Leaving home to start med school

For those of you who have been successful in gaining entry to Australian graduate medical school this year, it truly represents a very exciting and daunting part of your life! In this blog, we explore the issues of moving to follow your medical dream, and share some handy tips and hints along the way!

With the increasing competitiveness of medical entry, and the wide spread of medical schools across the country, it has become very normal for students to move interstate to study medicine. For many students this will be the first time that they have to either move such a great distance; or it may even be the first time you’ve moved out of home. For some (such as myself), this will be an extremely liberating process where you will taste freedom as if it was a succulent nectarine on a warm summer’s day, for others it might be very scary, and filled with nervous trepidation.

There are many things to keep in mind when you’re moving, in general, and especially when you are moving to an unfamiliar area. Although here at GradReady, we’re sure you’re entirely on top of everything, we’d like to try to help you out in any areas that we can! Many of our tutors have made similar moves, and I have also moved to a new city (though unfortunately still in Queensland) to study medicine. Here are some handy tips and hints to think about whilst you plan and contemplate your move for this year.
 

• Course Structure: It is very important to take note of what your course structure will be over your degree – i.e. the theory/clinical split. Finding out at what point in your degree you will be moving to a majority clinical focus will be very important. As in your clinical years, you will find yourself based at hospitals and other health practices, and generally NOT the university or medical school. Although it may not be a huge consideration when you initially move down, if you are looking for long-term stability or hate moving, it might not be the best idea to stay in an on-campus college – as you might have a painful commute to your clinical hospital in 1 or 2 years’ time.
• Finances: Probably self-explanatory, but be very mindful of the price you’re paying for rent in medical school. Although many medical students can, and do, hold jobs – this is not the case for everyone, and you may find that the hours and study requirements in the course are prohibitive for a casual job. A great portion of students will rely purely on Centrelink payments, so make sure you don’t end up spending most of that in rent each fortnight, or it could make medical school very miserable.
• Housemates: This one might be a bit tricky if you don’t know anyone where you are moving to, but not entirely impossible – we recommend that it is a very good idea to try to live with fellow medical students. There will be no one else except other medical students who understand the horrors you will end up going through on a daily basis. Having other like-minded individuals around, going through the same study-hell as you, will assist greatly with support and ensuring you take some collegiate breaks! Older medical students will also most likely have great notes and textbooks for you to get a hand on!
• Transport: If you can, it is really worthwhile living near where you will be studying throughout medical school. This may be the medical school, or a hospital, or both. You will find that many a long night will be had in a hospital or at the medical school, and not having to drive 30 minutes or so after will be a blessing. The most fun I had in medical school was the walks to and from university, as there would often be a big group of us making the trek!

Although a few snippets into some (hopefully!) useful insights into the medical school move, we hope that it has stimulated your thoughts towards a holistic consideration of the big event. It’s not just about what type of house you’re in, or how nice – you need to consider location, price, housemates, how easy it is to maintain, contract length, and the distance from your teaching facility. These are very standard considerations, but there are often some unique bits and bobs about medical school that get thrown in the mix, which makes a decision a bit more difficult!

Check out our GAMSAT To Med School Podcast for more information about applying to medical school and life at med school.