Jake.f

So... I've been on this site long enough that I thought why not make a blog post, as I've always spent the time reading others but never got around to making one myself.

Anyway, I shall be starting medicine very soon (I move on the 12th... scary stuff). At the moment I really don't know how I feel about it.

If a year ago you had of told me I would get into medicine - and also get an unbonded spot - I would have raised some serious questions for your sanity. I just never. Ever. Expected that I would actually get a place. The whole of year 12 I was preparing myself for failure and contenting myself with backup plans, then with a pretty shocking UMAT mark I was almost entirely sure I wouldn't be getting in.

Then the interviews came out... To be honest I was only expecting to get one - JCU because of the whole no UMAT thing but what do you know? I got 3. I still couldn't believe I got a JMP interview with my UMAT, I think I really lucked out there with the whole 50/50/50 rule.

When it came time for interviews I was nervous as you would expect, I was not really expecting them and felt horribly underprepared. Amazingly, two of my interviews went well (IMO) but the one which I wanted to go well I thought I did terrible in (JMP). My ATAR was adequate but not ideal. When I found out I didn't have a place at JCU (Where I thought my interview was best) I sort of thought that it would be an indication of things to come, I'd gotten so far on luck and luck alone and I thought that the good news was coming to an end.

So there I was sitting around on the day of UAC offers, once again reading in depth the course details for my backup and convincing myself that it wasn't that bad and I would enjoy it, and also researching UMAT prep for when I would be undoubtedly sitting it again.

You can only imagine the disbelief I felt when I actually got an offer. I still put it down to luck more than being deserving of it. Throughout the whole HSC I felt that I wasn't working hard enough, but even that didn't motivate me to work harder. I tended to be lazy and to focus on things that actually interested me. Hopefully my interest in Medicine will carry me through med.

With a 5 year medical degree looming in front of me now I am really starting to worry. Am I ready for this? I know that no matter how hard I work during this period I will still regret not working harder. I'm kind of like that, I need a challenge. Then I hear of all the people who say Med is 100 times harder than the HSC and wonder if I will cope.
I hope so.


In hindsight, a message for med hopefuls: Don't be too optimistic but also don't write your chances off completely. If you spend as much time as possible talking to current Med students you will probably find that you will feel wholly inadequate when you talk to people who are >99 ATAR's and spent a month volunteering in a 3rd world country, parents are both respected Doctors helping them with interviews etc etc. But take it from me, as a person who never imagined I would get into medicine (And I'm not just saying that, I mean it) - You may just have more of a chance than you know.