How I (finally) got into medical school in Australia 

Thanks, appreciate it! I’ve always wondered whether studying something different to biomed might’ve given me the opportunity to broaden my scope, study different things and pursue subjects that I enjoyed more. Having said that, I studied health policy, bioethics and sociology subjects, which were cool. That would be the only thing but its hard to say I have regrets about any of it, it has all been part of the learning process!

Thanks! Given that applications close at the end of May, interviews are released in early September and offers are released at the end of October, students who are still studying at this time would have only completed the first semester of course work. Therefore, this one semester will serve as the students grade for the entirety of their final year at the time of submitting their application. However, if they were to be accepted by a medical school, the final semesters marks must be sufficient enough that their gpa does not drop significantly from what their gpa was when they applied earlier in the year. Hope that clears things up!

Glad to hear! In terms of practice papers, there are the official ACER practice papers online. I also used the Des O’Neill books, which have tonnes of questions. As I’ve mentioned in the past, these books are old but I reckon they still have some utility. I reckon having a curriculum/study material to go off would be beneficial for section 3, particuarly if you haven’t done HSC science (but I definitely wouldn’t rule yourself out!). Good luck!

@@adam_is Thanks so much!

Hey mate! I definitey wouldn’t let one person’s score from several years ago serve as a fair representation of what your chances are but for interests sake, the year I got an interview, my atar was high 90s and umat was low 80th %ile. All the best!

Further study can definitely be the way to improve your gpa. As youre aware, the GPA accounts for the past 3 years of study, so you’d have to calculate what your predicted score would be if you were to do ‘x’ further years of study with ‘x’ average grade. When picking what to study, some unis offer bonuses for masters/clinical study, so could consider this. I would also recommend doing something that you enjoy and also provides tangible career opportunities beyond medicine 👍

Correct! They’ll only consider your last 3 years of full-time study 🙂

Absolutely! I was in a somewhat similar position. Your first year at uni can be a challenging transition so try not to be too hard on yourself if you’re not where you want to be. Try to learn as much as you can from it and try to make some slow progress over the next few years. Many med schools also use the weighter GPA, which weighs your first year of study the least! Keep going, you got this!

@@bagyalakshmimurugan6704 Hey there! Few things to consider. In my day of applying, postgrad uni: required certain prerequisite science subjects to have been completed by students, meaning a science based degree was often a choice by students. Nowadays, most unis do not require prerequisits, but this may be worthwhile checking. The reason is, it would open you up to be able to study almost anything you wanted, including other clinical degrees such as nursing. I think there’s a good amount of utility in studying something like physio, pharmacy etc as there’s definitely crossover clinically with medicine. Bonuses offered by different universities based on prior clinical study is another consideration. And considering how much you will enjoy that degree is probably one of the biggest factors as well (and will give you the best chance of scoring well and coming out of it with a good gpa). I think that job security is one thing but there are host of other factors that are arguably more important. If picking something like nursing over a different option, make sure its something you could actually see yourself doing (rather than just a means to an end) if short-term job security is something youre concerned about. Hope this helps!

Welcome! I have some other videos on how the process works for applying to postgraduate medicine. You’ll need to get your GPA and plug it through Gemsas to see what your 7-point equivalent GPA would be. You’ll also need to sit the GAMSAT. I would first start with getting your head around these two things and see where you weigh up before getting stuck into gamsat study. Also take a look at what universities offer postgraduate medicine in your state and think about whether you’d be prepared to move states, now that you’ve settled in Aus. Happy to answer any other questions - all the best with your journey, super exciting!