Top 7 Medical Schools in Australia and New Zealand

To help make the decision a little bit easier, we have compiled a list of seven of the best medicine courses in Australia and New Zealand.

No matter how many times you sit these courses, only your first attempt will be considered upon application and you must have a GPA of at least 6.0 to be eligible for the next phase of the admissions process – the interview stage!

Note: achieving the minimum GPA does not guarantee you an interview!

Each year, there are about twice as many eligible candidates as there are places available in the medical program!

The interview stage is one of the more stressful aspects of the medical admissions process at The University of Auckland as they follow the multiple mini interview (MMI) process.

The MMI is exactly what it sounds like; a series of short interviews. In total, there are eight stations. Each station has one interviewer and takes eight minutes to complete: two minutes for the applicant to read and think over a given scenario and six minutes of being interviewed.

Each stage of the MMI process will assess a non-academic quality that the university considers to be important when pursuing a career in medicine. The interview panels consist of staff members from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and invited members of the wider community.

For graduate entry, it is the same process, except you don’t have to take the eight Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) or the Bachelor of Science subjects because you will already hold a Bachelor’s degree.

Note: you can only have two attempts at applying to the MBChB program.

Local student: $15,082.80 NZD

International student: $72,896 NZD

Undergraduate: UCAT score (15%), first year subjects GPA (60%), Multiple Mini Interview (25%), competent in English (prerequisite)

Overall: = 82

Life sciences and medicine: = 62

Medicine: 51 – 100

Total: 29,461

International students: 8,568

When it comes to studying medicine in Australia, Sydney Medical School is the creme de la creme, ranked number one in Australia and 15 globally. There’s just one catch: they only offer a postgraduate medicine degree.

However, there is a way for students to gain admission straight after high school and that is by applying to the Double Degree Medicine Program (DDMP).

The DDMP allows recent secondary school graduates to enrol in an approved three-year undergraduate degree and then continue on with the four-year graduate entry Doctor of Medicine (MD).

Unfortunately, this is one of the most competitive courses at the university.

Each year, only up to 30 domestic and 10 international places are offered for the DDMP and the ATAR cut-off is estimated to be 99.95 for domestic applicants and of an equally high standard for international applicants.

For everyone else, in order to gain admission, you will have to have already obtained a relevant Bachelor’s degree with a credit average as the absolute minimum.

In addition to this, you’ll have to sit the GAMSAT with a minimum score of 50 and go through the Multiple Mini Interview process; eight interviews assessing different non-academic qualities that are deemed to be relevant to a career in medicine.

Local student: $10,596.00 AUD

International student: $74,000 AUD

Undergraduate double degree: Competent in English, 99.95 ATAR (or equivalent)

Postgraduate: GAMSAT, MMI, Bachelor’s degree GPA

Overall: 50

Dentistry: =41

Medicine: 15

International students: 8,568

At the UNSW, students are granted an interview based on academic merit, demonstrated by your ATAR (or equivalent) result and UCAT result.

Each section is weighted equally, 50:50.

The minimum required ATAR is 96.0 (or equivalent).

The minimum required UCAT raw score is 150.

You will be admitted into the course based on your strength in all three of those components – ATAR, UCAT and interview.

Note that your ATAR and UCAT scores will not be averaged, which means you can’t compensate for a low score in one area by performing really well in another, as some other universities allow. You need to be at the top of your game for everything!

The interview process is less complicated than many other universities that endorse the MMI process. At UNSW, it’s a simple interview in front of a panel.

Local student: $63,576 AUD

International student: $254,880 AUD

Undergraduate: Academic rank, UCAT score and interview mark.

Overall: 45

Medicine: 50

Total: 39,784

International students: 14,292

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