Entry requirements

[Swagadaktal]

Hey guys, just wanted to know the minimum atar required to get into bond university, given that it no longer takes in umat?
Also, there is a new med school opening up in western Australia. From what I've heard this university is undergrad, but will this uni take in the UMAT? Tried googling this and nothing seems to come up.

Thanks guys,

eat your veggies xx
dont play yourself

[Maz]

hey
I'm someone in western australia so i might be able to help there...yes Curtin university is opening an undergraduate med school- set to open next year so class of 2016 will be the first to go...yes there will be a UMAT requirement (as there is in any other undergraduate medical school). there are only 70 places in the entire thing- so getting in will be extremely hard... but med is hard to get into so thats not new i guess haha  there will be more places every year- until they can't handle any more...but for class of 2016 (the 1st year it is open) there will only be 70
hope that helps
and good luck to you- from one wannabe doctor to another 

[pi]

Bond has a floor of 97.00 ATAR and it doesn't need the UMAT any more. It's also full fee so unless you're rolling in it I can't see why you'd want to go there.

Another non-UMAT option you have is JCU. I have a few mates there and they love it, seems like a great program.

And on another note, Curtin med school is a terrible idea and I'm praying something goes wrong so it doesn't open hahaha

[Swagadaktal]

hey
I'm someone in western australia so i might be able to help there...yes Curtin university is opening an undergraduate med school- set to open next year so class of 2016 will be the first to go...yes there will be a UMAT requirement (as there is in any other undergraduate medical school). there are only 70 places in the entire thing- so getting in will be extremely hard... but med is hard to get into so thats not new i guess haha  there will be more places every year- until they can't handle any more...but for class of 2016 (the 1st year it is open) there will only be 70
hope that helps
and good luck to you- from one wannabe doctor to another 

I've been told that there will be 120 places in Curtin university (now i know the name ) - are you sure that its only 70 places in total for the med program? Or just 70 for undergrad and the rest for post grad?
and gl bud

And Pi, the min atar requirement is 97, but like the min atar requirement for monash med is 90 and you dont see any 90s there... so what would you reckon the minimum atar would be to get in? Like the lowest they'd accept?
Ooh and what's JCU's lowest atar requirement (empirically not the min atar to meet the pre-requisite)
And look, worst comes to worst, i'll spend the three years I would've spent studying science or biomed working as an intern (they get paid a decent amount right? like 50-60k ive read somewhere? correct me if im wrong)  and pay off student fees.
TBH I plan on doing well on the UMAT so these are just backups. It gives me peace of mind and allows me to focus better and perform better without the anxiety and uncertainty of what's going to happen. Ya feel?

[pi]

And Pi, the min atar requirement is 97, but like the min atar requirement for monash med is 90 and you dont see any 90s there... so what would you reckon the minimum atar would be to get in? Like the lowest they'd accept?
Ooh and what's JCU's lowest atar requirement (empirically not the min atar to meet the pre-requisite)
And look, worst comes to worst, i'll spend the three years I would've spent studying science or biomed working as an intern (they get paid a decent amount right? like 50-60k ive read somewhere? correct me if im wrong)  and pay off student fees.
TBH I plan on doing well on the UMAT so these are just backups. It gives me peace of mind and allows me to focus better and perform better without the anxiety and uncertainty of what's going to happen. Ya feel?

Bond isn't very competitive because not many people can afford it. I know someone there and from memory his ATAR was in the 97s, his parents are pretty loaded though.

Not sure if JCU has an ATAR floor, but they do things a bit differently there anyway: they have an additional written application (can be downloaded from their website), in addition to a panel interview. I think they have a significant weighting on the written application, I know people with high 99s who didn't get called up for an interview, whilst a mate with 97.xx got an interview and an offer. My brother and I had the same ATAR but I got an interview and offer and he didn't even get an interview 2 years later.

Yeah I guess if that's your plan, go for it. But I can't say that I'd ever want to do that And who knows if full-fee students from Bond will even be guaranteed internships when your time to graduate happens, lots of risks! And I think it'll take more than 3 years of working to pay it all off haha Try a decade maybe

Sure, it's important to have back-up options, not knocking you for that haha. Most people keen on medicine tend to apply broadly all around Aus, and I did that too

[Splash-Tackle-Flail]

And Pi, the min atar requirement is 97, but like the min atar requirement for monash med is 90 and you dont see any 90s there... so what would you reckon the minimum atar would be to get in? Like the lowest they'd accept?
Ooh and what's JCU's lowest atar requirement (empirically not the min atar to meet the pre-requisite)

If it helps a classmate of mine got a 92ish ATAR and got into JCU. My cousin, from QLD got OP1 (99+atar) and said most who got OP1 had a very high chance of getting in.

[Swagadaktal]

If it helps a classmate of mine got a 92ish ATAR and got into JCU. My cousin, from QLD got OP1 (99+atar) and said most who got OP1 had a very high chance of getting in.

splash even if you just commented a picture of a banana you'd always be helping <3
Your classmate is a rural student right? That's considered when applying for JCU yeah?

[pi]

They do indeed like their rural candidates, although that's certainly not a pre-req if you are (or at least, 'sound') passionate about rural/Indigenous/tropical health.

[Splash-Tackle-Flail]

[Swagadaktal]

They do indeed like their rural candidates, although that's certainly not a pre-req if you are (or at least, 'sound') passionate about rural/Indigenous/tropical health.

ooh i actually am, I did my oral on the indigenous disadvantages
I can go into a lot of detail (that isn't my exact topic)  but yeah

And splash I swear I knew you were going to do that. I was like "splash is going to comment a picture of a banana I just know it"

[Splash-Tackle-Flail]

In all seriousness, yes she was rural.

In more seriousness, I just found out one of the people (who I talked about here Re: How do u get into monash mbbs?), who didn't get an offer for Monash MBBS, just received a second round offer 

Food for thought there is hope!

[pi]

Just on Bond, I'd highly recommend anyone considering it to read over the contents of this thread http://medstudentsonline.com.au/forum/threads/thoughts-on-bond-md-is-it-worth-it.31041/

I'll copy some relevant quotes here for reference and for those of you who can't be bothered making an account, Users X will be the users asking questions, User Y (who is a consultant doctor) will be the one addressing them:

was wondering are there any Bond students/ graduates on here who can give us some insight into...was internship and stuff hard to find?

Bear in mind that present-day experience of employment is not likely to bear much relevance to you once you graduate - between now and then is a long time, and with the graduate oversupply, it's worth approaching the issue with more than a bit of caution.

imho, i don't think bond medical graduates will have a problem finding an internship position in queensland. there are four medical schools - jcu, griffith, bond, UQ , and the number of medical graduates from these schools has been relatively constant, and will be relatively constant in the years to come (as numbers are capped). if bond graduates don't have a problem now, i doubt they'll have a problem in the near future assuming queensland gov keeps funding the internship positions currently in place (since queensland graduates take precendence over graduates from other states/countries etc) . i think the problem is moreso in the no. of positions for specialty positions, in which case whether you're ffp or csp doesn't matter in deciding who's given the training position

I don't know where you're getting your facts. The number of medical graduates have been in positive growth in all states over the past decade or so:

http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/work-pubs-mtrp-18

As per the COAG agreement, the state government has a tidy little loophole to use should internships reach critical mass. There's already a critical problem with landing a training position, thanks to years of said positive growth - this indeed bodes poorly for anyone looking at getting into medicine now.

There has been positive growth in the number of medical graduates in the last decade because of the introduction of several new medical schools in the last decade.
In terms of the number of graduates being produced in Queensland in the last ten years, that has increased, there is no doubt about it.

What I'm saying is that because Bond medical students are able to get internship positions now, it probably means that Bond medical students will be able to get internships in the future (this is because medical school intake numbers are capped for the universities, the gov is putting in enough funding to ensure that ALL Queensland medical school graduates get internship positions, and Queensland graduates take precedence over graduates from other states/countries in Queensland) UNLESS the government introduces a new school in Queensland or reduces the number of internship positions available.

Again, read the statistics in the link I provided. ALL SCHOOLS have significantly increased their intakes - the overall rise in graduates is not solely attributable to the new schools (who aren't so "new" anymore). What you're doing is making a big leap of faith that the state governments will continue to fund internships for an oversupply graduates, who, in all brutal truth, are not needed by the system. Do you think that makes economic sense...?

well in that case i guess i am taking a leap of faith
i'm taking a leap of faith that they're not going to increase the intake of medical students at these Queensland schools, and that in the future, the gov will keep funding its Queensland graduates

but what you've said makes sense!!

It's your gamble to make. Nevertheless, most people can't really afford to bet the house on black and walk away a loser when the ball drops on red, so it is an issue worthy of consideration. Caveat emptor.

Hey so say for example I did go to bond, after my 5 years and I've graduated but somehow I don't end up getting an internship anywhere ?? what are my options from there ?? (I really am clueless on what happens after you graduate with a MBBS degree)

In short, you're screwed. Without your intern year, you can't get full registration with AHPRA, and therefore, can't progress as a practicing doctor. Unless you get a job as an intern in another country, or put your medical degree to work in a non-clinical setting, you've just bought a white elephant for best part of a quarter of a million bucks.

Ok so say for example you get an internship from another country (USA/UK??? is that even a possibility? maybe even NZ?) am i able to come back to Aus and practice (since i graduated from an aus uni) or do i have to sit the AMC exam or whatever its called ?

You'd be applying as an outsider, and an overseas trained doctor. As such, AMC track for you (assuming you are applying as a consultant, and assuming you were considered competitive). You'd not be guaranteed a job if you came back any sooner after completing PGY1 abroad - remember, there's already an oversupply of JMOs and people wanting to train here. Suggest you look at the situation in other countries: internship in the US and UK is a very closed shop. Similarly, reading a bit and being well versed about what happens after graduation is the bare minimum you should be doing if you are serious about doing a medical degree.

In short: starting your degree a bit later but without the nasty potential undertow of bonds/job uncertainty/huge fees isn't such a bad thing.

Food for thought and I couldn't agree more with User Y, she's right on the money.

Furthermore, anyone applying for medicine these days should be aware of what's in store for them. Do your research, no one is going to sit here (or anywhere else) and spoon-feed you the cliff-notes about what is going on with internships and the subsequent training pipelines, so do the readings so you know what you're getting yourself into. Just a word of warning, because it's likely to get worse.