Medical students train at Murray Bridge campus ... and so can you
Think you need super-high marks to get into medicine? Think again – these students are all transitioning into their new careers from other fields.
If you dream of becoming a medical doctor, and you have a degree in anything, the path may be more accessible than you imagined.
Flinders University students completing the Doctor of Medicine rural stream have taken the first of several visits to the university’s Murray Bridge campus for clinical training sessions and lectures.
The students came from a variety of backgrounds, such as mining, nursing, physio and accounting.
Their ages range from their 20s to just under 40.
The course is open to students with any undergraduate degree who successfully pass a graduate medical school admissions test.
For example, Rohan Broadhead was previously an accountant, but wanted to enter the medical field.
“I was looking for something more fulfilling, and I got it,” he said.
“On the first day, I was hands-on already and in an emergency department ... I was able to survive that.”
Flinders Rural and Remote Health SA’s community engagement and communications officer, Elspeth Radford, said, the intent of the course was to expose students to all the experiences in the life of a rural GP and hospital.
“We encourage them to fall in love with where they’re living,” she said.
“The students often say that they get a broader and more intense experience than their city counterparts.
“We want country students to apply to study health disciplines because they’re more likely to go back to rural locations afterwards.”
Ms Radford also challenged the notion that people always had to achieve super-high marks to get into medicine.
“You do have to be bright, but you also have to be good with people and care,” she said.
- More information: www.flinders.edu.au.
