One year of biomedical science then transfer to medicine

IrishLassie26

I have heard that it is possible to complete the first year of a biomedical science degree while repeating the Hpat during this first year and then transfer to a 5 year medicine undergraduate course through the cao.

Is this possible to do? Has anyone gone this route?

Thanks for any help or advice 😄

Gallagher1

IrishLassie26 wrote: »

I have heard that it is possible to complete the first year of a biomedical science degree while repeating the Hpat during this first year and then transfer to a 5 year medicine undergraduate course through the cao.

Is this possible to do? Has anyone gone this route?

Thanks for any help or advice 😄

You don't really 'transfer'..you get your points, drop out and reapply to the CAO and accept a spot in Medicine in August with everyone else. Huge numbers of students in all types of degrees do this every year. You can be put into a 6 year course though if you don't pass/do a chemistry module however.

IrishLassie26

Gallagher1 wrote: »

You don't really 'transfer'..you get your points, drop out and reapply to the CAO and accept a spot in Medicine in August with everyone else. Huge numbers of students in all types of degrees do this every year. You can be put into a 6 year course though if you don't pass/do a chemistry module however.

So would you have to pay the drop out fee? and are you guaranteed to get into a 5 year course if you do pass a chemistry module?

Anita Blow

No there is no transferring. What the people you have heard from are saying is that some people just start college in a biomedical course (because it's related to the course content in medicine) and resit the HPAT while in 1st year with hopes that it'll bring their combined HPAT+LC score up to the minimum points requirement for medicine. You matriculate just the same as you did the first time during 6th year- being in biomedicine confers no entry advantages.

Since you have already completed 1st year of a degree, if you got into medicine you would have to pay full fees for the first year only (~9000 euro) and then return to the normal 3000 fees from 2nd year onward.

Level 5 Vegan

I know several people who did science or biomedical science in NUIG in first year, applied for a fee waiver which they were granted when they started 1st med then (so they skipped pre med), after applying through the CAO.

I don't know if they still do it though, it was a fee waiver granted by the university, never an actual formal transfer.

IrishLassie26

Level 5 Vegan wrote: »

I know several people who did science or biomedical science in NUIG in first year, applied for a fee waiver which they were granted when they started 1st med then (so they skipped pre med), after applying through the CAO.

I don't know if they still do it though, it was a fee waiver granted by the university, never an actual formal transfer.

I'm sorry I'm rather new to all this!

Could you explain what a fee waiver is please?

Slow Show

IrishLassie26 wrote: »

I'm sorry I'm rather new to all this!

Could you explain what a fee waiver is please?

If you drop out of one course after a year and start another course, you will usually have to pay fees for the first year of the new course (or two years if you dropped out after two years in your old course etc.) It's one of the drawbacks of planning on doing another course for the year and resitting the HPAT, but in Galway at any rate, not sure of the other colleges and not sure if it's still the case as it was a few years ago, if you do a year of Biomed and get the points when repeating the HPAT, Biomed would be counted as pre-med and you could get into the five-year course with only the usual registration fees to pay.

IrishLassie26

Slow Show wrote: »

If you drop out of one course after a year and start another course, you will usually have to pay fees for the first year of the new course (or two years if you dropped out after two years in your old course etc.) It's one of the drawbacks of planning on doing another course for the year and resitting the HPAT, but in Galway at any rate, not sure of the other colleges and not sure if it's still the case as it was a few years ago, if you do a year of Biomed and get the points when repeating the HPAT, Biomed would be counted as pre-med and you could get into the five-year course with only the usual registration fees to pay.

Does anyone know is this still the case where you only pay the usual registration fees?
I tried contacting the fees office in Nuig but I've got no reply

Gallagher1

IrishLassie26 wrote: »

Does anyone know is this still the case where you only pay the usual registration fees?
I tried contacting the fees office in Nuig but I've got no reply

Yeah I'm 99% sure it still is the case but they can be quite picky when it comes to what courses they'll allow it. Biomed seems to be fine but 2 mates of mine did a year of TCD Science/UCD Engineering before doing Medicine and they had to pay the full fees for a year.