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March 29, 2024, 07:54:20 pm

Author Topic: Questions about Monash Undergrad Med  (Read 1307 times)  Share 

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peanut

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Questions about Monash Undergrad Med
« on: May 30, 2017, 08:02:17 pm »
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Hi I'd appreciate some answers for these questions :)
1. Bonded course: Is this practice in "an area of medical need" after you complete your 5 years in the course, or during your course? Also, are these areas generally rural and are they out of Victoria?
2. Is it common for students to apply for all three courses, and reject the bonded one and/or rural one to apply for a different course during round 2? I'm thinking of doing this, as I am not sure if I want to live/work rurally for 3 years (rural course).
3. Workload: current/ex students, how many contact hours? Are you able to fit in a part-time job while studying/training?

Thanks!

K888

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Re: Questions about Monash Undergrad Med
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2017, 09:26:49 pm »
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Hi I'd appreciate some answers for these questions :)
1. Bonded course: Is this practice in "an area of medical need" after you complete your 5 years in the course, or during your course? Also, are these areas generally rural and are they out of Victoria?
2. Is it common for students to apply for all three courses, and reject the bonded one and/or rural one to apply for a different course during round 2? I'm thinking of doing this, as I am not sure if I want to live/work rurally for 3 years (rural course).
3. Workload: current/ex students, how many contact hours? Are you able to fit in a part-time job while studying/training?

Thanks!
Hi peanut! I'm not doing med but do know several people who have done the course/are doing it so can hopefully help :)

1. Bonded - you practice in an area of need when you've finished your degree and period of specialisation, so it'll potentially be several years after you graduate before you actually start fulfilling your side of the contract. My cousin did her degree in the bonded scheme, and she said everyone she knows of has worked rurally, because obviously its pretty rare for a suburban place to be short of a particular specialist in comparison to rural areas. As far as I know though, you do get to choose where to go. Also I know it used to be 5 years but I have a feeling it may have changed recently (don't quote me on this though). It'd be worth it reading this website http://www.health.gov.au/bmpscheme

2. All the people I know doing med wanted to do it that much that they either would have or did accept the offer for the extended rural cohort (or whatever it's called these days). After all, it's still the same course, it's only 2-3 years (afaik in 5th year you actually can do most of your placements in metro hospitals, it's just 3rd and 4th that's rural, which isn't the end of the world) being rural, and you may get more out of it than you would being metro - after all, you get a bit more involved on rural placements and have smaller classes, etc. Definitely not the worst thing out there.
Maybe I'm a bit of a grouch or old fashioned but if you're not willing to go rural (Bendigo isn't even that far from Melbourne) for something, I'd be asking if you actually wanted to do that course - you're not actually gonna spend that much time there in the grand scheme of things, and it's not like it's the middle of nowhere. :) And even if you did the bonded scheme, and you worked the 5 years in a place of need, that'd be great for developing your skill set, and it's not a particularly long period of time (plus I believe you can pay the contract off so that you don't have to do the full time requirement). 

3. Again, can't answer this personally, but the people I know of who did med had jobs in first and second year (1-2 shifts a week, some did stuff with small time commitments like swim teaching), and then couldn't really work much in the last 3 years of their degree due to time commitments, and also relocating to different areas, etc. but they did do a bit of work here and there. It's definitely do-able, but it's not easy and requires some serious organisation and self-discipline (physio has a few less contact hours than med but I still struggle to work more than a shift or two in a week and still have time for study).

I'd recommend going to the Monash Uni Open Day and talking to some current med students and also some of the teaching staff there :) Also have a good in depth look at the web pages that are relevant to the course.

peanut

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Re: Questions about Monash Undergrad Med
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2017, 09:35:33 pm »
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Hi peanut! I'm not doing med but do know several people who have done the course/are doing it so can hopefully help :)

1. Bonded - you practice in an area of need when you've finished your degree and period of specialisation, so it'll potentially be several years after you graduate before you actually start fulfilling your side of the contract. My cousin did her degree in the bonded scheme, and she said everyone she knows of has worked rurally, because obviously its pretty rare for a suburban place to be short of a particular specialist in comparison to rural areas. As far as I know though, you do get to choose where to go. Also I know it used to be 5 years but I have a feeling it may have changed recently (don't quote me on this though). It'd be worth it reading this website http://www.health.gov.au/bmpscheme

2. All the people I know doing med wanted to do it that much that they either would have or did accept the offer for the extended rural cohort (or whatever it's called these days). After all, it's still the same course, it's only 2-3 years (afaik in 5th year you actually can do most of your placements in metro hospitals, it's just 3rd and 4th that's rural, which isn't the end of the world) being rural, and you may get more out of it than you would being metro - after all, you get a bit more involved on rural placements and have smaller classes, etc. Definitely not the worst thing out there.
Maybe I'm a bit of a grouch or old fashioned but if you're not willing to go rural (Bendigo isn't even that far from Melbourne) for something, I'd be asking if you actually wanted to do that course - you're not actually gonna spend that much time there in the grand scheme of things, and it's not like it's the middle of nowhere. :) And even if you did the bonded scheme, and you worked the 5 years in a place of need, that'd be great for developing your skill set, and it's not a particularly long period of time (plus I believe you can pay the contract off so that you don't have to do the full time requirement). 

3. Again, can't answer this personally, but the people I know of who did med had jobs in first and second year (1-2 shifts a week, some did stuff with small time commitments like swim teaching), and then couldn't really work much in the last 3 years of their degree due to time commitments, and also relocating to different areas, etc. but they did do a bit of work here and there. It's definitely do-able, but it's not easy and requires some serious organisation and self-discipline (physio has a few less contact hours than med but I still struggle to work more than a shift or two in a week and still have time for study).

I'd recommend going to the Monash Uni Open Day and talking to some current med students and also some of the teaching staff there :) Also have a good in depth look at the web pages that are relevant to the course.
Thank you so much, K888