|
Rabia presented what may be a fair reflection of her experiences as a medical student at UNSW in Sydney, however I feel compelled to add a few comments to provide your readership with a more balanced view of student life here, as well as the curriculum stuctures in our medical schools.
It is definitely reassuring to hear that London medical students are "more individual, have varied interests outside of medicine, and seem much more grown up", in addition to not being of the 'bookworm' variety. I would say that many of my colleagues in a (post)graduate medical programme at the University of Sydney would have many characteristics in common with the Londoners.
Apart from the medical students themselves, entry into medicine in Sydney (and indeed at 4 other medical schools in Australia) is no longer reliant on a set of exams at the age of 17-18, when many students have no idea what kind of career they want to pursue, and the pressures of parents still weigh heavily in career decisions. Several medical schools require one to have completed at least a bachelors degree (in any endeavour) before being considered for entry - followed by a set of examinations similar to the GMAT in the U.S (called the GAMSAT in Oz).
In terms of curriculum structure, Sydney University employs the Problem Based Learning pioneered by MacMaster University (Canada) in the 1970s. An MBBS degree at Sydney takes 4 years to complete while students spend at least 1 day a week at hospitals from the very first week of the course, with the final two years of the course completed at clinical sites.
The financial challenges and living situations that medical students in Sydney are faced with have changed due to the markedly different cohort that is now coming through. Students are now older, and therefore are less likely to live at home, are more likely to have part time work, while there are many scholarships for students aspiring to work in rural and regional areas. I would also challenge the assertion that students in Sydney are more likely to come from a wealthy family as compared to their counterparts in London - there is probably a greater division between private & public high school systems in England compared to Australia, while universities are here are publicly funded with a small fee contribution from students (comparable to the UK). In addition to scholarships for those who are financially burdened, the government has a means tested 'Youth Allowance' scheme to help support those who cannot support themselves.
So it is clear that the portrait of medical students in Sydney (and indeed the rest of Oz) is not quite what Rabia made it out to be - there is no stereotypical medical student here, although we share a degree of commonality: we are a group of students who aspire to be the best doctors that we can be.
references:
www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/mhsi/
www.med.usyd.edu.au
|
