Good primary degree if you want to do Medicine as a post grad?

finty

patrickowens1 wrote: »

UCD has a three year science degree with a lot of scope for picking and choosing your modules. As far as I'm aware the fourth year is just to make it an honours degree, which you wouldn't need for GEM. The UCD admissions dept confirmed this for me over the phone recently. This would only take a year longer than doing regular undergrad med after LC. My niece is starting this 3 year science degree this September with a view to sitting Gamsat in a few years and starting GEM.

Does anyone know any reason why this option mightn't be a runner for my niece or for 'Amed22'?

Thanks

Think you are wrong about the 3 year degree being enough. From the CAO website you must hold an honours bachelor degree (NFQ Level 8) and have a minimum 2:1 grade in it

patrickowens1

Thanks Finty - I do hope you're not right though, after advising my niece - and calling UCD for her!! I know an NFQ Level 8 degree is required but the girl in admissions assured me that this would be covered by just 3 years of the UCD science degree.

I just had a look on the UCD website again. This page in particular - http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/nfq.htm

The 'UCD Major Awards' table and footnote on that page to be applicable.

The footnote says:

*BSc students who do not progress to Stage 4 of the BSc programme but who have achieved 180 credits with a minimum of 100 ECTS at level 2 or above and a minimum of 40 ECTS at level 3 or above would be awarded a BSc (General Science) degree which would be classified as a Level 8 degree on the NQAI scale.

Prior to modularisation, students graduated with a BSc (General) after satisfactorily completing 3 years of study. The programme outcomes of the BSc (General) and the current 180 credit BSc (General Science) award are comparable. The University has designated NFQ Level 8 to the BSc (General) Degree.


I presume "180 credits with a minimum of 100 ECTS at level 2 or above and a minimum of 40 ECTS at level 3" means performing to a certain standard in exams and picking modules with enough credits associated with them. Does anyone know a practical meaning of this terminology?

Thanks

finty

http://www2.cao.ie/otherinfo/GraduateEntryMedicine.pdf


this does specifically refer to having an honours degree, but suppose UCD admissions should know as they are running a GEM. It'd be a great was to save a year if it works out

grisham

patrickowens1 wrote: »

Thanks Finty - I do hope you're not right though, after advising my niece - and calling UCD for her!! I know an NFQ Level 8 degree is required but the girl in admissions assured me that this would be covered by just 3 years of the UCD science degree.

I just had a look on the UCD website again. This page in particular - http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/nfq.htm

The 'UCD Major Awards' table and footnote on that page to be applicable.

The footnote says:

*BSc students who do not progress to Stage 4 of the BSc programme but who have achieved 180 credits with a minimum of 100 ECTS at level 2 or above and a minimum of 40 ECTS at level 3 or above would be awarded a BSc (General Science) degree which would be classified as a Level 8 degree on the NQAI scale.

Prior to modularisation, students graduated with a BSc (General) after satisfactorily completing 3 years of study. The programme outcomes of the BSc (General) and the current 180 credit BSc (General Science) award are comparable. The University has designated NFQ Level 8 to the BSc (General) Degree.


I presume "180 credits with a minimum of 100 ECTS at level 2 or above and a minimum of 40 ECTS at level 3" means performing to a certain standard in exams and picking modules with enough credits associated with them. Does anyone know a practical meaning of this terminology?

Thanks

A general degree is awarded after 3 years in science in ucd. To do GEM you need an honours degree, this is awarded only after the 4th year of science. Sorry to give the news. Never trust anyone in admin!!

EORaghallaigh

i studied pharmacology (4 year science degree) in UCD and half my class went on to study medicine in glasgow, edinburgh, limerick and rcsi... so i'd say it might be looked upon favorably by the GEM admissions staff...

Traumadoc

If you had enough points for Pharmacology, why not do Medicine as a primary degree?

EORaghallaigh

Traumadoc wrote: »

If you had enough points for Pharmacology, why not do Medicine as a primary degree?

sorry you must have misinterpreted... i said half my class (not me) went off to study medicine after pharmacology...

this is a while back, the points for science were 475 and medicine 590... so i'd say they missed out on medicine first time around....

SaturnV

I suspect I'm coming to this topic a little late for this advice, but...

A few years ago, when graduate entry wasn't formalized (in this country anyway), having a degree (or, even better, a masters or PhD) in a biological sciences was a distinct advantage in actually getting onto the course. This is no longer true in the current system, as others have mentioned. So what are the other advantages? The advantage in the GAMSAT seems to be debatable. Having a degree in a biological science may make some aspects of the early part of a graduate medical degree easier. But remember that these graduate programmes are designed so that you don't *need* to have extensive prior knowledge of the biology.

There's another side to this coin. A colleague of mine did medicine after a PhD a few years ago. He found it very difficult to stay focussed when much of the first year seemed trivially easy to him. This shouldn't happen any more; the graduate programmes are (supposed to be) designed to avoid just this kind of thing.

Remember, the trend in medical education these days is not to teach, for example, pharmacology and physiology as discrete subjects, but to teach "vertically". Now, they try teach the basics by system, e.g. a course which covers, say, the respiratory system from the biochemistry through anatomy and physiology to the diseases. This is particularly true for graduate entry programmes. Nobody will have everything already covered, unless they're already a medic!

I'd suggest you need to think a little further down the line in terms of how your primary degree might affect your later career. My experience from teaching on a graduate entry programme in the UK was that they were specifically trying to recruit non-science graduates; people from a business, legal, or humanities background. These people have the potential to add value to the profession when they complete their training. It's a nice idea; in theory they could be a completely different type of medic. Does it work? It's too early to tell. But the competitive element of your career doesn't end when you start your medicine degree. Having a different background, and a different perspective, may make you stand out over your peers.

That was a long winded way of saying this: do the degree you are most interested in, because you'll probably find a way to make it work to your advantage at some point.

drrkpd

"That was a long winded way of saying this: do the degree you are most interested in, because you'll probably find a way to make it work to your advantage at some point"- SaturnV.

Totally agree with this statement from Saturn. Number 1 you are far more likely to get a 2.1 in something you enjoy. Number 2 don't forget the UK for graduate entry or even applying for a straight 5 year medical course. Fees much less though don't know where you live or if you can travel. No fees for Irish students in Scotland and student loan scheme for fees of probably£3,500 in UK -considerably less than Irish graduate entry!!!

bioscience

hi drrkpd,

would you know if the grad entry-med courses in the uk are easier to get into than ireland in terms of entry tests? and would you know if the gamsat test in ireland is based on your IQ or your knowledge of science and medical knowledge??
im doing a science degree now and thinking to sit the gamsat afterwards so im really curious about the gamsat, or if anyone else might know anything about it?

thanks.

allsaintssue

I am studying general nursing in TCD, and I think it is giving me the best start for a career in medicine, particularly becasue of the amount of time I spend out on placement in the hospital. This week , for example, Im doing my theatre placement and in the last 4 days I ve seen 14 surgeries and scrubbed in to two of them, that is such an amazing oppurtunity and you get a kind of feel for the different areas of medicine and how a hospital works in general, plus all the course work is going to stand to you when you study medicine

drrkpd

bioscience wrote: »

hi drrkpd,

would you know if the grad entry-med courses in the uk are easier to get into than ireland in terms of entry tests? and would you know if the gamsat test in ireland is based on your IQ or your knowledge of science and medical knowledge??
im doing a science degree now and thinking to sit the gamsat afterwards so im really curious about the gamsat, or if anyone else might know anything about it?

thanks.

Bioscience I think that some of the graduate programmes in the UK are easier to get in but I am not an expert in GAMSAT I am afraid.

flerb22

theres a new course in trinity called "human health and disease"
http://www.tcd.ie/courses/undergraduate/az/course.php?id=271

otherwise do a subject that will get you some exemptions (ie includes physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, anatomy etc)

edit: just realised that the human health and disease includes physiology, biochem, anatomy....its alot like medicine. except a bit more research based rather than clinical based.

imported_guy

if you do grad med, you'll have to pay fees, if you do it as a mature student, you'll benifit from the great socialist education system