Top of HSC and only 20 years study ahead
1 Mar 11
Voice readers may recall a recent story (August 2010) about the achievements of Dominique Tynan, who was part of the Australian team at the National Youth Science Forum held in Canada in May.
During that visit she was inspired particularly by a presentation to the students from a neuro scientist.
This may have been the career decider for Dominique who has chosen the field of medicine as her next academic endeavour.
With a first place in the HSC students for PDHPE (see Dominique’s letter) she has made a long term committment in which we wish her a continued positive contribution to the welfare of the community.
To the Editor
I am extremely excited and grateful to have received a place into Undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery at the University of New South Wales with a Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship.
There were only eight scholarships offered out of the 208 medicine places at UNSW.
When I received the UAC offer at 9 pm on Wednesday the 19th, I actually cried in disbelief.
In my HSC results, I was first in the state for PDHPE (the 5th most popular HSC subject after English, Maths, Business Studies and Biology) and I achieved a band 6 (>90%) in all my HSC subjects which were English Advanced, English Extension 1, Mathematics, Mathematics Extension 1, Chemistry, Biology and PDHPE.
This meant I received a "Premiers Award" for being an "All-Rounder".
My overall ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) was 99.2.
To obtain a place into Medicine though it is not all about the final mark being the ATAR, but also a one hour interview, the UMAT, (Undergraduate Medicine & Health Admissions Test).
My future plans are to begin university this year at UNSW, where I will be staying on campus at Basser College.
The medicine degree is a six year course and combines clinical placements, practicals, scenario-based learning and Independent research.
Following the degree I will complete pre-vocational training as an intern and then as a Resident Medical Officer which will take one to two years.
I will then have to gain fellowship of an Australian Medical College where I could specialise to become a GP or surgeon etc which can take three to six years depending on choice of specialisation.
Since I am accepting a Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship I will have to commit to six years practice in a rural area of my choice after gaining fellowship.
For now that seems like the next 16 to 20 years of my life, which is daunting, but life is about the journey not the destination, so I am not the least bit worried.
I currently have no intention to undertake a certain specialty as I think I will come to that decision after I begin the degree.
Kind regards,
Dominique Tynan