Western Sydney University International Student Guide 1 Page

Western Sydney University International Student Guide 1 | Page

Western Sydney University Medical Society: International Student Guide 2017

International student representatives 2017

Jarred Pezzullo – Year 5

Email:

Introduction

Hello fellow aliens. My name is Jarred Pezzullo and I am your international representatives for 2017 and couldn’t be more excited.Leaving past friend and family behind will seem intimidating at first when you arrive in Australia.Throughout the years you will form meaningful relationships with your colleagues in medicine. International students are one of the most tightly knit group of friends I have had the honour to be a part of and I look forward to meeting all of you at some point.

Starting a course in medicine is no easy mental or physical task. My job is to make your transition into, during and even leaving medical school as easy and enjoyable as possible. This guide will benefit students throughout all years of medicine to aid you in study, saving money, assimilate and enjoy your time in Australia.

Our main goals for this year will be:

Up to date information/resources for international students at Western Sydney
to help with the internship-position seeking process.
Advocate for the international students who hope to stay in Australia
To provide information/guide on alternative internship possibilities overseas:
Hopefully, also have some fun bonding stuff, gatherings, free food, board game nights etc...
International student mentoring

Email:

Facebook: Western Sydney International Society

Medical Student groups

Surgical Society

The Western Sydney Surgical Society (WSSS) was founded in 2012 for students interested in a surgical career. The society represents specialties of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, as well as Anaesthetics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ophthalmology and Maxillofacial surgery. WSSS has hosted numerous events including practical skills workshops, seminars and specialty conferences.

GOALS

To promote a career in surgery
To provide information on surgical pathways
To increase surgical exposure through workshops, seminars and conferences
To encourage participation in surgical research
To inspire the next generation of surgical pioneers

President: Nick Coulshed

Email:

Facebook: Western Sydney Surgical Society

Physicians Society

Western Sydney Physicians Society (WSPS) Is established to inform, guide and connect WSU medical students interested in a career as a Physician, Paediatrician, Dermatologist or Psychiatrist. Whether you’re in first or second year, just beginning to explore your options in the wide world of medicine, or a clinical student who dreams of ECG reads, carries their OHCM everywhere and always has a spare dipstick in their pocket, we plan to support you on your journey to your dream career.

Physicians Society aims toguidestudents by giving you the information you need to be well prepared to pursue your chosen training pathway upon graduation. We further aim to support students by providing opportunities to:

-Gain a detailed understanding of the path towards your chosen medical training pathway.
-Attend specialty-based workshops to enhance and practice your clinical knowledge and skills.

President: Vaish Mahen

Email:

Facebook:Western Sydney Physicians Society

GHAWS

Global Health Awareness Western Sydney (GHAWS)is the community and global branch of UWSMS, a member of the AMSA Global Health (AGH) Committee, and a representative of the UWS medical student body through which students may engage in humanitarian and volunteer work.

Mission Statement

To utilise our position as medical students and future health practitioners, to advocate and campaign for the improvement of access, opportunities, egalitarianism and education surrounding healthcare at a global and community level – this is achieved by a raising of awareness and funds, and development and implementation of projects surrounding this goal.

Our Objectives

To carry out our goals of creating greater access, opportunities and quality of all facets of healthcare through the dual approach at a global and community level (focused particularly at the Western Sydney locale)
Whilst raising funds in the charity sense of our capacity, always collaborate said goal, with a larger focus aimed at awareness, advocacy and informing both the medical student cohort and a relevant wider audience on the particular health issue surrounding said fundraising
To raise awareness and advocate for the UN 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s)
To responsibly and adequately represent and voice the views of the UWSMS members as a Global Health Group, and convey said views to the wider AGH
To provide transparency in terms of goals and activities to UWSMS and the UWS medical student cohort.

President: Madu Prakash

Email:

Email:Madu

Facebook:Global Health Awareness Western Sydney

Important contacts

Name: Penny Lee

Curriculum support Officer year 1,

Email:

Name:Isabella Mellor

Student support officer

Email:

What to do first:

There is a ton of stuff to sort out once you arrive in Australia. We’ve all gone through it, and so will you. Here are a few tips of that can serve as a good starting point and make you’re transition here a little smoother and less filled with uncertainty.

The first step is to get all the stuff (documents etc) done that the University asks of you. Visa, examination by a doctor, TB screening(outlined in the Visa application process), fill out your forms, renew your passport, get a first aid certificate, have all the required vaccinations and fill out your vaccination card.

Hospital clothes – In your first year you will be attending hospital once a week and in later years you will be spending your entire year there at your clinical school and you can’t wear the same thing every day. I would personally recommend a bowtie for bowtie Tuesdays, a trend I’m desperately trying to start. Essentially dress clothes including comfortable, closed-toed, nice shoes are necessary;

It gets prettyboiling hot over here. A fan is essential from November to February as Australians do not believe in air conditioning. During later months, between May and August (winter)It may drop below 10 degrees during the day but at night it will drop to about 5-10 degrees and even to 0 degree on some nights out here in Campbelltown. Consider buying warm socks/slippers or an electric blanket. Personally, the best and most affordable way to keep warm is a 5 dollar pair of cheap ugg boots. A good jacket is needed especially for those late nights out but nothing too thick.

Housewares- In Sydney there is an IKEA but it’s more expensive than elsewhere. It’s still reasonably priced for furniture, and they deliver. The best place for quality and price would be K-MART located In Campbelltown mall. Also, in Macarthur mall there is a Reject shop that has all the houseware appliances you need. If you are living on the residence provided by the university then you don’t have to worry about this! Once you decide to move off the residence, this will be a little bit more useful. Also, double check your voltage on your electronics. Some countries such as Canada and US use 120v. If you plug that into the wall it will blow up. Trust me, I lost my favourite spongebob square pants lamp on my first day.

School Supplies Books – Text books, you don’t need them. You’ll probably want to wait a little while before you leap into any textbooks because they are quite expensive and everyone has their own favourites. There is a document that floats around called supernotes that has an abundance of text books on PDF so get that ASAP!. The only textbook I would recommend is Talley and O’conner clinical examination throughout medical school. I have a lot of text books for every speciality you will ever need all on my usb. Feel free to contact me for more details.

Stethoscopes – The only thing you need in the early years. Best to find a bunch of people looking to buy them aswell and buy together in bulk to save on shipping. Get a good one because most likely this will be the one you use for medical school and your career. Other items you can buy that may be useful to you on your clinical year are: tendon hammer and a torch light.

Housing- Living on the residence has its ups and downs. At the start of your medical career it is a great way to meet an abundance of people to help you feel welcome and there are always things going on. Towards the second year a popular option is to move out into a house with other medical students as the price is much more affordable! Park central is the area around the hospital so moving to a location there for third and fourth year is recommended, it’s only a stone throw away. Realestate.au and flatmates are great places to start if you want to find cheap affordable rent.

Driving- not needed as much in your first two years but a necessity for the later years as you will have rotations all over the place. It is worth getting prepared early. If you have a full licence from your country back home it may transfer. You can drive with a full Canadian licence over here with no problems (what I use).

Public transit-Get an opal card. Unfortunately, we do not get student concession because we are international students.

Suggested Checklist

Contact Address and details, people need a way to get in contact with you so have a working email, phone number and address
Bank Account
Macarthur mall is closest mall and has literally everything you need There is also a shuttle bus that goes to the residence and the mall!
Tax file number (TFN) If you’re going to work
Keep a file folder with all your documents, trust me it will come in handy.

General remarks about Medicine- The first year is your most important year. At first it can be daunting coming to a new country not knowing many people or many things to do. The school of medicine holds a lot of events throughout the year such as cocktail night, blue party and red party. I highly recommend attending most of these events as it is the best way to meet your colleagues and create great friendships. Not only that, they are in the city so you get to see what Australia is all about. I couldnot have survived if I had not made these connections with my fellow Australian colleagues.

The first semester of medicine can seem easy, and it is. It is a good idea to go to as many social events as you can in this time while the work load is minimal. However, I still recommend getting into a good study regime/habit as the second semester picks up the intensity significantly.

Second semester of first year picks up quickly. This is where you start to do real medicine. If you don’t adjust quick enough you might find the exams a bit more difficult and feel overwhelmed . My advice would be to keep up with weekly readings and pbl learning objectives. This way when exam time approaches it will be easy review rather than being in a giant panic like most medical students tend to do.

Second year, this is one of the hardest years. Subjects such as neurology, anatomy and renal physiology are extremely difficult. My advice would be to study the anatomy lecture before entering the lab. This way you can learn alongside the tutors rather than them throwing information at you. Plus you look like a genius in front of your peers. Study hard in this year!! In addition, osces are worth marks so start preparing for them in august as there are a bit more exams and histories to know. Practicing on the ward is the best for this. If you would like someone to take you around for mentoring, feel free to contact me, I am more than happy to teach.

Third year, you made it past one of the hardest years and you finally are done with lectures(kinda)! This is where the real medicine starts. Choose which rotations YOU would like to do, not which are the easiest. This is where you learn about what field best suits you. This is where I learned that although cardiology and neurology are one of the coolest, I could never do them as a career due to the length of training. A lot of people say take third year easy and that is up to you. It is a great opportunity to learn as much medicine as you can as in year 4 you have very focusedspecialties. In third year, the osces can be almost be any system and any history. The the final exams are essentially the same, they literally can be anything in medicine-so study everything. In third year, this is where a car will be handy as you will have an MIC placement and most likely will find it difficult to use public transport.

Fourth year is the hardest year in medicine and the reason is Obstetrics and Gynaecology. A lot of students fail this portion because the extensive log book and that the osces are a different format. I recommend tailoring your studies towards that format rather than text book learning. The rest of the rotations are very interesting to say the least but not at all as intense as O&G. This year is when you will be choosing an elective as well. If you would like to stay in Australia I recommend doing an elective at a hospital you would like to work at. This way you have the chance to get a reference from the area as well as show them your interest in working there.

Final year is the most fun, you get to stress about graduating and finally becoming a doctor. Towards the end of the year I recommend practicing as many intern jobs as possible such as cannulating and doing night shifts. Barrier exams are an accumulation of what you have learned throughout the 5 years of medicine and this occurs in June. If you’re like me you have been studying since last June, don’t do that unless you’re sitting the USMLE or MCCEE as you write them at the same time. Find some friends to study with in January and do a little bit every week rather than cramming in the last week, there is no way to cover it all! In addition, applications for hospitals occur around this time and it is best to get your resumes finished and polished early. Congratulations your done medicine!

Important links

Internship advice:

Medicine resources:

Jarred Recommends

Food

Frank’s burger-Camden
Enzo’s Italian restaurant- Camden
King Kebabs- Campbelltown
Ichiban boshi- Sydney
Ze pickle- Surry hills
Gelato Mesina -Surry hills

Pubs and Clubs

Macarthur tavern- Campbelltown
Camden valley Inn- Camden
The clock hotel- Surry hills
Scary canary- Sydney
The ivy- Sydney
Grandmas-Sydney
The docks- Redfern