Australian Medical School 2022 Entry

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I was actually going to apply next year. And early to both UQ and Flinders.
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My GPA was 2.8/4, which is just barely a 5 on the Australian scale. I didn't have a problem getting into Flinders or UQ-Ochsner. I did have a 521 MCAT but I don't think it needed to be that high--I think most people posting stats are those who want people to know their stats :p If you talk to OzTREKK, they have the average GPA and MCAT for everyone they help get admission, and that's a significant part of the international cohort for many of these schools. Might be worth sending them an email to ask if you're competitive.
 
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Wolvvs said:
My GPA was 2.8/4, which is just barely a 5 on the Australian scale. I didn't have a problem getting into Flinders or UQ-Ochsner. I did have a 521 MCAT but I don't think it needed to be that high--I think most people posting stats are those who want people to know their stats :p If you talk to OzTREKK, they have the average GPA and MCAT for everyone they help get admission, and that's a significant part of the international cohort for many of these schools. Might be worth sending them an email to ask if you're competitive.
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@Wolvvs is my mcat god. He's amazeballs
 
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Yeah! If you don’t mind me asking, how did you prepare? Maybe I’m doing something wrong…
 
J_N2020 said:
Yeah! If you don’t mind me asking, how did you prepare? Maybe I’m doing something wrong…
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There's no universal advice unfortunately. I agree with Damson, practice questions are absolutely essential and if you can get UWorld for MCAT those are probably the best. Also make sure you're taking FL practice exams, either third party or AAMC and preferably both.

Definitely make a prep plan and stick to it, there are tons of examples out there so just choose one you like and go for it. This is one of the occasions I'd recommend Reddit over SDN for advice, /r/MCAT is an excellent resource.

As you study, try to identify any particular areas where you're running into trouble when answering questions or going through FLs. Try to figure out:
  • Is this a content issue, or in other words is there something you don't understand about the concept or is there something you need to memorize that you haven't? Usually it's the former as most stuff on the MCAT can be reasoned out (except P/S, where you need to just memorize some stuff), so go back to your content review book or Khan Academy and make sure you understand it.
  • Is it an issue applying content that you do understand? In other words, the explanation makes sense to you when you read it, and you feel you could have reasoned it out but you just didn't. In this case you need to do more practice questions slowly/in tutored mode making sure to really think about each question and how they come to the correct answer and why the other answers are wrong.
  • Is it a test-taking issue? Like are you feeling the time pressure and going through questions too quickly or too slowly? To fix this, you need to do more FLs under test-taking conditions. Make good use of the free third party ones as well, and worry less about the score and more about getting through the questions at the correct pace.
It's been a while since I took the MCAT but hopefully this helps. I studied ~2hrs/day + probably 4-6 on weekends for 4-5 months, but it's important to find a schedule that works for you.
 
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I think someone posted a picture from UQ's presentation saying round 1 offers come August 2
 
Hey if anyone else has accepted their offer to Deakin feel free to pm me I'd love to connect!
 
Has anyone received an interview invite/update from the University of Melbourne?
My application has been on "Assessment Pending" status since I've submitted it back in May! What does yours say?
 
Future-MSTP said:
Has anyone received an interview invite/update from the University of Melbourne?
My application has been on "Assessment Pending" status since I've submitted it back in May! What does yours say?
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Hey! on their timeline it mentions the II would come around Mid August... so perhaps end of this week to next week~ish people might start hearing something from them... that's what i think :)
 
Hi - anyone on here a current first year med student at Flinders? Or can connect me to one. Would like to know what the schedule is like (hours of lectures a week etc)? Trying to figure out if possible to keep a job part time. Thanks
 
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Has anyone recieved an invitation from Monash? I received one about 2 hours ago but when I attempt to book a date there are none available.
 
wauchop said:
Has anyone recieved an invitation from Monash? I received one about 2 hours ago but when I attempt to book a date there are none available.
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Hey I received an interview but I declined it. Have you contacted the admissions committee or Oztrekk/whatever company you are applying with?
 
Future-MSTP said:
Has anyone received an interview invite/update from the University of Melbourne?
My application has been on "Assessment Pending" status since I've submitted it back in May! What does yours say?
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Did you get a student code or something for Melbourne? I just got an email saying thanks for applying, unlike UQ and Sydney where I got an actual account to check the progress.
 
hey guys - update for Melbourne - i reached out the OzTREKK and they said that Melb has mentioned that invites will be sent out next week! Hope this helps :)
 
I got the same. I check the status through the same page where I submitted my application. However, it hasn't changed and from what I've found online, they never update the status even if you get accepted/rejected.

Y Y said:
Did you get a student code or something for Melbourne? I just got an email saying thanks for applying, unlike UQ and Sydney where I got an actual account to check the progress.
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med4evah said:
hey guys - update for Melbourne - i reached out the OzTREKK and they said that Melb has mentioned that invites will be sent out next week! Hope this helps :)
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Is this for all internationals or only Canadian?
 
I got my Melbourne invite yesterday morning if that helps! Although I’m declining it
 
I also received one. 3.85 GPA and 511 MCAT. Probably will be declining for UQ.
 
canadaroadman said:
Why is that? Isnt melbourne a better rated med school?
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Yeah it is. It's tough but ultimately my research tells me UQ is still a pretty good school and is a lot cheaper. Also, I think id enjoy living in Brisbane more than Melbourne (smaller city, better weather, cheaper). I'm still contemplating it all though. Anyone have any input? Melbourne seems like a great school but I don't know if its significantly better than UQ.
 
Fanofmed said:
Yeah it is. It's tough but ultimately my research tells me UQ is still a pretty good school and is a lot cheaper. Also, I think id enjoy living in Brisbane more than Melbourne (smaller city, better weather, cheaper). I'm still contemplating it all though. Anyone have any input? Melbourne seems like a great school but I don't know if its significantly better than UQ.
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Personally I chose Deakin over Melb, UQ, UWA, and ANU because of it’s focus on rural medicine, small class sizes, and price/location (also due to the elective you get to do anywhere in the world). And well, the interviewers seemed like genuine human beings and cared why you were pursuing medicine, unlike my experience with the others
 
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Iamacat said:
I got my Melbourne invite yesterday morning if that helps! Although I’m declining it
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I hope they give your invite to me lol I really hope those who aren't genuinely interested in attending Melbourne decline their interview invites to give a chance for others to be interviewed.... if they decline post-interview, many students would have missed the chance of acceptance at all as only interviewed applicants will be considered for admission!

Are you Canadian or North American or other International? Your stats are TOO high for Australian schools, you would have a decent chance in the U.S.
 
Future-MSTP said:
I hope they give your invite to me lol I really hope those who aren't genuinely interested in attending Melbourne decline their interview invites to give a chance for others to be interviewed.... if they decline post-interview, many students would have missed the chance of acceptance at all as only interviewed applicants will be considered for admission!

Are you Canadian or North American or other International? Your stats are TOO high for Australian schools, you would have a decent chance in the U.S.
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I’m from Canada and I hope they give it to you too! I genuinely don’t wanna live in Canada anymore and definitely don’t wanna live in the states. I hope to be a rural doctor and help small communities/indigenous communities; plus, I plan on living in austrailia for 10 years or more if everything goes well, as they are need of rural doctors, so the shoe fits. And well, I kind of fell in love with Deakin as a school :)
 
canadaroadman said:
Thanks for sharing! I still dont know too much about Aus medical schools even though I was accepted to UQ. I've always been a fan of rural medicine as well. Would I still be able to help fulfill the need of rural docs by going to UQ?
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You’ll definitely be able to! Rural internships and jobs are the ones that most domestic Australians avoid (sadly), which means that if you’re willing to, I’m sure there’s a lot you can do after going to UQ
 
Iamacat said:
I’m from Canada and I hope they give it to you too! I genuinely don’t wanna live in Canada anymore and definitely don’t wanna live in the states. I hope to be a rural doctor and help small communities/indigenous communities; plus, I plan on living in austrailia for 10 years or more if everything goes well, as they are need of rural doctors, so the shoe fits. And well, I kind of fell in love with Deakin as a school :)
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Good luck!
I'm the opposite...I want to live in the City and I'm so in love with Melbourne because of its location and ranking for international practice. I'm "other international, Middle Easterner" but have done my education in the US and that's where I plan to do my residency but would return home for my actual practice. I hope it works out with Australian schools for me as I didn't have a chance with US schools due to my low MCAT score.
 
Hi guys,
anyone knows if UWA interview offers have been fully released? I submitted my application a few days before the deadline in May and only heard back from them to submit my sem1, 2021 results (currently completing my undergrad at USYD). Is there a chance I still get an interview offer at this stage?
 
canadianroadman said:
Can anyone elaborate on the 10 year Moratorium? What exactly is it and does it apply to international students who graduate from an Aus medical school?
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Yes it does. For 10 years after obtaining registration (finishing intern year basically), you will be unable to bill Medicare (meaning you will be unable to work privately, only publicly) unless you work in a Distribution Priority Area (DPA) if you are a GP/training as a GP or a District of Workforce Shortage (DWS) if you're a specialist/training as a specialist. The definitions are here, you can use this map to see where you'd be allowed to work: Health Workforce Locator

So for example, for an Anesthetist, the Royal Brisbane and Women's hospital is in a DWS whereas the Princess Alexandra hospital is not (mentioning those two because they're both UQ teaching hospitals). So often the DWS classifications are less stringent than you'd expect. The DPA for GPs is more stringent, you wouldn't be able to work anywhere in Brisbane.

You can reduce the moratorium period by working/training in more rural areas, the more rural you go the more "credit" you get and the max you can reduce the moratorium by is 5 years.

The years of training you do as a house officer and intern before applying into a specialty or GP college are not affected by the moratorium. You will need to apply for permanent residency at some point after finishing your intern year because many specialties may not accept those without citizenship or PR. Having PR or getting citizenship thereafter (which is not too difficult, PR is the bigger hurdle) does not affect the 10 year moratorium and in fact you must become a PR for the moratorium to end.
 
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canadianroadman said:
Is working publicly unfavorable? I ask because, in the US and Canada, many physicians spend their whole career working publically in a hospital.
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I don't know much about the Canadian healthcare system, but thinking about the US healthcare system there's no real equivalent to public hospitals. The Australian public hospitals are state owned and mostly state/federally funded, so comparing to the US they're closer to the VA than to a state university health system I guess, but that's still not a great comparison.

In Australia, working in a public hospital you'll get lower pay. You also may have more difficulty getting a job in an urban area even if you technically qualify for those jobs, as the state governments may restrict hiring of IMGs at certain hospitals and jobs are just generally less available because positions are filled.
 
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Hi all - did anyone from UQ round 1 waitlist receive an offer? I checked with Oztrekk and they basically said round 2 waitlists shouldn’t get their hopes up.. real bummer for UQ round 2 waitlisted people. It seems like in the past the waitlist had a lot of movement but this year with USyd only accepting onshore applicants and UQ being full after round 1 due to high number of applicants, UMel and Monash offers won’t cause too much movement in the UQ waitlist. Fingers crossed some of us hear good news
 
doc202 said:
Hi all - did anyone from UQ round 1 waitlist receive an offer? I checked with Oztrekk and they basically said round 2 waitlists shouldn’t get their hopes up.. real bummer for UQ round 2 waitlisted people. It seems like in the past the waitlist had a lot of movement but this year with USyd only accepting onshore applicants and UQ being full after round 1 due to high number of applicants, UMel and Monash offers won’t cause too much movement in the UQ waitlist. Fingers crossed some of us hear good news
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Oh where did you hear about "USyd only accepting onshore applicants"? That is new to me.
 
Chummy said:
Oh where did you hear about "USyd only accepting onshore applicants"? That is new to me.
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It was something Oztrekk told me when I was inquiring about the UQ waitlist. They said that USyd confirmed that their program will only start in person so most likely they will require applicants to be in Australia to receive an offer
 
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doc202 said:
It was something Oztrekk told me when I was inquiring about the UQ waitlist. They said that USyd confirmed that their program will only start in person so most likely they will require applicants to be in Australia to receive an offer
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Do you think the Usyd pilot scheme (think it's more NSW?) of allowing international students to enter the county that are needed to be at the uni in person won't go ahead?
 
vakuri said:
Do you think the Usyd pilot scheme (think it's more NSW?) of allowing international students to enter the county that are needed to be at the uni in person won't go ahead?
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If the current vaccination rates continue, Australia's going to hit the 70-80% vaccination rate sometime in November (or even late October) and that threshold is what they've set to start working on reopening the border. They've said they'll be ready to start getting international students over pretty quickly after, see this article: Australia to have vaccine passport system ready within weeks for international travel

I think it's more likely students will be able to get in via that route than the NSW pilot program, there's been almost no information on it since they said it was being delayed back in July. There's so much that's up in the air right now though, and at this point it doesn't make sense to choose USyd if you're not currently in Australia as if it does take longer than expected to get in then you're looking at deferring a year vs another school where you would be able to start online. I wonder if that might be part of the reason UQ filled up so quickly.
 
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canadianroadman said:
Damn.. It seems really tough to even just stay and practice in austraila.
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It's probably not that hard just to stay if staying is your only goal, it's more there are restrictions on what you can do. If you want to be a GP in downtown Sydney that's not gonna happen without getting through the 10 year moratorium first. If you're looking to work in a remote area you should have no trouble finding something. I think most people are able to find something that works for them, even if it's not the perfect job, although I will say that >50% of graduates end up in rural areas at least initially so if that's really not your thing it would be best to avoid Australian schools.

I don't know about other schools and what they publish, but my school UQ does provide data on where graduates end up for internship, and the vast majority of students who seek internships in Australia are successful: International graduate employment outcomes - Medicine Program - University of Queensland
 
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canadianroadman said:
Ahhh I see! Could you elaborate more on what rural medicine is like? I'm not entirely sure what its like so I'm curious if it's something that I would like or not mind doing.

Also, how much money are you really making when working in the public health system (i.e during the 10-year moratorium)? Would it be enough to pay off student debt?
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I think these are very important questions, but they're a bit outside my wheelhouse as a first year medical student haha. I would recommend getting a PagingDr account and searching the forum/asking a question if you can't find an answer. Also @pitman @Domperidone are either of you still around?
 
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Wolvvs said:
I think these are very important questions, but they're a bit outside my wheelhouse as a first year medical student haha. I would recommend getting a PagingDr account and searching the forum/asking a question if you can't find an answer. Also @pitman @Domperidone are either of you still around?
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i dont think they are but hope they come back

they're legends
 
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canadianroadman said:
I will definitely try to find some answers from them.

In the mean time, a personal question I have for you is what compelled you to UQ MD as a Canadian/American citizen?
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I'm in the UQ-Ochsner program. I applied after an unsuccessful attempt to get into US medical schools. It is an excellent choice for me as I want to work in the US but also want to have some background in another healthcare system. I did briefly consider going to a school in Australia for the full four years and did a lot of research about what that might look like, but I ultimately decided I want to stay in the US.
 
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canadianroadman said:
Ahhh I see! Could you elaborate more on what rural medicine is like? I'm not entirely sure what its like so I'm curious if it's something that I would like or not mind doing.

Also, how much money are you really making when working in the public health system (i.e during the 10-year moratorium)? Would it be enough to pay off student debt?
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Rural medicine varies depending on how "rural" you want to go and what specialty you choose. As a student I've rotated at big regional hospitals about 1:30-2 hours from the city which can handle a wide variety of cases, only having to send the very complex ones off to the city (neurosurg etc.). Later on in your career if you want to go even more rural then there is the option to do "remote area medicine" where you'll be one of a few doctors in the town (we had a few doctors come talk to our class who did this). Some rural hospitals are as close as 45 minutes from the major city. In regards to pay, I would not be too concerned with the difference between private and public. Many of the top hospitals in the state I am in are public and the pay is quite competitive. Intern year pay starts at 80k (in Victoria) and can get close to 95-100k depending on overtime (pre tax). You can always look up jobs online and some of them advertise pay to get a *rough idea. Some rural areas are quite in need of doctors (general practitioners) and offer very lucrative contracts (350-550k) plus will help sponsor/facilitate PR applications (some even toss in a car and house!) You have to remember that training takes longer in Australia than in Canada/US. Most specialties require a minimum of two years post grad (intern year + PGY-2) before you apply to training pathways . Yes you would make enough to pay off your debt during the 10 year period (assuming you take on a standard amount of debt and set a plan actively pay it off). Source: currently a 4th year student with friends in intern year and beyond.
 
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canadianroadman said:
Oh wow thats really interesting. Thank you for such an in-depth answer! Are your plans to stay in Australia?
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Possibly for the internship year but I'll be applying back to Canada and the US as well. Any more questions feel free to PM me!
 
does anyone know what date umelbourne releases offers based on past years?
 
Has anyone here accepted their UWA offer?
I am currently waitlisted for UQ (round 2) and got rejected from Sydney. Just waiting on a response from Melbourne, but my UWA offer expires on October 17th. I'm worried that Melbourne may not give a response before that deadline and I'm conflicted on what to do.
My top choices were originally UQ, Sydney and Melbourne. But I'm feeling pretty discouraged after seeing how competitive this year was.

I would love to hear about anyone's perspectives on UWA. I haven't done too much research on it yet, but it seems like a decent school. Just kinda scared about being in Western Australia instead of the gold coast. Seems like it's pretty isolated from the rest of the schools.
 
purplemermaid said:
Has anyone here accepted their UWA offer?
I am currently waitlisted for UQ (round 2) and got rejected from Sydney. Just waiting on a response from Melbourne, but my UWA offer expires on October 17th. I'm worried that Melbourne may not give a response before that deadline and I'm conflicted on what to do.
My top choices were originally UQ, Sydney and Melbourne. But I'm feeling pretty discouraged after seeing how competitive this year was.

I would love to hear about anyone's perspectives on UWA. I haven't done too much research on it yet, but it seems like a decent school. Just kinda scared about being in Western Australia instead of the gold coast. Seems like it's pretty isolated from the rest of the schools.
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Hi purple,

If you don't mind me asking, did you get rejected from USyd at or after the confirmation email stage, and what was your MCAT score?
 
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