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USYD Medicine - Facilitated Rural Entry and the new Music Medicine Course (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Rach_10
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nit
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Not sure. If it means that your uai gets bumped up to 99.95/100, then I'd say yes, almost certainly, given that that should be the major criterion for an interview/entry. Arts/med and engo/med may be coming soon too, though not sure about that.
Edit: I found the news bulletin from the site, it doesn't seem to be terribly detailed, but arts and med/ music and med have been approved for 2007. UAI 99.95/100 I'd say, similar to the current scimed program.
Edit: I found the news bulletin from the site, it doesn't seem to be terribly detailed, but arts and med/ music and med have been approved for 2007. UAI 99.95/100 I'd say, similar to the current scimed program.
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Personally I think both of the degrees are a bit off. Arts/med is alright, but it's going to require a lot of effort to get that 80 YAM to stay in. Music/med, in my opinion, is just absurd. Anyone serious about music to do a degree will probably not want to pursue med but rather stay in music after the completion of that degree. Not to mention the near impossible task to get 80 YAM in music.
Before expanding into other faculties I would think that they should fill up most of the spots in science/med first.
Before expanding into other faculties I would think that they should fill up most of the spots in science/med first.
dora_18
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thats what i thought....i mean science/med sure-at least the two are remotely related, but what possibly does music have to do with medicine?? it is just about the craziest combination ever to be offered......sydney uni is just plain weird...
It's not the unnatural combination of the two that is of concern. I find nothing wrong with arts/med, good luck to those who get in in achieving the 80 YAM. The point is that anyone serious enough about music to do a degree in it will not do med at its completion.
And just to prepare myself in case someone reply that one of the combined med people would have loved to do such a degree (an argument I have heard), well, the same person also said pretty much what I highlighted in the previous sentence.
And just to prepare myself in case someone reply that one of the combined med people would have loved to do such a degree (an argument I have heard), well, the same person also said pretty much what I highlighted in the previous sentence.
Whilst it may sound weird, (in my understanding) in recent years theres been a big increase in the use of Music in Occupational and Health Therapy - is this what you guys also understand?
I was told that I could have been good at this combination (had it been offered). The technical term is Music Therapy and research is being conducted into the use of Music as a healing and soothing tool for people with chronic disability.
But you are right, the University is just plain strange. You cut nursing because you don't think it'll be profitable...
I suppose though, it seems to be a common trend that many students (in particular those who are bright and get the UAI's they want for medicine) are also musicians and perhaps this is a way of combining courses to attract people to do Medicine who are put off by what is percieved as the ultra-intensive workload.
I was told that I could have been good at this combination (had it been offered). The technical term is Music Therapy and research is being conducted into the use of Music as a healing and soothing tool for people with chronic disability.
But you are right, the University is just plain strange. You cut nursing because you don't think it'll be profitable...
I suppose though, it seems to be a common trend that many students (in particular those who are bright and get the UAI's they want for medicine) are also musicians and perhaps this is a way of combining courses to attract people to do Medicine who are put off by what is percieved as the ultra-intensive workload.
dora_18
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yeah sure i totaly agree about the music incorporated into medical therapy...BUT i dont think you need to spend 6yrs at uni thinking about how to encorporate that into your practice...but yeah i guess go for it
i guess im narrow minded and just seem to be thinking against the same logic that music and science orientated fields are in opposite direction from each other...its just that most music orientated people i know or creative arts students wouldnt dream of doing sience orientated things and vice versa..nor for that matter have a ever met a person who excelled highly in both areas....
i think its like templar said...i think itd be freakishly hard to accomplish...medicine is a bitch to get into and accomplish on its own..let alone combined with something else....GOODLUCK TO THEM......
i guess im narrow minded and just seem to be thinking against the same logic that music and science orientated fields are in opposite direction from each other...its just that most music orientated people i know or creative arts students wouldnt dream of doing sience orientated things and vice versa..nor for that matter have a ever met a person who excelled highly in both areas....
i think its like templar said...i think itd be freakishly hard to accomplish...medicine is a bitch to get into and accomplish on its own..let alone combined with something else....GOODLUCK TO THEM......
Jase
Member
wow. music/med. i'd do that.
Just to correct a few things said above.
People say it must be hard to do med combined with something, or that since it's combined you get a lesser workload. Not true. The combined program is rather you complete the degree in science etc first, and then do grad med. There is no difference coursewise between doing the first degree, apply for grad med and get in (apart from the five modules they have to complete during the combined program).
Sure music therapy might be valuable, but we're talking about a whole BMus degree here, not some 6cp subject you take. People with dedication to do a BMus degree would want to stay in music. In addition, while it's true people in med will mostly have some musical talent, again, this is an entire BMus degree we're talking about. Anyone short of having this passion will not do the degree, and anyone with that passion will stay in music.
People say it must be hard to do med combined with something, or that since it's combined you get a lesser workload. Not true. The combined program is rather you complete the degree in science etc first, and then do grad med. There is no difference coursewise between doing the first degree, apply for grad med and get in (apart from the five modules they have to complete during the combined program).
Sure music therapy might be valuable, but we're talking about a whole BMus degree here, not some 6cp subject you take. People with dedication to do a BMus degree would want to stay in music. In addition, while it's true people in med will mostly have some musical talent, again, this is an entire BMus degree we're talking about. Anyone short of having this passion will not do the degree, and anyone with that passion will stay in music.
Thats a bit of a generalisation don't you think, to say that people who do Music are in it for the long haul?
Plenty of people I knew that did music did it because they were good at it and couldn't think of anything else to do.
Plenty of people I knew that did music did it because they were good at it and couldn't think of anything else to do.
nit
Member
On the whole I agree with Templar. Basically, the music component is for people who have an interest in music and want to pursue/exhaust that interest before medicine. A parallel may be drawn with the current science med course. I'm not sure how many of us will end up researching, but the interest in science is still there, while we desire to do med in the long-term. In any case, those cases of music therapy or whatever that branch is called, is a way of combining the two degrees, and that's not necessarily the point of the course - it'd be nice, sure, but the point is to satisfy the needs of the musically gifted/interested, while providing them with the larger framework of a med degree. I doubt they'd become musicians, practising a little on the side. Greater likelihood is that they'll become doctors playing in their spare time in orchestras/doing musicology etc.
I still think that placing people in boxes of "only good at science" and "only good at arts" isn't really good. People can be good at a variety of things across different fields.
I wasn't saying that ALL people doing B Med/BMus would be music therapists, I was saying that, from a potential career standpoint, this could be an option.
But it still strikes me as a weird thing for the University to do.
I wasn't saying that ALL people doing B Med/BMus would be music therapists, I was saying that, from a potential career standpoint, this could be an option.
But it still strikes me as a weird thing for the University to do.
The point is that doing a BMus degree just for music therapy is absurd. A 6cp introduction course with a research option should suffice for those who wish to follow it up in specialisation.
The parallel with the current course drawn up by nit is an interesting concept. On my perspective I would say that I want my maths degree before pursuing med, and I would not want to sacrifice the former to reduce my years at uni or any other academic reasons. While I'm not a combined med person I believe pursuing scientific research interests before practising is something that at least half the first combined med cohort agree with.
For me I'll probably do the reverse, perhaps getting on with internship/specialisation (assuming I get in, fingers crossed) before doing some research later on, when the financial burden isn't too great. But if there were no financial issues I would personally not mind staying within the uni in research mostly (or even doing a research on computational algebra - P/NP algorithms on the side).
Whilst I agree that med students in general might be musically talented, having music as a hobby and playing in their spare time does not require an entire BMus to do. It will be interesting to see how the new music/med degree would turn out, but I would say the uni could have spent the resources better.
The parallel with the current course drawn up by nit is an interesting concept. On my perspective I would say that I want my maths degree before pursuing med, and I would not want to sacrifice the former to reduce my years at uni or any other academic reasons. While I'm not a combined med person I believe pursuing scientific research interests before practising is something that at least half the first combined med cohort agree with.
For me I'll probably do the reverse, perhaps getting on with internship/specialisation (assuming I get in, fingers crossed) before doing some research later on, when the financial burden isn't too great. But if there were no financial issues I would personally not mind staying within the uni in research mostly (or even doing a research on computational algebra - P/NP algorithms on the side).
Whilst I agree that med students in general might be musically talented, having music as a hobby and playing in their spare time does not require an entire BMus to do. It will be interesting to see how the new music/med degree would turn out, but I would say the uni could have spent the resources better.
USyd believes that they are losing many talented students in med due to the fact that their course is graduate entry and many 'top' people are accepted into undergraduate med.
It also recognises that people have other interests, so, in the case of music (and its music studies not a straight BMus) the student completes the 3 year Music Studies course taking science electives with the guarantee that if they maintain a D average they have a spot in the Grad MEd course without having to sit GAMSAT. The interview takes place before they are selected to undertake the course to begin with. (Btw the UAI is 99.95)
Music therapy can be studied at UniMelb within a specialisation in the BMus - it takes 4 years, 2 yrs normal BMus then a transfer into the therapy specialisation.
Also, a student can complete a Music Degree or have a degree and a personal music background and then do a DipMusic Therapy - I think you can do it at UTS or Melbourne. Most musicians won't do this - the music component of music therapy is meant to be pretty average for your classical muso.
It also recognises that people have other interests, so, in the case of music (and its music studies not a straight BMus) the student completes the 3 year Music Studies course taking science electives with the guarantee that if they maintain a D average they have a spot in the Grad MEd course without having to sit GAMSAT. The interview takes place before they are selected to undertake the course to begin with. (Btw the UAI is 99.95)
Music therapy can be studied at UniMelb within a specialisation in the BMus - it takes 4 years, 2 yrs normal BMus then a transfer into the therapy specialisation.
Also, a student can complete a Music Degree or have a degree and a personal music background and then do a DipMusic Therapy - I think you can do it at UTS or Melbourne. Most musicians won't do this - the music component of music therapy is meant to be pretty average for your classical muso.
I think that the medicine program at USYD is ridiculous. As many people have reiterated when it was opened, they opened it again because they were losing too many students. That is fine, except that demanding a 80 WAM throughout the first three years of your degree, not to mention needing an overtly crazy UAI of 99.95 to get in in the first place, is too restrictive.
People would want to be assured they can graduate as doctors from the start, like with any other uni, instaed of having to trduge through another degree first and running the risk of not getting a high enough WAM to get into graduate medicine, and graduating just as science graduates with no clear career prospects in mind (since they were taking the science degree in the first place to get into medicine). This is the reason why the dux of my school went to UMELB instaed of USYD when she failed to get into UNSW--because she could not be assured of getting into medicine if she should fail to get the required WAM.
However, as for the Music/Medicine combination--I personally like it. I was really regretful that I could not combine Pharmacy with Music, or an Arts degree in which I could specialise in Music. However, I do acknowledge that while many scientists/doctors are musicians too, they would not want to waste their time getting a 80 WAM in a degree that does not prepare them adequately for medicine, and why just taking a 6cp subject in music each semester would actually be a better idea. That is why it may not be very successful, if at all.
People would want to be assured they can graduate as doctors from the start, like with any other uni, instaed of having to trduge through another degree first and running the risk of not getting a high enough WAM to get into graduate medicine, and graduating just as science graduates with no clear career prospects in mind (since they were taking the science degree in the first place to get into medicine). This is the reason why the dux of my school went to UMELB instaed of USYD when she failed to get into UNSW--because she could not be assured of getting into medicine if she should fail to get the required WAM.
However, as for the Music/Medicine combination--I personally like it. I was really regretful that I could not combine Pharmacy with Music, or an Arts degree in which I could specialise in Music. However, I do acknowledge that while many scientists/doctors are musicians too, they would not want to waste their time getting a 80 WAM in a degree that does not prepare them adequately for medicine, and why just taking a 6cp subject in music each semester would actually be a better idea. That is why it may not be very successful, if at all.
I think that the 80 WAM should be increased, or at least kept. It is quite easy to get in science if you pick your subjects correctly, and the people in the course are certainly capable of achieving them. Anything lower would be a detriment to the standard of the degree. If you cannot achieve a 80 WAM in the course, then I seriously believe that person should not be in the course. It separates the pretenders from the real contenders, so to speak.
In addition, anyone who does fall below that expectation can just sit the GAMSAT and go through the interview like everyone else. This route should not be particularly hard for those who should deserve to be in the degree in the first place (although I do insist they should be able to achieve that 80 WAM).
The problem with taking 6cp of music as an elective is that currently there is no official option for students to take subjects at the Con (although if you know enough people I'm sure it can be done).
In addition, anyone who does fall below that expectation can just sit the GAMSAT and go through the interview like everyone else. This route should not be particularly hard for those who should deserve to be in the degree in the first place (although I do insist they should be able to achieve that 80 WAM).
The problem with taking 6cp of music as an elective is that currently there is no official option for students to take subjects at the Con (although if you know enough people I'm sure it can be done).