MEDICAL SCHOOL IN AUSTRALIA for NON-TRADITIONAL

[undergrad13]

I am a United States citizen and was looking to study medicine in Australia but I have a degree in the social sciences rather than the the actual applied sciences need for med school.
What are my options? are there programs in Australia that allow individuals to pick up from basics that allow for transition into medical school?
like a post-bacc or something?

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[Domperidone]

Those are some very broad/general questions.

As a starting point go to worldwidemed.co
On the home page it asks what country you're from and what country you're looking at for school.
It's non-profit, completely unaffiliated with any schools, and was put together by an Australian resident for *pre-med students. So it's pretty reliable for what you're currently asking. It will summarize all the medical schools for you - including what pre-requisites you need. If you get stuck or something's not specific enough, feel free to ask.

I would recommend doing some exploring of the similar threads in this forum too.
A lot of people have had similar questions before.

 

[bashwell]

I am a United States citizen and was looking to study medicine in Australia but I have a degree in the social sciences rather than the the actual applied sciences need for med school.
What are my options? are there programs in Australia that allow individuals to pick up from basics that allow for transition into medical school?
like a post-bacc or something?

As far as I'm aware, not all medical schools in Australia absolutely require a science or pre-medical background (like in the States) in order to apply. Some medical schools do, but not all.

I believe your two main options are either bridging courses or a medical science degree.

 

[pitman]

Other than Melbourne with its pre-requisites, I don't think any Australian med school requires a science degree. You do need to do well enough on the MCAT as per each school's requirements though (with some only expecting just over 50%ile in each section).

Google is your friend. Aside from the link Domperidone gave, check out the website for each school -- they all give their admissions requirements.

 

[EP-Boi]

In Australia alone, the schools you're looking at are USyd, UQ, ANU, UWA, UoW, Flinders. The rest are either undergraduate or have science pre-requisites (Monash and Melbourne). As an international student, there are actually 2 tests you can take for entry into aussie med: GAMSAT and MCAT. General consensus is that the MCAT is much harder than the GAMSAT but MCAT study materials are plentiful and good whereas the same cannot really be said for the GAMSAT. There are also only 2 sittings for the GAMSAT a year so you'll really have to watch out and prep early for it. You can check ACER's official website for the actual dates. I found "graduate medicine informant (ellipsoid)" really helpful with general information and compilations of places, GAMSAT scores, weightage etc for med sch and if you message the owner/founder on facebook he actually responds really quickly so definitely do check it out. Another good source is Oztrekk which compiles a boatload of info. Not affiliated in anyway to either website, I just found them to be really convenient when I was new to the pre-med scene (they're also both free so its awesome for poor college students lol). ps: also an international student and non-science background so we're on the same boat. Good luck 🙂

 

[undergrad13]

I looked at the worldwidemed.com site and they have some wrong information or need to update them.

I have little to no science background. How do you think I should get started on the process and what school would take me?

 

[Domperidone]

lol..
there's 6 year programs that require no science background at al.
actually there's also some 4 year programs that have no required prerequisites either.

I stated worldwidemed.co was a place to start because the information is more easily presented to you. Not the end all be all, and as Pitman advised, go to the actual websites. Schools update their info each year. Did you read past my first response? the ones the followed were really helpful.

In the post above the one you just posted, by kev0350, really nicely lists the schools you can get into with 0 science. And is telling you what the process is. They also suggest using Oztrekk (this is a for profit group).

I'm not sure what you're asking at this stage.
the process outlining how to get with 0 science is..what kev listed above. they've literally said what schools may take you and how to get there.

unless you're worried about surviving med school with 0 science?
the obvious answer is that yes it will be hard. in that case, take some post-bacc if you're worried.

I noticed that you're spam posting a bit in multiple forums (i.e. Oman, India) just relax. focus on one thing at a time. Make a decision on looking up how to get into schools in one country, for let's say a week, and go from there.

 

[undergrad13]

lol..
there's 6 year programs that require no science background at al.
actually there's also some 4 year programs that have no required prerequisites either.

I stated worldwidemed.co was a place to start because the information is more easily presented to you. Not the end all be all, and as Pitman advised, go to the actual websites. Schools update their info each year. Did you read past my first response? the ones the followed were really helpful.

In the post above the one you just posted, by kev0350, really nicely lists the schools you can get into with 0 science. And is telling you what the process is. They also suggest using Oztrekk (this is a for profit group).

I'm not sure what you're asking at this stage.
the process outlining how to get with 0 science is..what kev listed above. they've literally said what schools may take you and how to get there.

unless you're worried about surviving med school with 0 science?
the obvious answer is that yes it will be hard. in that case, take some post-bacc if you're worried.

I noticed that you're spam posting a bit in multiple forums (i.e. Oman, India) just relax. focus on one thing at a time. Make a decision on looking up how to get into schools in one country, for let's say a week, and go from there.

Thanks. You're really helpful. It's just that I didn't get accepted to a post bacc premed/MD program here in USA and I was searching for such programs in Canada,Ireland,Australia etc.
I have no science and may experience, but that one program would've allowed me to get into med school after training n studying.

 

[Domperidone]

Lol, you're welcome.
very happy to take all the credit for this thread.
forget the other responders 😉

And now we enter the grey zone..
where opinions may begin to splinter.

so, to clarify..
you now wish to go somewhere that does not require any science background? is that the current goal now?
or is it that you do want to build a science background prior to starting medical school?

have you looked browsed the other threads around this forum? if you are serious about Australia,
I would strongly suggest doing that because then you're looking at the answers of a variety of previous responders. you get the negative, positive, the whatever perspectives of current students and grads. there is some consensus, but take into account what the views are before you go. you can apply, applications are free if you choose Oztrekk to apply for you as stated above.

also, have you even thought about what could happen if you go off shore?
from your other posts, i see that you're from Ohio and you had applied to a post-bacc program in Cleveland.
Did you want to go back to the states? if that's your priority, going offshore anywhere is merely the last resort after you've exhausted all other paths and know that you can neither do MD or DO at home. It's getting increasingly dicey to expect to get jobs in the countries you attend medical school outside the USA. As a lot can change in 4 years, I wouldn't necessarily count on that. there's always that inherent risk of coming away with a degree that becomes a piece of paper on the wall if you can't finish training later in a residency program.

Singapore is a great back up for anyone with a degree from a Western English speaking country though, if you don't mind using that as a plan C or D. So far..I've never heard them think about not hiring. i cannot say the same for other countries.

Edited: for crappy grammar..

 

[pitman]

You blew it with the grammar.

 

[undergrad13]

Lol, you're welcome.
very happy to take all the credit for this thread.
forget the other responders 😉

And now we enter the grey zone..
where opinions may begin to splinter.

so, to clarify..
you now wish to go somewhere that does not require any science background? is that the current goal now?
or is it that you do want to build a science background prior to starting medical school?

have you looked browsed the other threads around this forum? if you are serious about Australia,
I would strongly suggest doing that because then you're looking at the answers of a variety of previous responders. you get the negative, positive, the whatever perspectives of current students and grads. there is some consensus, but take into account what the views are before you go. you can apply, applications are free if you choose Oztrekk to apply for you as stated above.

also, have you even thought about what could happen if you go off shore?
from your other posts, i see that you're from Ohio and you had applied to a post-bacc program in Cleveland.
Did you want to go back to the states? if that's your priority, going offshore anywhere is merely the last resort after you've exhausted all other paths and know that you can neither do MD or DO at home. It's getting increasingly dicey to expect to get jobs in the countries you attend medical school outside the USA. As a lot can change in 4 years, I wouldn't necessarily count on that. there's always that inherent risk of coming away with a degree that becomes a piece of paper on the wall if you can't finish training later in a residency program.

Singapore is a great back up for anyone with a degree from a Western English speaking country though, if you don't mind using that as a plan C or D. So far..I've never heard them think about not hiring. i cannot say the same for other countries.

Edited: for crappy grammar..

Well first and foremost I want to thank everybody here on this thread for advice.

You did a thorough research on me lol. I applied to a post bacc program in Ohio that had a pathway transition to medical school. So first 2 years is basic science then the next four is MD school. So I got rejected and I was looking for programs similar or identical to that one in countries like: Canada, UK, Australia, and Ireland.
Regarding coming back to the states, I can choose to live in either of these countries since they are safe modern and somewhat similar to USA.
Also if I do choose to come back to USA. I would have access to material for prepping USMLE and I hear that most schools in these countries have smooth transition back to USA

 

[Domperidone]

Haha, don't mind me, just poking fun.
Also I literally didn't do as much work as the other guys in responding to you.

You blew it with the grammar.

Yea I guess I'll never make a great SDN doctor now
lol

@undergrad13
If your priority is to go back then I would suggest UQO (UQ Ochsner) as it guarantees that you do MS3 & MS4 in the USA (minus one rotation you have to do in Brisbane).
Core rotations will be done at the Ochsner Hospital system which is the New Orleans Hospital affiiliated with UQ, which has it's own American faculty and staff. If you go this route, it's about shuffling you into residency in the US. It will hurt you in terms of trying to stay in Australia (as Australian hospitals, many them ideally want candidates dedicated to Australia). UQO also provides you with USMLE tutorials and prep materials, it's included in your tuition.

If you're not sure, you're not alone in this. However, you are playing with a dice a bit more in the present work climate.
It's also very challenging to arrange any US electives - most Australian medical schools will not understand the purpose to US electives (not in the same context) and they aren't necessarily flexible about allowing you the electives you want later., when you want them. While Australian schools are "Western" they are still different to the US and the training structure is different, so you can imagine that the degrees they pump out are tailored to their home system. Also, due to insurance purposes largely, it's very hard to even get an American school to allow you to do an elective with them.

I'd still recommend (as others have in other threads) that you try harder to stay in the states, apply to other post-bacc programs if you can and go for DO stateside.
But if this is no longer a possibility, yes, you can look at attending schools in Ireland and Australia. Nothing hurts you to apply to Australia, it's free anyway via companies like Oztrekkk. Just do the MCAT and give it a shot.

Be okay with the idea of doing primary care as a vocation later, as that's what many US-IMGs will end up doing, no matter where they chose to do their off-shore degrees.
(Debatable about UQO as their match scores seem to improve with each year)

 

[undergrad13]

Alright. Thanks. I understand your point.
So u take it that your an Australian med-student?

 

[Domperidone]

Lol. I was.
Like everyone else responding to you now (they're all either current students or grads, actually I'm not sure what kev is, but looks like current student by now so I'll go with that).

Have a further browse of the forum.
If you have further q's feel free to post. or wander over to the UQO 2018 thread if you have qs about UQO, there's current and pre-med students in there. Contemplating the facts of life at UQO.

 

[undergrad13]

Alright thanks, I appreciate it