Charles Darwin Uni

hi keeshy,

i'm doing the ba of nursing thru CDU externally. i'm 3/4 of the way thru the first year, and so far i have found it average i guess!

i love the anatomy & phys units, but other units are a bit dreary & not something i can really sink my teeth into. i think the biggest downfall for CDU is that there are no podcasts available of the lectures, so you really miss out on how certain medical terms are pronounced. you also don't have the luxury of chatting to students/lectures in person (although there is a function on learnline where you can chat to at least the a & p lecturer with a camera thingy). the assignments aren't too hard really, i don't know what kind of expectations they really have, but i'm not an academic type and have gotten distinctions in all my subjects, (of first semester - we'll see about this one!) so i don't think the standard is unachievable.

studying externally has suited me so far because i have a baby, and i live 2hrs from the nearest uni. the other plus with CDU (and uniSA, as i see uve also applied w them) is that they offer a summer semester (which is what i'm doing now) which condenses ur studies. it means u study the whole year with no break though, so u have to weigh up if that is right for u or not.

however, i have applied to transfer to uniSA - my baby is now 12 months so personally i feel i would be okay with him being in childcare while i study on campus, and i hear that you can condense the tuts/pracs into 2 days, and the other bonus is of course, if you miss a lecture you can download the podcast.

CDU have an extra wk clinical than uniSA, CDU start the clinical one semester before uniSA ie CDU clinical starts year 2, semester one vs uniSA clinical starts year 2 semester two.

hope that helps!

hey keeshy,

i sometimes wonder if i should've done my ENs first before studying externally, as you get so much hands on experience, and get the opportunity to see many procedures even if you don't carry them out. i think that means that you would get credits for the first year right? i think you might have to do CUC100 (Academic literacies - learning how to structure essays/lab reports & using software, pretty boring but the essays bit was really helpful & i got a credit for the computer component) unless u can get a credit for this too??? and you might possibly have to do CUC107 which is northern perspectives (cultural studies of nthrn territory & aust).

The other first yr subjects are SBI171 & 172 Anatomy & physiology, NUR104 lifespan dvpmt, SID175 Applied Health Science which is all chem, phys, microbio in healthcare then theres NUR111 and another which i haven't done yet. so i don't think you'd have to do any of these with the credits you'd get.

No, haven't studied the pharmacology units yet, but i've heard they're very intense! good luck with them!!!

Ive only sat 2 exams so far, SBI172 and SID175 and they were no where near as hard as what i was expecting, and i was not at all prepared for them. i truly was expecting to fail, but i didn't which was lucky!!!

Are you going to do full time or part time??? Keeshy I'm as sure as i can be without really knowing you that you would most definately be able to handle it. You've done ur ENs which is not an easy thing, so you really have that advantage for studying externally :)

I am also pretty concerned about the standard of education - i so wish i could answer this one, i would love to ask one of the lecturers but i know they wouldn't tell me over email (as it would be in writing i guess), but i wonder if because its min TER mark is below avg, that the assessments aren't that hard or if they kind of make things a bit easier? I'm not saying they do, its just something i wonder! having said that, i recently did a minitest on the cardiovascular syst and it was soooo hard! Plus, i'm only in first year so they're probs easing me into this!!! i'd be wondering the same thing if i was with uniSA!!! the only thing is that i had started the degree in 2000 at UTS in sydney and in wk 3 first year we were in clinical placements and learning pathophysiology, so it felt like i was really studying nursing, not like the schedules that uniSA and CDU have which are pretty much on par with eachother.

I haven't been much help have i???!!!
hopefully there will be a 2nd yr student here who's with CDU - i think they'd be able to tell you what the uni is like a lot better. every time i've rang CDU the staff are super friendly and helpful so i think that's a bonus!

hope some of that info helps!

no worries - i love to yatter on :)

yeah, depending on ur state location, you sit the invigilated exams at a uni or tafe college. all you have to do is fill in an online form and they organise it for you and closer to the date (i think about 1 month before is the final timetable) they let you know the time and day.

keeshy i would be VERY surprised if you didnt get in considering ur nursing background, though i have heard it happen, still, i'm sure i'll see a post here saying you've got in!!! Not long til u find out!!! i've been on tenderhooks waiting too!

yeah, i think that too, i mean the nursing & midwif board wouldn't accredit them if they weren't providing sufficient education. im just paranoid that i'm supposed to know all this stuff that i've read but have forgotten (memory like a sieve), and that i'm going to finish the course without a clue!!! ive decided whatever i end up doing that i'll have to do some part time AIN work to help me feel a little more confident :)

so how have u enjoyed ur ENs? i bet it was a challenge, cos u get to work in lots of different hospitals so you never really settle in completely? did u find the other nurses that u worked with initially to be friendly & helpful?

i live in sa, in maslin beach which is a bit of a hike to CBD but the bonus with uniSA for me is that i can do the next semester on campus then switch external if i find it too tricky and just do the podcast thingy.

where abouts are you located?

hey keeshy - i sent u an email!

i know what you mean, i absolutely love the a & p side of it (although i can't r'mber most of it!) but it really makes me realise how lucky i am that i chose something that i really love learning about. i had a bit of a LOL when reading about the cukoo cukoo bit!

pardon my ignorance but what is DPU?

thanks for ur words of support keeshy, and i really hope i get an email from you soon re ur offer :)
take care

I know this is an old thread, but if anyone could answer a couple of questions that would be great. Im looking to apply for BN for next year. As i work full time, going external would be perfect for me.

Were there any pre-requisits for studying externally? I know with CSU, you have to have completed the first year on campus.

Pricilla, I applied last week for the course without knowing any info! Since then i have done a lot of reading and sent the uni a few emails. Have a look at this page http://www.cdu.edu.au/course-docs/BNurseStudyPlan4ABMay08.pdf It is the suggested timetable for new students who have no other training. The courses with the * next to them are the prac subjects which also require the 5 day clinical school in either Darwin or Alice Springs. The clinical school has to be done on campus, but the hospital pracs are organised at a hospital close to you. Same goes with exams. They have a list of places (TAFE, other uni's) local to you where you can arrange to sit your exams. For the first to pracs, it looks like they are in Semester 2.

Main round offers are made on the 9th and further offers on the 15th July, although the SATAC uniweb says the "check and accept offers" tab will be available from 18 June.

CDU do have a uni prep course. Just do a search on their website. Not sure if it is done externally though. Maybe given then a call and check. I found the info about it the other day. Think it is done over 2 semesters.

Got my confirmation for my STAT today. 8.45am on saturday 20th June. Have to drop my hubby at the airport at 6am that morning, so ill just stay in the city and go and study in the park for a while before going to the test venue.

Im currently doing a Diploma which wont be finished until december which is work related. SATAC sent me a letter asking for confirmation of completion asap...it wont be completed until December. Have given a them a run down in my personal statement and provided them with a copy of my statement of attainment/transcript of results with my application so hopefully that is sufficant. Just a shame that the results etc for the second module do not come out for another 2 weeks.

Trust me, if i get in, ill be posting the news on here!

Sorry i havent checked here for a little while. Test went okay i guess. The score came today and I got 155. The min requirement is 145. So im hoping that this along with my personal statement, work experience etc will be enough to get in.

Find out if i get in next Thursday. Fingers crossed!

Good luck with the prep course :)