Hey anyboy and everybody,

I'm just about to submit my application to ACER for grad stream medical programs in australia. I am trying to choose my list of schools and would appreciate any advice from people who are attending a australian medical school. I'm gunning for Sydney as my first choice..........but I gotta hear something positive about it from someone who is there! I would fly over for my interview, but can't take the time in the fall. I would love to hear about Queensland also!

Thanks!!

http://smh.com.au/articles/2005/05/0...092690384.html

Most the students at Usyd are happy. Try PMing JBA and/or flindophile (who transferred there) at SDN.

Do you use prosectioned cadavers at Sydney?

How many students are their per cadaver?

What about Queensland?

No cadavers just little pieces of bodies. Mostly self directed. Just go into a room and there are a couple of shriveled up anatomical specimens that have been poked and plucked by years(?) of students before you. How many students? If a good tutor happened to show up, there might be 30 or 40 in a room looking at these specimens. Very unorganized. Absolutely no opportunity for dissection. Period. Some students graduate without knowing what side the heart is on. No one realizes this and no one seems to care. While anatomy is the most neglected, the other basic sciences do not seem to get much attention.

Do students like it? Well, this depends. The curriculum is very light weight and the Faculty does not require much knowledge of basic or clinical science to graduate. So, it's a very easy way to get a medical degree. If you wanted to learn basic and clinical science, then it's a disappointment. If you want to "cruise" through medical school, you've found the place. But then what?

Most recent American graduates are working in NSW as "interns"/JMOs. This is not residency in the US sense. They work in the capacity of a third year clerk in the US; they do get paid but generally don't get much teaching (more opportunities if you can get a place in a tertiary facility). Should US government funds be supporting this? And will they continue to support this when there appears to be little return to the US taxpayer?

I would not recommend this school to a foreigner who has goals or plans in medicine. If you are happy to get a degree and then just float about and see what happens or do another degree (and have the money for this kind of life), it would be OK. However, you must be prepared for the possibility that you may not be suitably trained to practice medicine in your home country. Note: Passing the USMLE (or even scoring high) does not mean you are adequately prepared for most US specialty training.

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UQ was chiefly prosections and live (no pun intended) dissections performed in front of us, w/ students rotating between usu two bodies and dry + wet specimens. Not all that much dissection ourselves except for 4-5 weeks of arms and legs. Otherwise no real access problem, there's always specimens available in and out of prac. There were also interestingly resources to do more if you were motivated (e.g., prep for a dissection contest).

Pitman,

Some US students have told me that they prefer prosections because
students who are new to disection have a tendency to destroy many
nerve and vascular structures. Their opinion is that it is much more
effective to learn from prosections and to do disection later with
good personal instruction and feedback from an instructor. They
recommended assisting in autopsies. The students also said that many
US schools are using prosections because they are a more effective way
to learn anatomy.

Does UC Queensland differ from Senna's description of Sydney. I noticed
that he also made an insufficiently supported statement about the
Queensland area in regard to Patel which I rebutted.

I have no prob with prosections. I think we get sufficient anatomy, but interestingly, USMLE apparently doesn't test much of it, certainly not to the extent of the traditional full year of dissection. If I want to go surg though, I'll have to learn more later.

There are a few loud complainers at USyd, and I really don't understand them. Int'ls at UQ don't have the same negativity (we have about as many int'l students). Sure, the curriculum in Oz isn't as intensive as the US, particularly b.c. of less basic science, but mature students then do their own supplementing if they want to return to the US.

I'm not saying that there are no complaints here by int'ls. But it seems to be more constructive (at least without the same whingeing or finger-pointing, which keep in mind could quite possibly be by the same one or two bitter ppl at USyd using different usernames here). Part of any difference if there is truly one may be due to UQ's med soc, which from experience seems to have more influence than others -- it's the oldest and has a hx of effecting school policy, it's well-organized and is the formal avenue for the school to listen to students, and they do try to accommodate wherever possible. We've just set up an int'l sub-committee and an int'l information night that the President took part in, the school is working on affiliations w/ n american schools to make rotations easier to set up, etc. Flinders from what I understand is also responsive to the needs of its int'ls, but i'll defer on qualifying for other schools.

-pitman