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  • Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery MBBS without UCAT

Hii!

I’ve had a change in career aspirations and am considering studying medicine. I didn’t complete the UCAT this year so the only way to become any type of doctor would be through an MBBS or by taking the GAMSAT to get into a doctor of medicine.

My understanding is that even though the MBBS is being phased out, it is still treated the same as the doctor of med by employers/colleges?

Naturally I’d prefer the MBBS due to the shorter time frame (compared to taking an undergrad followed by a doctor). So far I’ve only found JCU Townsville/Cairns that offer the MBBS without requiring a UCAT, are there any other unis in Australia that offer the same? I’d appreciate any other tips students who have taken alternate pathways into med can give, as well as any considerations I should factor in!

Thanks🙂

    MeticulousMonkey

    Hey MeticulousMonkey,

    That's great to hear you're considering to study medicine! I will say that I should correct you in your statement about the pathways to medicine. There are two pathways: provisional/school leaver pathway and the graduate pathway. Each university will have different requirements for each pathway and upon completion of their program, you will receive either an MD or a MBBS (as you know, most are MD now). For the MD, you will end up with 2 degrees including the MD. May I add that, technically speaking, there is no difference between MBBS and MD in employability. As far as I also know, JCU is the only one that provides a MBBS which is 6 years but FYI, Monash university is only 5 years which goes to show that an MD can be shorter than an MBBS.

    As I was saying above, there are different requirements for each uni. As you didn't do UCAT, there are a few unis that can still take you through the provisional/school leaver pathway and that depends on either your ATAR only or ATAR + interview. For example, Griffith university takes only ATAR (99.85), University of Sydney takes your ATAR (99.95) and interview, JCU takes a little of your ATAR but mostly, a written application then an interview.

    Another way is the graduate pathway which there are also different requirements. You can either take the UCAT next year and apply for certain unis that will take you like UNSW (with an interview), however, you'll have to be careful because unis like UQ don't take people who do UCAT after grade 12. Or you can do GAMSAT; with successful completion, quite a lot of unis will take you but likely, with an interview.

    As you can tell, there is a lot of research you need to do and the above info came off the top of my head so please go verify this and see for yourself which unis require what and determine which one is best for you. I went through the school leaver pathway; its just that after you get in through Grade 12, you don't have to worry about anything like GAMSAT/UCAT except for your GPA. Nevertheless, good luck and hope this provided some info into medicine pathways!

    • PP

        Are you still completing Year 12 this year, or did you complete it last year? There are some people who took gap years and completed the UCAT during those years I believe - it may be worth looking into that, especially given how valuable the UCAT is in getting into most med schools.

        The postgrad/GAMSAT pathway is its own bag of worms.

        The MBBS and MD are the same thing. The unis are changing their nomenclature gradually I believe. You're still going through medical school and will get a provisional registration with AHPRA as an intern doctor upon graduation, will get the same opportunities etc..

          torsades

          Hi Torsades,

          I’m completing year 12 this year, however I don’t think my ATAR (98-99) will be above the cut off for provisional entries to most unis.
          I have an offer for law (potentially a scholarship as well) already on the table, so I’m sort of limited to either using law + the GAMSAT to get into a doctor, or going straight into the MBBS. Have you had/heard negative things about the GAMSAT? My understanding was it has a similar difficulty to the UCAT, but less study resources? What are the issues with the postgrad route you mentioned?

          Thanks🙂

            PhytoPlankton

            Hey Phyto!

            Did you go into biomed first and have you finished your med degree yet?
            Griffith was one of my top choices until I started exploring MBBS degrees… so I’m leaning towards completing a law degree elsewhere then taking the GAMSAT/doctor at Griffith. I think I would value an undergrad + MD more than spending 6 years just for the MBBS.

            I’ll look into provisional entries further, most of them require biomed as the undergrad right?

                MeticulousMonkey
                Hey MeticulousMonkey,

                I have to do a BMedSci and maintain a GPA of 5 which gives me entrance to the MD program. I haven't finished either degrees yet (I'm a 2021 QCE graduate) but from everyone I've asked doing med now, the GPA of 5 is not a problem to keep.

                I agree that you should look further into the provisional entries. Its much less stress once you get in. Most of the undergrads are either Bachelor of Medical Science/Studies or biomed or choose your own degree. No stress tho because there is a GAMSAT pathway. In terms of its similarity, med schools obviously want similar people but the tests are quite different: UCAT is 2 hours, GAMSAT is 5.5 hours. UCAT has 5 sections split into reading/comprehension, logic puzzles, maths, patterns then some ethic; GAMSAT has 3 sections split into humanities/reading comprehension, writing 2 essays then a maths & science section made up of physics, chem and bio. UCAT only has one testing every year whereas GAMSAT has one in March and one in September. Also, arguably, because GAMSAT has been out for much much longer than UCAT, there are more preparation resources, however, prep companies have been able to adapt quite quickly to the new UCAT test now.

                It really depends on who you are but it seems to me that the general consensus is that the GAMSAT is unappealing to take due to its time duration. However, you can argue that UCAT is harder because of its time constraints but GAMSAT is hard because of the extended time you need your brain on and thus, the difficulty is a bit more. Again, it really depends on your strengths and weaknesses; ensure you research well and thoroughly when you are applying for med.

                Good luck and feel free to ask more!

                • PP
                    3 months later

                    PhytoPlankton " Also, arguably, because GAMSAT has been out for much much longer than UCAT, there are more preparation resources" this is false info, GAMSAT resources are known all to be terrible and does not reflect the real thing in any way, studying for the GAMSAT is more difficult than the UCAT however it is a test that is easier to wing, you can definitely do well winging it however majority dont

                        a month later

                        Yipeeee
                        Hey Yipeeee,

                        I certainly agree with you. Most GAMSAT resources are not that great and do not reflect the real thing but that doesn't mean that there aren't more preparation resources (also note: I said "arguably", suggesting that it was a belief that could be not 100% true - I could be wrong😁 ). Whilst only a few companies sell courses for the GAMSAT (like the UCAT), there are many companies that sell books that assist with preparation for the GAMSAT. But I completely agree with you that GAMSAT is certainly more difficult to prepare for than the UCAT as it is broader, requires specialist knowledge, is much longer (this could be a good or bad thing), and requires writing as well as MCQ. However, I do believe that GAMSAT is much harder to wing than the UCAT because you must have that specialist knowledge like biology, physics and chemistry whereas in the UCAT, it is more of an aptitude test.

                        Hope that cleared up what I said 😀.

                        • PP
                          2 months later

                          chemistry1111 Both, but just note that not all unis will accept undergrad candidates (i.e. Uni students). You can read about UCAT eligibility here on their official website.

                            chemistry1111

                            I think most uni’s say u r in eligible to complete undergrad med if you’ve already started tertiary study.

                            So most people who don’t get in and get the ATAR take a gap year and try again.

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