Update from the slacker (aka me)

I've been rather slack over the last few months. I've been really busy (who isn't, I know, so poor excuse, I know also), with work, study, and dancing keeping me busy seven days a week.

Surprise surprise, I didn't even make it to the interview stage for the 2009 intake for medicine. I was half expecting the "thanks, but no thanks" letter from them, and unfortunately, I got it. In the form of an email, but the message is still the same. :(

And to tell you the truth, I'm not all that disappointed. I've been doing a lot of soul-searching over the last few months, trying to figure out what it is that I really truly would love to do, and medicine just didn't seem to fit it. I don't think I would get the enjoyment from seeing patient after patient, day in day out, solving their health problems. I may enjoy the relationship building aspect of it, but I'm not much of a hands on person, and that goes hand in hand (more or less) with this career.

What I have come to the conclusion about though is what I really want to do: and that is to work with numbers, spreadsheets, data. But not in finance, as investments and profits of businesses do not interest me in the slightest. I NEVER voluntarily pick up the Australian Financial Review to read for pleasure (also mentioned in my previous post, not surprisingly). I need to work where I can put to better use my highly numerical abilities in a different field.

And I think a scientific field would suit me much better. Psychology, perhaps, or assist in medical studies. Somewhere where I still get to work with data, but in a field that interests me personally.

I have to continue to do my research on how to best move across in to this non-financial arena. But I'm so happy that I've come this far and narrowed down exactly what it is that really gives me that buzz that I've been lacking in my working life so far.

I missed it!

OMG, I missed the deadline! Are ACER and UND going to be strict about not receiving my documentation by today?? I completely forgot that I had to order originals of my Academic Transcript again, and I only faxed through the order last Wednesday. I'm still waiting for them today (Friday night), so I still couldn't have even handed my documentation in person, even if I wanted to (which I so desperately did!!). ARGH!! Why am I so disorganised??!? Or is it just fate that's telling me that medicine just isn't the right career for me...?

Hmmm... Come to think of it, I was ill when the GAMSAT was on this year. And then I just submitted my scores for the GPA calculation at 4:59pm today; I was literally seconds away from the online calculator closing. I was actually scared that my submission wasn't successful, it was that close. But thankfully I received the confirmation e-mail. One thing that actually turned out well in this entire debacle of an application this year.

So I don't know if my final application will still be accepted, even though I've done all the online steps on time. *sigh*

Insecurities

Well first off, let me just update you with my application. I got the "thanks, see you next year" letter from ACER. I'm disappointed, but not surprised. So that's the end of the application road for me for the year. Now I have to decide whether I want to go through it all again next year. But I'm still doing some soul-searching, and I'll provide an update on this another day.

Now on to my current "real" life. I'm starting to have doubts as to whether I can do this job, this new job that seemed oh-so-wonderful just a few short weeks ago. All these terms crop up at work that I don't remember back from my uni days (mainly because I hardly studied during those formative years... LOL), so now I'm going to have to whip out textbooks and what not to figure out what my manager is actually talking about during our team meetings! ** sigh **

I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I've really only just started, and everyone says (including me, but not when I'm talking about myself of course) that it'll take months just to start getting in to the swing of things at a new job. And the work is completely new to me, so I have that to take in to account as well, and not just the new surroundings. I'm pretty much starting from a zero knowledge base. I feel like a graduate, almost, which is why I'm starting to doubt whether I can do this job....

I'm sure that I've already started to draw on my past experiences and applied those skills in my current role, but they're probably so ingrained in my thought process that I don't even realise that I'm using them. Well, that's what I'm hoping, anyway.... :) And surely I can add much more value now than a graduate can in the same amount of time. Surely! LOL (And by graduate I mean a 'normal', run-of-the-mill graduate - not one of those freaks who scored 100 in their UAI and breezed through uni with a High Distinction average, all the while being involved in multiple extra-curricular activities on the side.)

So I just have to be more confident in my abilities, and give myself the time to absorb all the new information in my new role, and not beat myself up over not perfectly understanding everything right from the get go.

Easier said than done, of course.... But I'll try....

Excuses, Excuses

I was particularly slack last month, I know. Not that it's been a busier month, more that I've been sick for about half of it, and the internet has been down at home during the other half. And internet problems are still persisting, unfortunately.

But I promise to try harder this month. I have a new job (yay!), so hopefully I can post some interesting anecdotes on my new work environment real soon.

Oh, and I've also found another good blog read: Panda Bear MD. He's an ER resident somewhere in the USA, and is very opinionated on a number of things relating to medicine (training, cost and residency are the three main themes that quickly come to mind). It's a good eye-opener, although I wonder how close the American system is to the Australian one. I might have to find some good Australian doctors' blogs for a better comparison.

And speaking of the Australian system, interview letters are supposed to be coming out sometime this month. I'm assuming this means sometime towards the second half of the month. Maybe I'm just too cynical nowadays, but I've pretty much given up on the entire process and the chance of anything actually happening in a timely manner. Or perhaps just too much Panda Bear…?? :-)

Missed Deadline

I missed the application deadline for the 2007 UMAT! ARGH! I've been so busy with the graduate-entry medicine application process (not to mention work - see previous entry) that I inadvertently missed the UMAT deadline!

ACER will still take late applications up until Friday 15 June, but of course at an additional cost. And in this case, it's an extra $55. Do I want to pay this, just to have the opportunity to sit an exam?? It's my own fault for not being more aware of the deadline. It's the price I have to pay for being slack.

It's Done

I have sent my applications to both ACER and UND(S). It cost me $10.40 - I sent both applications by Express Post, each of which cost $5.20. The price bought me Guaranteed Next Day Delivery, and with the 8 June deadline, I'm hoping it will be all worth it!

Submitted

I have finalised my online GPA calculation - I completed it as accurately as I could, so it's now up to ACER to correct it if they think it's required.

I have also completed my UND(S) application form. I have pretty much finished my Personal Statement, and now just need to work on the presentation of it. And finally, I just need to confirm with my referees tomorrow if they're ok for me to put them down as contacts.

Now I just need to sort out where I need to send my applications to.... So I'm almost there, it's the home stretch....!

Progress Update

1. ONLINE APPLICATION FORM

I submitted my online application form (and forked over my $70, ugh). I listed my preferences as I had said in my previous entries:
1. USyd
2. UND(Sydney)
3. None

Although now I'm starting to regret it and I'm thinking that maybe I should have put UND(S) first, since it is the only university that I really want to go to anyway!!

Preference #1 will be rejected anyway, but still, putting UND(S) first would probably have increased my chance at an interview.

Oh well. It's done now. All I can hope for now is an interview place at either uni!

2. ONLINE GPA FORM

I've also filled in the online GPA form, but still yet have to finalise it. I'm still unsure about how my GPA will be scored, I have a few things that I think are a little out of the ordinary:

- My course was originally a four and a half year degree, but I extended it to five. I was never officially part-time, but my total units in each of the last four semesters were not the maximum units for a full-time load. So how do I group my subjects? Where do I draw the line as to which subjects to include and which to exclude from the GPA calculation?

- I did a combined degree, and almost all my subjects in the last three years were 2nd and 3rd academic year levels. How does that work for the Weighted GPA? Or does it not matter? Probably not. But what would happen if I didn't take any 1st academic year subjects during the last three years of my degree? Would they then just give me a GPA1 of 0?

- In addition to my transcript, I might have to give ACER photocopies from my old handbooks (my first one was from the mid-90s, I can't believe I still had them!) . Some of the subjects that I took are no longer offered (or are now under a different name) so any additional information sent to them will make their jobs that much easier, and hopefully that will mean less error in their final GPA calculation for me. (OMG, I went to uni before the internet was even born. That's insane!)

3. PERSONAL STATEMENT FOR UND(S)

I still haven't had the chance to work on my Personal Statement since last weekend! Tsk tsk! I might work on it now... I don't want to have to leave it until the last minute, and not have the time to re-work it, which it will undoubtedly need.

When will this process end....

** Sigh **

Preferences

I've decided on my preferences:

1. USyd
2. UND(Sydney)
3. None

I have pretty much Buckley's chance of getting in to my first preference, but as I've mentioned in previous entrries, I don't really know if I want to go there anyway. It feels like it's only there for the prestige factor of going to that university.

I really want to go to Preference #2. My gut instinct tells me that I would really enjoy my time at UND(Sydney). I'm currently in the middle of writing my Personal Statement for my application to this university. But because of my mediocre GAMSAT and GPA scores, I'm pretty much preparing myself for the worst...

And since I'm not willing to relocate (or travel too far, as is the case for UWoll), I've left Preference #3 blank.

I've also decided that I will sit the UMAT (have I already mentioned this in an earlier entry?). I wouldn't mind going to UWS either, that would actually be my third preference if it was a graduate-entry course. But the guys on Pagingdr have mentioned that entry via this alternative route is tougher than it seems, so again, I'm not expecting too much.... :(

Am I being too pessimistic? Or is this really an accurate depiction of my chances??

UND (Sydney)

I went to the information session held tonight at UND Sydney. It was very informative, and am now more than ever very keen to go there! The Dean of Medicine herself gave the talk, and she came across as a smart yet very down-to-earth person, which I really admired.

I love the fact that it's a small uni (I'm assuming the Darlinghurst campus will be similar in size to the Broadway one where the session was held tonight), and that the staff and teachers can pay individual attention to its students. Plus, because the cohort will be smaller in number, no doubt the camaradie will be much stronger at this uni, which I believe will be very important for a demanding course such as medicine.

They place a lot of emphasis on practical experience, and during the clinical years each student is essentially taken under the wing of Dr X, and you follow them around for the duration of your placement. So you end up seeing Dr X's patients right through from beginning to end - you see first-hand this "continuity of care".

One downside to this uni though (for me) is the fact that there is the chance that you will be placed outside of metropolitan Sydney for Years 3 and 4. The Dean mentioned that half the students will be placed in Sydney, but that still means the other half will be placed outside of Sydney. I don't want to be away from B (and my own home) for such a long period of time. It would be a little different if I was still in my early 20s, still living at home or renting. But I'm not, and I'm pretty much established in my personal life. I wonder how flexible the uni would be with personal attachments like this....

But overall, it was a very promising talk and I'm very glad I went! :)

Fading Hopes

I'm once again fervently reading pagingdr whenever I can, after successfully fighting my obsession with the site about 4-6 weeks ago. Now I can't get enough info on all things to do with 2008 medical student places at Sydney universities.

But of course pagingdr is comprised of numerous other threads. And it is in these other threads where I have slowly (ok, maybe not that slowly LOL) come to the realisation that my Overall GAMSAT Score is probably not going to be as competititve this year as I would have liked.

So now my thoughts are currently revolving around the following themes (in no particular order or frequency):

- I probably won't even get a chance at an interview at USyd. Should I drop them down to 2nd preference then?

- Do I even WANT to go to USyd? Even before the results came out, I was already leaning towards UND(S), as I felt my own values and preferred learning structure/environment sounds like it will be more synonymous with this uni (based on the information that the uni has on its website). To be honest, I feel that I am only applying to USyd because of its well-established name.

- But UND(S) is brand spanking new. No one has even heard of the university. Although is this even going to really matter in a few years??

- There are soooo many applicants this year; no doubt a vast majority of them in Sydney. Simply only because it's the largest city in the country. What chance do I have at an interview, based on my mediocre Score??

- Should I continue putting in the time and effort (and $$!) in to my current career, if I am absolutely determined to get in to medicine?

- I'm pretty sure I'm going to sit the UMAT in July this year, so I will at least have the option to go to UWS. (Or UNSW I guess, but I doubt I want to go there for 6 years. I'm no spring chicken and time is slowly becoming a more and more valuable asset to me...! LOL)

- Do I really want to put all this energy in to all of this??!?

My initial happy feelings from yesterday's results is slowly withering away... :(