Do I need to take the UCAT for Biomedicine?

[sqkiyuh]

Hey everyone!

This is my first time writing a post so please excuse me if I'm doing this wrong 

So, as the the title states, do I need to take the UCAT to get into a Bachelor of Biomedicine? I'm currently in Year 10 and I've been told that now is a good time to start preparing for the UCAT. However, the course I want to get into is the Bachelor of Biomedicine at Monash University (or Melbourne University), and my "end" goal is to become a Medical Scientist and do clinical research, not be a doctor or such.

I can't seem to find an exact answer on Google, so if anyone is currently doing Biomedicine in uni and knows the answer, I'd appreciate any clarification!

[ArtyDreams]

Hey everyone!

This is my first time writing a post so please excuse me if I'm doing this wrong

So, as the the title states, do I need to take the UCAT to get into a Bachelor of Biomedicine? I'm currently in Year 10 and I've been told that now is a good time to start preparing for the UCAT. However, the course I want to get into is the Bachelor of Biomedicine at Monash University (or Melbourne University), and my "end" goal is to become a Medical Scientist and do clinical research, not be a doctor or such.

I can't seem to find an exact answer on Google, so if anyone is currently doing Biomedicine in uni and knows the answer, I'd appreciate any clarification!

Welcome to the forums!!

I'm not doing medicine so hopefully someone else might have some better advice on this. However, to simply get into the Bachelor of Biomedicine courses at Melbourne or Monash, you do not needed to have done the UCAT. The UCAT is used to get into medicine courses. The Biomedicine courses do have ATAR and subject prerequisites though, so it would be useful to do a google search on these requirements.

However, you can do the UCAT after you get into the Bachelor of Biomedicine courses to get into postgraduate medicine.

So to summarise, you don't need the UCAT for the Bachelor of Biomedicine courses.
Hope this helps!

[james.358]

Hey everyone!

This is my first time writing a post so please excuse me if I'm doing this wrong 

So, as the the title states, do I need to take the UCAT to get into a Bachelor of Biomedicine? I'm currently in Year 10 and I've been told that now is a good time to start preparing for the UCAT. However, the course I want to get into is the Bachelor of Biomedicine at Monash University (or Melbourne University), and my "end" goal is to become a Medical Scientist and do clinical research, not be a doctor or such.

I can't seem to find an exact answer on Google, so if anyone is currently doing Biomedicine in uni and knows the answer, I'd appreciate any clarification!

Hey there!

Just adding to Artydream's reply, there are two forms of entry to Medicine in Australia, the Undergraduate Entry (if you want to be enrolled in a Medicine course straight after graduating year 12) and the Postgraduate Entry (where you first complete a 3 year Bachelors course such as Biomedicine before doing the 4 years of med school).

UCAT is only needed to get into undergraduate medicine, but in some cases, it is used for conditional entry to the postgraduate course (e.g. in University of Queensland, you can essentially get a guaranteed offer to the postgraduate med course using ATAR and UCAT, but you still have to complete a Bachelors before you can do Med School).

If you don't take this pathway, you're going to need to do GAMSAT, which is a significantly harder and longer version of UCAT. So if you're set on doing medicine, I highly recommend pursuing the undergraduate pathway. It is far easier to prepare for a 2 hour aptitude test like UCAT and a uphold a high academic performance for only Year 12, than needing to maintain it for the three years of Undergraduate Biomedicine.

And just one more tip, you really shouldn't listen to the people telling you to prepare for UCAT at Y10. It is an aptitude test after all, and the earliest time to start preparing is probably the holidays before Y12 (which even then some would argue is too early).

Hope this clarifies things!
James

[AngelWings]

However, the course I want to get into is the Bachelor of Biomedicine at Monash University (or Melbourne University), and my "end" goal is to become a Medical Scientist and do clinical research, not be a doctor or such.

You’ve already had some great answers above regarding your initial question, but I wanted to add my own two cents on this quote above.
 
If you’re interested in research specifically, I’d highly suggest you have a look at doing Honours and/ or Masters down the line somewhere, attached or after your Bachelors. Also, get as much experience in a lab and/or your interested field as you can as you get older.

If this isn’t what you’re interested in, have a look at medical scientists in diagnostics - they’re often the ones who do routine lab work.

[sqkiyuh]

Thank you all for your answers! It's definitely cleared some of my concerns, but I'm still unsure on whether I should go for a Bachelor of Medicine or Bachelor of Biomedical Science. What even is the difference?

As James had explained, taking the UCAT and entering Medicine would be more beneficial. But, if I enter Biomedicine instead, will I have to transfer to Medicine in order to then obtain an appropriate Honours/Masters? I'm just unsure on whether I can even get into Medicine, and considering the ATAR requirements for Biomedicine being lower, it seems like an easier pathway?

[AngelWings]

The biomed and medicine students can correct me but this is my quick explanation.

I'm still unsure on whether I should go for a Bachelor of Medicine or Bachelor of Biomedical Science. What even is the difference?

Bachelor of Medicine is a course that is more geared at people interested in the medical practices - becoming a general practitioner (doctor), specialist doctor e.g. nephrologist, psychiatrist, surgeon, etc.. It is usually 5 years full-time and is more like the well-known American “med schools”. In Victoria, the only place you can do an undergrad Bachelor of Medicine is at Monash Uni, which you can read about more here. It requires:
- UCAT
- interview
- minimum raw 30 SS in VCE English subject (excluding EAL, which is 35)
- Chem raw 30 SS minimum
You will eventually be accredited under AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia if you complete this degree successfully (which is fancy talk for “I’m a registered [insert medical profession]”). 

Bachelor of Biomedicine is more general and is about where biology and medicine intersect - things like human pathology and disease, genetics and bioinformatics. It’s sometimes cited as a “pre-med” course and can be used to enter the postgraduate Doctor of Medicine (alongside other requirements e.g. GAMSAT). Biomed is a 3 year course and does not include accreditation to AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia. It has the following prerequisites, if done at Monash (see more here; Melbourne Uni’s prereqs will be similar):
- raw 25 SS minimum for VCE English subject (except EAL, which is 27)
- raw 25 SS minimum in Methods, Spesh or Physics
- raw 25 SS minimum in Chemistry
This is perhaps better for people who:
- want a more general view of immunology, pathology, anatomy, etc. but may not want to be a GP
- missed out on undergrad medicine (or like to take the long route) but want to try for postgrad medicine 
- not really sure what they want do as a career but like the intersection between biology and medicine

if I enter Biomedicine instead, will I have to transfer to Medicine in order to then obtain an appropriate Honours/Masters?

No. Biomed has its own Honours and Masters courses after it. Honours is a 1 year course that you attach on to your undergraduate degree that is basically one giant research project in a lab with supervisor(s) you found. Masters is usually a 2 year postgraduate course that is part content and part research project, if you choose to do a Masters by research. (I’m talking more generally now, not just for Biomed.)

Honours and Masters are usually more geared towards careers in research and academia or, in the case of Masters, specific careers with higher qualifications e.g. genetic counsellor. If successful, these can often lead you to PhDs (after which, you’ll have the title of Dr. too, but not necessarily in medicine), which is also very research and academia-based.

P.S. For high-scoring VCE students, you might like the Bachelor of Biomedical science (Scholar’s program) at Monash or the Chancellor’s program at Melbourne Uni.

[sqkiyuh]

The biomed and medicine students can correct me but this is my quick explanation.
Bachelor of Medicine is a course that is more geared at people interested in the medical practices - becoming a general practitioner (doctor), specialist doctor e.g. nephrologist, psychiatrist, surgeon, etc.. It is usually 5 years full-time and is more like the well-known American “med schools”. In Victoria, the only place you can do an undergrad Bachelor of Medicine is at Monash Uni, which you can read about more here. It requires:
- UCAT
- interview
- minimum raw 30 SS in VCE English subject (excluding EAL, which is 35)
- Chem raw 30 SS minimum
You will eventually be accredited under AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia if you complete this degree successfully (which is fancy talk for “I’m a registered [insert medical profession]”). 

Bachelor of Biomedicine is more general and is about where biology and medicine intersect - things like human pathology and disease, genetics and bioinformatics. It’s sometimes cited as a “pre-med” course and can be used to enter the postgraduate Doctor of Medicine (alongside other requirements e.g. GAMSAT). Biomed is a 3 year course and does not include accreditation to AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia. It has the following prerequisites, if done at Monash (see more here; Melbourne Uni’s prereqs will be similar):
- raw 25 SS minimum for VCE English subject (except EAL, which is 27)
- raw 25 SS minimum in Methods, Spesh or Physics
- raw 25 SS minimum in Chemistry
This is perhaps better for people who:
- want a more general view of immunology, pathology, anatomy, etc. but may not want to be a GP
- missed out on undergrad medicine (or like to take the long route) but want to try for postgrad medicine 
- not really sure what they want do as a career but like the intersection between biology and medicine
 No. Biomed has its own Honours and Masters courses after it. Honours is a 1 year course that you attach on to your undergraduate degree that is basically one giant research project in a lab with supervisor(s) you found. Masters is usually a 2 year postgraduate course that is part content and part research project, if you choose to do a Masters by research. (I’m talking more generally now, not just for Biomed.)

Honours and Masters are usually more geared towards careers in research and academia or, in the case of Masters, specific careers with higher qualifications e.g. genetic counsellor. If successful, these can often lead you to PhDs (after which, you’ll have the title of Dr. too, but not necessarily in medicine), which is also very research and academia-based.

P.S. For high-scoring VCE students, you might like the Bachelor of Biomedical science (Scholar’s program) at Monash or the Chancellor’s program at Melbourne Uni.

Ahh thank you so much for the information!! I was extremely confused earlier but this makes it so much more easier to understand. I guess it'll be Biomedicine that I'll be pursuing then

[AngelWings]

No worries. I’d highly recommend that you do further research though, just in case you find another career, course or area you’re interested in. That way, you’ll be able to weigh all your options and find the best courses for you.

Some more similar courses include (though you need to check their majors, minors and specialties):
- Bachelor of Science (Research - Advanced) at Monash
- Bachelor of Science, followed by Bachelor of Science (Honours)
- Bachelor of Applied Sciences (usually RMIT or Swinburne, off the top of my head)
- Bachelor of biomedical science (Laboratory medicine) at RMIT
All of these have their own benefits and disadvantages.

Different institutes also study different research topics, so that might influence where you’d like to go to uni.