I did a VERY brief stint at University of Queensland (after turning down MSIH) and was horrified... I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. 600-or-so peeps in a class, crazy class schedule, hot/humid like you've (hopefully) never imagined, and the somewhat underqualified (and awesome unpersonable - no interview or recs required!) North Americans are supplementing top-performing Aussie students with their outrageous tuition checks. The admin in Australia was good but the admin in the US (in New York) knows nothinggg and they're
like "Here's where you show up, here's when you show up - see ya then!" No help whatsoever. And while I'd certainly be more "proud" of a UQ degree than one from a stigmatized Caribbean school ('cause not all are anymore!), their residency placements have been atrocious, unless you wanna stay at Ochsner hospital in New Orleans. Two other points about UQ... (1) Because the Ochsner program is very new, the Australian Medical Counsel keeps changing the rules for just how many clinical hours Americans have to put in on Aussie soil... Initially promised lengthy holidays at home, by the time I got there the Council had made it so that my first two summers and winters would have to be spent in Australia in order to complete their requirements... Not UQ's fault in the slightest, but it was scary to know I wouldn't see my family (or have a break, really) for two years; (2) The outrageously high Step 1 scores they advertise are the result of this oneee guy getting an absolutely off-the-charts score (he has a website in which he outlines the 644795338 hours he spent studying, and, since he was only one of a few kids to sit for the exam, he majorly threw off the mean... And I've heard that, like most (all?) Caribbean schools, they only let students take Step 1 once they've passed a practice Step, so they don't let the underperformers take it and screw up their stats. Some things I will say in favor of UQ, however... Their clinical coaching is REALLY good (right off the bat) and their American (and maybe Canadian?) grads have a huuuge leg up for obtaining residencies at Ochsner, if you're cool with that; i.e., if you're willing to stay in NOLA you're more-or-less guaranteed a match.