Jane Wijaya
Introduction
Here’s a little introduction about “Doctor of Medicine” (MD) course. MD is a 4-year post-graduate degree (not available for part-time study). Some universities have their MD course consisting of one pre-clinical year and three clinical years, while others two pre-clinical years and two clinical years. Deakin’s consists of two pre-clinical and two clinical years.
For two years of pre-clinical, students study at the campus just like students from other courses with only occasional placement in hospitals, ambulance service, etc. In the clinical years, students study full time in hospitals with different rotations in general surgery, general medicine, womens, paediatrics, etc.
1. Apa cita-cita kamu?
Jadi dokter anak (paediatrician)!
2. Apa yang membuatmu tertarik dengan jurusan ini?
This degree is obviously a part of achieving my dream. I have always loved science and loathed business/commerce subjects (sorry commerce kids). I found that I really enjoyed learning anatomy (human body) specifically when I was doing my Bachelor of Biomedicine, and anatomy has quite a big part in the MD course.
3. Apa yang membuatmu mendaftar di ke universitas/kampus ini?
In the beginning, I applied to Deakin University to increase my chance of getting into the MD course because it’s a really competitive course to get into and yes, I also applied to some other universities.
Aku akhirnya masuk ke Deakin karena Deakin adalah satu-satunya universitas yang terima aku di Victoria (I wanted to stay in Victoria since I did my Bachelor degree in UniMelb). Tapi, aku bersyukur banget masuk di Deakin. They are rated as the no. 1 university for student’s satisfaction and they have proved that to me ever since I started studying at Deakin.
4. Apa syaratnya masuk ke jurusan ini? Ada syarat khususkah untuk International Student?
First, you need to have a recognized Bachelor degree – it doesn’t have to be in science/ biomedicine/health-related (could also be from arts, commerce, etc). If the bachelor degree was undertaken in full English, you may be exempted from an IELTS or TOEFL (or other English test) requirement.
Secondly, you need to take a test called GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test). Aku bakal ceritain sedikit tentang GAMSAT ini.
Basically, this test has 3 sections: section I – Humanities and Social Science (MCQ), section II – Written Communication, and section III – Biological and Physical Sciences (MCQ).
For someone with a science background, you would usually ace section III dan struggle on sections I and II, like me. You can’t really study for GAMSAT and all you can do is do as much practice questions as you can. There are heaps of free study materials online. The test itself runs for 5.5 hours and is conducted under an immense amount of pressure. Tujuan dari tes ini sebenarnya adalah untuk melihat apakah kalian bisa bekerja di bawah tekanan dengan waktu yang terbatas, rather than testing your knowledge.
Untuk mahasiswa internasional tidak ada syarat khusus apalagi jika Bachelor degree kalian didapat di Australia.
5. Kalau boleh tahu, Berapa sih biayanya?
It’s around 70,000 AUD per year and may change in the upcoming years. Please check the Deakin website for updates on fees
(https://www.deakin.edu.au/course/doctor-medicine-international)
6. Apa kesan pertama atau ekspektasi kamu dari jurusan ini?
I expected it to be hard, looking at two of my seniors who had entered med school before me. I expected to have no life outside med school and to be sleep deprived every day. However, this was not true at all! Med school is actually pretty fun. Although you might sometimes be sleep deprived and may reach a point where you’re burnt out, you can still have a social life outside Med school. The materials are actually not that hard to understand (some do need a tad bit of quick research on google/youtube) but I agree that the workload can be overwhelming.
7. Apa saja yang kamu pelajari?
There are four main components to each block: Medical Science, Clinical Skills, Public Health Medicine, and Ethics, Law & Professionalism.
8. Apa saja tantangannya?
Writing essays have always been my weakness and we do have some assignments where we are asked to write essays.
9. Dan apa keasyikan terbesarnya?
I guess because this has always been my dream, I enjoy most part of it although there are times I do stress out because of the enormous workload. I enjoy learning all the new fascinating stuff about the human body, as well as how to properly examine the different body systems of a “patient” and then hypothetically formulate a diagnosis.
10. Bagaimana interaksi dengan teman-teman dan pengajarnya?
Because our cohort is a relatively small cohort (around 150 people), you get to know most people in the cohort by the end of semester 1 (or at least recognise their faces). I have never been friends with domestic students (mostly just acquaintances) but through Med school, I do form meaningful friendships with domestic students as well international students who are not Indonesians.
11. Menurutmu, apakah jurusan ini memperlengkapi kamu untuk mencapai cita-citamu?
Yes of course!
12. Tip kamu untuk mereka yang ingin masuk jurusan ini?
Work hard during your undergraduate degree! Get as high GPA as possible and prepare yourself well before you sit the GAMSAT. Also, practice for the interview with friends or if possible, with those who have got into Med school. [IM]
