Medical education in Australia

Medical education in Australia is concerned with both the basic training of medical practitioners and with the post-graduate training of medical specialists.

Various models of medical education exist in Australia. Undergraduate programs typically last 5–6 years, and by definition, admit secondary school matriculants. Applicants are usually assessed by a combination of high school leaving certificate performance, Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT) score and an interview. Graduate medical programs typically last 4 years, and applicants are assessed on the results of their previous academic degree in addition to aptitude tests and interviews. The most commonly used selection test is the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT).

During the pre-clinical years, theoretical domains of study predominate most Australian medical programs. However, early clinical exposure — in which students commence clinical skills training early in the course, concurrently with theoretical study — is a component of many programs, particularly graduate medical programs. In recent years, medical school teaching and learning in Australia has taken on a new direction in line with international trends. At most universities there has been a shift from traditional methods of teaching to the Problem Based Learning (PBL) pedagogy including the use of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs).

Historically, Australian medical schools have followed the British tradition by conferring the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) to its graduates whilst reserving the title of Doctor of Medicine (MD) for their research training degree, analogous to the PhD, or for their honorary doctorates. Although the majority of Australian MBBS degrees have been graduate programs since the 1990s, under the previous Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) they remained categorised as Level 7 Bachelor's degrees together with other undergraduate programs.

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