School in Australia?

[hopscotchhippo]

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Hi all,

This issue may have already been discussed on here but I can't quite find the proper post in the forums, so here goes...

I graduated from uni in 2008 and am currently living in Cambodia, working for a NGO. I have three more prereqs to take to apply to med school but can't do them here. I'm thinking of applying to med school in Australia but do need to take these last three classes. The plan I crafted this morning is to head back to the US for a summer and plow through them (physics I and II and orgo II) and the MCAT, which I think I'd only need to get loans through the US.

Does anyone know anything about the process of applying/getting into med school in Australia?

Thanks!

 

[iBear]

Hi all,

This issue may have already been discussed on here but I can't quite find the proper post in the forums, so here goes...

I graduated from uni in 2008 and am currently living in Cambodia, working for a NGO. I have three more prereqs to take to apply to med school but can't do them here. I'm thinking of applying to med school in Australia but do need to take these last three classes. The plan I crafted this morning is to head back to the US for a summer and plow through them (physics I and II and orgo II) and the MCAT, which I think I'd only need to get loans through the US.

Does anyone know anything about the process of applying/getting into med school in Australia?

Thanks!

There's an International Medicine forum on SDN with a specific subforum for Australasia/Oceania that you should check out. The people over there have been over it and can probably help you better than most of the general premeds can.

One program you might want to look into is the UQ/Ochsner partnership if you want to come back to the US for residency and so want to get your foot in the door with rotations here.

Good luck. 👍

 

[hopscotchhippo]

Thanks so much! I'll definitely check it out 🙂

 

[Bacchus]

You should not go to medical school in a foreign country.

 

[Has a Heart]

You should not go to medical school in a foreign country.

I disagree.

Going to med school in a foreign country is actually very good for a variety of reasons. You get to see an amazing part of the world, and learn things you'd never learn by staying home. For me anyways, with US med schools waiving the affirmative action flag more and more as time goes on, it really is discouraging to try and apply here in the states.

I say go for it! May be tough in Australia, but you can also try Europe perhaps? I'm looking at Germany myself as a possible foreign option.

 

[circulus vitios]

I disagree.

Going to med school in a foreign country is actually very good for a variety of reasons. You get to see an amazing part of the world, and learn things you'd never learn by staying home. For me anyways, with US med schools waiving the affirmative action flag more and more as time goes on, it really is discouraging to try and apply here in the states.

I say go for it! May be tough in Australia, but you can also try Europe perhaps? I'm looking at Germany myself as a possible foreign option.

 

[hopscotchhippo]

Thanks so much for the responses!

Do any of you have any insight into the GAMSAT? I have an Aussie friend who just got into med school in Australia and she seemed to think I didn't really need to take the remaining three courses, that if I did a prep course for the GAMSAT it'd be adequate. Thoughts?

 

[petyr_baelish]

I highly recommend you head over to the Australia board on SDN if you haven't already.

Google GAMSAT and the official website should pop up. You can take it in Washington DC, London, Hong Kong and of course, Australia and New Zealand. They have a list of the topics on that website. You will need to know 1st year biology and chemistry and year 12 physics to be adequately prepared for the exam. It is a reasoning test rather than a knowledge test. I am unaware of a prep course for the GAMSAT.

Also if you are American and need FAFSA, you must take the MCAT. This is due to recent legal changes in the US Dept of Education. You could try to gain admission with the GAMSAT and then take the MCAT after you are accepted for loan purposes. I do not know anyone who tried this, but it seems like it could work.

Also, if you have the money, you can take online medical school prerequisites with lab through UNECOM (a D.O. school) for $1200/course. It has regional accreditation (since national accreditation is worthless). Most D.O. schools accept them and some members of SDN hve been accepted to D.O. schools with these courses. The school urges you to contact the schools you are interested in to be sure.

 

[whatbout2morrow]

You might want to double check with the schools you plan to apply to, but many of the Australian schools don't require specific pre-reqs to be completed, they just require completion of a bachelor's degree and the MCAT/GAMSAT.

But as someone mentioned earlier, keep in mind that as a US citizen/permanent resident with an Australian degree, you will be close to the back of the line in terms of getting into post-graduate training both here in the US and in Australia.

 

[red7]

But as someone mentioned earlier, keep in mind that as a US citizen/permanent resident with an Australian degree, you will be close to the back of the line in terms of getting into post-graduate training both here in the US and in Australia.

I think you'd be better off with an Australian degree than some other countries - e.g. the offshore Caribbean schools - as far as discrimination by residency programs. However, if your goal is to practice in the US, obviously getting a US degree is much more preferable.

As others have said, you should look very closely at your options for residency training in Australia in the event that you don't obtain a US match, especially since there will be more and more US grads over the next few years with the same number of residency positions. I think there may be some restrictions for foreigns students in Australian residency. Also keep in mind that Canadian residencies are not a good backup because it is generally much more difficult for IMGs to match in Canada than the US.

 

[CallistaisFraud]

Does anyone know anything about the process of applying/getting into med school in Australia?

Thanks!

There is an entire forum here about Austrialian med schools and have been many posts recently about how hard their grads have placing for Match. Check out that subforum. Read the first 2 pages or so of the threads.