Entry to Medicine 2021
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ENTRY TO MEDICINE 2021 A GUIDE FROM STUDY WORK GROW DECODE THE MEDICAL APPLICATION PROCESS So you want to be a Doctor? You’ll face years of study, long hours, stressful work and uncomfortable situations, but the rewards can be unparalleled. Plus, your folks will be over the moon. The complicated application process is just the first step in your journey, and we’ve brought together all the information you need so you can make some educated decisions about your path forward. In this Guide you’ll find out how to apply and what you need to do to get into each uni that offers a medicine program in Australia. We’ve spoken with the universities to get the right information, so you can easily compare programs and entry requirements. Whether you’re keen to study at a prestigious (and competitive) school or looking for a student-focused program, you’ll find the details here. You’ll also find information on the main tests and entry procedures you’ll face, and a list of scholarships that could help you on your way. By the time you’ve finished this Guide you’ll be well on your way to finalising your Plan A, Plan B, and building backups that’ll get you where you want to go. The rest is up to you. Study Work Grow | Entry to Medicine 2021 A NOTE ON THIS GUIDE: 2020 is different. But life will go on, the medical application process will still take place and some of you will get to go to medical school next year. We have liaised with every Medical School in Australia to bring you this Guide, but you need to verify ALL INFORMATION with the individual University Medical Schools before making your final decisions, especially as we cannot predict what may happen for the rest of 2020. Universities often change programs and while the information here is as current, verified and as accurate as we can make it, there is a chance some of the information will change. In addition, you should expect that program requirements could change once you are at uni. This means you could need to complete different subjects, or comply with specific requirements to progress to the next stage of the program. If your pathway includes a separate postgraduate qualification then you'll need to triple check the application and entry requirements throughout your undergraduate degree so you don't miss out on a technicality. We’ve aimed to include enough information to help you refine your choices, but we hope all potential doctors would do their own research before commencing the application process. The information contained under each university offerings page in the Study Work Grow Entry to Medicine 2021 Guide remains the intellectual property of its respective owners. Study Work Grow | Entry to Medicine 2021 CONTENTS Need-to-Know Facts About Medicine Common Terms and Abbreviations Your Study Options The Assessment Process Creating a Plan B Understanding Fees and Places Direct Medical Programs University of New South Wales University of Sydney University of New England/University of Newcastle JMP Charles Sturt University/Western Sydney University JMP Monash University University of Queensland Griffith University Bond University James Cook University University of Western Australia Curtin University University of Adelaide Flinders University NT Medical Program University of Tasmania La Trobe University/University of Melbourne University of the Sunshine Coast/Griffith University Separate Undergrad/Postgrad Programs Postgraduate Entry Programs Study Work Grow | Entry to Medicine 2021 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STUDYING MEDICINE MEDICINE IS COMPETITIVE But that doesn’t make it unachievable. Many of the programs in this Guide allow you flexibility in your choice of undergraduate degree, so even if you don’t get into an exclusive ‘all-in-one’ program you can still graduate as a doctor in the same amount of time. YOUR DEGREE IS JUST THE FIRST STEP Graduating from a medical program that allows you to qualify as an intern is great, but you’ll still need to undergo years of training before they let you practice on real patients without supervision. Medical School is followed by an Internship (usually one year), then a Residency of one or more years. After that you’ll be a Registrar, then after even more training, experience and exams you could do your Fellowship and/or PhD, and only then will you become a qualified GP, Physician, Surgeon or Specialist. THERE CAN BE SIGNIFICANT COSTS Your degree will take 5, 6, or 7 years to complete, leaving you with more fees to pay. There are lots of scholarships out there and we've included the links to scholarships where available in this Guide. Many programs offer Commonwealth Supported Places, those that don't could set you back $250k or more in fees - that's before you pay for accommodation, textbooks, or coffee. PREPARING YOUR APPLICATION CAN TAKE MONTHS If you’re in Year 12 then you need to get your ducks in a row fast. If you’re in Year 10 or 11, start thinking about it now, so there’s not as much to prepare in Year 12. You should expect to undergo testing, interviews, submit essays and more, on top of the normal university application process. Study Work Grow | Entry to Medicine 2021 COMMON TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS MBBS - Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery. This is the title of the primary degree conferred upon graduates of many medical programs in Australia. You can get an internship / residency once you graduate with this degree. MD - Doctor of Medicine - the name of the equivalent postgraduate qualification to the MBBS. MChD - Doctor of Medicine and Surgery - as above. These three terms are interchangeable, and have no impact on your ability to gain an internship. UCAT ANZ - The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is an admissions test used by the UCAT ANZ Consortium of universities in Australia and New Zealand for their medical, dental and clinical science degree programmes. MMI - Multiple Mini Interview - a type of assessment format where you face multiple interview stations and answer a range of different questions. CASPer - Computer Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics is a form of testing used in the application process for many of the postgraduate medical programs. GAMSAT - Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test. The graduate version of the UCAT. GEMSAS - Graduate Entry Medical School Admission System. Most postgraduate programs require you to apply through GEMSAS. ATAR - Your Australian Tertiary Admission Rank is a number between 0.00 and 99.95 that indicates your position relative to all the students in your cohort. SR - Selection Rank (or Rank) is your ATAR after it has been adjusted with any bonus points you are eligible for. You could be entitled to adjustment points because of your circumstances, indigenous heritage, location or other factor. Study Work Grow | Entry to Medicine 2021 YOUR STUDY OPTIONS The Australian Medical Association (AMA) state that: “All medical degrees offered by medical schools in Australia are equivalent for the purposes of commencing practice as a doctor.” This means that it doesn’t matter which school you graduate from, or whether you graduate with the standard MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) or a Doctor of Medicine (MD or MChD), you will be qualified to start your internship. As a Year 12 student you have a couple of options: The first, most obvious, and possibly most The second pathway is to complete an competitive option is to commence one of undergraduate degree, usually but not the 5 or 6 year Undergraduate Bachelor always in a health science related field, degrees once you finish School. then meet the requirements for admission into a postgraduate Medical Program. But if you don’t make it into one of these programs (and remember they take very You’ll need to sit the GAMSAT instead of few students) you can still become a the UCAT, and many programs have strict doctor. prerequisites and performance standards. In this Guide we’ve listed the Direct Entry Medical Programs first, then the postgraduate only programs. We’ve also listed universities offering degrees you could use to get into one of the postgraduate programs, even if they don’t have a dedicated MBBS or MD. Study Work Grow | Entry to Medicine 2021 HOW IT WORKS (2 WAYS) Year 12 MBBS/MD Undergraduate Direct Entry Degree MBBS/MD Graduate Entry Internship Congratulations! You're now a doctor THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS The assessment process is different for All direct-entry programs require an ATAR or undergraduate (school-leaver) programs and Selection Rank graduate programs, so we’ll look at the undergraduate programs in this Guide. If you Generally, there is a minimum cut-off apply for a graduate program down the track ATAR/SR, however the lowest score that gets you’ll need to check out the process for each in may be higher. For example, they may state university separately. the min ATAR is 95, but the lowest score to get an offer may actually be 97.5, depending There are different components used by each on the quality of the applicants and other university, and each of these components has factors. a different weighting in their individual assessment process. Griffith University and the USC/Griffith program only offer places based on ATAR, Understanding the assessment process is vital (but their cut-off is 99) so if you think you will for success, so once you’ve chosen some get an ATAR of 99 or above you could apply potential programs do your research and learn for their program and know you won’t need about each component they use and what you to do anything else.