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!

:)

Down and up again!

Good morning (for another 15 mins or so)!

Today is a semi-sunny Saturday here in Dublin. Today I am heading into work in the afternoon. So am going to try fit in some study now before I have to go.

After my entry last night, I have to be honest, I felt very depressed and discouraged about my being able to do graduate medicine.

It seems like I have not nearly enough time and I began to sincerely doubt my capability to actually pass the test and go on to med school.

I guess the fact that I have no real experience at studying chemistry and none at physics is what's getting me down. I am taking on two very challenging subjects from scratch this summer, while working full time and not only learning to drive but also getting fit and healthy both physically and mentally.

So I went to bed last night feeling really down. I wanted to talk to someone about what I'm going through but really nobody gets it. They don't get the passion and the willingness to work my butt off to do this. They think I'm just a hopeless dreamer....

What was I talking about...?

Ha no really it is frustrating facing something so terrifying alone.

I don't know if anybody reading this is spiritual or religious but I do believe in God. I don't know quite what I believe about God but I prayed last night and read the Bible (I don't consider myself a Christian I just like reading it, lots of reassurance and wisdom in it! ), and I just felt like this feeling of renewed determination came over me.

It may be difficult, it seemed to say, but if you want it you can do it. It will require a lot of changes on your part, but you can do it!

So I'm trying to focus on that positive feeling, and not on any self-doubt.

Well enough talking time to take action and go study for my exams!

Have a great day! :)

Ps. This is a quote from the Bible but you don't have to believe in God to apply it to your life. It's just about being positive and taking action. :)