thom1980 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Hi Everyone, One of my mates back in the UK is thinking of coming over to Oz (Sydney, NSW) to see if he can train up to become a Doctor/Surgeon - His mum is from Australia so he can come but he's lived in England all his life pretty much. Personally, i think he's been watching too much Grey's Anatomy or ER and i can't figure out why he's not already here in Australia when he has an Oz passport!!!! He asked me to get some info for him, ie; what is involved etc but not sure where to look, so hoping we have some doctors on here to advise. He's worked in a bank as a cashier for the last 10 years and only has English education to year 12 - albeit quite some years ago now! His main worry is his age and lack of education - completed year 12, then into work... Questions he's asked me to ask for him - At 35 years old, is he to old to consider a career change to a profession such as this? Long training etc. - What are the routes to qualification? - Medicine is obviously an in depth and a hard degree to complete, but just how hard is it actually. Ie: Can an average person complete the course or do you have to be extremely intelligent? - If underqualified to complete the undergraduate medicine degree, what other options are available to gain eligibility. Cheers. Thom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maruska Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Hi, I am only able to answer some of your questions. At 35 years old, no he isn`t too old for a career change:biggrin:. I the US med school takes 4 years but you take pre-med before that, together it comes close to 6 years. Same ( 6 years) in Czech republic. When he graduates he`ll be in his early 40`s. Medical school requires commitment, it`s always full time so he won`t be able to work during his studies. Family will get put on hold too, does he have kids? Does he have a spouse or mom willing to support him during this period? i am interested to hear what others have to say, I am considering career change myself ( not medical school):wink:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoiam Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Can answer 2 of your queries. No he is not too old. Met a chap doing foundation yr in paeds when I was working, he had grown kids in high school and decided to become a doc after switching from a high level pharma executive role. Obviously he had the money and commitment to do it. Intelligence--- commitment + average intelligence will usually make up for super brains. You need an environment in which you can study -- supporting yourself and a family at the same time is not going to be possible. If he is single and committed then I would definitely say-- go for it. Any other scenario he has to weigh his options. But why go to Oz for a med degree-- why not the Uk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meljayg Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Hi, I am only able to answer some of your questions. At 35 years old, no he isn`t too old for a career change:biggrin:. I the US med school takes 4 years but you take pre-med before that, together it comes close to 6 years. Same ( 6 years) in Czech republic. When he graduates he`ll be in his early 40`s. Medical school requires commitment, it`s always full time so he won`t be able to work during his studies. Family will get put on hold too, does he have kids? Does he have a spouse or mom willing to support him during this period? i am interested to hear what others have to say, I am considering career change myself ( not medical school):wink:. I totally agree with you, I'm 31 and just at the end of a 4 year Paramedic degree (due to qualify this summer) I'm married and have 2 children, and it has been really, really tough, yet extremely rewarding, the thought of finishing (and being able to emigrate to Oz :wink:) has kept me going. It would have been a whole lot easier before having children, but life throws you the odd curve ball, and you'be gotta just go with it. I certainly think being a bit older helps in healthcare as you have a bit of life-experience that helps you along, and enables you to empathise with people a little better. If it is some thing he really wants to do, he should go for it, I think its better to go through life taking risks, than ending up with a big bag of 'what if's' at the end of it!! Mel x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 http://medicine.unimelb.edu.au/study-here/md To become a doctor the student has to have an undergrad degree these days. Also there is a lot of competition in medicine and only the best and brightest get take up. The fees are astronomical now, $220,000 for a four year course. I have read that Newcastle NSW has different criteria for admission to training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I was looking into this myself a few months ago. there are undergraduate medical degrees, these take 6 years (JCU does one, about half the medical schools do from memory, I just particularly remember JCU as it's my local school). Depending on the university they have various entry criteria; some will only accept a grade point average, some require GPA and an excellent score in the UMAT test (you can find a couple of demo papers for this online, it's effectively a MENSA test with critical thinking and literature interpretation thrown in), some put more weight on the interview. Most universities will say that ten years is too long since exams and he'll have to do what is effectively a Aus year 12 equivilent, then he'll in all liklihood have to sit UMAT which is done about 3-6 months before the applications are made, after than he can apply, do six years basic med degree, then two years placement, then another 5-6 years specialisation. So it will effectively take him 2-3 years before he can apply (though it's worthwhile asking about the ten year thing if his grades are good enough) by the time he gets through year 12 equivilent and UMAT, and another 12-15 years before he can become a fully functioning doctor in terms of being a GP, gastroenterologist or whatever he wishes his specialisation to be. Some branches of medicine also require a dentistry degree so are for the really dedicated. Another way in which takes slightly longer but is a lot less faff is to do an undergraduate degree in something like biomedical science, then apply to a postgrad program which, as Petals says, will be four years. He might be admitted based on his existing qualification to the undergraduate pathway, but there's still a medical admissions test called GAMSAT for post-grads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Medicine is one of the most competitive courses to get into as an undergraduate in Aus, year 12 students here need almost perfect scores to be eligible for the undergraduate course, which is only run in a minority of places. Down here there is Monash in Melbourne and Flinders in Adelaide. Not sure about elsewhere in aus. Alternatively he would need to get a degree first, preferably in a biomed subject, and even then there would be fierce competition to get into a med course, alongside qualified nurses, pharmacists, physios etc to do a high pressure 4 year course. Stress levels are high. Its not easy these days. I wouldn't fancy his chances TBH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thom1980 Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Thanks guys... I'll let him know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 UK year 12 would mean he doesn't have A levels - that's the AS year here. Is that right? If so I would think his chances are quite poor. He can check the uni websites to see which equivalent grades he'd need, but most need three reasonable A levels for most degrees. My daughter is looking and even for languages she needs BBC, (which is lower than the AAA -ABB she needs in the UK). Without the relevant A levels most have to do a pre med year to get their sciences to the required level (I was just chatting to a dr yesterday whose daughter has just done this as her A levels were all arts). It's not impossible for your friend and he's definitely not too old, but it would be a long, challenging few years. Good luck to him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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