Not entirely true. Most SAM leavers apply for IMU instead of OZ direct, as SAM is not widely accepted by medical schools in OZ. A SAM leaver with TER 99 has less chance of securing a place in Melbourne U than a Trinity foundation leaver with TER 98.

Some of my friends (3 of them to be exact), secured four As for A-level, but only applied for IMU-PMS option as the fee is much cheaper than full course overseas (after adding cost of living). One of them is currently twinned to Jefferson in the US, which according to him, is the cheapest PMS option (including cost of living, you will never believe how cheap things are in the US right now).

This post has been edited by hypermax: Apr 13 2009, 12:23 AM

i said many........i did not say all......students are in imu because they failed direct entry.....

sam is south australian sace exam, which is accepted by ALL australian universities and tafe.....as equivalent to all the other states' year 12 programme.....that's the whole point of doing an australian year 12 programme.......note sunway ausmat is based on wa's tee system, and some other colleges uses nsw's hsc.......(each state has their own education system).....

foundation programmes like trinity does NOT get a TER/ENTER/UAI ranking, which is accorded ONLY for formal year 12 programmes of all the states and territories of australia, EXCEPT for queensland, which adopts a system of OP instead of TER.......there is however, a system of relative conversion......in any case, trinity being the foundation programme for umelb, a portion of places are reserved for these students, and yes, one can get in with lower trinity results than the TER required.....(academic now, as there is no more undergraduate medicine or dentistry now).......

as for a-levels, 4a would translate into anything from ter90 and up......that is the problem with a-levels.......it fails to sub-stratify the top band of students......that is why british ivy leagues wants to use the a* scoring, and uses other exams, interviews and personal statements to further rank the top 10% of students who gets aaa or better in a-levels........

This post has been edited by limeuu: Apr 13 2009, 10:57 AM

Not really. You do save heaps, although don't expect to save 50% of the costs compared to those who went overseas straight into first year of uni. Depending on the currency exchange and when you started the course (as Aussie uni fees esp UniMelb skyrocketed in recent years), going through IMU may potentially save you up to 100-200K ringgit on tuition fees, possibly even more. And that alone, is a huge saving for paying parents... and don't forget the living costs one will save in Malaysia, especially if one's still staying with parents, using parents' car, eating meals at home etc.

Yes, if "easier entry" to you means lower entry score like what limeuu mentioned below.
Think of it as an alternative choice, or a second chance.

The bolded part is true, but not always the case. There are people who choose not to go directly due to various personal reasons, mainly financial issues; but quite a number of students went into IMU instead as their TER score did not meet the requirements - the minimum 97 TER for UniMelb (previously of course) is misguiding as competition for places would push the requirement score unofficially up to 99 and above.

As mentioned many times before, the IMU-PMS matching system is like a lottery. They did explain the matching process to us before, but conflicts, dissatisfaction and subsequent b*tching and appeals will occur every time. The best advice is still to put wherever that you want to go as number 1 choice.

This post has been edited by StarGhazzer: Apr 14 2009, 07:12 AM

As limeuu said, Trinity does not give an ENTER score.

Their marks are by percentage. You must have meant a 98% average which is of course quite hard to achieve. Assuming you take 4 subjects, you can only lose 8 marks for a 98% average. Also, marks are not scaled, unlike VCE or SAM. This means that if no matter how well/how terrible the cohort did, the marks will still be the same.

I have heard people from Trinity having less than the 98% entering Melb Uni medicine. Several times.

Is trinity somehow like a shortcut to enter medicine in Melb Uni? Me too have heard of few who enters the course with less than 98%. My batchmates.

Yes, most people that get in will average around 96%. As I've said earlier, its not easy to only lose 8 marks.

But I wouldn't call it a shortcut though. I've known many who think its really easy but end up with 90% and 80% (dashing their dreams)
Those in the 90s end up in IMU and those in the 80s end up in Manipal.

Most people I know had their average pulled down because of English (which is 70% literature and 30% drama).
They will usually get a mark in the low 90s for English and make it up by getting 98-100% for maths/chem etc.

Fancy that. Melb doctor quoting Shakespeare while operating on patients. What for?

the foundation is for uni entry, not just for medicine lah......

in any case, language is a generic skill, useful in any course/profession.......

oz uni emphasise a lot on being broadly trained, with broad interests.......which is why a quarter of the most courses is actually electives, which can be anything......

so nothing wrong with medical students taking electives in the classics, or drama, or music etc.....and nothing wrong with would be medical students doing literature.......

Obviously you can't comprehend literature in any other context other than Shakespeare.

Have you seen a VCE year 12 exam paper?

Well, maybe I will make live easier for you.

http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce/studie...08english-w.pdf

That's how the English exams are like in Trinity too. You try getting 98% for that...

This post has been edited by zltan: Apr 15 2009, 12:20 PM

While good command of the language is extremely important, not least the need to communicate well with the patient, but the degree Melb Uni requires is IMO, unnecessarily tough.

If one were to get 98 grade overall, it can be extremely difficult if the English is included in it.

For a heavily science based course like medicine, I reckon they can insist the science subject be at 98 but exclude English. Of course, must also have good English grade but not necessary to be 98.

This post has been edited by Optiplex330: Apr 15 2009, 04:54 PM

Even then, it's undeniable that quite a number of seats in Melb U are reserved for Trinity foundation students. Also, i have heard mixed reviews for Trinity foundation. Most of my friends told me they got 88-93 even though they played through the foundation, while it is almost impossible to secure TER>90 if you were to be lazy throughout SAM.

BTW, i do agree with what Optiplex said. English for Trinity in Melb U is overkill, especially in the field of science.

Just curious, are other subjects difficult as well?

P.S pls bare in mind that i have no intention of belittling you (unlike how you belittled me and my counterparts in local med schools). All the statements above are based on the info i have gathered (mostly hearsay). Pls clarify. Thanks.

This post has been edited by hypermax: Apr 16 2009, 02:18 AM

can i join in..i loved medical but no chance to study medical..

Yoyo! Dear senior any recommendation about the references of tropical diseases and anatomy,eg book,website and etc. Thanks!

Well, you can probably start on anatomy but not tropical diseases yet. Get familiarize with the basic sciences before going into some more specialized disciplines.

The recommended anatomy textbooks were, KeithLMoore, Chauresia and Gray's in my schools. You could also try out Snells and Tortora. Netter is a must have book throughout your studies, facillitates you during dissection.

Tropical diseases are more to microbiology if i've not mistaken, so get used to the terms first before you go detail into it. General microbiology.

You made up your mind yet? Enter a medical school first, then we can elaborate more about that.

I will enrolled into MMA(russia) in this september! As I know KSMU(kursk state medical university do not have proper reading material,they have to 100% rely on lecturer but I dont know moscow do the same or not!

So,I need all the senior help to recommend what book I needed as a good references for both pre-clinical and clinical! In future,I will need more help from you all

For Tropical diseases I don't think russian medical school will go through it ,so later when I in the medical school after I familiar with basic medical sciences I will need all senior guidance to make me familiar with it!


Beside that,the good way to study medicine.All subjects! How to effectively memorize or familiar with it!

During my clinical years,I will need some update from you all about clinical skills and medical trend needed in malaysia.I will also spend extra time to learn in the hospital in russia,in order to accumulate the clinical experiences.

So,I say thanks first to all the senior here!

I don't want to be claimed as Incompetent HO when I graduate

This post has been edited by MBBS siang: Apr 16 2009, 09:26 AM

Wow, so ethusiastic of you. Lol. Anyhow, finish your pre-clinicals first before speaking on clinical subjects. You can now get started on anatomy and physiology, or even biochemistry as well if you could understand them. Other subjects, put it aside untill you're familliar with these 3.

Clinical skills, you will only learn it in year 3 in russia. Certain medschools, 2nd year. So study hard and get thru the first 2 year first before talking about hospital trainings. The first 2 years is enough of getting you into sleepless nights already. Haha. Anyways! Wish you all the best in you journey to be a doctor, a very long way to go.

I know I know! I just try to plan it well! haha....then for biochemistry and physiology which book you will suggest?

Biochem, Lippincots or Harpers biochemistry. Physiology, Guyton will be the most complete book. Ganong's review of physiology is also not bad. Anyways, these are only my recommendations. There are so many other books available, choose one which suits you.

And just another advice for you, planning for something ahead is obviously good but don't plan too far ahead yet. The time will definitely come, get your base strong before you proceed on to the clinical subjects. Basic sciences are one of the most important component in medicine in my opinion, it does help sometimes during differential diagnosis. Even postgrads examination does have abit of basic medical sciences.