Frequently asked questions

The UCAT ANZ is the University Clinical Aptitude Test. It is used in Australia, New Zealand and abroad for admission into a range of health science courses including medicine and dentistry. The UCAT is a 2-hour computer based psychometric test and is divided into separately timed sections:

1. Verbal Reasoning
2. Decision Making
3. Quantitative Reasoning
4. Abstract Reasoning
5. Situational Judgement

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Verbal reasoning is the ability to comprehend, analyse, synthesise and drawing conclusions textual information. This is applying critical reasoning to written content.

• 36 Questions40 seconds per question
• 40 seconds per question

Example Question:

According to the passage, which of the following is true?

Australia found that obesity rates in Australia have more than doubled in the two decades preceding 2003. This rise in obesity has been attributed to poor eating habits in the country closely related to the availability of fast food since the 1970s, sedentary lifestyles, and a decrease in the proportion of the labour workforce.

There are many ways to classify obesity, and a traditionally used one is to assess one’s Body Mass Index (BMI). This is determined by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres, squared. If someone is overweight their BMI will be 25 or more. If someone is obese their BMI will be 30 or more. Someone who has a BMI of under 18.5 will be underweight. However, more recently, studies have shown that a BMI alone is not a good indicator of obesity, as there are people who carry excessive weight, but their health is not compromised, so they are not considered obese. A better measure would be to combine one’s BMI and their Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR), together with consideration of their lifestyle.

Indigenous Australians have Australia's highest level of obesity. Professor Paul Zimmet at Monash University released figures at the Diabetes in Indigenous People Forum in Melbourne, estimating the rate of diabetes from poor diet at 24% of all Torres Strait Islanders, and remarked that unless extra steps are taken with these groups, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders will die out within 100 years.

(A) Australia has the third-highest prevalence of overweight adults in the world.
(B) Out of the English-speaking countries, Australia has the third-highest prevalence of obesity.
(C) Obesity rates have more than doubled from 1983 to 2003 in Australia.
(D) All of the above

Quantitative reasoning is more than numbers and mental arithmetic. It is focused on sound reasoning which is grounded in numbers: statistics, figures, and costs. All candidates will have access to an onscreen calculator. This section is comprised of nine Scenarios with four questions each.

• 36 Questions
• 40 seconds per question

Example Question:

Using Goldman Exchange, how many pounds did she exchange if she ended up with $1000?

(A) 793
(B) 800
(C) 1015
(D) 1261
(E) 1280

Abstract reasoning tests the ability to discern, analyse, and synthesise information. Students must be efficient in iterative thinking with the ability to constantly generate hypotheses and modify them dependent on their success.

• 55 Questions
• 14 seconds per question

Situational judgement focuses on clinical scenarios that involve university and medical students. These scenarios evaluate a candidate’s integrity and ability to respond to difficult situations. Broadly, this section seeks to evaluate the emotional quotient (EQ) that is more applicable to future careers in health sciences.

• 69 Questions
• 25 seconds per question

Example Question:

James and Clair are both medical students. They are observing a colonoscopy, performed by a senior gastroenterologist, Dr Michaels. After the patient is put under anaesthesia, Dr Michaels instructs both students to perform a digital-rectal examination on the patient, as he believes that it would be a valuable learning experience.

How important to take into account are the following considerations for James and Clair, when deciding how to respond to the situation.

The students did not get a chance to obtain consent from the patient for the digital rectal exam, as the patient was under anaesthesia.

(A) Very important
(B) Important
(C) Of minor importance
(D) Not important at all

The patient was consented by Dr Michaels before the procedure, during which he explained to the patient that he might perform a digital-rectal exam to screen for certain diseases.

(A) Very important
(B) Important
(C) Of minor importance
(D) Not important at all

The first thing to keep in mind is that the UCAT exam has no pass score. How well a candidate performs on the exam is expressed as a percentile which directly reflects how well said candidate has done relative to all others sitting the exam.

For example, a percentile score of 95 means that a student has scored better than 95% of students, and worse than 5% of students. This being said, universities technically do not decide on an arbitrary cut-off for the UCAT before student results and applications are in.

They execute a “top-down” approach, whereby they fill their medical school spots starting with the highest performers who preference said university first. The published cutoffs for each year are therefore retrospective and usually reflect the lowest UCAT score accepted that year.

UCAT scores are calculated by converting the number of questions you got right into a ‘scaled score’. For more information about scaled score, check out our Exams and Interviews eBook. This ranges from 300 to 900 in each subtest. Your scores in each of the four cognitive subtests are added together to form an overall UCAT cognitive subtest score, which ranges from 1200 to 3600. Students also receive a separate score for UCAT Situational Judgement ranging from 300 to 900.

Raw scores in each of Abstract Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning are converted to a Scaled Score between 300 - 900. This means a total score of between 1200 - 3600. Situational Judgement results are expressed in Bands with the highest being Band 1, and the lowest Band 4.

UCAT results are made available prior to most application deadlines. The consortium will advise applicants to use their results to guide their academic choices, to reduce the chance of a dead-end application. However, universities will advise applicants to use your UCAT results to determine eligibility.

There is no clear indicator as to a ‘good’ UCAT score. However, we can assume that anything higher than one standard deviation above the mean can be considered a ‘good’ UCAT score.

So, we know that the UCAT is competitive, as evidenced by the fact that your score is going to be a direct reflection of how well you shape up relative to the other 14,000 students sitting the exam at the same time as you. What do you do about this?

The answer is simple. Give yourself a competitive edge. Start your research now, acquire MedView preparation resources, secure a mentor, and plan. It’s no secret that most students will forget about the UCAT until a couple of months before they are due to sit it. They will purchase some last-minute question materials and cram for 3-4 hours per day in the lead-up time.

Meanwhile, their grades at school will slip, their anxiety levels will rise, and they will be stressed, leading to poorer sleep, and overall worse performance on the day. Don’t be this student. Understand that the fundamental pillar of preparation for any standardised exam is consistency, over a long period of time. This way, you develop skills, and the practice becomes part of your routine, and not something that disrupts it. This is analogous to the learning of a difficult piano piece over the course of a year.

Practising every second day in manageable segments is going to be far more effective than cramming in multiple hours of practice per day in the two months leading up to the piano recital. So the moral of the story here is: If you are at any point in your journey towards medical school, and know for sure that it is what you want to do, speak to an Academic Advisor and start your UCAT preparation with MedView now!

3, 4 or 5 hours of practice per day is not only impractical, but also suboptimal.

UCAT study should ideally be moulded around your school study, because more often than not, school exit scores or GPA will be the first thing that selection boards look at, before ordering candidates based on their UCAT score.

As such, the amount of time that each student dedicates towards preparation for the UCAT will vary. Furthermore, preparation should be goal driven. This means that you should be setting yourself performance goals (e.g. five abstract reasoning questions correct today) as opposed to time-based goals (20 minutes of abstract reasoning questions today).

The below universities in Australia require students to sit the UCAT for undergraduate medical admission:

• University of Adelaide
• Curtin University
• Flinders University
• Monash University
• University of Newcastle / University of New England (Joint Medical Program)
• UNSW Sydney
• University of Queensland (provisional entry pathway)
• University of Tasmania
• University of Western Australia
• Western Sydney University

The two universities that offer medicine in New Zealand also require the UCAT:

• The University of Auckland
• University of Otago

If you want to go to medical school in Australia, you need to sit the UCAT in your final year of high school. Because you need to complete a one-year degree before medical school in New Zealand, you won’t need to sit the UCAT until you are at university.

Each university has its own UCAT cut-offs but like your high school scores, just meeting the UCAT cut offs isn’t enough. You’ll need to exceed the score expectations to have a chance of getting accepted in a medical school.

Students who are in their final year of high school and their first year of a health science degree at university. Students in lower year levels are not eligible.

Candidates can book and sit the UCAT during the official testing period, which typically runs from early July to early August each year.

The UCAT can only be taken once per year, regardless of whether you are applying in Australia or New Zealand.

Candidates must register via the Pearson VUE online system, where they create an account and book a test session.

Registration usually opens in March, with booking deadlines typically in May (dates vary slightly each year).

Candidates can choose to sit the UCAT in major metropolitan and regional sites. At major sites, candidates can choose any date from the 4-week period between the 1st and 31st of July. Other testing centres will only be open for a few dates in that period.

New Zealand

• Auckland: Open for all 4 weeks
• Dunedin: Open for 3 weeks
• Christchurch: Open for 2 weeks
• Wellington: Open for 1 week

Australia

• Major Metro (Open for all 4 weeks)
  
  • Sydney
  • Melbourne
  • Brisbane
  • Perth
  • Adelaide
• Other Cities (Open for 2-4 weeks)
  
  • Gold Coast
  • Canberra
  • Newcastle
  • Hobart
  • Geelong
• Regional Centre (Opens for 1 -2 weeks)
  
  • Townsville
  • Cairns
  • Bendigo
  • Ballarat
  • Toowoomba
  • Darwin
  • Bunbury
• Further Regional (Open on selected dates)
  
  • Mildura
  • Wagga Wagga
  • Alice Springs
  • Port Augusta

The UCAT can also be sat overseas. Please contact the UCAT ANZ administrators, Pearson Vue, for more information.

Results are received on the day of the UCAT. Expect these results to hold currency for one year.

The UCAT fee is typically NZ$298 in New Zealand and A$325 in Australia.

Concession pricing may be available for eligible applicants (e.g. Health Care Card holders), depending on the year and eligibility criteria.

With the exception of James Cook UniversMost undergraduate medical schools in Australia require the UCAT. Exceptions include:

• James Cook University (no UCAT)
• Bond University (no UCAT)

The University of Sydney does not offer standard undergraduate medicine, so UCAT is not required for its MD program.

Some provisional-entry and postgraduate pathways, as well as certain dentistry and health science programs, may also require the UCAT depending on the university.

The GAMSAT is a standardised exam used for entry into graduate-entry medicine and some dentistry and health science programs in Australia, the UK, and Ireland.

The exam assesses a candidate’s ability to apply reasoning and problem-solving skills across humanities, written communication, and the biological and physical sciences. While it includes scientific concepts, the focus is on reasoning rather than memorisation, making it accessible to students from a range of academic backgrounds.

The GAMSAT runs for approximately 5.25 to 6 hours and is divided into three sections:

1. Section One: Reasoning in the Humanities and Social Sciences
2. Section Two: Written Communication
3. Section Three: Reasoning in the Physical and Biological Sciences

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The GAMSAT exam is six hours long with a one-hour break between Section Two and Section Three.

Section one includes a variety of graphs, poems, texts and proverbs which require you to understand concepts, interpret them in different ways and apply them to multiple questions.

A lot of students trip up on establishing the difference between what a text says, and what it means. Meaning any answer might be justifiably correct, but not always the most correct

Skills assessed: Comprehension, analysis, synthesising information and critical reasoning.

Duration: 110 minutes

‍Number of questions: 75 questions designed to assess your comprehension and synthesis of complex information over 110 minutes.

Example Question:

The following quotes relate to the concept of justice.

• "Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."
• "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
• "I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against."
• "Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both."
• "The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so for them."
• "There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice."
• "It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have."
• "There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts."

Which of the following sets of quotes are most strongly related?

(A) 2 and 8
(B) 6 and 7
(C) 1 and 3
(D) 3 and 4

Section two contains 2 prompt sets of essay questions. The first essay requires you to discuss themes of a socio-cultural nature while the second is more reflective, and will require you to think critically and deeply about your own understanding and application of the topic.

If it’s been a while since you finished high school, then this is the hardest section by far, since you have to complete two 500-word essays in an hour. But the speed at which you have to write isn’t the problem. 50% of the mark is what you write, but the other 50% is how you write it. This means you don’t just have to write quickly, you

Number of essays required: 2

Duration: 60 Minutes

Skills assessed: Essays, structure and content.

Example Question:

• Creativity is the defeat of habit by originality. (Arthur Koestler)
• Create like a god; command like a king; work like a slave. (Constantin Brancusi)
• Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing. (Henri Matisse)
• You are lost the instant you know what the result will be. (Juan Gris)
• An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. (Edwin Land)

Section three is entirely multiple choice, made up of 40% biology, 40% chemistry and 20% physics questions. An understanding of scientific concepts prior to your exam is essential to be successful.

To get quicker and score higher at this section, the best thing to do is practice, practice, practice! This section is three hours, it’s brain draining and most people don’t finish so you need to make sure you know what to expect, and how to tackle any question that comes your way. MedView’ Question Bank is in my opinion the perfect resource to help you practice! With over 2500+ questions and 3 full length exams you can practice all types of biology, chemistry and physics questions both in your own time and under mock exam conditions.

Number of questions: 110

Duration: 180 minutes

Skills assessed: Scientific reasoning and knowledge.

Example Question:

Within the lung, there exists a mechanical interdependence between the chest wall and the lung surface. This mechanical interdependence is mediated by the pleura, a fluid-filled, sealed cavity between the muscles of inspiration and expiration, and the lung itself. The function of the pleura is to allow are mobility of the lung, whilst still forcing it to expand upon inspiration. The pleura is a sealed cavity, and the pressure of the pleural fluid is approximately 756mmHg. This is why we refer to human respiration as ‘negative-pressure breathing’ since the body aims to equilibrate the negative pressure of the lung in response to the pull of the pleura with the pressure of outside air (760mmHg). At rest, the inward elastic recoil of the lung is balanced by the outward elastic recoil of the chest wall, expressed as the transpulmonary pressure (TP) = Alveolar pressure (A) - Intrapleural pressure (IP). Thus, at rest, transpulmonary pressure usually exists at around 4mmHg. We generally assume alveoli have pressure consistent with external air, since the movement of air is free and rapid up and down the airway.

Often, patients presenting to the emergency department with chest wounds suffer from pneumothorax, in which the pleura has been compromised and is no longer a sealed, pressurised Space. The ventilation perfusion ratio (V/Q) is the ratio between how much air enters the alveoli (ventilation), and how much alveolar oxygen enters the blood (perfusion).

Upon inspiration, Which factor(s) in the equation TP = A-IP increase(s) relative to all others?

(A) Transpulmonary pressure
(B) Alveolar pressure
(C) Intrapleural pressure
(D) Transpulmonary and alveolar pressure

Students who are in their final or final-minus-one year of an undergraduate degree, or up to ten years after completion of their undergraduate degree.

Yes, all postgraduate medicine programs require the GAMSAT.

Candidates can sit the GAMSAT twice per year, typically in March and September.

For each admissions cycle, you can use results from multiple previous sittings (within the valid period).

Upon completion of the GAMSAT exam you will receive a score for each section and an overall percentage score which ranks your score in comparison to all other students sitting the exam. Your GAMSAT score is valid for two years following the test date and you can sit the exam twice per admissions cycle (March and September).

It's impossible to predict your own GAMSAT Score from test material. The score is calculated from (1x your Section One results, 1x your Section Two results and 2x your Section Three results) /4. Your score is a percentile, relative to everyone else’s score, and is thus not something you can accurately calculate yourself.

Your GAMSAT score breakdown - the score for each section is what is most important in your GEMSAS application, as different universities put different weightings on each section. For example, most universities apart from the University of Melbourne, the University of Western Sydney, and the University of Queensland use the traditional weighting system, which weighs Section Three twice as much as Section One and Two.

Hot tip: To make sure you have a strong score against this weighting system, it is important to make sure you’re disproportionately strong in Section Three, or particularly poor in either Section One or Two

To complicate things further, each university accepts different ranges of GAMSAT scores. To make sure your preference list is favourable to your skills and GAMSAT abilities, MedView’s postgraduate entry application support program can help. Specifically designed by postgraduate medical students and admissions experts, this program will help you better succeed in your application.

Registration is completed via Australian Council for Educational Research.

• March sitting: Registration opens ~November, closes early February
• September sitting: Registration opens ~May, closes early August

(Dates vary slightly each year)

When applying for postgraduate entry medicine in Australia, there is one centralised online application portal - GEMSAS. The Graduate Entry Medical Schools Admission System. GEMSAS is run by the GAMSAT consortium, which comprises of 10 out the 13 postgraduate medical schools in Australia which include:

• Melbourne University
• Deakin University
• Australian National University
• Wollongong University
• University of Notre Dame
• Macquarie University
• Griffith University
• Queensland University
• University of Western Australia

The three universities that aren’t apart of GEMSAS include:

• Sydney University
• Flinders
• Monash

Note: Sydney and Flinders require the GAMSAT exam and direct application and Monash requires students to have completed their undergraduate degree at Monash.

This system allows you to choose from three to six medical schools, then uses calculations to allocate an interview and medical school offer based on your eligibility and highest preferred postgraduate medical school. You are offered a maximum of one interview. Your application to GEMSAS is a single online application form, a preference list of up medical schools, as well as your undergraduate degree transcript.

GEMSAS is the Graduate Education Medical Schools Admissions Systems consortium responsible for GAMSAT admissions which includes a combination of almost all universities - excluding Flinders, Bond, Monash and Sydney

If you apply through GEMSAS you list your 6 preferred universities and you will be offered a maximum of one interview, which is an interview at your highest preference university that you are eligible for.

Candidates can choose to sit the GAMSAT in major metropolitan and regional sites.

Australia‍

• Canberra
• Sydney
• Darwin
• Brisbane
• Townsville
• Adelaide
• Melbourne
• Perth
• Hobart

Ireland

• Cork
• Dublin
• Limerick

United Kingdom

• Liverpool
• London

Singapore

United States

• Washington DC

New Zealand‍

• Wellington - Only available for March

Results are received mid-May for the March GAMSAT and November for the September GAMSAT. The results hold currency for one year.GAMSAT results are valid for 2 years for most universities (including Australia and the UK).

Students typically sit the GAMSAT when they are:

• In their penultimate or final year, or
• Have completed their degree

Strategy matters:

• March sitting: aligns better with application timelines
• September sitting: useful as a backup or early attempt

Most Australian applications (e.g. via GEMSAS) accept results from the previous 2 years.

Another element of admission into postgraduate medical school is the GPA hurdle. Your GPA is your Grade Point Average, which is the weighted mean of all your grades achieved in the final 3 years equivalent of full-time undergraduate study.

Firstly, a lot of people believe that you can only apply to postgraduate medicine if you have completed a medical related degree - e.g., Nursing, Biomedical Science etc. However, this is not correct, yes there are discrepancies between universities in terms of GPA cut offs, but there is no advantage or disadvantage to the degree achieved, or the university in which your degree was achieved.

However, your degree must have been completed in the last 10 years, unless postgraduate study has commenced. It is at the discretion of the university as to whether your postgraduate study is considered in the calculation of your GPA but most of the time, it is your last three years that are considered.

It would be correct to assume Honours years also add a level of complexity to your application. The University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia require your Honours to be completed by mid-year of your application cycle for it to be considered in your GPA calculation. The University of Melbourne, Deakin University and Macquarie University will also only consider specific Honours subjects, not your overall Honours grade and this information will not be released to you prior to your postgraduate entry application.

To determine your GPA weighted grade the following calculation is used:

• ‍Most Recent GPA = Weighted x3
• Most Recent -1 GPA = Weighted x2
• Most Recent -2 GPA = Weighted x1

Your average GPA is calculated by dividing the result by 6. GEMSAS places a higher emphasis on the latter years of study which is reflected in their calculations, as they assume the level of intelligence is higher the longer you study.

However, several universities calculate the GPA differently. The University of Western Australia weighs every year the same and does not require a competitive GPA just a threshold over 5.0. UWA, also used a system called FTE which fairly evaluates all students. This means a minimum of two subjects/courses are required to be taken in the final semester/in your application semester in order to achieve a 25% FTE and be considered for a place.

On exam day make sure you have a huge breakfast because you have a big day ahead. Also pack lunch, because it takes the stress away of having to find a cafe on the day. You will be required to report to your selected test centre by 8.15am but make sure to check your admission ticket beforehand to make sure.

You will need to also bring photo identification. This can include a passport, drivers licence.

You will be sitting the exam for a total of 5.5 hours, 25 minutes of reading time and 1 hour for lunch between section two and three.

The GAMSAT and UCAT assess different skills:

• GAMSAT:
  • Focuses on reasoning across humanities, writing, and science
  • Requires some scientific knowledge and essay writing
• UCAT:
  • Focuses on aptitude and cognitive skills
  • No assumed prior science knowledge

GAMSAT is not purely knowledge-based, but it does require content familiarity + reasoning

The medical interview is your last step towards achieving your goal of becoming a doctor. During the MMI, each student spends between eight to ten minutes at each station, of which there are eight. Students have two minutes of reading time per station, with the remaining six to eight allocated as interview time.

While the interviewers are judging you from a holistic perspective, there are some key skills and characteristics they are looking for, including:

• Communication
• Quality of argument
• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• Social responsibility
• Cultural safety
• Awareness of health issues
• Moral reasoning
• Self-awareness
• Empathy
• Conflict resolution
• Career choice
• Teamwork
• Self-care

Each mini-interview will assess you on two to three of these qualities.

The most difficult part about the MMI is not just answering the questions - although that’s hard too - it’s about making your answer stand out. You have to have your own personal reason that you know the interviewer will resonate with and remember. Try doing that for 8 stations in a row!

Section one of the BMAT The Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) is used by the following Australian and New Zealand medical schools

• Australian National University
• Bond University
• Deakin University
• Griffith University
• Monash University
• The University of Auckland
• The University of Melbourne
• The University of Notre Dame
• The University of Sydney
• The University of Wollongong

Students are eligible and will be invited for an interview based their scores from either the UCAT or GAMSAT exams.

During the MMI, an applicant moves from station to station in timed intervals. Each station will be a separate interview to assess a different soft skill. Prior to each interview, students will be given a prompt, normally in text or video format. In the short breaks between each station, you are given evaluate the next prompt. These prompts can be interpreted differently and are often intentionally vague to assess how you navigate ambiguous situations.

MMIs will typically be delivered face to face. Some interviewing stations do allow for video conferencing.

The following universities are advocates for the MMI:

• University of Sydney
• University of Wollongong
• Australian National University
• University of Melbourne
• Monash University
• Deakin University
• Griffith University
• University of Notre Dame
• Bond University
• University of Auckland (NZ)

There are a few universities that use a different style of interviewing to assess applicants:

• UNSW: Semi-structured interview
• Flinders University: Semi-structured interview
• James Cook University: Semi-structured interview
• University of Adelaide: A mix between the MMI and semi-structured interviews
• The University of Newcastle: Multiple Skills Assessment
• University of Sydney (Double-Degree Medicine): Unstructured interview

The following universities that don’t require an interview for admission into medicine:

• University of Queensland
• Griffith University
• Charles Darwin University
• University of Tasmania
• University of Otago

From now until your interview, you will need to build your personal profile. Your personal profile is the essence of who you are, it is your ‘self-knowledge’.

It should consist of:

• The experiences that have moulded you into who you are now
• Goals you have set yourself
• Things that motivate you
• Role models and people you admire
• Your strengths and weaknesses
• Opinions, views, concerns, feelings
• Your personality, character and attitude to life
• Learning by reflection

This will be the hardest and most complex task you will undertake, but it is certainly the most rewarding. This is not an activity of changing oneself, or fabricating your character to make you into the perfect medical candidate but rather learning about who you really are. During the interview you will be asked questions relating to your personal profile. It is very hard to answer effectively if you have not thought about it beforehand!

Students in school or undergraduate university who are gunning for a medical school spot spend so much of their time focused on getting the grades for standardised tests and maximising their GPA, that sometimes they can lose track of what is driving them to study medicine in the first place. Medical school and the career that follows is a massive commitment, and interview panel members want to be sure that they are selecting candidates who know this, and can demonstrate true insight into why they want to be a doctor and hence are deserving of a spot in their program.

As a student taking either the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) or Semi-Structured Interview (SSI), some variation of the question: “why do you want to be a doctor?” is bound to be asked at some point. Have a good answer to this question that goes beyond the old and tired responses usually provided by aspiring medical students:

1. “...because I want to help people”
2. “...because I like science”

So, what kind of responses are they looking for? The answer to this question is simple: Something that makes you unique, original and MEMORABLE! Tell a story of your personal struggles related to health, or do some research into the latest health inequalities and why some of those in particular strike a chord within you. Sources of inspiration that can help you to flesh out the reasons behind why you have chosen this path are everywhere. From medical TV shows, to Instagram accounts of famous doctors, books, blogs, etc. The world of information is your oyster, so use it to develop a well-thought-out response to the bread and butter of medical interview questions.

During each station, after your interview the interviewer will assess your performance based on the Likert scale from 1-10, where 1 is “Unsuitable for the profession”, and 10 is “Outstanding”. You will not receive any feedback from an interviewer at any time throughout the interview.

These interviewers are not evaluating your pre-existing medical or clinical knowledge, but rather how you communicate, navigate difficult situations, process information, and overall suitability for a position in the medical field.

What is it that draws you to this profession? What need does it fulfil? What do you want to achieve in the medical field? These types of questions will assess your desire to become a doctor and your views toward the medical field.

Example Question:

You are currently a student completing your final VCE exams. You’re not quite sure whether you want to go to university as you aspire to be a concert pianist – your parents however, have different plans for your future. In spite of your career aspirations, your parents want you to study medicine.

1. How would you go about telling your parents that you don’t want to do medicine?
2. Do you think it is right to do medicine because your parents want you to?
3. What do you think are the right reasons for wanting to do medicine?
4. What are the potential repercussions of pursuing a career that you do not want to do?
5. What will you choose to do – pursue your career or please your parents? Why?

Leadership and teamwork are crucial elements of practice in the medical profession. As a doctor, you’ll play a key leadership role that involves problem solving, decision making, and coordinating the efforts of others.

Example Question:

In 2007, the American Family Physician Journal published an article exploring the issue of physicians as role models, using a scenario in which an obese physician is offering nutrition and exercise counselling to his obese patient.

According to the author’s research, patients have more confidence in health-counselling advice from non-obese versus obese physicians, and physicians with poor personal lifestyle habits are less likely to counsel patients about a healthy lifestyle. Based on these research findings do physicians have a responsibility to act as healthy role models to their patients? Please elaborate.

1. Is a physician who does not follow a healthy lifestyle employing a double standard when they are providing lifestyle-counselling? Explain.
2. Do you think there is a difference between unhealthy lifestyle habits that manifest themselves more visibly than others (e.g. obesity versus smoking)? Explain.
3. What determines whether or not another person is a role model? Who decides and why?
4. What are the limits to this responsibility?
5. Do you have any additional comments before we end this discussion?

It’s inevitable that you’ll face some moral grey areas as a doctor. A key skill is the ability to form a strong opinion before making a measured decision – and most universities will have a station or two to test how you would solve these issues.

Example Question:

You are the head of a committee involved in issuing a donation of $50,000 to a charitable organisation every year. The committee has short-listen three organisations this year, but is having trouble selecting which one will receive the donation. You must decide which charity receives the money, between the following charities:

• St. Vincent de Paul Society: an organisation committed to speaking out against the causes of poverty and inequality on behalf of demographics such as refugees and low-income citizens.
• Possible Dreams International: an organisation which partners with rural and remote communities in Eswatini (Swaziland) to empower families and individuals living with extreme poverty, malnutrition and endemic disease.
• Red Dust: an organisation that delivers health promotion programs and community development projects to indigenous communities in rural Australia.

You will be expected to choose an organisation and justify why you selected them.

1. Which organisation would you pick and why?
2. If you could split the money, how would you do so?
3. Do you believe that volunteering work should be compulsory for high school children?
4. What are the ethical issues that may arise by making volunteering work compulsory?
5. Have you done any volunteering work? If so, where?

You are not a doctor yet, so the solutions to these types of questions won't have a clear answer. Questions like these will be used to assess how your mind works and how you reach solutions.

Example Question:

You are a receptionist in a medical centre. You have found out that a patient, Henry, is HIV positive. He is engaged to the Sandra, the daughter of your good friend, who as far as you are aware of does not know this.

1. What are you going to do?
2. Henry became HIV positive after a syringe attack when he worked in a petrol station. Would that change your view?
3. Sandra’s mother found out about this, and she was furious that you did not tell her that Henry is HIV positive. What do you do?
4. Should people with infectious diseases such as HIV be allowed to practise medicine?
5. Currently in Australia there is mandatory reporting of new HIV diagnoses to the Government, do you think this is ethical?

Being culturally sensitive is of utmost importance to doctors. These stations test your understanding of the significance of ethnicity in a health context.

Example Question:

You are a teacher in a rural primary school that is largely composed of indigenous children. There is a state funded program that provides $5000 per month to provide breakfast for the children as many are from disadvantaged background could not afford to be fed in the morning, and there had been a visible improvement in children’s performance now that they are guaranteed to have food in the morning. The president of the school board however, wants to scrap this program, and use the money to buy more books for the school library that had not been updated for two years now. He has stated that, “with a new library it will benefit all children, not just the black ones.”

1. What would you say to the president of the board?
2. What would happen if the breakfast program was scrapped?
3. What would you do if the breakfast program was scrapped?
4. What are the alternatives?
5. A mother had complained that her son’s reading was not up to standard, and stated that she would rather see the money goes to more books. What would be your reply to that?

This interview station is set aside to test your knowledge your knowledge of health policy and medical news and trends in ANZ and the world.

Example Question:

There has been recent debate regarding the benefits of feeding infants with baby formula as opposed to breast milk as well as the accessibility of baby formula in rural towns. In response, the concept of a breast milk bank has been put forth as a solution – such a bank would receive breast milk donations from women and distributes it to mothers who encounter difficulties with lactation.

1. What are the benefits of breast milk over baby formula, particularly for those in rural towns?
2. Are there any ethical issues that may arise following the introduction of breast milk banks?
3. What else can be done to assist mothers who have difficulty lactating?
4. What are issues that may be encountered by new mothers living rurally?
5. What can be done to combat the lack of accessibility to healthcare in rural areas?

Having background knowledge of the health sector can be very helpful. It will help you to portray a greater level of insight in many of your answers and show the examiners that you understand where medicine fits in society. Doctors are not the only members of the health care team or even the most important. You need to have knowledge of the entire health sector from prevention to rehabilitation and the unique contributions of other member of the health care team.

The following are some of the main areas of focus:

Public Health Care

Public hospitals are set up to provide free acute and elective health care to ensure that as many people as possible have access to essential health care services. Public health care is also about early intervention to prevent disease and morbidity. This is not only cost effective, it is better for the patient because doctors often cannot restore the patient to their previous state of health.

Private Health Care

Many people have private health insurance because it allows them to bypass the waiting times in the public health system for treatment of non-urgent conditions and allows the patient to choose their treating doctor. However, this can be expensive depending on the level of care received. People who have private health insurance are not excluded from public health services.

Primary Health Care

This relates to health care received in the community, usually from a GP or practice nurse. It includes a range of services, including health education, counselling, disease prevention and screening. Primary health care is essential for improving the health of all residents and reducing health inequalities.

Secondary, Tertiary and Quaternary Health Care

Refers to more specialised medical care; more expensive and less accessible than primary health care. Secondary care is a service provided by medical specialists after patients have been referred by their primary care provider (usually a GP). It is generally delivered in a hospital or clinical setting. Tertiary care is more specialised, including particularly complex medical or surgical procedures. Quaternary care is considered to be an extension of tertiary care, and would include experimental medicine and procedures, and uncommon specialised surgeries.

Pharmaceutical Costs

Medication costs play a significant part of any country’s health care budget, for New Zealand and Australia there are government organisations which regulate this. A country like America, which has an open market for pharmaceutical products, have a far greater range of products but prices are often more expensive.

Pharmac

The Pharmaceutical Management Agency of New Zealand’s central role is to manage the pharmaceutical budget on behalf of DHBs (District Health Boards), and to decide which medicines are funded by the government. The list of funded medicines is published in the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)

PBS is a program of the Australian government that provides subsidised prescription medications to residents of Australia, as well as certain foreign visitors. The PBS aims to ensure that Australian residents have affordable and reliable access to a wide range of necessary medicines.

When factoring in tuition, resources, medical education technology and registration fees, it costs the Government around $1 million in tax-payer money to bring a person through medical school until they are a doctor at a public university. As such, something I always tell my tutoring students is that medical schools are looking at each student as a possible investment opportunity. In other words, is this student worth this investment for this particular university? So how do you show the panel members that you are this student?

Do your research into the specific university, the details of the course profile of the MD or MBBS offered, and float some ideas about which specific elements of the program offered at this university appeal to your career aspirations and goals the most.

Students who are clearly invested in the specific medical school at which they are interviewing and have evidently taken the time to learn the ins and outs of the course profile pre-emptively, are more likely to be viewed as a good investment.

There are three strategies that will set you up for success in the MMI:

1. Using cue cards
2. Expanding your vocabulary
3. Building your confidence

Cue Card System:

The best way to prepare for the MMI is by answering practice questions.

However, it is important that you don’t memorise word for word your answers to questions. The interviewers do not want to hear recited, clichéd responses – and you will probably struggle to make any prepared responses “fit”.

The best way to use practice questions is with cue cards.

For every question you come across, think of two or three key points that you want to talk about. For each of these main points, have some topics and examples ready to explain or support that point.

Example question:

What problems do you foresee being a doctor?

A couple of prompts you could write on your cue cards include:

• Work/life balance: Managing patient demands, family demands, and social demands
• Stress: Taking on patients’ problems, long hours/being on call, ongoing professional development

Then, practise elaborating on these points in timed conditions until you feel comfortable with your delivery. By not writing your answers out word for word, you won’t come across as too rehearsed.

Expand your vocabulary

A broad vocabulary will add weight to your answers and ensure you sound impressive.

Write down a list of words and practise using them daily. Include positive action words as well as some basic medical lingo.

Some “buzzwords” that will score you points in your interviews include:

• Disparities
• Socioeconomic
• Ethnicities
• Therapy
• Asymptomatic
• Diagnosis
• Acute
• Chronic
• Anatomy
• Symptoms
• Prognosis
• Aetiology
• Reaction
• Adverse
• Baseline
• Multidisciplinary
• Precaution

You also want to practise using some “action” words, such as:

• Instituted
• Implemented
• Coordinated
• Developed
• Consolidated
• Founded
• Instructed
• Researched
• Scheduled
• Reorganised
• Recommended
• Accomplished

Confidence building:

The best way to build confidence in any area is to practise, practise, practise!

If you’re subject to a bit of stage fright, you will need to work on building skills in this area. The last thing you want is nerves ruining all your hard work.

The good news is that confidence is developed, not inherited! But you will need to put some time into it.

To prepare yourself for the MMI, practice under timed conditions so there are no surprises on interview day. You can read our top tips and tricks and even practice in MMI conditions, check out our MMI prep offerings for the most up to date information.

Make sure you practise with friends and family, too, as they will offer you honest feedback and (hopefully!) encouragement. Bonus points if you do it under timed MMI-style conditions!

It’s no secret that how you look on the day is important. Make sure your shirt is ironed, your hair tied up, your face cleanly shaven and your shoes new if not immaculately polished.

Even in a post-COVID world where hand-shaking may be a thing of the past, it is still possible to make a strong first impression with a smile upon entrance into the room. It is also important to remember that examiners understand that this may be the most stressful moment of your life to date, so being calm and collected enough to start any interaction with a pleasant “hello nice to meet you” is a simple but effective way to demonstrate that you are composed and deal well with stressful situations.

There are many reasons to choose MedView. Unlike our competitors, MedView offers flexibility, learning at your own pace, and top-scoring tutors, anywhere you are.

All our services are delivered online, at a time that suits you, reducing restrictions so you can still enjoy life.

MedView’s programs are personalised so you can learn at your own pace and you only pay for what you need and nothing else.

The intended age range for MedView is 14 - 18, however, we can help students outside this age group with our close partnership with Crimson Education group and their additional services.

Book a FREE consultation with an Academic Advisor.

MedView’s pricing is flexible and dependent on your needs as a student. Our highly individualised approach to medical schools admissions support is built around a desire to help each student based on their strengths, weaknesses, financial situation, age, goals and aspirations. Our Academic Advisors provide free one-hour consultations with families to help build these personalised programs which then leads to a determination of cost.

If you’re interested in multiple pathways to medical school, don’t stress. During your consultation, they’ll make time to discuss all your areas of interest and create a plan best suited to your needs

MedView ensures all students and families are provided with a safe learning environment and community.

Yes, we offer consultations with our academic advisors both face to face in one of our offices or online. The process of booking your consultation is the same, and you will need to contact us to request your free consultation and book yourself a time.

After your initial consultation with one of our Academic Advisors, we will build a highly personalised plan based on your age, current situation and admission goals.

Next you'll be introduced to your Admission Specialist who'll help organise your entire MedView journey, coordinate your tutor and mentor scheduling, assist you with actioning all steps recommended by your MedView team, and act as a regular communication base for you and your parents or guardians.

MedView's unique algorithm matches students to their team based on their academic goals, passions and learning styles. Your team will include tutors, admissions experts, current medical students and doctors from Australasia's top medical schools.

MedView is a member of both the International Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC) and National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and follows their high standard in college admissions and ethical responsibility.

Of course we can! With our innovative use of online technologies and flexible global teams we are able to help you wherever you are. We have a growing list of locations in 20 different countries, but each one acts as a regional centre to serve students in nearby cities and territories. If you are unsure which office to contact, don’t hesitate to fill in a contact form on our website or call the closest office to you and ask for help.