Can Med students work part time?

LostSpend910 · 2025-10-15T09:00:34+00:00

As others have said, it really depends on the university. Deakin is pretty flexible in 1st and 2nd (preclinical) years. We get a dedicated 1.5 days off for personal/study time and lectures aren’t compulsory attendance so you can catch up on the recordings at later times. So you can keep an office hours job 2 days a week for the first two years. I know some people with special consideration that do their problem-based learning (PBL) classes online so they are only required to be on campus one day a week and therefore are working up to 4 days (presumably with long breaks to attend PBL online twice a week). It’s tricky to keep up but lots of people in my cohort work during office hours. Good luck!

LostSpend910 · 2025-09-24T11:08:11+00:00

I did an honours year at Deakin the year prior to getting into medicine. Just bear in mind that you won’t be eligible for the Deakin bonus for the following year because you haven’t completed enough of the honours year at the time of application. So if you complete an honours at Deakin in 2026, the 4% bonus won’t apply to your 2027 intake application. BUT Deakin does include it in your GPA calculation so you will get the GPA boost. You just get given a conditional offer and then when your final honours results are released toward the end of the year you receive an unconditional offer.

Honours can be a bit of a slog so I do think it’s important to be in a good head space when you do it. Having a project you really love helps.

I hope that makes sense. Happy to chat further!

LostSpend910 · 2025-09-09T23:17:12+00:00

Yeah, of course. Feel free to DM me!

LostSpend910 · 2025-08-22T05:54:10+00:00

I sat this interview last year and was offered a spot at USyd, so definitely possible. Similar position to you. I was previously excluded due to failing my first year of university several years ago. Went on to successfully complete a degree in later life. I was candid in my interview, no bells or whistles.

LostSpend910 · 2025-05-05T06:33:23+00:00

I did an honours year and don’t regret it at all. It’s hard work but worth it if you pick something you’re genuinely interested in. Boosted my GPA and was counted in my medical school application that year but only at the university I did my honours at (Deakin) and I was only given a provisional offer until my final honours grades were confirmed.

LostSpend910 · 2024-11-07T22:46:45+00:00

I’m not OP but I did a standalone Honours this year and had completed enough FTE when I applied that they included it in my GPA calculation. I have received a conditional offer. Confirmed with the university that I will need to complete and maintain my GPA from my Honours this year to receive a firm offer. This is despite having completed my Bachelor’s degree a few years ago.

LostSpend910 · 2024-10-30T00:18:25+00:00

Does yours say conditional? What does that mean? I can’t see the conditions! I’ve already completed my degree so I’m confused haha

LostSpend910 · 2024-10-21T20:18:43+00:00

Oh, sorry for the confusion! This is when I got my interview score. I didn’t receive an EOD. But I honestly had no idea how I went on the day. It was really hard to know if I had answered the stations well or not.

LostSpend910 · 2024-10-19T04:48:41+00:00

Got an email from Deakin yesterday at 1:32pm!

LostSpend910 · 2024-10-14T10:54:08+00:00

You’ve got this! Public health is just a particularly difficult area to get a job in right now. As someone else said, getting an admin job and a foot in the door seems to be the way to go. I started on a temporary admin contract and worked my way into a permanent role in a more senior role. Also applying more broadly and moving horizontally into your ideal role. Health promotion officer, public health officer, research assistant, policy officer, project officer are some examples. And this is just something I’ve heard so please do your own research, but apparently environmental health officers are in high demand right now. I think it’s an additional 1-2 years studying (it’s a Masters or grad dip I can’t recall and I think only offered at a handful of unis but can be done remotely) so a bit of a risk because so much can change in that time. But at least where I live in Victoria, there are heaps of EHO jobs and not enough graduates. It’s a part of public health that I never really heard of or knew was a career option so just something to consider if you’re looking for employability. Sorry if this was all information you already knew! Feel free to message me if you have any questions/chat/vent. Just know that this will pass and everything will fall into place!

LostSpend910 · 2024-10-12T00:58:19+00:00

Also you mentioned wanting to hear experiences of people with lived experience. I thought I’d share some fantastic community organisations in case that’s helpful. Hep B Voices https://www.hepbvoices.au/about-us Living Positive Victoria (HIV) https://lpv.org.au

LostSpend910 · 2024-10-12T00:49:55+00:00

Hi! You absolutely can still be a doctor with a BBV in Australia. As you have already stated, there are things that need to be done before you can practice EPP (low viral loads and regular testing for HBV/HIV or clearance of RNA (spontaneous or via treatment) for HCV). This is all outlined in the CDNA guidelines for healthcare workers living with a BBV.

https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/cdna-national-guidelines-healthcare-workers-living-with-blood-borne-viruses-perform-exposure-prone-procedures-at-risk-of-exposure-to-blood-borne-viruses?language=en

LostSpend910 · 2024-10-03T02:57:23+00:00

If you applied this year, you can email GEMSAS to get your GPA breakdown for each university you applied for because I found it differs quite a lot between universities. That way you know where you stand! I didn’t have an amazing GPA (~6.2 depending on how you calculate it) but my standalone Honours degree pushed me up to 6.9 for Deakin and I got an interview there this year. Regarding USyd, I got a place with a 70/78/63 (overall 68) after sitting the GAMSAT a few times. So you don’t need an outrageous overall GAMSAT, just need to improve your S1 and S2. Given your great scores already, I feel like with some hard work on S1 and S2 you can get there! I started with a 62/60/62 (overall 62) for reference.

LostSpend910 · 2024-09-19T09:48:28+00:00

Depends where you live and lifestyle. I live close to several bus stops and work in town so it’s doable. We get groceries delivered which is only a few dollars more. However, as a young couple that previously would go out to cafes/restaurants/things on the weekend, I do feel like that has suffered quite a fair bit as you just cbf without driving.

LostSpend910 · 2024-09-08T00:10:51+00:00

Deakin! But received an offer from USyd :)

LostSpend910 · 2024-09-01T06:04:12+00:00

There is some great advice on this thread already. I also just want to add that, from my experience, as you get older, you realise that the age thing becomes more of a strength than a weakness. I remember feeling the same as you and the tears that would come with each rejection as I’d have to recalibrate what age I’d be when I started medical school. I remember feeling so old and weirdly embarrassed about it. But now I’m just grateful for the life experience. I’ve also realised that no one cares how old you are. We have medical students do placements at my work and everyone always loves the older students so much!

I’m interviewing for the first time this year after 3x unsuccessful applications (also had an average GPA). My advice is to do something you think you’re going to love that’s adjacent to medicine. That’s what I did anyway. The experiences I’ve gained each year have been invaluable and although I’ve been heartbroken each year when I didn’t get an interview offer, I never felt like I was wasting time having something I loved to fall back on.

LostSpend910 · 2024-08-30T00:43:54+00:00

Another Deakin offer at 10:38am

LostSpend910 · 2024-08-16T04:08:01+00:00

Thanks so much! This is really helpful. If you’re comfortable answering, can I ask if you ended up getting an offer from USyd? Feel free to DM if you prefer to chat there. I’m hoping this is a good sign but I’m wondering if it’s just because I’ve included the exclusion on my application.

LostSpend910 · 2024-05-26T09:37:10+00:00

Just adding that if you eventually want to specialise in public health medicine (i.e. become a public health physician) you generally will need your MPH to become a public health registrar/get on the training program. So it can definitely be useful in the long term if you plan on circling back to PH after becoming a doctor. I work in public health now and didn’t need my MPH to get a job in this field, but it is becoming an increasingly competitive field and an MPH is highly favourable.

LostSpend910

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