Help Me Pick a Health/Medical University Course! [2021 Entry]

[Deactivated] on 14/07/2020 - 22:21
Last edited 14/07/2020 - 22:22

Hi everyone,

I am a senior year high school student and in the process of sorting out preferences for university courses. Unfortunately my UCAT score was not competitive enough and I was not able to get to the likes of Medicine or Dentistry. I have been researching for months now however need to come to a conclusion as to which courses I should have a higher preference for.

Some of the factors might include:

  • salary
  • employment rate
  • overall satisfaction of career

I am open to any suggestions other than the ones which I have listed. At the moment, ATAR is not a worry for me as I am able to achieve the criteria of approximately 90+ for most courses in this specific field. I would love to hear your personal experiences if you had taken these courses in the past.

although it may not be a health or medical course, I have included Applied Data Analytics with prospects of being a Biostatistician

Thank you!

please vote for the one course which you have highest preference for

Poll Options

  • 2
    Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours)
  • 2
    Optometry/Vision Science (Masters)
  • 2
    Bachelor of Medical Radiation (Med Imaging, Nuclear Radiation, Radiation Therapy)
  • 3
    Bachelor of Paramedic Science
  • 10
    Bachelor of Applied Data Analytics
Education & Work

Comments

  • Clear on 14/07/2020 - 22:28
    +4

    You can certainly rule out Pharmacy if you're after a good salary. Most get pretty average pay considering the amount of work they put in.

    • Banana on 15/07/2020 - 09:28

      …and also plenty of abuse from your average customer

      I have met a lot of ex-pharmacist working in other fields, they clearly regretted their choice.

      • dust on 15/07/2020 - 09:31

        Also franchises like Chemist Warehouse makes it difficult for small pharmacies to be profitable.

        A lot of the ex-pharmacists I know are now in IT.

        • Clear on 15/07/2020 - 09:39

          CW also have the worst pay for their pharmacists.

        • Banana on 15/07/2020 - 09:57

          They might be my colleagues then :P

  • Amaris on 14/07/2020 - 22:29

    Take a gap year, do the UCAT again and aim for med school in 2022.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/07/2020 - 22:41
    +1

    The leaders of tomorrow

  • knightslay2 on 14/07/2020 - 22:51
    +1

    I'd say do something you really want to do. Perhaps try a course if you don't like, there is time to change courses.

  • OzCheapo on 14/07/2020 - 23:26

    Consider a B Arts/B Sc first year and then re-assess. If you pick the courses carefully, you'll get a lot of credit while you explore what you want to do. It can also be cheaper given the government proposed defunding/funding specific fields.

  • Sinful on 15/07/2020 - 00:23
    +1

    Have you thought about pharmacology?

    A little more money than a phamacist.

  • morse on 15/07/2020 - 01:02
    +1

    Do which ever you’re most interested in to study and as a job. You can do medicine postgraduate later if you’re still interested. I’m none of these professions but do work in health. I can’t say for sure but I’d say there’s a fair few underpaid and dissatisfied optometrists and pharmacists in be private sector - however if either of these are your passion still go for it. Paramedic is a full on job, consider if you think you can handle the hours, shift work, trauma etc. Data analytics might give you scope to work in other sectors if you change your mind about health.

    • spicynoodles on 17/07/2020 - 00:06

      If you don't mind, may I ask for your thoughts on nursing (if you're familiar with nursing)? I see you've mentioned being a paramedic is very tough, is nursing similar to paramedicine in terms of work and work-life balance?

      I'm looking for a job in health where I can move around and work in a team - nursing sounds best. If you have any thoughts, I'd really appreciate hearing it.

      • morse on 17/07/2020 - 01:18
        +1

        Nursing is a good career and would definitely give you opportunities to move around. There’s more diversity in nursing than paramedicine. Eg. Community, theatre, rehab, mental health, paeds etc. The downside to nursing is that many roles involve shift work, including nights, so you’d want to consider if you’re up for a life of disrupted sleep. However there are some areas of nursing that don’t involve shift work - it will just limit your options. Nursing, like most health professions also has opportunity for career advancement and specialisation which can be rewarding both professionally and financially. Nursing also has roles that are less stressful than paramedicine, although some are equally stressful. Any emergency/critical care role has the potential to be psychologically very tough, so it’s worth considering your personality fit/resilience for this kind of role.

        Allied health professions are also worth considering e.g. physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology and social work would be worth looking at. There isn’t quite as much opportunity to move around in these professions, but still quite a bit and there’s much less shift work.

        For me shift work is not desirable, but others like the flexibility and opportunity for increased earning through penalty rates.

        It also depends if you’re thinking of moving around within Australia or internationally. I think nursing is slightly easier to do this with than allied health, although you’ll find plenty of Aussie expat physios etc overseas. Countries like the US are harder, due to professional registration processes.

        • spicynoodles on 17/07/2020 - 02:19

          Thank you so much, this is incredibly helpful. I’m definitely considering allied health.

          Also a little wary about the shift work but I have 1.5 years until the end of my undergraduate to get more insight.

          Thanks again for taking the time to type this. Have a good day/night.

  • Meho2026 on 15/07/2020 - 02:45
    +3

    Choosing a career based on the factors you list is probably going to lead to a disappointing personal and professional life.
    Think about what you are good at, what you like doing and what you are interested in while you go about your everyday life.
    These are the factors to focus on, if you can find a career that fits them you are much more likely to be happy, content and successful in your life.

  • BarginGrabber on 15/07/2020 - 03:16
    +2

    Ok, so I'm in my early 20s and I was in a similar position to you when I just finished high school.

    This is my #1 recommendation, just do bachelor of science or bachelor of biomedical science or something along those lines.

    I know they are boring and have no real career opportunities afterwards but it is by far the easiest way to get a good GPA.

    and #2 recommendation, make sure you look at each university and all their requirements for their courses and throughout the course, don't just look at a big name university and think that's the best option.

    I switched to Pharmacy 1 year after I started one of these degrees (Had a pretty good GPA) because "Hey, at least I have a degree at the end thats worth something" and lets just say my GPA is completely ruined and I have 0 chance of getting into any major post-grad degree now.

    My other mistake was the university I picked, it had certain requirements that other universities didn't that made it harder to do well throughout the course.

    Thats just my own experience, so very possible it is very different to yours in the future.

    Good luck!

    P.S. If you want more details and more specifics, just PM me.

    • Icecold5000 on 23/07/2020 - 19:01
      -1

      I know they are boring and have no real career opportunities afterwards

      Sounds like a good use of 3 years

  • Blue Suby on 15/07/2020 - 13:39
    +1

    You can get into medicine if you do another med related course. My daughter didn't get the ATAR (some 'wrong' subjects picked for HSC) and decided to do Bach of Nursing. Still wanted to medicine after completing this and sat another exam with these qualifications and completed her Bach Med a few years ago. It's hard work but she loves her job.
    If you pick another course in the health field and hate it-it's not the end of the world.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/07/2020 - 10:54

    Thanks for everyone's input, I plan on choosing Bachelor of Applied Data Analytics with a Masters in Data Science. In the future I might change into Med through GAMSAT. Cheers!

  • popsiee on 23/07/2020 - 19:05
    +1

    Don't do you can be a plumber sub contractor trained in less than a yr getting $100 ph .

  • [Deactivated] on 25/07/2020 - 19:09

    Pharmacy, family got a gig during uni, earns pretty good money and job seems pretty fun, on your feet all day.

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