anyone doing medicine?

UrbanSea

hi i was lookin to talk to anyone doin medicine just to see what they think of it as a college choice. wudnt mind goin into it myself;)

Breezer

You can talk to me, I'm in 4th year and I think I'm the only med currently on here. Anything in particular you'd like to know? PM me if you like

MatthewVII

I'm in final med if you want to send me a PM, although i reckon Breezer is probably a better bet as I'm in the old course

Breezer

MatthewVII wrote: »

I'm in final med if you want to send me a PM, although i reckon Breezer is probably a better bet as I'm in the old course

Didn't realise you were still knocking about, sorry! :pac:

Mr.Nice Guy

I'm doing medicine...



















...antibiotics to be exact. :pac: (I'll get my coat)

dahli-lama

Definately come 2 ucd...the more people in the class the more likely yu'll find cool friends + skip premed if u can, the course feels so long when yur in 3rd year!... u can totally doss yur way thru 1st med!!

Malmedicine

Cheers Breezer, feeling awfully left out here! Like Matt said PM Breezer, cos well I'll just turn you off it. Just be warned that the theory side if med is all normal college then you hit hospitals and its a world of change

smndly

Does anyone know what the points cut off is to get into the 5 year course instead of the 6 year course?? A rough idea would be great!! Thanks

dajaffa

smndly wrote: »

Does anyone know what the points cut off is to get into the 5 year course instead of the 6 year course?? A rough idea would be great!! Thanks

It's 590/600. I've been told you also need a couple of As in science, but who knows what they'll do this year with the new system.

Breezer

Malmedicine wrote: »

Cheers Breezer, feeling awfully left out here!

You're welcome

the_wheel_turns

Hey... changing course next year...

Haven't really considered medicine or anything, but just for reference, how squeamish can you be in order to actually do the course?

I've heard that a lot of people manage to overcome their squeamish-ness over the first few months, any thoughts?

MatthewVII

smndly wrote: »

Does anyone know what the points cut off is to get into the 5 year course instead of the 6 year course?? A rough idea would be great!! Thanks

The year I did it it was 590 points including an A1 in Honours chemistry. I think i heard it went up to 600 but I'm not sure

the_wheel_turns wrote:

Haven't really considered medicine or anything, but just for reference, how squeamish can you be in order to actually do the course?

I've heard that a lot of people manage to overcome their squeamish-ness over the first few months, any thoughts?

It's really not that bad. The only nastiness in your first few years are dissections and they're totally fine, you learn in no time that it's just a body like any other. You get a little introduction to corpses so it's not so bad

When you go into surgery in the later years it can be a bit of a shock to some people but really nothing you haven't dealt with before. Sometimes you can see weird things that freak you out a bit but by that stage you find it more intriguing than disgusting

In my year only 2 girls fainted over the 5 years. Not too shabby

ccosgrave

I'm in 1st med in UCD at the minute and loving it. It's a bit tougher this year than pre-med was, but if you're interested in it and in being a good doctor, then you won't mind the workload. I'm sure it gets even tougher in later years. I didn't mind the dissections, personally, but you'll realise very quickly how valuable they are as a resource for learning and get over the squeemishness. The first time you piece th skin, it's a bit of a shock, but people just seem to get on with it; I'm sure once you're in the situation, you'll be well able for it. IIRC, only one person that I saw this year had any kind of reaction to it.

I was always told that the cut-off for skipping pre-med was getting honours in physics, chemistry and biology, but maybe I'm wrong.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

Breezer

ccosgrave wrote: »

I was always told that the cut-off for skipping pre-med was getting honours in physics, chemistry and biology, but maybe I'm wrong.

600 points and an A1 in chemistry the year I did it. You didn't even need to take physics or biology. But guys, I honestly don't know why you're even discussing this: DO NOT SKIP PREMED!

EDIT: I'm after checking the web page for the course, and it seems I'm either remembering things wrongly or the situation has changed. Current requirements for the 6 year course:

480 points
HPAT admission test
A pass in each of Irish, English, a third language, maths, one lab science subject, one other recognised subject.

As regards the 5 year course, the top 20% of applicants points-wise (in practice this means those who got 600) who also got a minimum of a C3 in honours chemistry will be offered places on the 5 year course. I'd imagine someone who got 600 and an A1 in chem will be offered a place over someone who got 600 and a C3 in chem since places are limited. It is not necessary to even take physics or biology for the Leaving Cert. to do either the 5 or 6 year course, all you need is one lab science subject, with chemistry being the one to do if you're only going to do one.

panda100

dahli-lama wrote: »

+ skip premed if u can, the course feels so long when yur in 3rd year!... u can totally doss yur way thru 1st med!!

I 100% agree with Breezer!Missing premed would be a big mistake.You really get to know your class in that first year and Its a nice year to ease you into college life!

smndly

Yeah lots of people told me skipping pre-med would be a mistake but its annoying because if i apply to any other college i would be doing a 5 year course but i really want to go to UCD. I'm already repeating my leaving atm (got 545 )and i do all 3 sciences ( got A1s in all last year) so i thought seeing as pre-med is largely science based i wouldn't be missing much.

Try to convince me to do medicine in UCD instead of trinity!!!

Thanks anyway for the input!

MatthewVII

Not to put down trinity, but UCD has a better reputation in a medicine degree. Or at least that's what all the consultants say

Trinity tend to study a lot of pointless stuff (like suturing in second year, if what i hear is to be believed)

UCD medicine is a better degree.

Breezer

And we have brand new facilities now that we've moved to Belfield, nice and shiny

Seriously though, what MatthewVII said.

smndly

Cool I just did my CAO and UCD is number 1. I still think I'll take the 5 year course if I get the chance because in the prospectus it says the main modules are Physics, Chemistry, Cell Biology and Genetics and I've done all three sciences so i have a basic knowledge of these. All i have to do now is do well in this stupid HPAT exam!!

panda100

I think the hospitals that UCD are affiliated to are generally better and much larger than the Trinity ones, ie The Mater,Vincents, Holles street,Temple Street etc