Media Release

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Tuesday, 4 March 2003

The University of Adelaide is occasionally questioned by members of the public and the media about its entry procedures for Medicine and the number of places available in Medicine.

In the interests of raising the awareness of these issues, the following frequently asked questions and answers have been prepared:

Q: Why has X, Y, Z top student not been able to get into Medicine at the University of Adelaide, even though they received full marks/almost full marks?

A: Achieving high marks at school doesn't always mean you'll make a great doctor. Many universities and professional bodies believe that other qualities are invaluable in potential doctors.

To make sure that the most suitable candidates are chosen, applicants for the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery must satisfy specific admission requirements. These requirements are different to entry into most other courses, which is usually based on TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank) scores alone.

If the student has not achieved entry to Medicine, it is because they:

• did not meet the specific admission requirements;
• did not make the cut-off due to restricted numbers; or
• as has happened in some cases, did not apply for Medicine and then changed their mind too late.

Q: How is entry to Medicine different?

A: Selection for school-leaver applicants is based on three components:

• Performance in the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT)
• Performance in a structured Oral Assessment for UMAT top performers
• Qualifying for the SACE (or equivalent) and achieving a Year 12 performance that the University evaluates as being a top 10 percentile performance.

This entry system has been used by the University of Adelaide since 1996. At the time, Adelaide's Medical School was one of only a few Australian medical schools to adopt the new entry system. Today, most Australian medical schools are using the same or similar entry requirements.

Q: Who runs the UMAT tests?

A: The Australian Council for Educational Research runs UMAT.

In 2002, more than 7000 people in total sat for the test in Australia and in London to apply for a place in undergraduate medicine around Australia. Of those, 817 completed UMAT in Adelaide. From the 1683 applicants to the University of Adelaide, 385 applicants were invited to the Oral Assessment.

The University of Adelaide is pleased to be in such high demand for Medicine, both nationally and internationally, as it reflects the quality of our programs -- a fact recognised by the Australian Medical Council's full accreditation of our Medical School.

Q: How many places in Medicine are offered to Australian students at the University of Adelaide?

A: In 2003, 95 places have been offered to Australian students. These include the 5 places allocated to students under the medical rural bonded scholarship, which requires students to practice medicine in a rural or remote setting after graduation.

The number of places available has remained steady over the last few years.

Q: Why can't the University of Adelaide reserve places for South Australians?

A: This would be unconstitutional. The University must accept applications from all states and territories.

Q: Why can't the University offer more places?

A: The Federal Government allocates the number of places all universities can take for medical students from Australia. The universities have no say in that number.

The Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee regularly advises Government on the number of places, based on information about what is happening in the health sector. This has recently resulted in new medical schools being created in Townsville and Canberra, aimed at increasing the number of medical graduates nation-wide. Hence the number of places for Australian students has remained steady at Adelaide for the last few years.

So, to recap: there are 95 Australian students studying first-year Medicine at the University of Adelaide in 2003. The number of places is entirely regulated by the Federal Government.

Q: Aren't overseas students taking places away from local students?

A: No. The number of overseas medical students has nothing to do with the allocation for Australian students provided by the Government. The University is allowed to accept students from overseas in addition to its Australian student allocation.

The number of overseas students starting Medicine at the University in 2003 is 36.

Q: Why is the proportion of overseas students so high?

A: Again, the numbers of overseas students and Australian students are determined separately. The actual numbers and the reasons for determining them have no correlation.

The University of Adelaide has been accepting international students into Medicine for more than 50 years, and has done so proudly. We have trained whole generations of doctors who have gone on to become leaders in their respective fields in Australia and around the world.

Q: There are too few doctors in country areas - why doesn't the University do something about it?

A: For many years now the University of Adelaide has sought to increase the number of students accepted into Medicine from rural areas. This is partly assisted through the medical rural scholarship. The University recognises that medical students who come from the country are much more likely to return to country areas when they have achieved their qualifications.

There are many other programs and initiatives that the University is involved in to improve the level of service to rural areas. These include research to better understand doctors' motivations for staying in the country, and teaching programs that raise awareness among all medical students of practising in rural areas.

Q: What if I do not get a place in Medicine in the University of Adelaide in 2003?

A: Four universities offer graduate entry course in medicine. Applicants are encouraged to undertake the Bachelor of Health Science course, and to apply as a graduate to one of the graduate medical courses.

The University's Faculty of Sciences offers courses relevant to medicine within the Bachelor of Science and various named degrees, including the BSc (Biomedical Science), BSc (Molecular Biology) and Bachelor of Biotechnology. Many graduates from these courses proceed to postgraduate medicine.

Although we suggest applicants consider other pathways to medicine (via graduate entry), if you consider re-applying to do Medicine at the University of Adelaide, please remember that Medicine is only open to school-leavers and to those applicants who do not have an academic record of study at a tertiary educational institution.

To apply for 2004 entry you will need to make fresh applications to SATAC and UMAT. The UMAT score is held for 2 years, however candidates are advised that the score leading to invitation to the Oral Assessment may vary from year-to-year.

More information about entry into Medicine at the University of Adelaide can be found here: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/programs/ug/prog/health/

More information about courses in Sciences: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/programs/ug/prog/sciences/

More information about UMAT can be found here: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/faq/view.pl?qid=445