-ish) and petered off again when school started, and only really picked up my game about a month before the exam. The prep I did was super time-consuming and I don't really think it was the most effective way I could have prepared. I have to say I would attribute my score more to my natural instinct of being super logical and also lots and lots and lots and lots of good luck.

3) In year 12, roughly how many hours would you study per day? I believe Jamon said he could manage 20-30 hours a week, were you able to do more than this?

as per my post above - I am super lazy. I'm also a relatively efficient study-er. After school (mainly during term 2 and 3) I had a nap everyday until 6/7, then dinner and messing around with stuff so that I'd basically start studying at like 8:30pm until maybe around 12. In those hours I'd generally be able to cover 2-3 subjects - mostly doing questions (maths and sciences) and brainstorming ideas/planning essays for english. Tbh I don't really see the points in studying for a super long time if nothing actually goes in.

4) What type of interview setup does Monash use for medicine? What questions were you asked, and of those which ones did you find the hardest to answer?
5) I've heard that certain universities look for specific types of people; for example, because the UoN's course is best suited for training GPs and surgeons, they mostly accept students who would be best in these fields. What in particular do you think Monash interviewers would be looking for in medicine student candidates? If you don't really know, what trends do you see in the students accepted in your year? Are you all hoping to become surgeons, go rural or maybe there's a lot of students who would like to go into research?

I will answer your last two questions later on (like I'll just edit this post)
I have to say though there isn't much I am allowed to say for Q4 due to the fact that every student signs a confidentiality waiver after doing medical interviews, and also that I worked at the interviews (and plan to do so next year so I need to maintain a good rep with the faculty).

[Durnity]

Thanks!! Yeah it makes sense that they make you sign a confidentiality agreement, but surely before and not after you sit the interview though right?

It's great that you're on apart of the medical admissions work! If I get into medicine thats something I'd like to become apart of too!

[FallingStar]

1) Who has inspired you to become who you are right now? (If that make any sense) How have they inspired you?

2) You've said that you like to argue. Now, what topics school you like to argue about?

3) Off you can choose someone too be your mentor in your life, who would you choose? Why?

A bit of a late poster here. 

[Chemystery]

Generic question but I'll ask it anyway!

What's the top advice you could give to me as I approach my final year of school?

[mtse]

Completely forgot about this thread sorry :')

1) Who has inspired you to become who you are right now? (If that make any sense) How have they inspired you?

2) You've said that you like to argue. Now, what topics school you like to argue about?

3) Off you can choose someone too be your mentor in your life, who would you choose? Why?

A bit of a late poster here. 

1) I really have no idea... Difference people have obviously had an influence on my life but I wouldn't say there is one single individual who has inspired me to be who I am. I just kind of let things fall into place hahahah

2) honestly if you tried to start an argument about pizza, i'd probably join in. Same goes if it were about Trump. Only things I tend to hold back on is Aus politics (cause I'm completely clueless) and where I feel like I shouldn't waste my breath on trying to convince someone on something they'll never even consider

3) Mentors.... that word gives me PTSD symptoms (due to high school forcing the program onto us) ahhaha .... honestly like Q1 I've never had like one idol. But if I could, I'd love to pick the brains of Victor Chang - a chinese-aus surgeon who was like the first to perform modern heart transplants, but unfortunately shot dead during an extortion attempt. He just seems like a cool guy :')

[mtse]

Generic question but I'll ask it anyway!

What's the top advice you could give to me as I approach my final year of school?

HAHAHHA a generic question is only going to lead to generic answers
1. enjoy yourself - like seriously.... I played card games with my friends during spares. Never studied during lunch (except for one sac I kind of forgot about)

2. study in your own way - everyone likes to tell others how they studied to achieve a perfect score etc.... really it's up to you to figure out what works for you and what doesn't. i used year 11 as my trial period (did 2 year 12 subjects in year 11) so that year 12 ran smoothly. E.g. people say don't type notes in class, just listen to the teacher --> in bio, i typed every word my teacher said because I knew she was picky on wording... ended up being able to prove the teacher wrong a few times - she would take a mark off on my sac and I'd have proof that she said otherwise in class just the week before. HAHAHHA

3. use your teachers and friends well - I'm not one to ask questions often because most of the time I can figure things out after a while. But every now and then, hearing something again in different words can clear everything up. If you set up a good relationship with your teachers, they're much more likely to want to help you. E.g. my english teacher had taught me in year 10 as well so we were tight before the year started. Throughout the year she'd give me extra sample essays from past students which she didn't give the rest of the class. They were often written by high achievers and were super helpful during my futile attempt to score well in english. :')

[brenden]

y u so great

[FallingStar]

3) Mentors.... that word gives me PTSD symptoms (due to high school forcing the program onto us) ahhaha .... honestly like Q1 I've never had like one idol. But if I could, I'd love to pick the brains of Victor Chang - a chinese-aus surgeon who was like the first to perform modern heart transplants, but unfortunately shot dead during an extortion attempt. He just seems like a cool guy :')

Ha ha ha ha, the feels (I'm probably the only one to get that joke on AN).

Of you won a million dollars, what would you spend it on?

[Butterflygirl]

How do/did you motivate yourself to keep working hard when things are not busy (literally no SAC's for like 3 weeks)?

[mtse]

y u so great

this is a rather controversial question with many differing opinions HAHAHAH but thanks :3

Ha ha ha ha, the feels (I'm probably the only one to get that joke on AN).

Of you won a million dollars, what would you spend it on?

This probably wouldn't be the expected answer but I'm like a compulsive saver. All the money I have earned and/or given has been placed in a bank and left untouched (except for when mum forgot her wallet and I had to pay for groceries HAHAHA)

If i had to spend it:
selfish and very impromptu answer: pay off my uni fees, pay for a placement I've always wanted to do overseas in Europe, go snowboarding for week whilst in Europe, pay off my dad for buying me a car on very short notice (which was also way out of his originally planned budget oops), build a library at the Harvard (or another ivy-league) med school under my name (don't ask me why it just popped to mind) and then use the rest to buy a lifetime supply of donuts and icecream HAHAHAHAH

less-selfish answer: well i can't remember the exact figure but someone once figured out the total price it would cost to achieve universal primary education and I'd like to contribute to that. I reckon everything starts with education so change the young ones = change the future

How do/did you motivate yourself to keep working hard when things are not busy (literally no SAC's for like 3 weeks)?

I'm going to answer this at a more humane time than 12am so it actually makes some sense

[mtse]

How do/did you motivate yourself to keep working hard when things are not busy (literally no SAC's for like 3 weeks)?

Cheesy but i had a goal. Goal was to be the dux of my school and to get into medicine. Literally had the word dux on my mirror and a medical admissions booklet on my table. Both acted a constant reminders of what was on the line if i completely slacked off.

Having said that though, I must admit i did take a break when there were no SACs. I think that also was pretty important because it prevented me from get burnt out. When there's less time constraints, i would also do more extracurriculars. My school understood that Year 12s couldnt commit to consistent rehearsals/training so we were allowed to pop in and out whenever. Playing in band and/or playing soccer when I had "free" time was a nice change from my relatively intense VCE subjects.

Similarly in holidays, I'd often take a few days (usually the first few days) where I'd do absolutely no study. I genuinely needed an actual break and often would do things with family/friends. Gave me better perspective and more motivation when i did return to studying.

Only hard thing is to maintain discipline. Like it's soooo easy to slack off for one day and just be like "just one more day" and then "just one more day" the day after. Having a calendar/schedule of when i wanted to get things done or revise particular topics generally helped me stick to my plans.

[HighTide]

Hi,
I got an ATAR of 99.95 and a 100%ile UMAT. Do you think I have any chance of getting into medicine at UoM??
Thank you so much 

[guest123]

Hi,
I got an ATAR of 99.95 and a 100%ile UMAT. Do you think I have any chance of getting into medicine at UoM??
Thank you so much 

0% chance