A Career in Medicine

Undergraduate pathway – expectation and failure
Around this time three years ago, I was revising content and frantically rushing through practice papers in preparation for the Year 12 exams. I devoted most of my Term 3 holidays to study, put aside all co-curricular activities and focussed on getting through that dreaded last month of Year 12. I had already received my UCAT® Exam results by that stage. I was disappointed with my score and I effectively gave myself no chance of getting into my preferred course – MBBS at Monash. The UCAT® Exam was my biggest setback in Year 12, and it led me to rethink my career aspirations and even consider careers outside of medicine.
 
Though I did end up receiving a surprise interview offer from Monash University (in my junk email, which I almost missed!), my low UCAT® Exam score meant that I would’ve needed to perform exceptionally in the MMI to have any chance. My expectations were low, but I was still disappointed when I found out I had been refused. The MMI was the final proof that I simply wasn’t ready. I enrolled instead in Biomedicine at Melbourne and opted for the graduate pathway.
 
Graduate pathway – second chance
The graduate pathway into medicine is gruelling and is not to be taken lightly. At least, this is what I heard from students who’d sat the GAMSAT® Exam. At a university open day in Year 12, one of the student volunteers calmly told me that the GAMSAT® Exam was ten times worse than the UCAT® Exam, and twice as long. In March of my second year at uni, I sat the GAMSAT® Exam for the first time. I’d prepared for it, done a few practice exams and written a handful of essays in timed conditions. I thought I was ready and came in reasonably confident. Even then, I was overwhelmed. I left the exam hall exhausted and without the slightest idea of how I had done. I was pleased with the score I got but I redid the GAMSAT® Exam the following year to see if I could improve.

Aside from the GAMSAT® Exam, the Biomedicine course itself has been tough. A number of Year 12 students have asked me whether the workload increases or decreases in university. For me, the workload has definitely increased; just keeping up has been a struggle. This certainly doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how stressful Year 12 was, but it has given me an appreciation of how important it is to constantly evolve study habits and time management skills. Work gets harder each year but in turn you get a little better at managing it effectively.
 
What I learnt
I’m certainly not presenting my pathway towards medicine as an ideal model to follow. There were numerous times when I didn’t put in enough work, had doubts and even questioned my motivation to continue. But I do think a lot of students will be able to relate to this. Now, with MMIs coming up and a competitive GAMSAT® Exam score and GPA, I have a far better chance of getting into medicine than I did three years ago at Monash. I now look at my initial failure as a blessing in disguise. Yes, missing out on Monash was a disappointment, but my experience of Melbourne Biomedicine has been overwhelmingly positive. It has renewed my motivation to study medicine and has taught me more about the medical field than I could have hoped.
 
A select number of those aspiring to do medicine will get the chance to leap straight into medical school after Year 12. Many, many more will fail at this first step. In between Year 12 and university, I wasn’t particularly bright about my own chances. How many of us have looked at a particular obstacle in front of us – perhaps a difficult exam – and gave ourselves no chance of overcoming it? After my UCAT® Exam ‘ordeal’, I must admit that I was dreading the GAMSAT® Exam. I’d heard so much about it from other students who had done it before. I knew it was going to be hard. But what I realise now is that we can’t know how we will perform on a difficult exam like the GAMSAT® Exam or in an interview – not unless we try it out for ourselves. The advice I give to students sitting the year 12 exams now is therefore to not try and anticipate what study scores you will get or compare yourself with your friends. If you know your own study habits, have a solid grasp of the coursework and have done some practice exams, there is no reason why you won’t perform on the day.