Pre med course?

LCstudent123

hi i'm hoping to do medicine in ucd next year. Alot of people have been telling me about a pre med course. i'm still a bit confused about this. could anyone enlighten me on this. do all colleges offer this course? how many years will i be studying medecine then with the pre med course? is it beneficial? Thanks

QueenOfLeon

LCstudent123 wrote: »

hi i'm hoping to do medicine in ucd next year. Alot of people have been telling me about a pre med course. i'm still a bit confused about this. could anyone enlighten me on this. do all colleges offer this course? how many years will i be studying medecine then with the pre med course? is it beneficial? Thanks

Heyy im hoping to do medicine next year too! Hopefully in galway or ucd. I think those 2 and rcsi are the only colleges that offer a pre-med, which makes the medicine course 6 years, whereas in trinity and cork its a 5 year course.

You can still do the 5 year in galway, rcsi or ucd, i think they offer it to about 20% of the cao applicants. In galway you need minimum HL C3 in two sciences, in ucd a HL C3 in chemistry, and in rcsi HL C3 in chemistry and 1 other science.

Ive just asked about how beneficial the pre-med is in the post "questions about becoming a doctor", before i saw your post, so check that out later to see if anyone answered!!

By the way, by saying 5 year/6 year course that doesnt include the compulsory year as an intern in a hospital the year after you graduate
Anyway, thats all i know about all that, im only in leaving cert aswel so if im wrong on any of these points someone please correct me!!

IluvMeddling

I'm pretty sure RCSI have phased out pre-med and its just 5 years now. But Galway and UCD still do it.
I'd definitely encourage pre-med unless you've done all the science subjects the LC offers. Also you to really know your class and be comfortable with your college before the onslaught of work : )

sillymoo

IluvMeddling wrote: »

I'm pretty sure RCSI have phased out pre-med and its just 5 years now. But Galway and UCD still do it.
I'd definitely encourage pre-med unless you've done all the science subjects the LC offers. Also you to really know your class and be comfortable with your college before the onslaught of work : )

Nope RCSI still has premed and if you do not have 2 science subjects from the LC you will have to do it

smk89

Hi i did premed in UCD last year. Its basically a year of modules in chemistry, biology, physics and other useless wishy,washy stuff.
Id recommend it because it gives you a year where you can work but settle into college life and learn how to study in uni. Its alot of fun.

If you want the lecture notes i have them stored on my computer.

Vorsprung

I'd recommend doing it. You bust your balls for 2 years to get medicine so you may as well take a handy enough year to go out on the beer and enjoy college life before the more serious work starts.

MatthewVII

I opted not to do premed (the way I saw it, I'd be in college long enough without doing the extra year). Definitely regretted it though, from what i hear its a great year to enjoy being a proper college student. plus coming into a new class where people already know each other is pretty intimidating! Definitely recommend not messing out on all the craic

Breezer

Up till now, I've recommended it to anyone asking. I did it in UCD and it was a great year. I didn't study biology for the leaving cert., and it helped to fill in the gaps in my knowledge so I had some idea of what lecturers were talking about when I went into 1st Med. The same would've gone for physics and chemistry.

On top of that, from what I gather UCD has made premed into a more serious year since my time, moving some subjects that would've previously been studied in 1st Med down to premed, so you may actually miss out on a couple of things if you skip it. They'll all be covered again later, but it'd make it easier to get them the first time round.

And it's great to get a handy year where you can relax a bit, socialise and get to know your classmates. It's not just about partying either: my class (3rd Med) is extremely uncompetitive in the sense that we all get on really well and try help each other out as much as possible with studying etc., which makes things a lot more pleasant all round, and I put a lot of this down to how well the majority of us got to know each other in premed.

That was my advice up till now. What's changed? Well, it's highly likely that people coming to college next year will be paying some sort of fees. So while I'd still recommend doing premed, you'd want to keep an eye on how this situation develops and see how an extra year would fit with your own financial circumstances. Don't make it all about money though. I'd still say the year is well worth it.

Good luck in the LC

me2gud4u

I did pre med last yr in UCD and gosh....whata year!Seriously missing out if you don't do it!As mentioned above, it really does help to get to know your year and go a bit mad after the leaving cert!There is a great atmosphere in the current first med yr because we all had a great year last year and took the time to head out and go crazy at every given opportunity. Any regrets?Nope not at all and given the workload this yr, i'm so glad I did it!Don't think I would have handled it as well straight after the leaving cert and unbeknownst to yourself, you kind of build up support systems in pre med by making such good friends, networking etc, which proves invaluable!Getting to know other years in pre med is great too..........in fact currently using notes from a friend of mine in second med that I got to know in pre med and only for her I would not have a notion of this embryology!!:D

Basically, if you financial circumstances permit, you would be mad not to do it.....yes it has been made a bit tougher in the last few years but it is still great fun!

Kevster

Can I just ask something that never seems to be mentioned much when these medicine threads appear: How on earth do you guys intend to pay for doing Medicine? I would love to do it but the cost is a huge deterrent.

Breezer

I assume you mean as a primary degree done straight after the Leaving Cert? If so, there's still no definite word on what form fees will take, so planning it before that's announced is a bit pointless. Keep an eye on the situation and make choices once you know what's happening.

Salman93

smk89 wrote: »

Hi i did premed in UCD last year. Its basically a year of modules in chemistry, biology, physics and other useless wishy,washy stuff.
Id recommend it because it gives you a year where you can work but settle into college life and learn how to study in uni. Its alot of fun.

If you want the lecture notes i have them stored on my computer.

Hi, i'm going to do pre-med this year in RCSI. And is the pre-med in RCSI the same as in UCD. If it is can u please give me the lecture notes?

i'd appreciate any help

Mari1xoxo

Hi, just wondering is premed in UCD compulsory and is it true that they are planning on phasing it out in the next few years?

QueenOfLeon

Mari1xoxo wrote: »

Hi, just wondering is premed in UCD compulsory and is it true that they are planning on phasing it out in the next few years?

Its compulsory if you don't have 2 sciences or don't get the HC3 in them.

Piste

Very few people get to skip premed in UCD, it's almost always mature students and those who have A1s in all three sciences (so I hear anyway). Only the top % of applicants are offered it. A friend of mine got 8A1s and wasn't even offered the option of skipping premed.

In RCSI you just need the HC3 in chem and another science.

Breezer

Piste wrote: »

Very few people get to skip premed in UCD, it's almost always mature students and those who have A1s in all three sciences (so I hear anyway). Only the top % of applicants are offered it. A friend of mine got 8A1s and wasn't even offered the option of skipping premed.

That's kinda strange. If true, things have changed a lot since I did it. I had 600 points alright, but I didn't even do LC Physics or Biology, and I had the opportunity to skip it. Very glad I didn't, even if I'd now have money and a job :eek:

Salman93

What type of laptop will they give you?

Breezer

Salman93 wrote: »

What type of laptop will they give you?

Who said anything about a laptop?

red1992

smk89 wrote: »

Hi i did premed in UCD last year. Its basically a year of modules in chemistry, biology, physics and other useless wishy,washy stuff.
Id recommend it because it gives you a year where you can work but settle into college life and learn how to study in uni. Its alot of fun.

If you want the lecture notes i have them stored on my computer.

Hi I'm going to do pre-med in RCSI too. can i please have your lecture notes?!
I appreciate it alot. Thanks

Salman93

Breezer wrote: »

Who said anything about a laptop?

RCSI gives its pre-med students a laptop. Does anyone what type of laptop??

red1992

Hi
I heard that it was either a Mac or hp. Congrats btw on getting into RCSI. I'm going to do the 6 year program there, what about you? ;p

Breezer

Salman93 wrote: »

RCSI gives its pre-med students a laptop. Does anyone what type of laptop??

Well UCD students get a snazzy USB key

MicraBoy

red1992 wrote: »

Hi
I heard that it was either a Mac or hp. Congrats btw on getting into RCSI. I'm going to do the 6 year program there, what about you? ;p

It's a PC, they stopped doing the Macs a few years ago.

Salman93

red1992 wrote: »

Hi
I heard that it was either a Mac or hp. Congrats btw on getting into RCSI. I'm going to do the 6 year program there, what about you? ;p

Thanks man. Ya I'm doing the 6 year program too.