HUMANS OF MEDICINE

Each edition of The Auricle, we interview a member of the Monash medical cohort who has been up to something interesting that they are willing to tell to readers of The Auricle. If you think you or someone you know would have an interesting story to share, please contact us!

Name: Ajay Dharan

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR MONASH MEDICINE JOURNEY?

I'm in my final year right now, and it's been amazing As an international student, I didn't expect it to go so wonderfully. I started out in 2019, as this young, naive boy entering into medicine in Australia, which was really daunting initially, but the community here has been so lovely Although I had to go back for one and a half years during COVID, I still feel like Australia is my second home. I've loved it here, and am keen on staying here in the future...

WE UNDERSTAND THAT OVER THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS, YOU DID SOME TRAVELLING. CAN YOU TELL US MORE?

Over the summer holidays, I did a solo trip to the US and Canada! After a pretty intense fourth year, I wanted a break. One of the key things I've always wanted to do as a student was to travel and see how a different medical system works. I've come from Singapore, and I've got to see

Melbourne's medical system. So I applied to Yale in the US. To be fair, I'm not sure how I got it, but I am extremely lucky and grateful that I managed to get the opportunity. For me, I took it as a great excuse to travel down to the US and explore the place, while seeing the medical system which was tons of fun.

INCREDIBLE! CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT WHAT BEING AT YALE MEDICAL SCHOOL WAS LIKE?

So it was throughout the whole of December. It was a 4 week program, where I went in every day for Monday to Friday. During my time, I was allocated to the cardiac surgery unit, which was quite intense. I was going in every day at 6AM, and coming back home at

6PM That being said, it was a great experience because I managed to scrub in for the majority of the surgeries. I got to see a lot of robotic surgeries, which frankly speaking, I've never seen much before in my placements in Australia.

WHAT DIFFERENCES DID YOU FIND BETWEEN OUR TWO MEDICAL SYSTEMS?

First, prefacing that with four weeks of experience, my knowledge of the US medical syste is still limited, so all I say are anecdotal experiences from my registrar.

Starting from a local perspective (e.g. someone US-born, studying in the US), many of them get matched into a residency program right after medical school (e.g. cardiac surg or gen surg). In comparison, we get a lot more time to explore through our different specialities once we graduate. Although we do find it intense during medical school, we still are comparably relaxed as we get time to get involved in different committees and pursue our own individual interests.

As American medical students have to match immediately, it can be quite daunting as they need to know what they want from day one. Many of them are doing research from the start of medical school That being said, the US medical students tend to be at a later stage of their life as they begin medicine as postgraduate students

From an overseas graduate perspective, I found out the pathway is not as straightforward as I thought it would be. If you wanted to apply to US, you would need to do a USMLE to match into residency, and that would be the baseline as you can to help develop your cardiac unit before you can apply to the program and hopefully get in. On top of that, he was still disadvantaged compared to many local students given that he is a 'foreign' student.

Speaking to an international medical graduate (cardiac surgery research doctor), he shared that even after the USMLE, you would need a couple of years of publishing as many papers

It's very interesting the difference in training pathways and the involvement in clinical medicine For example, in Australia, even though you may be an unaccredited reg while applying for training program, that time is still spent doing 'clinical medicine' that would be relevant to when you are in the training program.

In comparison, in the US, when applying as a foreign graduate, you would be spending a few years doing research, and nothing clinical while you try to apply to the program. Once you get in, only then would you return to clinical medicine.

WHAT WAS THE APPLICATION PROCESS LIKE?

So it was quite straightforward. The majority of American Universities use a portal called the "Visiting Student Learning Opportunities". Unfortunately, Monash is not a part of the portal, and so it's hard to apply to many of the instituitions in America.

However, there are still a few that are outside of the portal, and that includes Yale, for which you apply straight to In June/July, I submitted a CV, a 250 word personal statement, and 2 academic references. Normally, you apply 6 months in advance of when you go, and so I was later selected for the December holidays period.

ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNG MEDICAL STUDENTS TRYING TO BALANCE STUDIES, WANTING TO DEVELOP THEMSELVES AS PEOPLE AND TICK THINGS OFF THEIR BUCKET LIST?

Just do the things you are passionate about. I genuinely believe that with us having recently moved towards a competency based grading system, there's such a beautiful avenue for us to get involved in things that you're passionate about. Jump into different projects, and put you're 100% into it and do the things you're passionate about

It doesn't have to be med related, it doesn't have to be for your CV, because in the end, everything will work out.

If you are keen on a particular speciality, or keen on getting ahead in life, it will 100% happen. But now is the best time to just experience everyhting that you love doingsport, music, now is the best time as a student. Once you've started working, you have a lot less time to do so, so just enjoy the journey.