MCAT required for Aussie schools?

[elementalsix]

Hey, I'm just wondering if anyone knows if all the Australian schools require the MCAT. I'm looking into University of Queensland, Sydney, and Flinders.

I'm a USA citezen looking to get back into the States. I've actually thought about the four-year MD program in Poznan, Poland, but I don't know the difference between Australia and Poland. I'd rather go to Australia, since it speaks English, but not sure how the admissions process is at certain schools.

Any information would help.

Oh, and is the 10-year internship required for international students looking to leave Australia? What about residency placement in the USA?

[jaketheory]

Hey, I'm just wondering if anyone knows if all the Australian schools require the MCAT. I'm looking into University of Queensland, Sydney, and Flinders.

I'm a USA citezen looking to get back into the States. I've actually thought about the four-year MD program in Poznan, Poland, but I don't know the difference between Australia and Poland. I'd rather go to Australia, since it speaks English, but not sure how the admissions process is at certain schools.

Any information would help.

Oh, and is the 10-year internship required for international students looking to leave Australia? What about residency placement in the USA?

all the australia grad entry med programs require the MCAT- this includes flinders, USyd, and UQ.

why would you want to go to poland? dont go there, especially if you want to end up in the US.

if you are a US citizen and plan to return to US, you should go to a US school if possible. would save you a ton of frustration later. if you cant get into a US school, your next best bet would be an Australian or UK school (really only Irish since you wont likely be able to get into a British school). some would argue that going to a caribean school would be better- not me.

there are no 10 year internships in australia for anyone, much less US students looking to return to the US. as a US student, there would be little point in staying for an internship in Australia unless you simply hope to stay an extra year. it will not be recognized training in the US and you will have to repeat the intern year (intern year is not the same in US and Aus). It will be very hard to get an internship in Aus as a US citizen, especially with the opening of many new med schools and the large increases in local students at existing schools.

after internship year in aus, a doctor aquires full registration. at that point you are eligible to apply for specialist training but it is very competitive so most all will continue generalist training a resident medical officer. this is analogous to a residency in the US but it is still quite different as it is not specialty training. after 3 years of postgrad training (intern + 2 years RMO) one would usually apply for specialist training with one of the colleges. you would then have to spend 6 years in training (3 in basic, 3 in advanced) to become a fellow of the college. keep in mind that getting into such a program is competitive even for local aussies. you would want to get permanent residency after the internship (you can only get PR if you are eligible for full registration- with just a medical degree you are only eligible for limited registration). with PR you would compete equally with local aussies but it would still not be easy. thats 3+6= 9 years total of postgraduate training. keep in mind were you to train in internal medicine in the US it would take only 3 years, whereas in Aus 9 years. however, the lifestyle is much more relaxed in aus. more vacation time, less hours. but it is very competitive and not being a local would make it even harder.

one exception is training to be a general practioner. it only requires 3 years after internship (though you may have to do a couple years after internship before getting accepted into a program).

the 10 years people talk about is a moratorium for oversears doctors, including international medical graduates (IMG's) who received their medical degree in Aus. as an overseas doctor, to be able to recieve payments from medicare (the universal health care provider), you must first work in areas of need for 10 years. these are usually rural areas (and rural in australia is freakin very rural). without being able to particpate in the medicare system, you will not make any money as noone will ask for your services because the patients would have to pay all expenses out of pocket. however, this only pertains to working in the private sector. if you work in public hospitals, you do not have to spend the 10 years in the bush. but again, the likeihood of getting an internship is small, the likelihood of then getting subsequent RMO positions would be limited, and you would need to find a position willing to sponsor you for PR. even if you get PR, it will be very difficult to get into specialty training.

getting your degree in Aus will put you at a huge disadvantage in getting a prefered residency in the US. i know all this because i desperately want to go to Aus. but after countless hours of research, i feel its not worth it to jeopardize my future just to go there for 4 years (which id be busy studying rather than having fun anyway).

keep in mind australian schools dont accept every international applicant- they do have standards, generally higher than those for DO schools in the US. you will generally need a 30 mcat score to get into flinders or USyd, possibly a little lower for UQ. most all aussie schools will calculate you gpa differently as well. most will only look at the last 3 years of your bachelors and will not consider postbac coursework. flinders and UQ are less stringent while USyd (along with ANU) are the most stringent. also aussie schools are not cheaper alternatives, but in fact many are more expensive. sydney is a very expensive place to live as is melbourne. both school's tuition are very high as well. uni of melbournes total tuition is $240k AU (4.5 years) which is about $185k US. A school in the US (4 years) would have to cost over $46k US per year to be that expensive, not to mention the fact that melbourne's course would entail an extra half year of living expenses!

if your hear is set on going to australia then maybe you should do it. i really want to but feel ill regret it the rest of my life. it closes many doors back in the US and the likelihood of being able stay in aus are small.

if you simply are just trying to get medical education when you THINK you may not otherwise be able to do so in the US, i would say keep looking. first, there are a handful of MD schools in the US that are considerably less competitive. they however, are state schools and you would need to be a resident of that state. meaning, pack up your bags, live there a year, hopefully you could get in. of course, id advise corrsesponding with admissions offices before moving though. then there are always DO schools. if none of those sound like viable options, i say go for australia.

[USIMG2011]

Australia has both 4 year Grad Entry and 5/6 year undergraduate medical schools. From what I know the latter are nearly impossible to get into unless you were a top student in high school. MCAT scores for grad entry programs vary but you need a minimum of a 24(8/8/8) to be considered, and you will need an MCAT in the high 20's to a 30 to be competitive. I beleive Flinders, Melbourne, and Queensland require the highest MCAT scores. Its difficult to stay in Australia if you like it there, from what I know its not incredibly difficult to return to the US unless you apply to a difficult residency. If you have the stats, go to a US school, the main advantage about Australia is that if you have a low GPA, you can still have a good chance of getting in provided you do well on the MCAT. The disadvantage is that you will be considered an IMG when you return and will have to go through the ECFMG to verify your degree and credentials. Between Poland and Australia, I would say Australia is better because of better living conditions and no language barrier. Its almost impossible to get into a British medical school as an international student, Irish schools take US students, but the cost of attending an Irish school will be more expensive than one in Australia due to the Euro.

As far as US DO programs versus Australian grad entry courses, DO courses are harder to get into, most DO programs I am familiar with require higher GPAs. The bigger Caribbean schools are another option. But try US schools first.

[anomorato]

I am considering AUS med schools as well. I got into UNSW (the 6 yr program) but i will only be doing 5 yrs cuz of the credits i received for my degree.

Now i KNow there are many barriers u gotta surpass if u want stay in AUS after graduation, thats if u dont have ur PR.
Lets say you find that perfect girl while ur in school and end up getting married to that AUSI girl before graduation, would you still have to go through the same process as internationals would (in regards to working i rural areas and so on) or would u be considered a localer?

Thanks