Admission requirements

Selection process for all applicants

The medicine course at Monash University is only available to:

• current Year 12 students or
• applicants who have completed VCE (or equivalent) no more than two years previously and have not undertaken any tertiary studies since then.

Prerequisites for students in Year 12

Students studying Year 12 are required to obtain a study score of at least 35 in English (ESL) or 30 in any other English and a study score of at least 30 in Chemistry. These are the only prerequisites.

For students who have not studied Biology at year 12 level, the faculty offers a bridging program in Biology which students can complete in their own time prior to the start of semester.

All applicants (other than international applicants) are required to sit an aptitude test: UMAT (Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test).

Closing date: for applicants to sit UMAT in 2008 is available on the UMAT website

UMAT examination date: 30 July 2008
Venue: Registered candidates are advised of the venue details

If you expect to change citizenship status to become an Australian permanent resident, you should sit the UMAT

VTAC application procedures

The VTAC Guide, containing information about application procedures, is published annually in August by the:

Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre
40 Park Street,South Melbourne, VIC 3205
Telephone: 1300 364 133

Applications to VTAC closes in September.

Selection into the medical course is based upon a combination of the applicant UMAT, performance at a semi-structured interview and ENTER. Applicants who have met the prerequisites will be called for an interview. An interview is a significant component of the selection process.

Interviews

Approximately 500 applicants will be invited to attend a semi-structured interview in late November to December, with pre-selection based on the UMAT score.

Additional interviews will be offered to eligible applicants on the Dean's Rural List, Dean's Indigenous List and applicants for the Extended Rural Cohort. Interviews will be conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Science, Wellington Road, Clayton. The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences will determine those applicants who are to be interviewed. Applicants cannot request an interview, except in the following circumstances.

Special early or late interview

In extenuating circumstances, where applicants invited for interview have planned overseas travel commitments and will be unavailable in December, the faculty may grant an early or late interview. These special interviews will be conducted by the end of the first week of December and on one interview day in early January.

Potential Dean's Rural List applicants may also apply for an early or late interview prior to their eligibility being determined by the faculty. Only those subsequently deemed eligible will remain in the final ranked list.

Application forms for an early or late interview will be made available to all timely VTAC applicants. Applications should include written support from the School Principal and documentary evidence of the reasons for unavailability during December (eg copy of airline ticket or travel itinerary).

Final selection

The final ranked list of applicants from which places will be offered will take into account the applicant’s UMAT score, Interview score and ENTER. Additional weighting is applied to the interview score.

Semi-structured interview

The selection interview, of approximately 45 minutes, is conducted by a three-member panel of trained interviewers. The interview questions have been designed to determine which applicants have relevant personal qualities such as leadership ability and motivation to succeed in the medical course.

There are two groups of questions:

Accomplishment questions: applicants are asked to tell the panel about past accomplishments that might demonstrate particular personal qualities.

Situational questions: applicants are asked to explain what they might do if they find themselves in particular situations.

In the interview, the panel will try to assess several personal qualities in each applicant, including:

1. Quality of motivation
   Applicants should be able to demonstrate a realistic knowledge and understanding of what is involved in both the medical course and a career in medicine.
2. Appropriateness of interpersonal style
   Applicants should be able to discuss leadership, particularly the ability to inspire other people, and teamwork, particularly the ability to work within a collaborative unit. We expect our students to have the ability to listen and be non-judgmental and to have the flexibility to adapt to new situations. All of these attributes should be developed to an extent appropriate to the applicant’s age and maturity.
3. Communication skill
   Doctors must be able to communicate effectively with others. We expect our applicants to demonstrate appropriate ability in communication skills during the interview. As part of the assessment of communication skill, applicants may be asked to "detechnicalise" a scientific concept, ie. to explain the concept in non-technical terms. Applicants may also be asked to discuss a topical issue in health and to participate in an "active listening exercise" in which they may be expected to answer specific questions concerning a short story read to them by one of the panel members.

Applicants should note that the structure and content of the interview are constantly under review.

Health requirements and police checks

The faculty has an Immunisation and Infection Risk Policy and students are required to comply with this policy which include a number of recommendations and procedures that ensures an acceptably low level of risk as they proceed through the course.

A satisfactory police check is also required for each student.

Student Registration

All MBBS students must be registered with the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria in order to have access to clinical placements. The faculty will advise students on the procedure as part of the enrolment process.