Does completing a med degree interstate affect job opportunities in Melbourne?

[JaidynM]

While I do plan on applying for the MBBS course at Monash, I want to keep my options open and so I've been doing a bit of research on interstate courses. Say for example however I did go interstate and went and did something like MBBS @ UNSW, UQ or JCU, would that greatly affect my chances of getting a job in Melbourne? I remember reading something about how people generally work where they graduate and I just wanted to confirm whether this was the case.

[Shenz0r]

You'll be disadvantaged when you apply for internships because interstate students are preferenced below local students, so it's usually common to intern in the state you go to med school in. Later in your career you might get an opportunity to move back.

[JaidynM]

Ahh okay. Forgive me for my lack of knowledge as to how the system works but how long (roughly) would you say that'd be of working interstate before getting an opportunity to move back? Does 5 years of the course itself and 1-2 years of internship sound about right?

[nino quincampoix]

Internship is one year. Residency varies, but is usually 1-2 years (although it could go on indefinitely if you choose).

[Russ]

You'd be fairly unlikely to get an internship in Victoria as an interstate graduate because you're in the bottom category for priority matching. You absolutely wouldn't get a job with the big tertiary hospitals (eg Royal Melbourne has stated they haven't employed any interstate graduate for several years now) due to the way the system has worked out. The smaller, more rural hospitals will probably end up hiring a few interstate graduates but there's no guarantee. You're free to apply back to Victoria and see how things turn out though, since you're not obligated to take an offer you receive.

As for after your internship, it's still difficult. I would move interstate on the assumption that I wouldn't be coming back to Victoria for at least several years after graduating and treat anything sooner as a pleasant surprise.

e, Having said all that, you are obviously very likely to get an internship in the state you graduate from and most people build a fairly happy life over 5 years of living somewhere.

[JaidynM]

Thanks Russ, I've definitely got a lot to consider then.