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Medical education in Australia is offered
through nine Faculties of Medicine. Five
of these offer medical education to students
who have completed secondary school and
four offer 'graduate entry' programs either
alone (Flinders University of South Australia,
Queensland University and the University
of Sydney) and one (the University of Melbourne)
both direct school-leaver entry or graduate
entry.
Medical education has undergone changes in the
past decade that are similar to those seen in
many other medical schools, with earlier contact
with patients, the use of problem-based curricula,
self-directed learning and increasing emphasis
on community-based education as medicine moves
increasing into out-of-hospital mode, especially
for disorders of the ageing. In the case of the
three medical schools that have 'gone graduate
entry', the changes in the curricula have been
dramatic. Other medical schools, however, following
the lead of Newcastle (which was very innovative
at inception in 1978), have moved their curricula
in the directions noted.
Medical education standards are overseen by the
Australian Medical Council. It accredits medical
schools and assures standards in that role. It
is also responsible for the oversight of registration
of overseas-trained doctors.
To gain entry to Australian medical schools, you
are advised to access their websites. Each one
is different. Some of the undergraduate schools
use a common moderating examination UMAT while
entry to the graduate programs requires successful
completion of GAMSAT. Entry increasingly is being
modified by what is found at interview with prospective
students.
The graduate schools have no absolute pre-requisites,
although information about GAMSAT (accessible
through the ACER website) indicates the need for
a background in the biological sciences to about
first year University standard. Entry to the other
medical schools is competitive also, including
for international students, although the local
competition is often harder than that applying
to international students. While fees are levied
against overseas students, Australian students
pay (or defer to pay when later employed) a higher
education contribution which is often quite substantial.
For more information on
studying medicine in Australia contact:
The Australian Medical Council
Tel: +61 2 62709777
Mail PO Box 4810,
KINGSTON ACT 2604
AUSTRALIA
Website:
www.amc.org
E-mail: amc@amc.org
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