Bon Giourno?

Well I am suffering from a serious case of procrastination and apathy. I just can't seem to get anything done at the moment. I think it's because I'm such a goal oriented person. I always like to plan what is going to happen and where I'm heading.

I've been slowly coming to terms with how unlikely it is of doing medicine over here. The fees are just so high. It puts so much pressure on you to do well in the course and even afterwards. I read about one woman who graduated and works as a doctor but feels suicidal because of the pressure of debt from her student loans. I don't want that kind of debt haning over my head.

Also another reason is I don't want to have to get my mother as a guarantor on the loan. It's too much to ask of her. Especially as she has helped so much in my education up to now.

Soooo Irelands out, UK would be great I know that there are more grants etc available for students, but the fees are still high. Around £9,000.

Now I'm thinking of trying Italy where fees range from around 650-6500. That's the scary option of moving completely abroad.

I'm a shy person and I struggle with depression and fibromyalgia so the prospect of moving away from all my support systems to a country I've never been to and don't speak the native language is a pretty intimidating one!

I also have to take an entrance exam which requires knowledge of science subjects. Not great for me.

This all probably means I'll need to take another year out after this degree I'm doing to get ready for it all. I know I can't be impatient about something so important but I feel like I've been waiting forever to do this. It's just horrible.

I probably need to stop worrying and planning so much for the future and just enjoy the present a bit more but I actually don't know how to do that. I am always thinking ahead. Always!

Well better head off and try get something done either work or meditation or something! :P

:)

Costly Courses and GAMSAT Prep!

I've been away from this blog for a while now. I'm struggling to find a way to get enough money together to pay for my college so it's not exactly encouraging me to come here and blog about the future when it's hard to see how I'm going to get there.

I am trying to remain hopeful and positive though. I WILL find a way through this undergrad and then onto the next stage. This next stage poses even bigger financial challenges though!

So lately when I get a spare few minutes, I have been looking into cheaper ways to study medicine as a post-grad. My first choice has always been to stay in Dublin and study at my old uni, UCD. However, the fees there are around 14,000 euro a year. Students are granted a loan to complete the course and then have to pay it back. But of course it takes a huge amount of careful consideration to sign on to a loan of that magnitude!

Honestly it scares the heck out of me! That's more money than I currently make in a year! :/

My next choice would be to look at studying in England. I've been there several times especially to London which is where I would love to study so it's not too intimidating a prospect. Also from looking at the cost of post-grad medicine over there it works out to be about 4,000 euro cheaper a year!

A couple of weeks ago I came across an article in a newspaper about studying across Europe. I started investigating how much it would cost to do medicine through English in different countries. The answer? A lot less!!!

Post-grad medicine in general seems roughly around the same figure as Ireland or the UK with the cheapest I have found in Poland for 10,000 euro a year. For the traditional full lenght course, fees start from around 1,000 euro a year upwards.

These courses are all taught through English and welcome European students to apply. However my guess is that you really would want to pick up the native language pretty quicky if you are treating patents etc.

But it's definately something to think about. I'm hearing about more and more people who are going abroad and getting their medical degrees before coming back here to work so ithis is a very real option for anyone wanting to pursue a career in medicine.

If anyone is interested in having a look at what programmes are offered around Europe (and at what cost) check out: http://www.eunicas.ie/

I love to let my mind wander and think of the future, about studying medince and becoming a doctor. But let's face it dreams don't just materialise overnight. It takes a lot of effort and hard work. So while it's important to have a clear vision of where you want to be in the future, I know I have to keep focused and chipping away at the work I'm doing now.

My GAMSAT preperation is seriously lacking. I've been letting the prospect overwhelm me and discourage me when I need to just give it a go. I started reading a bit on organic chemistry which I think I will really enjoy actually. Because it just feels more relevant than reading about electron orbitals etc. But the basics are essential so gotta get those down before jumping into the fun stuff!

For anyone needing to improve your sciences I really recommend paying a visit to the Khan Academy website. They offer FREE lessons on Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths as well as other non-GAMSAT related courses such as Art History (although let's face if with the GAMSAT anything could be relevant!)

Here's the link should you be interested:http://www.khanacademy.org/

Anyway that's about it for now. Have to go work on a journal article I'm writing. Has to be ready for publication by the end of the month. My oh my!

:)