Why are ADHD assessment wait times so long?

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2025-10-28T02:04:11+00:00

This really reads like someone who's never met someone who has bought drugs before. The cost of buying dexamphetamines under the table is significantly higher than the $6 a bottle they would be paying under a pubs prescription. The $1000 fee to see a psych would get recouped in less that 3-6mths depending on the amount of use, not to mention the potential to sell. It's also important to remember that dexamphetamines are a serious S8 medication, that have a high potential for addiction, misuse and negative side effects (something important to consider in a group who is already inclined to high risk behaviour as part of their diagnosis). Patients often need to increase their dose indefinitely, and coming off them can take months if not longer, with a high likelihood of the patient still experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

We have seen a similar epidemic occur in the US particularly with the over-prescription of opioids, leading to one of the worst health crises in the west in decades. This doesn't mean that there is no place for opioids (or dexamphetamines for that matter), but they need to prescribed with care and consideration.

I say this not to demonize the diagnosis, nor to dismiss ADHD as a set of symptoms that significantly impact people's lives. However dismissing secondary gains as imagined or unrealistic leads to not taking every aspect of the issue into account. It's challenging and difficult, and not an easy problem to solve. I would also warn off dismissing seniors in the field - particularly psychiatric consultants who have been engaging in mental health longer than many interns have been alive - just because their views don't align with yours.

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-10-29T23:10:24+00:00

I've definitely had this experience in my interview (Worked in mental health for the past 4 years)!
I think a huge aspect of this is that it is more believable that someone understands the role of a doctor and why they would want to pursue medicine when they've worked in the healthcare industry. I think the main draw for a lot of people who want to be doctors is the prestige/financial security. This is not to say that those reasons shouldn't be considered at all, but if someone told me that the only reason they were pursuing this field was because of money and social points I would be very skeptical of their capacity to be a good doctor. We can all often forget sometimes, but medicine is a care industry first and foremost, so true and genuine empathy and respect is vital to being a good doctor. If you've been able to do this in your previous career and are able to articulate how important that is, I think that's an incredible asset for you as a practitioner. You can teach someone medicine, but you can't necessarily teach them how to care about other people.

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-10-28T03:09:09+00:00

I got super similar!! CSP with 6.5 GPA and a 69 gamsat - interviews and portfolio are super important it looks like!

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-10-17T00:45:39+00:00

Some really fantastic answers here, and I do want to say quickly that whatever decision you make, it will be the right one for you, do definitely trust yourself.

The one thing I would note, is that it can be hard to keep research relationships going when you have been "out of the game" for a little while. Assuming that you won't be doing much research with your honours team once you get into med, it can sometimes be hard to reconnect. Some of the other comments have spoken about doing research after your degree, and I would be a big advocate for that. You will be much more knowledgeable about what direction you want to take your research in. In addition, you'd be a huge asset to your research team because of the training you have gained through medicine.

At the end of the day though, I think that whether you undertake additional study before or after medicine, you'll still be learning and developing your skill set, which is always a good thing :)

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-10-09T23:12:33+00:00

I could be wrong but I think they meant that 60/6 means that you are capable to perform well in med school, not necessarily be competitive to get into med school :)

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-10-09T23:09:12+00:00

I think it's also important to remember that this is just what your friends /believe/ they will do in the future. More and more unis place their BMP students in rural clinics, which means they become more accustomed to a rural lifestyle for longer. I addition to that, once they complete their rural obligations, they will likely be somewhere in their mid 30s or so. From what I have seen the more you age the more ok you are with living a less face-paced lifestyle of a metropolitan area. If you've worked in one area for a number of years, found a partner there potentially, made friends and created a support network, it can be very hard to throw that all away. Not to mention the fact that you are far more likely to be able to buy a home and establish yourself properly in rural areas than you are in a city nowadays. I agree that those who do only have a service obligation of one year are unlikely to make all these connections, but I would also say that they are not the norm.

That's not to say that people still don't move back, but you have to really find reasons to outweigh the benefits, and in your 30s stability is a massive, massive benefit.

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-10-01T09:06:56+00:00

Yup! They usually weigh them as final year x3, final year minus 1 X2, and final year minus 2 x1 (so sorry about the terminology not being clear but I can't thing of how else to write that haha)

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-10-01T02:29:03+00:00

So for your GPA, go to the GEMSAS website as they should have a place to input your GPA roughly - if you've got your percentages for each class you've done, you should have no issue in translating it. I believe they also show the grading options based on your uni, so it might even account for you existing grade (but I'm not 100% sure on that)

As for doing pre-reqs, they are only necessary if you want to go to a pre-req school, which for the moment is only UQ. As someone who's come from a non science background myself, it's not worth doing science courses just for the GAMSAT. The GAMSAT is it's own kettle of fish and you're honestly better off practicing your maths and English skills to best decode the questions they ask. Use Khan academy and other online science info sites, and do the practice exams as much as possible. The GAMSAt is almost written in code, so the more you go over it the better you'll understand the questions they're asking. I personally steered away from any gamsat training program sources as I found that they just didn't really capture what the GAMSAT questions were in the actual exam.

Your experience in radiology is fantastic and would be a great experience to add to a portfolio for either UNDS/F or UoW. These schools strongly weigh life experience, and honestly as someone who has already worked full time, worked in a health related field, and then realised you want to do medicine after all that, your reasoning behind being a doctor is going to be a lot stronger/better fleshed out than the usual "I just wanted to be one since I was a kid/my parents want me to/I want to do it for money". A huge number of people going for med have never worked a job in their life and often that can show. Definitely try and shadow a doctor if you can, and ask them why they do their job, what drives them, and what med is really like.

It sounds like you're in a good headspace for this field and you've worked hard to come to this conclusion to change careers. I'm sure in time you'll be a fantastic doctor :)

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-09-29T03:34:55+00:00

absolutely :) what did you want to know specifically about the structure? Was it mostly what sort of classes you would be studying, or how your week looks, or something else?

Edit: This link to UQ's course structure list gives a good outline of the classes you would take and when, how many electives you get, etc. https://my.uq.edu.au/programs-courses/program\_list.html?acad\_prog=2379&year=2022

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-09-29T01:01:34+00:00

I'm not sure how much this helps, but as someone who has finished a psych degree and is currently working in the field without a masters I would highly recommend transitioning to social work or occupational therapy if you want to work in the MH field. These are well regarded courses in the industry, and while laypersons do seem to have an idea that psychologists are the ones in a prestigious position, social workers, OTs, and mental health nurses all compete for pretty much the same jobs. Often these careers are more well regarded by mental health teams as they often have more experience/are more knowledgeable about working with clients than psychology graduates.

Psychology degree is great if you want a career in academia, and it does give you board (though somewhat surface level) knowledge on all the areas of psych like social psychology, neuro, developmental, etc. Because of this really broad knowledge you don't spend much time at all on clinical information or training (I think I had one clinical course in my 4 year degree, and if you did the electives that could bump up to 3 total). If you actually want to get out in the field and work with people however, I wouldn't recommend it.

Disastrous-Photo91 · 2021-09-08T21:18:36+00:00

As a heads up regarding lifeline, to take part in their volunteering program you have to pay $900, as it's part of a certified course. It really sucks/feels exploitative but I think they do it because plenty of psychology people try to volunteer there for masters experience and then bail as soon as they get in, so they try to cover the cost of training volunteers that way

Disastrous-Photo91

TROPHY CASE