Holla folks,

We are back for Round 2.  Here is the second half of my blog with my main girl Eliza comparing the in’s and out’s of first year health science and biomedical science.

If you were in year 13 what would you have liked to know about your course?

Eliza: Don’t buy any textbooks because you don’t use them and the library is very convenient if you need the odd one anyway. Despite what some people say there is actually a decent workload.

Anneke: Probably should have read the course descriptions. But other than that I would say to my year 13 self don’t worry too much you’ll probably be happy in either course.

What is your opinion of health sci/biomed from the perspective of the other course?

Eliza: My best mates are biomeds, I live with like 10 of them. I feel like its more sciency but I do miss physics. Your biochemistry sounds horrible. Sometimes you do have it harder it terms of more weighted tests, lots of labs and lots of ‘class hours’. 

Anneke: The amount of readings you have to do looks atrocious. Also although you say Tamaki is  a wonderland it also seems like a pain having to go there. I feel like health sci is a lot more subject specific in terms of lots of poplhlth rather than trying out a bit of everything like we do with our different science papers.

What do you think is important to consider when choosing between health science/biomed?

Eliza: You can go into a lot more pathways as opposed to biomed. Both count for entrance into programmes like medicine but people don’t think about the degree as a whole if you don’t get into those programmes. To me if I had to finish the programme the Bachelor of Health Science degree was more appealing as it can lead into work in areas like addiction and support, public health policy, nutrition and so on not just research. Also, note that Health Science rank score for entry is 250, whereas BioMed’s is 280.

Anneke: I second that, but biomedical engineering is always an option too. Also it’s important to know that for optometry you have to do biomed.

What are you hoping to do next year?

Eliza: Either Pharmacy or because of my amazing Gen Ed, Music 144G (which I highly recommend) and my musical background, a Bachelor of Music in Musicology.

Anneke: Med and if that doesn’t work out probably physiology or nursing, maybe some Māori studies and then apply for med again.

What subject’s would you recommend taking in school for health science/biomed?

Eliza: Even though there’s lots of writing in health science I didn’t take year 13 english, I took history. Definitely do at least one english based subject. You don’t need physics but chemistry is really important and maybe biology for the core papers. Stats is really helpful because we look at correlations, relationships between variables and so on but there isn’t any high school papers which cover the sort of content we learn about in our non-cores like health psychology.

Anneke: Definitely all the sciences. Physics, Chemistry and Biology and all the way to level 3. If you love science you’ll fit into biomed just fine. Also statistics is a good one for poplhlth 111. Calculus could be useful for getting good marks physics but I never took it and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really like maths (which I don’t).

If you could pick again would you still choose health science/biomed? 

Eliza: Definitely. I am even more convinced now to pick health science. No Regrets.

Anneke: Yep, it has been an amazing year. Although I wouldn’t mind trying out heath sci too just for banter.

Is there anything else you want to say that might help future students make the decision between health science/biomed?

Eliza: Read about the papers, unlike some people *cough* Anneke *cough* who knew nothing about their course I did my research.

Anneke: Chuck us a comment if you have any questions and definitely keep your options open by applying for both. That way if you don’t make the biomed rank score you can still do health sci and it leaves you plenty of time to choose which one is right for you. Hopefully this helps you make a decision or at least opens your eyes to the possibility of studying either of these two amazing courses.

Till next time, stay crispy (Eliza came up with that one)

-A and E