HOW DO YOU BECOME A DOCTOR?Year 11 and 12 considerations

There are a number of ways to ‘get in’ to study medicine

1. Undergraduate: Apply for direct entry as a school leaver and sit the UMAT

2. Graduate entry: Study an undergraduate degree and then sit the GAMSAT

Medical degree format

30 – 40 hours/wk contact time +10-20 hours/wk extra study (university

dependent)

Within a medical degree: Examine the normal human body compared to

abnormal body Focus on structure, function and development

Common disease states: Recognising and diagnosing illness Developing clinical reasoning Managing conditions with an evidence based approach

Clinical skills are developed through participation in skill based, general practice and ward-based sessions.

The role of the doctor within the profession wider society: including the social, economic, population

and cultural bases of health in contemporary Australia. (this incorporates Indigenous health issues).

Develop skills in communication, physical examination and professional practice

Clinical years consolidate and integrate students’ early experiences

Prepare for internship

What to do next?

Consider the universities…

Undergraduate Medicine at…

Graduate Medicine at…

UQ

Doctor of Medicine (MD) Over 320 places for domestic students (500 total)

160 provisional entry CSP Located in St Lucia, Ipswich Cost $10266/ year ($41064 in total) MD is a 4 year degree

Undergraduate entry

OP (1)

UMAT (>180) 2014

Rural rating

Prerequisite Entry Offer

Bachelor degree

MD*

*must maintain a GPA >5 to continue to MD 

Postgraduate

Previous bachelor degree with GPA ≥5 within 9 years

GAMSAT entry results (year dependant) School subjects don’t matter for graduate

entry

Griffith University

Doctor of Medicine (MD) 150 domestic places, 15 international places

50-70 from Bachelor of Medical Science (2 year provisional entry for school leavers degree)

~100 postgraduate students Cost $10085/ year ($40340 in total) 4 year degree Located at Gold Coast, Logan, Brisbane but

can study year 3/4 DD/ SB/ Lockyer

Undergraduate

OP (1/ATAR >99.60)

Prerequisite Entry Offer

Bachelor of Medical

Science (2yr)MD*

*must maintain a GPA >5 and minimum pass grade in the designated course "Human Skills for Medicine" to continue to MD

 

4SA in English, Maths B & a

Science

Postgraduate

Completion of undergraduate bachelor degree within 9 years (GPA 50% weighting)

School subjects don’t matter for graduate entry

GAMSAT result (year dependent) 2013 entry: mid 60’s (50% weighting)

Interview (GUMSAA) Griffith University Multi Stations Admission

Assessment

JCU

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of SurgeryUndergraduate degree only 6 year degree

Years 1-3 in Townsville Year 4 in Townsville or Cairns Years 5-6 (clinical years) in Townsville, Cairns,

Mackay or Darwin Cost- $10085/ year ($60510 total) Takes about 150 places/ year (10-15 for non-

year 12 applicants)

OP/ATAR

Written Application

Panel Interview

JCU Offer

4SA in English, Maths B & Chemistry

Application

Bond

Private university, therefore no CSP Cost: $23 670 per semester

Total $331 380 Can use FEE-HELP (similar to HECS, maximum $120 002)

Located at Gold Coast 4 years & 8 months duration Only university with mid year medicine intake

OP/ATAR (1-3)

UMAT Score

Bond Offer

Multi Mini Interview (MMI)

Bond

Postgraduate

Study same undergraduate medicine degree Based on GPA (within 9 years) Interview ranking GAMSAT is not required

Joint Medical Program (JMP)

Bachelor of Medicine (BMed-JMP) Joint undergraduate degree with UNE and

Newcastle Can apply as undergraduate or postgraduate 5 year degree Located in Armidale or Newcastle, NSW Cost $9425/ year (CSP), $40, 840 (full-fee) Takes 170 places/year (110 CSP) Changing to Doctor of Medicine in 2016 (subject

to approvals)

Application

OP (>4) 2013

UMAT Score

(>50 per section)

Rural rating

JMP Offer

*Applications through UAC 

What to do next?

Prepare and plan for UMAT….

Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test

Used to assist with the selection of students into medicine dentistry health science programs

UMAT

About UMAT

Aptitude test it is not a personality or IQ

Not curriculum-based No knowledge of mathematics or sciences, or

in any other area of the curriculum is required.

About UMAT

Candidates registering for UMAT2015 should have already completed, or plan to complete their final year of secondary schooling in 2015 Cannot sit UMAT in year 11 E.g. 2015 results are only valid for 2016 degrees

Registration Cost: $240 (2015)

UMAT 2015 timeline

Registrations open Dec 2015

Registrations close 5 June 2015

Test Date: 29 July 2015

Results available late September 2015

3 hours of testing Allow 4 – 5 hours for test to cover all

administrative requirements All questions multiple-choice with 4 or 5

possible answers Questions are both based on written and

visual material Marks out of 300

Structure and Content

Structure and Content

UMAT Section 1:

Logical reasoning and problem

solving (48 Q’s)

Section 2: Understanding People (44 Q’s)

Section 3: Non-verbal reasoning

(42 Q’s)

Botanists studied a rainforest in Nicaragua that had been ravaged by Hurricane Joan in 1988. They found that in

the following ten years the number of tree species had increased by at lease 200%, and up to 300%, in eight storm-affected plots. Other plots not affected by the hurricane showed little if any increase. From this information, it can be concluded that

A. Hurricanes play an important role in ensuring the long term survival of tropical rainforests.

B. When the dominant trees in an area of tropical rainforest are destroyed, other species are given a chance to flourish.

C. The overall life of a tropical rainforest is increased is large areas are occasionally levelled to the ground.

D. The productivity of a tropical rainforest will be maximized if large areas are occasionally levelled to the ground.

Section 1: Logical

reasoning and problem solving

Botanists studied a rainforest in Nicaragua that had been ravaged by Hurricane Joan in 1988. They found that in

the following ten years the number of tree species had increased by at lease 200%, and up to 300%, in eight storm-affected plots. Other plots not affected by the hurricane showed little if any increase. From this information, it can be concluded that

A. Hurricanes play an important role in ensuring the long term survival of tropical rainforests.

B. When the dominant trees in an area of tropical rainforest are destroyed, other species are given a chance to flourish.

C. The overall life of a tropical rainforest is increased is large areas are occasionally levelled to the ground.

D. The productivity of a tropical rainforest will be maximized if large areas are occasionally levelled to the ground.

Section 1: Logical

reasoning and problem solving

In the following passage, an adolescent boy talks about living with a physical disability.

As I have been physically disabled all my life, I have managed to cope with the purely practical problems arising with a minimum of fuss. I felt no loss, because I had no feelings of normality to compare with. One of my physical problems is that I am short, about 127 cm tall. I was constantly mistaken by strangers for a little kid. It’s a real pain for a 16-year-old boy to be handed a kid’s menu every time he enters a restaurant. It is even worse when mere coherent speech is greeted with awe. For the writer the main problem with his disability is

A. the embarrassment of being so short B. Never knowing what is normal C. Dealing with other peoples preconceptions D. Coping with the practical problems cased by his condition

Section 2: Understanding

People

In the following passage, an adolescent boy talks about living with a physical disability.

As I have been physically disabled all my life, I have managed to cope with the purely practical problems arising with a minimum of fuss. I felt no loss, because I had no feelings of normality to compare with. One of my physical problems is that I am short, about 127 cm tall. I was constantly mistaken by strangers for a little kid. It’s a real pain for a 16-year-old boy to be handed a kid’s menu every time he enters a restaurant. It is even worse when mere coherent speech is greeted with awe. For the writer the main problem with his disability is

A. the embarrassment of being so short B. Never knowing what is normal

C. Dealing with other peoples preconceptions D. Coping with the practical problems cased by his condition

Section 2: Understanding

People

Section 3: Non-verbal reasoning

Section 3: Non-verbal reasoning

All questions were taken directly from the 2015 UMAT info book available from the ACER website: http://umat.acer.edu.au/files/UMAT_info_book_15.pdf

Exam hints

Process of elimination Most people look for the best answer and, in the

process, end up falling for answer choices that are designed to look appealing but actually contain artfully concealed flaws.

The little bit that’s wrong blends right into the background if you’re not reading carefully and critically.

The “best” answer on a tricky question won’t necessarily sound very good at all.

Timing To be successful in the UMAT, timing is just as

important as anything else You need to decide if you want to do the exam in

order, or progress in sections Allocate timing based on weaknesses

Practice this timing

Prepare Make sure you prepare appropriately for the test

by exposing yourself to UMAT style questions that you are likely to receive on the day

Practice answering questions in a UMAT style situation E.g. practice exams under full exam conditions

Practice speed reading to minimise time reading question prompts

UMAT Preparation Methods

UMAT Office does not recommend or endorse any particular texts or preparation courses. Thus the UMAT Office is unable to comment on their relevance or usefulness.

ACER produces official UMAT preparation materials: Practice Test 1, Practice Test 2, Practice Test 3, and Additional Practice Questions.

UMAT Prep Courses

Preparation courses are available BEWARE SCAMS: There are many websites that

claim to be UMAT prep organisations when they are actually scam websites.

Courses usually give you access to a large number of practice questions and exams Manuals with “how to” for questions Workshops and mock exams available