Bonded MBBS amongst other med-related things...

[luken93]

So I got an offer into the Monash MBBS Bonded place today. There's no point in denying it, I'm ecstatic that I'm in Med; but obviously I had an abysmal interview and hence I received my 3rd preference of the bonded place (CSP and ERC 1st and 2nd).

I've basically spent the whole night researching it, what it means and where the loopholes lie; but I want the student perspective on this...

Does anyone know of others that have got this place and what they aim to do about it (either this year or years past)?
What sort of remuneration or benefits (if anything) can I receive to work in rural/isolated/shortage areas?
I've heard that it's possible to pay out this contract in order to be free from the government's reign...how much is this and is it difficult to do?

And finally, does Monash Med have second and third round offers...or more specifically, do I have a chance at getting an ERC/CSP spot?


PS, according to the Herald Sun;
165 CSP places, 62 interstate
74 Bonded places, 32 interstate
30 ERC places, 7 interstate

Assuming some of the interstaters would take their own state instead of accepting monash, does this open up spots for me and others?


Sorry about all the whinging, but I'm getting to the point of questioning whether I go to UQ over a bonded place....Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[Russ]

Does anyone know of others that have got this place and what they aim to do about it (either this year or years past)?

Most of the guys I know aim to repay their service (what else would you aim to do..?). Bear in mind that the person you are today barely resembles the person you will be in 15 years time. You will have completely different abilities and the prospect of moving away from home to live/work in a different area will probably no longer faze you...there will be plenty of travel working at hospitals during medicine anyway.

What sort of remuneration or benefits (if anything) can I receive to work in rural/isolated/shortage areas?

Well...your salary haha?

I've heard that it's possible to pay out this contract in order to be free from the government's reign...how much is this and is it difficult to do?

It's very easy to do, just break the bond and they'll come looking for you . Alternatively you can let them know you intend to break it, but there's a legal way of doing this since it's a contract etc. so ask a lawyer on the exact details. In terms of how much, it's the amount they invested in your education, adjusted to the CPI. So you can estimate it if you want, based on the actual cost of the medical degree (NOT the subsidized cost).

Assuming some of the interstaters would take their own state instead of accepting monash, does this open up spots for me and others?

Yes, but whether you get bumped up to a CSP depends on where you are on their list of rankings.

Sorry about all the whinging, but I'm getting to the point of questioning whether I go to UQ over a bonded place....Any advice would be greatly appreciated

You weren't whinging! It's a tough decision. If I was offered a BMP I was a coinflip on taking it or doing an honours year and working in research for that time. What specifically makes you hesitant to take the BMP? Can I also ask how you felt on the matter prior to preferences, when you listed it? I would personally prefer my home state over QLD so I could see my family and friends more regularly and not have to be tied down somewhere else for my degree/internship but that's a personal thing.

[luken93]

Cheers for that Russ!

Yep, well feeling a lot more comfortable about it now, ended up ringing Dept Health and Aging and fr once, a government agency was actually very helpful haha!

They pretty much reiterated what you've said, it's definitely not difficult to break it and she said that figures were about 90% do pay it out. Reason being is that when push comes to shove and you have to finally accept or break the bond after 11 years (you have 16 years from now to complete 5 years of rural work), they are fully/almost specialized and earning enough to clear it - which in the long run is better than getting a specialization that perhaps isn't what you want and may earn lower...

I think it was just a lot of information to take in at the time, putting it in my preferences I simply did it because I wanted med no matter what, but then it just came all of a sudden!

Pretty sure I'm staying at Monash now haha

[luken93]

Oh and as for the remuneration question, I see on the website something about MRBS - are we eligible for them? And the relocation/rural work payment is something like 125,000 :O

[shinny]

I've heard that it's possible to pay out this contract in order to be free from the government's reign...how much is this and is it difficult to do?

From what I worked out, it's essentially paying the cost of a full-fee place. Obviously these figures will be slightly off and will be a bit different for you, but a full-fee place is ~$24k a year. Since you're still considered CSP for the sake of your uni life, you'll be paying ~$6k a year for uni. Once you try to break your contract, then you'll have to pay this difference of ~$18k which the government essentially covered for you. As Russ said, I'd assume this gets adjusted a bit for inflation. Also, note that you can do half of your bond before you specialise. Hence, doing your first 2 years out at a rural location, and then paying off the last three years might be suitable. By the time you're a specialist, weird to think of it, but don't be surprised if you even have a family so paying it off might be your best option at that stage. But by all means, try to be one of the few that actually finish off the whole thing People out there really need the help.

As for second and third round offers, Monash Med practically does its own rounds IIRC, due to the nature of interstate students accepting and cancelling last minute. My friend got accepted into Med one week before the course started.

[Russ]

Yeah, I strongly dislike people taking BMPs with the plan of buying the contract out later because it's essentially screwing the entire program over.

But as for MRBS, you are eligible, yes, but you'd have to let Monash know pretty soonish. Also be aware that the MRBS contract is more restrictive than the BMP contract, because the government is giving you the scholarship (ie you can't just buy it out)