UQ-Ochsner 2022 Cohort

[Flowerzandstuff]

Everyone starting next year should be applying for student visas now or at least very soon. The visa and exemptions are entirely separate, having a visa does not allow you to enter the country without an approved exemption, and you must have a visa first before your can apply for an exemption. The Department of Home Affairs is continuing to grant student visas even though the border is closed. It's important to apply for a visa early because if the borders do open, there will be a large number of applications all at once and there will probably be delays.

To answer your first question, I and (hopefully) everyone else in my class already have student visas, we just don't have approved exemptions to the border restrictions.

@Wolvvs how long did it take for your visa to be granted? When did you apply?

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[Wolvvs]

@Wolvvs how long did it take for your visa to be granted? When did you apply?

I was accepted late, so I applied for my visa November 11th and it was granted on November 20th. Keep in mind that a health exam is required, and it has to be conducted by an approved doctor/practice ("panel physician") and that there are only 20 of these in the US, so some travel may be required depending on where you live.

 

[abpos]

I was accepted late, so I applied for my visa November 11th and it was granted on November 20th. Keep in mind that a health exam is required, and it has to be conducted by an approved doctor/practice ("panel physician") and that there are only 20 of these in the US, so some travel may be required depending on where you live.

I started the process of visa application online but the government website alerted me that it was too soon. They wanted me to wait for 3 months before expected departure. Besides looking for a qualified panel physician for the health check, what are some other things we can do to prepare for visa requests?

 

[Achnologiast]

So it's too early to apply for a visa ? We have to wait until October (3 months before Jan.) ?

 

[Wolvvs]

I started the process of visa application online but the government website alerted me that it was too soon. They wanted me to wait for 3 months before expected departure. Besides looking for a qualified panel physician for the health check, what are some other things we can do to prepare for visa requests?

Nothing really, that was the only annoying thing. And yeah sorry I forgot how early in the year it is! Yeah plenty of time to apply for visas in the fall.

One other thing to think about is immunizations, try to get your records together sooner rather than later especially if you don't have your early medical records or if your pediatrics practice from when you were young doesn't exist anymore in some cases you may need to catch up on or redo immunizations. That's not required for the visa but is required before you can do any hospital placements, and will be more challenging to take care of over in Australia.

 

[Flowerzandstuff]

I was accepted late, so I applied for my visa November 11th and it was granted on November 20th. Keep in mind that a health exam is required, and it has to be conducted by an approved doctor/practice ("panel physician") and that there are only 20 of these in the US, so some travel may be required depending on where you live.

@Wolvvs your visa was granted in 9 days? Did you get the health check or background check before being granted the visa?

 

[Wolvvs]

@Wolvvs your visa was granted in 9 days? Did you get the health check or background check before being granted the visa?

Yes, I scheduled the health exam within the next day or so after applying for the visa, but again that might not be possible especially if you have to travel for it.

I think the background check was a school requirement, not a requirement for the visa but please someone correct me if I'm wrong! I just went through my emails and I can see I was working on the FBI background check after the visa had already been granted.

Make sure you read the OMSA phase 1 guide along with the compulsory program requirements: https://medicine-program.uq.edu.au/current-students/compulsory-program-requirements

Those two should have all the info you need. I'm happy to answer any questions but I don't remember everything I had to do before starting and it's also possible things have changed, so make sure you thoroughly read those two sources.

 

[abpos]

So it's too early to apply for a visa ? We have to wait until October (3 months before Jan.) ?

i completed the online application for a student visa and a dialogue box popped up. It stated that because my CoE showed a school start date more than 4 months in the future, “the applicant will be able to continue however due to the start date the application will not be assessed as a priority. The applicant is encouraged to lodge their application 3 months before their course commences.”

My application is marked as “incomplete” since last month.

 

[Flowerzandstuff]

i completed the online application for a student visa and a dialogue box popped up. It stated that because my CoE showed a school start date more than 4 months in the future, “the applicant will be able to continue however due to the start date the application will not be assessed as a priority. The applicant is encouraged to lodge their application 3 months before their course commences.”

My application is marked as “incomplete” since last month.

Has UQO provided you with any guidance about what to do since you started the application?

 

[abpos]

Has UQO provided you with any guidance about what to do since you started the application?

I have not asked for help on this matter; the welcome packet says to apply for a visa right after CoE though. The main hurdle on the visa application is the question about financial support during my stay in Australia. Since I don’t have federal student aid details yet, I can’t fill this out.

 

[Wolvvs]

I have not asked for help on this matter; the welcome packet says to apply for a visa right after CoE though. The main hurdle on the visa application is the question about financial support during my stay in Australia. Since I don’t have federal student aid details yet, I can’t fill this out.

I think most of us just listed the us department of education as the contact for that section and it was fine. For student visas, they don't really scrutinize applications from the US or Canada nearly as much as those from other countries.

 

[abpos]

I think most of us just listed the us department of education as the contact for that section and it was fine. For student visas, they don't really scrutinize applications from the US or Canada nearly as much as those from other countries.

Thank you!! I will try that.

 

[Flowerzandstuff]

Has anyone from the UQO 2022 cohort been granted their Australian student visa? How long did it take to be processed?

 

[Damson]

Has anyone from the UQO 2022 cohort been granted their Australian student visa? How long did it take to be processed?

it is very quick, within a week or two

 

[Weihua]

Hey all, I have my interview in a few weeks — any tips on the MMI?

 

[Damson]

Hey all, I have my interview in a few weeks — any tips on the MMI?

be cool, be you, practice a little with mock questions online

 

[Weihua]

be cool, be you, practice a little with mock questions online

Gotcha, are the questions similar to a standard MMI, or are there Australian healthcare/UQ specific questions?

 

[Wolvvs]

Gotcha, are the questions similar to a standard MMI, or are there Australian healthcare/UQ specific questions?

I can't speak to any changes they may have made this year, but last year the questions were very much standard MMI. There's no assumed knowledge although it's not a bad idea to take a look at the basics of medical ethics. If you check resources and guides for general MMI prep and do plenty of practice you should be good!

 

[RadsNola]

@Weihua there are pretty much only medical ethics questions presented as scenarios with nothing school or country-specific. You will do fine!

 

[Weihua]

Thanks for your responses everyone! Really hoping I can be in your class this January

 

[BLTCOOL]

Thanks for your responses everyone! Really hoping I can be in your class this January

I'm not sure if this was the norm but for my interview there were follow up question after answering the scenario so be prepare (the follow up Qs wasn't necessary medical ethics)

 

[deleted1114150]

Interested in this school. Want to match in General Surgery. What are the chances of a GenSurge match graduating from ochsner? from the website..... i think a lot of their matches were prelim? i saw some categorical......

 

[Wolvvs]

Interested in this school. Want to match in General Surgery. What are the chances of a GenSurge match graduating from ochsner? from the website..... i think a lot of their matches were prelim? i saw some categorical......

To look at categorical surgery vs prelim surgery matches you'll need to take a look here: https://ochsner.uq.edu.au/files/5960/Class of 2020 Match Results.pdf
and here for the previous year: https://ochsner.uq.edu.au/files/3032/Class of 2019 Match Results.jpg

 

[deleted1114150]

To look at categorical surgery vs prelim surgery matches you'll need to take a look here: https://ochsner.uq.edu.au/files/5960/Class of 2020 Match Results.pdf
and here for the previous year: https://ochsner.uq.edu.au/files/3032/Class of 2019 Match Results.jpg

are you a current student there? Can you provide perspective into this school? Also, what are the Step 2 CK scores?

 

[Wolvvs]

are you a current student there? Can you provide perspective into this school? Also, what are the Step 2 CK scores?

Yes I'm a first year student so I can't really speak to what it would be like to match general surgery, @mcat_taker if you have time do you think you could address how difficult it might be to match general surgery from UQ-Ochsner?

For Step 2 scores, you can find them in the admissions webinars. This one for example at around 33 minutes:

All students to date avg score is 235.

 

[Wolvvs]

For reference, I am serious about this school and planning to apply in Nov. Also, what are the opportunities for the PhD portion of this program (MDPhD) like? I couldn't find much for a PhD in biostats on the website, and that is my interest.

Yes MD/PhD is an option. I won't pretend to be an expert on PhD programs, but take a look at the general UQ PhD page: Doctor of Philosophy - Future Students - The University of Queensland And here's the MD PhD page: Clinician Scientist Track: MD-PhD and MD-MPhil

It sounds like they offer a PhD and you decide who you want to work with and what you want to do it in. Don't know if that's how it works at other places. You apply during your second year although you can start planning earlier. Importantly, you have to demonstrate eligibility by having an overall GPA of at least 5.5--that's not trivial, the average GPA in my class is 5.

 

[deleted1114150]

Yes MD/PhD is an option. I won't pretend to be an expert on PhD programs, but take a look at the general UQ PhD page: Doctor of Philosophy - Future Students - The University of Queensland And here's the MD PhD page: Clinician Scientist Track: MD-PhD and MD-MPhil

It sounds like they offer a PhD and you decide who you want to work with and what you want to do it in. Don't know if that's how it works at other places. You apply during your second year although you can start planning earlier. Importantly, you have to demonstrate eligibility by having an overall GPA of at least 5.5--that's not trivial, the average GPA in my class is 5.

What is that on a US 4.0 scale? Do you know if going into the PhD program will make the MD program fully funded like with US MSTP programs?

 

[Wolvvs]

What is that on a US 4.0 scale? Do you know if going into the PhD program will make the MD program fully funded like with US MSTP programs?

Graduate School Scholarships (UQGSS) – includes RTP I think it is funded, see here for details but you might want to reach out to the contact email to ask for more details. I know very little about PhDs so can only really direct you to their website.

The Australian GPA is on a 7 point scale: 7=A+, 6=A, 5=B, 4=C, 3 and below are non-passing grades. A 7 is an outstanding grade and only a handful of students will get it, but that makes GPA conversions tricky because there's no US equivalent, so usually 6 and 7 are both equal to a 4.0. Most students are in the 4-6 range.

 

[Wolvvs]

What is that on a US 4.0 scale? Do you know if going into the PhD program will make the MD program fully funded like with US MSTP programs?

Also check this FAQ, looks like they've got some information that might help answer some of your questions: https://medicine-program.uq.edu.au/files/21900/2021-FAQs-Ochsner-Research-Options.pdf

 

[Flowerzandstuff]

it is very quick, within a week or two

@Damson are you a student from the 2022 cohort? When did you apply for the Visa?

 

[Damson]

@Damson are you a student from the 2022 cohort? When did you apply for the Visa?

I'm a 2021 entry student (not Ochsner), so doing my first year right now. My ImmiAccount says i submitted Sep 29th, approved Oct 13

So 2 weeks or so

 

[Weihua]

Interested in this school. Want to match in General Surgery. What are the chances of a GenSurge match graduating from ochsner? from the website..... i think a lot of their matches were prelim? i saw some categorical......

I was told that you are guaranteed an interview at the Ochsner residency programs in Louisiana as a UQ Ochsner student. Ochsner has a ton of residencies (included gen surgery), all of them very reputable and solid programs! I think the chances of matching into any specialty (maaaaybe besides the ultra-competitive specialties) are similar to the US programs. If you look at the previous matches, there are some really really presitigous matches (Henry Ford, neurosurg at Duke, etc.)

 

[deleted1114150]

I was told that you are guaranteed an interview at the Ochsner residency programs in Louisiana as a UQ Ochsner student. Ochsner has a ton of residencies (included gen surgery), all of them very reputable and solid programs! I think the chances of matching into any specialty (maaaaybe besides the ultra-competitive specialties) are similar to the US programs. If you look at the previous matches, there are some really really presitigous matches (Henry Ford, neurosurg at Duke, etc.)

I read on a previous thread that the Ochsner GenSurge program isn't very receptive to UQ students? Not sure if it's true, but a post on SDN in prev yr said this.

I read that behind each of those matches, there's a story. Some were superstar aplicants, some had to scramble or take a gap year before matching into these competitive programs.

 

[Wolvvs]

From what I understand, the Ochsner Clinical School (which runs 3rd and 4th year at the medical school) and Ochsner GME/residencies are entirely separate, and the extent to which each Ochsner residency has bought into the UQ-Ochsner program varies by specialty. I don't know which are which, but if there's a particular specialty anyone's interested in, go ahead and take a look at the match lists to see how many people matched Ochsner.

And yes you do really need to stand out for those amazing matches, but that's true of USMD students matching to these programs as well! The woman who matched Duke Neurosurg has 5 first authorships, her co-resident who went to Duke has 7 first authorships.

 

[mlaurel380]

Hello! If I have a 3.0, what MCAT score should I aim for for this program?

 

[Wolvvs]

I think their average is around 508, so probably that would be good? From what I remember, they send IIs to everyone who meets the requirements of B average and 504, and then the results of the interview are used to drive 50% of the admissions decision. I don't know if that's changed recently, but from what I know as long as you can manage a 504 (and apply early) you should be able to get an interview, and at that point your interview performance will be the most important factor.

 

[RadsNola]

Is anyone who’s submitted their visa having problems scheduling the health exams? Whenever I go onto the immiaccount portal it says the website where you schedule that is “currently unavailable.”

 

[abpos]

Is anyone who’s submitted their visa having problems scheduling the health exams? Whenever I go onto the immiaccount portal it says the website where you schedule that is “currently unavailable.”

You should schedule your panel physician evaluation by contacting the doctor’s office directly - the Home Affairs website lists panel physicians by country: Find a panel physician

Can you access the “Health Assessment” tab in your portal account? This image from google shows you:

There are some things to do - if you haven’t already - before you make the panel physician appt.
Answer a form on that Health Assessment tab where you answer y/n regarding certain health conditions and then e-sign to allow them access to your panel health exam results. You then immediately get a document with your required labs/exams and an assigned HAP ID, which your panel physician will need.

 

[RadsNola]

You should schedule your panel physician evaluation by contacting the doctor’s office directly - the Home Affairs website lists panel physicians by country: Find a panel physician

Can you access the “Health Assessment” tab in your portal account? This image from google shows you:View attachment 342249There are some things to do - if you haven’t already - before you make the panel physician appt.
Answer a form on that Health Assessment tab where you answer y/n regarding certain health conditions and then e-sign to allow them access to your panel health exam results. You then immediately get a document with your required labs/exams and an assigned HAP ID, which your panel physician will need.

Yeah it was like the link was broken when I tried to access that form. No worries, I got it eventually!

 

[mcat_taker]

I read on a previous thread that the Ochsner GenSurge program isn't very receptive to UQ students? Not sure if it's true, but a post on SDN in prev yr said this.

I read that behind each of those matches, there's a story. Some were superstar aplicants, some had to scramble or take a gap year before matching into these competitive programs.

@78023467350 @Wolvvs @Weihua

Hi you three- So addressing all your points. Yes gen surg is competitive for IMGs in general but it is also a smaller applicant pool, i.e. not many applicants each year interested (at least from our school) generally year to year 4-5 maybe apply off the top of my head, so hard to gauge exactly how competitive since such a small pool. Yes prelim matches listed are not ideal but many of them get a spot the next year. Can't speak to exactly why those specific applicants didn't match categorical. I really don't know enough about the surgery ins and outs, your best bet is to talk to the OCS clerkship director for surgery (who also happens to be a really nice guy and very supportive of our students wanting to do surgery but he's not the PD)

Yes it is correct that Ochsner gen surg residency has historically not been as friendly to UQO students that other departments like IM, Anesthesia, Peds, maybe even rads? have been which basically fill half their classes with UQO grads or close to. Off the top of my head maybe 2 of our grads have matched at Ochsner for gen surg in total (don't quote me on this but this is what I remember). More UQO grads have matched Ortho at Ochsner than Gen surg lol.

Wolves is correct that Ochsner GME and the medical school (OCS) are completely separate entities and the school doesn't have much leverage over the residency programs.

That being said Weihua is also correct that all students will get at least a courtesy interview at Ochsner in whatever field they are applying to, the GME dept at least gives us that courtesy. The school also does their best to get people in house if they can- match rate and all, but this is more so in the less competitive programs as listed above, although arguably anesthesia/rads is still pretty competitive in general but Ochsner does take a number of those applying each year.

 

[hopefulpremed_to_md]

@78023467350 @Wolvvs @Weihua

Hi you three- So addressing all your points. Yes gen surg is competitive for IMGs in general but it is also a smaller applicant pool, i.e. not many applicants each year interested (at least from our school) generally year to year 4-5 maybe apply off the top of my head, so hard to gauge exactly how competitive since such a small pool. Yes prelim matches listed are not ideal but many of them get a spot the next year. Can't speak to exactly why those specific applicants didn't match categorical. I really don't know enough about the surgery ins and outs, your best bet is to talk to the OCS clerkship director for surgery (who also happens to be a really nice guy and very supportive of our students wanting to do surgery but he's not the PD)

Yes it is correct that Ochsner gen surg residency has historically not been as friendly to UQO students that other departments like IM, Anesthesia, Peds, maybe even rads? have been which basically fill half their classes with UQO grads or close to. Off the top of my head maybe 2 of our grads have matched at Ochsner for gen surg in total (don't quote me on this but this is what I remember). More UQO grads have matched Ortho at Ochsner than Gen surg lol.

Wolves is correct that Ochsner GME and the medical school (OCS) are completely separate entities and the school doesn't have much leverage over the residency programs.

That being said Weihua is also correct that all students will get at least a courtesy interview at Ochsner in whatever field they are applying to, the GME dept at least gives us that courtesy. The school also does their best to get people in house if they can- match rate and all, but this is more so in the less competitive programs as listed above, although arguably anesthesia/rads is still pretty competitive in general but Ochsner does take a number of those applying each year.

Thanks for this information. Does this particular apply to only UQO students or other international students who are in the MD at UQ? For example, I'm a Canadian citizen, so I can't apply to the UQO program, but would want to match to either Canada or the US. So if this somewhat also applies to other UQ students, it would be somewhat helpful (hope my point makes sense lol).

 

[Wolvvs]

Thanks for this information. Does this particular apply to only UQO students or other international students who are in the MD at UQ? For example, I'm a Canadian citizen, so I can't apply to the UQO program, but would want to match to either Canada or the US. So if this somewhat also applies to other UQ students, it would be somewhat helpful (hope my point makes sense lol).

mcat_taker may be better positioned to answer this question, or if you can get in contact with a Canadian student who matched to the US that would be ideal, but I can share what I know.

The Ochsner admin and support is really only in place for the Ochsner students, but students are able to do some rotations at Ochsner and getting that US clinical experience would help with matching. But for stuff like the dean's letter or advising you'd need to get that from UQ.

Looking back at the annual reports for the last few years, it looks like around 1 Canadian student per year matches to the US on average. Anecdotally, many of the Canadian students in my year are planning to apply to the US--I don't know if the disconnect is specific to my year, or if there's some combination of students giving up because of all the extra stuff that comes with preparing for a US application and not matching. A Canadian student emailed UQ admin to ask about US matches, and apparently the match rate over the last few years is around 50% with only 10 or so students giving it a shot during that time period (everyone who didn't match was able to ultimately obtain a position in Canada or Australia however). Students heading back to Canada seem to be more successful.

It does seem that the majority of Canadians do end up staying in Australia. Take a look here and scroll to the bottom for some data on international student outcomes, the "Employment destinations by permanent residency" tab seems to be a quick way to get a sense of where students end up: International graduate employment outcomes - Medicine Program - University of Queensland

 

[Wolvvs]

Yes it is correct that Ochsner gen surg residency has historically not been as friendly to UQO students that other departments like IM, Anesthesia, Peds, maybe even rads? have been which basically fill half their classes with UQO grads or close to. Off the top of my head maybe 2 of our grads have matched at Ochsner for gen surg in total (don't quote me on this but this is what I remember). More UQO grads have matched Ortho at Ochsner than Gen surg lol.

I actually wanted to ask about this. How were the general surgery rotations? I know a lot of students find surgery rotations challenging, but I was wondering if you felt like it was affected by of the general unfriendliness towards OCS students.

 

[akinetopsia]

I actually wanted to ask about this. How were the general surgery rotations? I know a lot of students find surgery rotations challenging, but I was wondering if you felt like it was affected by of the general unfriendliness towards OCS students.

The curriculum changes. The surgery rotation when we went through it was rotating on 4 different services for 2 weeks each, with the possibility of going to Ochsner on the north shore for 2 weeks of general surgery. The different services that are options were things like vascular, CT surgery, transplant, colorectal, breast, general surgery, etc. Some were more demanding than others, for instance, I didn't rotate on vascular but I heard the hours as a med student could be pretty high.

I don't know if they still do that or not since I'm a PGY-2. I enjoyed my general surgery rotations even though I didn't go into surgery, and got to do a few procedures because I showed interest and had residents that liked to teach. Much like other rotations, you get out of it what you put into it, and if you show interest and have read about patients and know the relevant anatomy of the cases you'll be seeing, you'll probably be just fine. You hear horror stories of students getting kicked out of ORs for being unprepared, like they have not read about the patient or the indications for that particular surgery, but I never saw that happen. That doesn't mean it did not happen at some point to somebody.

I wouldn't say the surgery programs are unfriendly to medical students on rotations, they are professional and like I said you get out what you put in, if you show that you are prepared and interested, they are willing to work with you and teach you. Historically, the "unfriendliness" as @mcat_taker has said would refer more to that we've had two people match in general surgery at Ochsner over 11 years now? One is an intern currently and the other one is now a vascular fellow at WUSTL. I wouldn't say any surgeon or resident during my rotations were ever hostile towards me, even when they would ask what I was thinking about going into and I'd be honest and say what I was actually considering (which wasn't surgery!).

 

[mcat_taker]

I actually wanted to ask about this. How were the general surgery rotations? I know a lot of students find surgery rotations challenging, but I was wondering if you felt like it was affected by of the general unfriendliness towards OCS students.

Hey @Wolvvs - Glad to know @akinetopsia can corroborate what i said about 2 matches in 11 years to ochsner GS lol I was literally just puling that out of cobwebs in my brain. Yes exactly what they said- in brief as a student the surgery rotation is challenging like it is anywhere but fine.

Surgery isn't a warm and fuzzy rotation like psych or peds. The residents work a lot- but they are professional and friendly with the UQO students. Honestly every dept is pretty good w/ students they are so used to having students around all the time now after what 11 years. What makes gen surgery rotations challenging is that its a steep learning curve coming in as a student, learning how to be "sterile" and "scrub in" for the first time, not touching anything you're not supposed to, and not getting in anyone's way in the OR, trying to understand what is going in cases and also trying to look engaged and interested even when cases take forever and you're just standing there sometimes trying not to fall asleep.

In short the rotations are fine. No one is "unfriendly towards OCS students". The match has nothing to do with how the rotation went for students where you spend a majority of your time w residents anyway.

 

[sean80439]

Honestly the hours was the most challenging part of a surgical rotation. I would regularly be there as a student for 12+ hours on days we wouldn't be on education. I think I regularly got there before 6am and left after 6 most days.

 

[Weihua]

Has anyone from the August interview group heard back yet?

 

[zvmau]

Has anyone from the August interview group heard back yet?

I believe the turn around for the last few years was about 17-21 days. Unsure how/if the current situation in New Orleans will affect that.

 

[BLTCOOL]

Has anyone from the August interview group heard back yet?

Probably soon , either today or next week . Good luck to everyone that apply !!!

 

[Weihua]

Probably soon , either today or next week . Good luck to everyone that apply !!!

Looks like someone received a waitlist last Thursday, wonder if they sent out any other decisions that day :O