Medicine 2009

crazydonkey

Hi to all!


I’m an international student from Malaysia applying to NUIG to study medicine commencing this year 2009 (5-year course). Recently I got a notice from the university to attend an interview end of March. I’ve done lots of research regarding the medical courses for this particular university in various forums but little did I find contributors to comment about the qualities and structures offered as opposed to UCD, RCSI and TCD! (I wonder why? Is NUIG really that bad? :mad:). By the way, I would be glad if anyone could help me answer a few Qs.

1) What do you think about the teachings, and its quality as a whole (eg izzit organized? Good lecturers/professors, approachable? Student to staffs ratio etc etc etc)?
2) Does this university dissect corpses for anatomy class? If yes, normally how many students are placed in a group?
3) How is the timetable like (say first year)? (p/s: I would really appreciate it if anyone could attach a copy of the current timetable – if it’s not too much to ask. )
4) As far as I’m concern, this university doesn’t use PBL. But I’m just wondering, is there any small-group tutorials/discussions scheduled during term-time or something equivalent to that?
5) So of I’ve heard, clinical teachings can start as early as first year (correct me if I’m wrong). Can you tell me more of what will be taught? So to say, there will be an OSCE at the end of year one? o.O this sounds pretty scary.
6) In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of studying medicine in NUIG if compared to say UCD, TCD, RCSI etc?

I'll truly appreciate your inputs and thanks in advance (also any extra infos that you think worth mentioning will be very much appreciated)!


Cheers,
Crazydonkey

PeterFile

Hello,

I am a first year medical student in NUIG so i should be well placed to answer ur questions.

1) i think the teachers and lecturers as a whole are good and well organised there is some who could be better but overall it is well organized.
lecturers are very approachable and u can ask them questions if u are having any difficulty. student to staff ratio is the same as elsewhere i would say. there is roughly 130 in my class.

2) Yes we dissect corpses. we have dissection twice a week. there is roughly ten for group and it is divided into dissection and parrelel programs with worksheets and stuff. there are demonstrators as well that walk around and can help provdie instructions and infromation.

3) i cant really attach a timetable as it varies slightly every week.
there is roughly 30 hours a week including labs and lectures. most days we would finish well before 6. it is busy enouugh but manageable

4) PBL is used for some subjects like professionalism and yes there are groups and tuturiols. already this year i have had to do 3 projects and presentations where we had to arrange meetings with our group.

5) This year we had lectures and practicals in basic communication and examination skills (eg blood pressure, urinanalysis ...etc) and we have an OSCE coming up on the 30th of april in these but is not too hard stuff and should be ok. it is not until 3rd year that we start full clinical experience where we will be on the wards and such..

6) pros and cons of studying medicine in galway would be that it is a very nice student friendly city. we have some people in our course who were in RCSI and other places and transferred and they seem happier here.
I cant say much bout TCD or UCD as i have never been but i certainly enjoy medicine here and am very happy with it.


does that answer some questions for u??
anything else u want to know?

greenredwhite

I have an offer from NUIG

reading through tons of forums gave me very very mixed impressions of the university. Some say it's ranked way up 2nd amongst ireland universities though it's no where near pretigious in the world rankings in which trinity and dublin appeared. where exactly does it stand ?

what is the atmosphere like in the medical school? is it very competitive? are the students racist towards asians?

Are the teachers commited? Student to teacher ratio?

What's life like living in Galway? What do people do to relax? Do you even have time to relax as a medical student? Are the shops there really suburban, selling local products or are there more urban choices for food/shoes/clothes/stationary? stores like paperchase / supermarkets in sight?

Sorry for the spam of questions.. Thanks!

ZorbaTehZ

greenredwhite wrote: »

I have an offer from NUIG

reading through tons of forums gave me very very mixed impressions of the university. Some say it's ranked way up 2nd amongst ireland universities though it's no where near pretigious in the world rankings in which trinity and dublin appeared. where exactly does it stand ?

Yes tbh, NUIG does not rank well internationally, generally in the bottom end. International rankings would put Trinity way in front of the major universities in Ireland and then UCD, and then UCC/NUIM/NUIG various positions below. I don't know much what the terrestrial reports say though.

greenredwhite wrote: »

what is the atmosphere like in the medical school? is it very competitive?

Great attitude generally. There isn't really much competitiveness in the class for the most part, but at the end of the day you have a bunch of students who are used to putting in hard work and getting great results, so the majority of the class are very concerned with grades.

greenredwhite wrote: »

are the students racist towards asians?

Not at all, no racism whatsoever.

greenredwhite wrote: »

Are the teachers commited? Student to teacher ratio?

Last time I checked the student-teacher ratio was 13, which (at the time) was the best of any NUIG faculty, not sure if that's still current. Teachers for the most part are commited and are very willing to talk with you. Although that said, there are 1/2 who make you want to tear your hair out with frustration but pretty much you will get that in every Uni.

greenredwhite wrote: »

What's life like living in Galway? What do people do to relax? Do you even have time to relax as a medical student? Are the shops there really suburban, selling local products or are there more urban choices for food/shoes/clothes/stationary? stores like paperchase / supermarkets in sight?

I'll let someone else answer that cus I'm going to bed now! :pac:

tallaght01

ZorbaTehZ wrote: »

Yes tbh, NUIG does not rank well internationally, generally in the bottom end. International rankings would put Trinity way in front of the major universities in Ireland and then UCD, and then UCC/NUIM/NUIG various positions below.:

I didn't know there were international rankings!!! Your med school doesn't matter a hoot in terms of getting postgraduate jobs. it's all about where you've worked, exams etc.

Irish medical schools are all good. They're all recognised internationally. But I have no idea where most of my colleagues went to med school as it's just not important to practicing doctors.

ZorbaTehZ

tallaght01 wrote:

I didn't know there were international rankings!!! Your med school doesn't matter a hoot in terms of getting postgraduate jobs. it's all about where you've worked, exams etc.

That's generally the spiel one tends to get from qualified doctors... it is of importance, if one wants the best quality of education possible, research opportunities, resume credentials etc.

tallaght01

I would disagree wholeheartedly with that. The best docs are the best docs. They get a good rep, and they climb the ladder quickly.

All Irish med schools are the same, as far as I'd be concerned.

zenco

Hi crazydonkey,

Great to hear that you're applying to Galway for medicine. Have you gotten an offer yet? If you had, congratulations! I'm a medical student in NUIG as well, just completed my 2nd year 2 weeks ago and that I'm back in Kuala Lumpur for my summer. Can I assume that you're a private funded student?

I would like to give you some facts about medicine in Galway which are not known to many people out there. Many of the national research centres equipped with state-of-the-art facilities are located in NUIG making NUIG one of the forerunners in the research field in Ireland. You will have loads of research opportunities as a medical student in Galway. In fact, we have a programme called the Ureka programme which gives you the opportunity to perform an individual research over the summer together with students from all over the world - we get US Ivy League students applying for this programme as well.

I will say 80% of the course is lecture-based with labs for all basic medical sciences i.e. Physiology, Biochemistry and Anatomy. We don't really have PBLs as this is not the method adopted by our medical school. However, you will get loads of tutorials and group discussions when you get into your 3rd year. I think this is a better approach as you will be given a solid foundation before they throw you with case scenarios when you know nuts.

I don't think you will get loads of information on NUIG medicine on the Internet for a reason I'm not too sure but I think it's mainly because of its small intake that there are less students from the college to talk about the course. I think the college takes in only a maximum of 140 a year (there's 112 in my class) but I'm not too sure about your year as compared to TCD, UCD and RCSI that have at least 210 in a class. This gives you an advantage as you get to have a patient to your own for history-taking and a ratio of 1 student to 1 GP when you do your second year's clinical skills subject.

I think this is about it for the time being. I have more if you want but I think I've said too much here. If you still have any queries, feel free to email me at kezannetkz@hotmail.com. I think it's better for you to speak to students who actually come from NUIG to get a clearer view of medical education in NUIG.

all the best to you!

zenco

reading through tons of forums gave me very very mixed impressions of the university. Some say it's ranked way up 2nd amongst ireland universities though it's no where near pretigious in the world rankings in which trinity and dublin appeared. where exactly does it stand ?

i don't think anyone is able to give you an exact answer to where NUIG stand internationally but if you ask about specific subjects, you will get quite a positive feedback on NUIG. NUIG is famous for its medical course, science and business. It's one of the best for medicine in Ireland just in case you don't know due to its small intake and good lecturers. If I'm not mistaken (i'm not 100% sure), UCD sent some of its lecturers over to NUIG to learn about the delivery of our medical curriculum. my advice is forget about the rankings, afterall, u're gonna grad as a doctor no matter where you come from. TCD might be famous internationally but a friend of mine studying dentistry there told me that her friends studying medicine in the same college have been complaining about the course there.

what is the atmosphere like in the medical school? is it very competitive? are the students racist towards asians?
so far, i have no complaints whatsoever about medicine in galway. in fact, i don't really feel stressed out except during the exam period (obviously)! speaking bout competition, it really depends on how you want to see it. everyone works hard and we all do strive for the best mark but we don't really compare ourselves to our peers like what we do here in malaysia. i have been studying in galway for 2 years (just completed my 2nd year) and as far as i'm concerned, i've never experienced any form of racism there. irish are famous for their friendliness and you will occasionally get strangers speaking to you on the streets..

Are the teachers commited? Student to teacher ratio?
yes, the lecturers are committed. they are all approachable for questions, in fact, they all love questions!

What's life like living in Galway? What do people do to relax? Do you even have time to relax as a medical student? Are the shops there really suburban, selling local products or are there more urban choices for food/shoes/clothes/stationary? stores like paperchase / supermarkets in sight?
Life in galway = relaxing! I watch at least 3 hours of TV dramas/movies every day without fail! Galway might not have as many shopping centres as Dublin but it definitely have everything you want! supermarkets are everywhere and most are within walking distance.

pgouda

Hi I am a canadian that is coming to NUIG for the 6 year medical program this upcoming week.

I was just wondering about books... what textbooks would I need?

And for any other traveling students what are some stuff that I should bring from Canada as opposed to buying there? And do you use the same sort of electric outlets as the UK?

Blur

pgouda wrote: »

Hi I am a canadian that is coming to NUIG for the 6 year medical program this upcoming week.

I was just wondering about books... what textbooks would I need?

And for any other traveling students what are some stuff that I should bring from Canada as opposed to buying there? And do you use the same sort of electric outlets as the UK?

I'm starting the 6 year course this week too!
I'm not sure about what text books we need I'm sure we'll be told on orientation day or whatever.
We use the same 3-pin outlets as the UK does.

pgouda

I am getting pretty excited now! I leave for Ireland in a couple days and all I have been doing is packing (then finding out that it is impossible to fit your entire life into 2 x 50lb bags!) Anyways it's nice to meet some other people ahead of time

MedHead

pgouda wrote: »

Hi I am a canadian that is coming to NUIG for the 6 year medical program this upcoming week.

I was just wondering about books... what textbooks would I need?

For the 6 year course the first year is mostly made up of chem, bio and physics, you will not use these subjects again so i would not recommend buying books, the library is well stocked with copies of all the books.

Physics lecturers give really good online notes so the book often becomes unnecessary but it can be accessed online as part of the wiley plus program.

Blur

pgouda wrote: »

I am getting pretty excited now! I leave for Ireland in a couple days and all I have been doing is packing (then finding out that it is impossible to fit your entire life into 2 x 50lb bags!) Anyways it's nice to meet some other people ahead of time

Yep,we're medicine buddies now! :pac: