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For those considering applying to Medicine or a Dental Surgery undergraduate degree for entry in 2020, the UMAT (Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test) has now been replaced by the UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) for entry into most medicine and dentistry courses across Australia and New Zealand. Students who wish to apply for entry into such courses in 2020 will need to sit UCAT in 2019 (see separate newsletter article for specific details). The last sitting of UMAT took place in 2018. The UCAT will take place across the month of July 2019 with results valid for one year only (and cannot be carried over from year to the next). 

Click here to view a guide on the various entry pathways to a qualification in Medicine and Dental Surgery.

OPTIONS FOR ENTERING MEDICINE WITHOUT UMAT/UCAT:

Option 1:  Universities that will accept students into their medicine program without a UMAT/UCAT result:

• University of Melbourne (Bachelor of Science OR Bachelor of Biomedicine/Doctor of Medicine; 7 years) – you get a guaranteed place in their graduate medicine program if you score at ATAR of 99.90+.  You have to do a three year undergraduate degree like Science or Biomedicine (Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry must be done somewhere in the degree). You can then go straight onto the four year Medicine program.
• University of Sydney (Bachelor of Science/Doctor of Medicine; 7 years). Similar to Melbourne (above), except you require an ATAR of 99.95.
• Australian National University (Bachelor of Philosophy/Doctor of Medicine and Surgery; 8 years).  If you get an ATAR of 99.00 or more, and fulfil a written application, you can get into the ANU Bachelor of Philosophy program (basically a science degree) and get a guaranteed place in the Medicine course. The Bachelor of Philosophy is four years, and the Medicine program is four years.
• Griffith University (Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine; 6 years). ANU does not take UMAT/UCAT, only ATAR.  Make sure you apply via both QTAC (for Queensland) and UAC (for NSW) to maximise your chances. The ATAR required is around 99.6.
• James Cook University (MBBS*; 6 years). They take only written application and ATAR, no other testing.
• Flinders University (Bachelor of Clinical Sciences/Doctor of Medicine; 6 years). They require UMAT, but ATAR is weighted 90%, and UMAT only 10% and they mainly consider section 1 and 2 of the UMAT.

Option 2:  Do a degree the year after Year 12, sit the UMAT/UCAT and then re-apply to Medicine as a first year university student.

The universities that allow this are:

• University of New South Wales (Bachelor of Medical Studies/Doctor of Medicine; 6 years). They consider your ATAR, university results (in a 50:50 ratio), UCAT and interview. You can do the UCAT whilst in first year university, and then try to apply to Medicine this way.  Note that you’ll start from first year at UNSW (credit cannot be transferred).
• University of Western Sydney (MBBS; 5 years). They consider your GPA from your first year of university (and second if you apply again the following year) and ATAR. They also consider UCAT and interview. Credit cannot be transferred.
• University of Newcastle (Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine; 5 years). GPA, UCAT and interview are considered.

Option 3:  Apply to the Monash graduate entry MBBS in Gippsland after doing Monash Biomedical Science, Science, Physiotherapy or Vet Science. You don’t need to sit the GAMSAT to get into Monash Gippsland MBBS.

Monash Gippsland is different in that it takes ONLY Monash students into its graduate four year Medicine program. Out of the 75 places, 50 are reserved for ONLY Monash Biomedical Science students. The other 25 are open to Monash Biomedical Science, Science, Physiotherapy and Vet Science students. They consider your weighted average mark in your undergraduate degree and interview.

Option 4: Finish an undergraduate degree, sit the GAMSAT and get a high GPA, and try to get into a graduate entry medical school.

Schools include:

• University of Melbourne (you must do Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry in undergraduate)
• Deakin University
• University of Sydney
• University of Wollongong
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Queensland
• Griffith University
• Australian National University
• University of Western Australia
• Flinders University

Note that Monash Gippsland isn’t here, since you MUST be a Monash student to get into this program.

*MBBS: Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery.

As entry requirements for all universities and programs are open to change, students and parents are strongly encouraged to check courses of interest regularly, or seek assistance from Mrs Elliott or the University careers centre.

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