Admission Information - Domestic Applicants

This year there will be significant changes to the admissions process across all Australian graduate medical schools. Please refer to our webpage frequently to ensure you are up to date with the most current information.

Key dates

Admission to the UOW MBBS degree for Domestic applicants is based on:

• A weighted Grade Point Average (GPA) from a valid Bachelor’s degree for all applicants
• A valid GAMSAT score
• A completed UOW GSM Admissions Portfolio
• A structured UOW GSM Admissions Interview
• *see specific sections on eligibility to determine required standards for each measure

The GSM is seeking to enrol candidates who have a proven high level of achievement in a higher education programme of study, a wide range of experiences and activities, the personal qualities and skills deemed desirable in a medical student and practitioner, and a commitment and desire to contribute to health outcomes in regional, rural and remote Australia.

Individuals who are currently enrolled in the final year of their university undergraduate programme, or those who have completed their undergraduate degree, irrespective of the field of study of that degree, are invited to consider applying for entry into the UOW MBBS.

Admission Criteria and Eligibility

Applicants who are currently citizens or permanent residents of Australia or citizens of New Zealand are considered domestic applicants.

Admission to the UOW MBBS for domestic applicants is based on:

1. A weighted Grade Point Average (GPA) from a valid Bachelor’s degree

   Applicants must be in their final year or have a completed Bachelor’s degree from either:

   • An Australian University listed in the Australian Qualifications Framework at AQF Register of Qualifications and Institutions
     OR
   • An overseas University listed in the Australian Education International - National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition Guide http://www.aei.gov.au or the ENIC-NARIC network http://www.enic-naric.net

   All applicants must have a weighted GPA of greater than 5.0 on a 7 point scale or 2.8 on a 4 point scale at the time of application, to be eligible to apply. The GPA score required to receive an offer for interview may fluctuate annually.

   The undergraduate degree on which the GPA is calculated must have been awarded no greater than 10 years prior to the year of application to the UOW MBBS. This is designed to ensure the currency of a student’s academic and research skills which are required to perform in the rigorous academic environment of the MBBS programme. Prospective students whose Bachelors degrees were awarded more than 10 years prior to the year of application are not usually considered unless they can provide documentary evidence of successful tertiary level postgraduate coursework from an accredited institution of not less than one year’s full-time equivalent study within the 10 year period. The GSM reserves the right to also waive the 10 year policy if a student demonstrates academic currency and skills by experiences other than the qualifications stipulated above. All evidence must be produced in writing prior to application. In cases where the degree is greater than 10 years old, and the candidate is considered eligible to apply, the GPA will still be calculated on the most recent completed bachelor degree.

   Grade point average (GPA)

   The GPA is calculated using all subjects taken within the last three full time equivalent years of the most recent undergraduate degree. ACER calculates the GPA of applicants for all Australian graduate medical school applicants.

   To be accepted applicants would normally have spent at least 2 years in the institution conferring the degree. An honours year is normally considered as the final year of an undergraduate degree. Postgraduate qualifications (Masters, PhD) are not included in GPA calculations.

   The GPA is calculated for each of the last 3 calendar years by the applicant, checked by ACER and supplied as a raw score to the GSM.

   The scores are expressed as:

   • GPA1 for the first year of study
   • GPA2 for the second year of study
   • GPA3 for the third (most recent) year of study.

   The scores are weighted by the GSM as follows:

   GPA1 + (2 × GPA2) + (3 × GPA3) = weighted GPA ÷ 6

   This weighting is based on calendar year of study, not academic level of each subject. Students currently in the final year of their degree will not have a score for GPA3.

   Postgraduate qualifications such as Masters or PhDs, or postgraduate diplomas, are not to be included in GPA calculations. Students are discouraged from undertaking such programmes specifically as a means of gaining entry to a medical course.

   Those who have completed any form of postgraduate study are welcome to apply, but should note that selection is on the basis of performance in the most recent Bachelor degree only, including an Honours year if applicable.

2. A valid GAMSAT score for domestic applicants

   Applicants need to have gained a minimum score of 50 for each of the three sections on the Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admission Test (GAMSAT) and an overall minimum score of 50 to be eligible to apply. The score must not be over two years old at the time of application. The GAMSAT score required to receive an offer for interview may fluctuate annually.

   GAMSAT (UK and Ireland) are considered to be equivalent tests and are also acceptable for entry as a domestic student to the UOW MBBS. From 2011 GAMSAT (UK and Ireland) may be offered in Gaelic as well as English. Students completing the test in Gaelic will be required to provide evidence of English proficiency.

   No other entrance examination will be accepted.

   More information can be gained from the ACER website: http://gamsat.acer.edu.au

   The GSM may assist applicants with advice regarding GPA calculations, however the GPA calculated by ACER is the final result and is binding.

3. A completed UOW GSM Admissions Portfolio

   The UOW GSM Admissions Portfolio is an innovative document developed to highlight areas of achievement, leadership, teamwork and service ethic and commitment and ties to regional, rural and remote communities. The portfolio will be used by the GSM to rank eligible applicants for interview.

   All applicants will be required to prepare a portfolio to be submitted to UOW GSM. For domestic applicants this must be submitted DIRECTLY to the school by Friday June 10th 2011. To enable us to commence the processing of your Application/Portfolio, we would encourage all applicants to submit BEFORE the revised closing date.

4. A structured UOW GSM Admissions Interview

   UOW GSM Admissions Interviews are designed to assess personal qualities deemed desirable in medical students and medical practitioners.

   The interview for domestic students will take the form of a scenario based, multi-station process. Interviews for 2012 entry are scheduled to occur from Monday September 26th to Friday September 30th , 2011.

Application process

Following admission test registration, sitting the test and receiving results; applicants may apply for entry into the UOW MBBS programme.

Applications for all Australian graduate medical schools are received and processed by the Graduate Medical Admissions Centre (GMAC). Graduates who sit GAMSAT will be automatically sent an application with their results.

More information on applications can be gained from the GMAC website http://gmac.acer.edu.au/register

UOW GSM Admissions Portfolio

The UOW GSM Admissions Portfolio is a written description of the applicant’s experiences and achievements, to highlight areas of achievement, leadership, teamwork and service ethic and commitment and ties to regional, rural and remote communities.

The portfolio is used by the GSM to rank eligible applicants for interview.

• The portfolio must be submitted directly to the GSM regardless of the UOW ranking on the applicant’s preference form.
• Applicants who do not submit a portfolio will not be considered for interview.
• Applicants who do not submit a valid email address in their portfolio will not be considered for interview.
• All activities listed in the UOW GSM Admissions Portfolio require a contact name with valid email address and/or contact phone number to verify the activity.
• Only portfolios submitted electronically (to the address specified in the UOW GSM Admissions Portfolio) will be accepted. An automatic receipt email will be sent when the portfolio is received at UOW GSM.

In submitting an admissions portfolio, applicants will need to consider the following:

• Leadership
• Capacity to work with others
• Service ethic - outside your employment environment
• Diversity of experience
• High level of performance in an area of human endeavour
• Academic Experience
• Admissions Rural Residency and Schooling
• The portfolio is de-identified and then scored with a standardised process by trained staff. The process will provide a score based on the activities described, and also a rurality. After candidates are selected for interview, the GSM will verify the content of the activities described in the portfolio by phone / email. Failure to confirm the accuracy of information provided in the portfolio may preclude selection.

The Admissions Portfolio and guidelines for 2012 entry are now available - the 2012 Portfolio is YELLOW in colour. Please ensure you have downloaded and submitted the correct form or your application may not be considered.

• Download Admissions Portfolio Template (2011/2012 Cycle)¹ [pdf 1.16MB]
• Download Admissions Portfolio Guidelines (2011/2012 Cycle) [pdf 780KB]

¹ - To complete the Admissions Portfolio electronic form correctly, you MUST use Adobe Reader version 8.0 or higher. Adobe Reader is a free download, available from Adobe.com. For users completing the Admissions Portfolio on Mac OS, DO NOT use the default PDF programme 'Preview', you MUST open the PDF in Adobe Reader version 8.0 or higher.

Ranking for interview

Applicants will be ranked for interview based on a combination of GPA, GAMSAT and portfolio score (including rurality).

Interview offers are sent to applicants in August.

Interview process

The interview for domestic students will take the form of a scenario based process in which each applicant proceeds through a series of 10 stations, with each station assessed by a different interviewer. Interviews for 2012 entry are scheduled to occur from Monday September 26th to Friday September 30th , 2011.

These interviews have been developed with the assistance of McMaster University and are part of a licensing agreement of their MMI process.

The interviews are designed to assess the following personal qualities:

• Communication skills
• Empathy and compassion
• Resilience and coping skills
• Decision making and Problem solving ability
• Teamwork
• Honesty
• Reflection / self appraisal
• Leadership
• Ethical standards and values
• Insight and understanding

All interviewers are formally trained in the interview process. The interviewers have no academic information regarding the candidate at time of interview.

Ranking for offers

The interviewed candidates are ranked after interview by a combination of interview score, portfolio and rurality score. If candidates’ scores are tied, primary secondary and tertiary ranking can occur based on other factors such as certain interview stations.

The candidates’ GPA and GAMSAT are not considered when ranking after interview. Student campus preference and place type have no influence of decisions for offer.

Offers

Offers of places are made based on the recommendations of the GSM Admissions Committee.

All applicants are ranked from highest to lowest ranking. Offers will then be made according to the applicant’s ranked position – in the 2011 cycle (for 2012 intake) the first 72 applicants will be offered a first round place for the MBBS programme.

Firm offers are only made to applicants who are already graduates. Provisional offers are made to applicants who have not completed their final year of their Bachelors degree at the time of interview. A provisional offer will lapse if the applicant does not reach a weighted GPA of 5.0 or above on completion of their degree. The original academic transcript issued by the conferring University providing final year results and confirming the completion of the Bachelors degree must be submitted to the GSM before enrolment. Offers are normally made in October, and a small number of subsequent places may be offered in December in January. Successful applicants will be provided with a firm date by which the offer must be accepted; offers not accepted by that date will lapse and be re-offered.

Offers will be made to a particular campus only, and some places will be offered as Medical Rural Bonded Scholarships (MRBS) and Bonded Medical Places (BMP) as determined below. The remainder of places are termed Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs).

There are no domestic full-fee paying places in the UOW MBBS programme.

Campus allocation

The GSM of the University of Wollongong consists of two main campuses – Wollongong and Shoalhaven. At the time of interview applicants will need to indicate their preferred campus (Wollongong or Shoalhaven) which will apply for the first 18 months of the programme (Phase 1). After that time students will be rotated through both campuses and other regional, rural and remote areas in NSW. The campus preference will be considered but not guaranteed. Extenuating circumstances for campus preference may be considered.

An applicant’s request for campus allocation will have no bearing on their ranking for a place within the cohort.

While every attempt will be made to meet applicant’s allocation preferences, final decision regarding campus allocation will be made by the Academic Leader, Admissions & Selection taking into account all information available.

Acceptance of a UOW MBBS place indicates acceptance of the campus allocation. Transfer between campuses will not be considered except in exceptional circumstances. If an applicant refuses an offer at a particular campus, then that offer (at that campus) will be made to the next applicant on the list until that place is filled.

The documentation regarding campus allocation is included in the invitation to interview pack for the applicant's guidance.

Place type allocation

There are three types of domestic medical school places: Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship (MRBS), Bonded Medical Place (BMP) or Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP). At the time of interview, domestic applicants will need to indicate their preference of place type. This place type preference will be considered but not guaranteed. More information on place types can be obtained from the Department of Health and Ageing website.

Place types are allocated according to preference and rank. The higher the student is ranked the more likely they are to receive their first preference, whatever that may be.

A bonded place is a contract between the applicant and the Commonwealth Government and can not be negotiated with the School.

Indigenous applicants

The GSM has a commitment to training indigenous doctors and has allocated a sub-quota of three places for applicants who are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. To be considered for these places, applicants must mark the appropriate section on the Application Form.

Evidence of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent should be demonstrated by one of the following forms of proof of identity:

• letter of support from an official Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island organization such as land council, community council, legal or medical service or from ASPAA (Aboriginal student and parent awareness association).
• Proof of previous eligibility for Abstudy payments will also be accepted;
• or a signed affirmation / statutory declaration of their Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

This documentation must be viewed by the Academic Leader, Admissions & Selection.

Applicants in this category are required to reach acceptable levels of performance in GAMSAT, interview and GPA as determined by the school. Unfilled places in this sub-quota will be transferred to the general domestic student quota.

Additional information

Please refer to the Admission Information - All Applicants page for UOW MBBS admission information relevant to both domestic and international applicants.