As far as I know, Australian schools do not publish average MCAT scores of their students. (Apart from the occasional student just plucking numbers from the sky.) They only post what they generally consider a minimum MCAT requirement. For most Australian schools this is a 24. Admissions criteria and minimum scores are posted on each school's website. This is still your best source of information.

Then you know nothing of UQ, or the UQMS, or of the admissions dept at UQ, or how administration's sometimes done informally down under, for that matter. The ave was 28 last year, with 24 the cutoff to get an interview. Those who care to read will know that I don't make crap up.

If you don't like it, too bad. Certainly you can keep sticking your foot in your mouth pretending to know something, anything, about UQ. Or maybe you should keep switching your argument. Or possibly change your username again.

But seriously...the Mafia, bud? Oz education controlled by the mafia. Freakin' hilarious. Do you even care to be taken seriously?

-pitman

Its not too difficult for an international student to get into an Australian medical school, my grades were average, I took the GAMSAT and scored a bit above the minimum requirement, its as difficult as a top Caribbean school, no more no less. The bad thing about Australian schools is that they do not post, the match rates and pass rates of their International graduates. These schools do not help you study for the USMLE and you have to set up US clinicals on your own, which is a serious headache that I have discovered. Many residency programs in the US will not consider you if you do not have any US clinical experience. If you're Canadian, you can forget about practicing medicine in Canada, the IMG match rate for Canada is about one in every seven applicants versus about 50 percent in the US.

I disagree with this reasoning quite a bit -- while it is difficult for Canadians to return, using the gross stat of 1/7 isn't entirely fair. For example, if going for a less competitive specialty like GP, FP or psych, then the odds will be better. Further, there are post-Match (after 2nd iteration) slots just for Canadian IMGs. There seems also to be, at least from anecdote (those who've gotten through), at least a small preference of Canadian programmes for grads of fellow Commonwealth nations as Oz over non-Commonwealth ones. Remember, scores are not as important in Canada as in the US, so other factors can be weighed more.

Yes, students who come here and wish to practice in n america should know that they'll need to study extra basic science in prep for their licensing exams. Some find this a real pain, others don't (or at least had already weighed it against the pros of choosing Oz).

-pitman

Many local Australian doctors I have spoken with have found serious issues with many schools eliminating 6 year programs in favor of the new four year ones. A lot of graduates are leaving with less basic science knowledge than before. Some physicians I spoke with recommended enrolling in a 5 or 6 year program if one wishes to go back to the US. Even though the time in school is longer, you get more basic science knowledge that is important to doing well on the USMLE. Many of these same people feel that a lot of the local graduates of the four year programs aren't faring as well as six year grads in internships and residencies.

..............

Still the reality is there are only and handful of North Americans who have graduated from Australian schools compared to their counterparts who have went to the Caribbean. The big Caribbean schools graduate hundreds of students each year who have successfully obtained residency positions in the US. I came to Australia with the intention of staying, I already had a PR before I applied, so I was placed in the local applicant pool even though I'm not an Australian citizen. I think that other American students who are definite about their plans to return to the US should think again if they are to enrol in an Australian school. The big Caribbean schools will send you back to the States after two years for your clinicals, they set up the clinicals for you. In Australia, you will have to set up US clinicals on your own, and considering the financial, distance, and time factors, this is a very daunting task. For me its not an issue because I will be staying in Australia after graduation.

At some of the schools there are affiliations in n america such that students don't need to set up rotations on their own. Not that they're a hassle to set up otherwise according to those who've actually reported doing it (e.g., Kimberli Cox, The Pill Counter, etc.).

Yes, if you only want the longest track record of the largest cohorts, to guarantee maximal chances at the best shot at returning ASAP, then go Caribbean (it's a conditional statement). Otherwise, there's nothing wrong with Oz if you don't mind studying extra for the USMLE.