English Language

Applicants must meet the Australian National University's English language requirements for admission to postgraduate coursework programs.

Applicant should be aware that the ANU’s English language requirements differ from the Medical Board of Australia’s English Language requirements. This becomes more significant upon graduation and prior to registering for an internship.
 

Qualifications

Applicants must have completed or be studying the final year of a bachelor’s degree at the time of application. The bachelor’s degree must be an AQF Level 7 qualification (at minimum) and comprise of at least three full-time equivalent years (3.0 FTE) worth of study.

There are no preferred bachelor’s degrees or prerequisite courses for entry to the MChD program. We welcome applicants from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds.

Bachelor’s degrees completed in Australia must be from a Commonwealth-accredited institution. Bachelor’s degrees completed overseas must be from a recognised institution and must be equivalent to an Australian Bachelor degree, as determined by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment.

Applicants who have completed a postgraduate qualification are welcome to apply but must have completed a 3.0 FTE bachelor’s degree previously. Higher-level qualifications such as Honours, Graduate Diplomas and Master’s by coursework may be taken into consideration during the GPA calculation if the program is complete or due to be complete in the year of application.

Two-year accelerated bachelor’s degrees (i.e. where 3.0 FTE worth of study is fast-tracked over two years) will be accepted if the degree is due to be completed by 23 December in the year of application.

Conversion degrees are not accepted. A conversion degree is defined as a bachelor’s degree that includes more than 1.0 FTE of credit from previous studies undertaken below AQF Level 7 (e.g. a bachelor’s degree containing prior credit from a TAFE certificate/diploma).

If your bachelor’s degree was completed more than 10 years ago, you will need to meet additional study requirements to be eligible to apply. Please read the ‘Currency of Qualification’ section for more information.

All prior study (including both complete and incomplete qualifications) must be declared in your application.
 

Currency of Qualification

Applicants whose bachelor’s degree was awarded more than 10 years ago will need to meet further study requirements to be eligible to apply.

Applicants are required to have completed their bachelor’s degree within 10 years prior to the closing date of applications. The 10 years is measured from the date your degree was officially completed (i.e. the date of conferral), not the date of your graduation ceremony.

If your bachelor’s degree was completed more than 10 years ago, the ‘10-year rule’ may be waived if you have undertaken any additional undergraduate or postgraduate study in the intervening period. This must be evidenced by successful completion of at least 0.5 years of full-time equivalent study (0.5 EFTSL) at Bachelor level (or higher) in a Commonwealth-accredited program in the 10 years prior to the closing date of applications.

A study load of 0.5 FTE is usually equivalent to one semester of full-time study or two semesters of part-time study. You should contact your institution directly to confirm the study load of any courses/units undertaken at that university.
 

GPA Calculation

The GPA calculation is based on three years of full-time equivalent study (3.0 FTE) in your most recent eligible degree, or combination of eligible degrees (if applicable).

For the purpose of the GPA calculation, eligible degrees include Bachelor, Honours, Graduate Diploma and Master’s by coursework programs. Course results from eligible degrees will be included in the GPA calculation if the degree is already complete or due to be completed by 23 December in the year of application.

The ANU uses a 3-year weighted GPA calculation for admission to the MChD program. This means that your most recent results are weighted more heavily:

• Final GPA Year – Weighted x3
• Final-1 GPA Year – Weighted x2
• Final-2 GPA Year – Weighted x1

If your most recent eligible degree comprises less than 3.0 FTE worth of study, course results from your next-most-recent eligible degree(s) will be used to make up the remainder of the 3.0 FTE.

For example, if you completed a 2-year master’s by coursework after your bachelor’s degree, your GPA would be calculated using 2.0 FTE worth of course results from the Masters (Final GPA year and Final-1 GPA year), and the remaining 1.0 FTE worth of course results would be taken from the final year of your bachelor’s degree (Final-2 GPA year).

Where an applicant is completing the final year of their degree in the year of application, the current year of study will only be included in the GPA calculation if at least 0.375 FTE worth of graded course results from Semester 1 are available to be used in the calculation at the time of assessment. If at least 0.375 FTE worth of graded results are not yet available, the Final GPA Year will be excluded from the calculation and the GPA will be calculated using only the Final-1 and Final-2 GPA years.

Ungraded Pass (UGP/CRS) results will not be included in the GPA calculation. We will include UGPs in the credit count for a particular GPA year, however, they are excluded from the calculation and that particular GPA year will be calculated based only on the available graded course results.

At minimum, an applicant must have at least 0.375 FTE of graded results in at least 2 of the 3 GPA years to have a valid GPA calculated.

Graduate Certificates, Master’s by Research and PhDs are not included in the GPA calculation. However, completion of some higher-level qualifications may attract a percentage bonus. Please refer to the ‘Higher Degree Bonus’ section for further information.
 

Higher Degree Research Bonus

Standalone Honours: A 2% bonus may be awarded for a standalone Honours degree if the qualification is already complete or due to be completed in the year of application. The bonus applies to standalone Honours degrees only. Embedded and Professional Honours programs are included in the GPA calculation but do not receive the percentage bonus.

Masters by Research: A 2% bonus may be awarded for a Master’s by Research if the qualification is completed at the time of application.

PhD: A 4% bonus may be awarded for a PhD if the qualification is completed at the time of application.

The percentage bonus is applied to the combined GPA/GAMSAT or MCAT score. Applicants must meet the individual GPA and GAMSAT or MCAT minimum requirements before they can be eligible for a bonus.

Applicants cannot accumulate bonuses for completing more than one of the degrees listed above. If an applicant has completed more than one qualification that is eligible for a bonus, only the highest bonus will apply.
 

Rurality

In line with federal government initiatives, 29% of the annual ANU intake of medical students should be of rural background.

The Modified Monash Model is how the Department of Health define whether a location is a city, rural, remote or very remote. The model measures remoteness and population size on a scale of MM 1 to MM 7. If your primary living address was/is in an Australian rural area, MM 2 to 7, for 5 years consecutively or 10 years cumulatively you may be eligible for consideration in the rural sub-quota. You can check the MM classification of your current and/or previous primary living address by visiting the Department of Health’s Doctor Connect website.

If you meet the rural background criteria you will need to declare your rurality in your application and provided the required supporting evidence.
 

Bonded Medical Program

The Bonded Medical Program provides students with a commonwealth support place in a medical program in return for a commitment to work in eligible regional, rural and remote areas for a specific period after completion of their medical program. This commitment is referred to as a return of service obligation.

The ANU is committed to supporting this government initiative and therefore a certain percentage of the annual ANU intake of medical students will be offered a Bonded Medical Place.

Further information is available at the Department of Health and Aged Care – Bonded Medical Program.
 

Transfers

Requests for direct transfers will not be considered. All years of the program are at full enrolment capacity and the ANU is unable to accommodate additional students transferring into this program from other medical schools.

Students from other medical schools who wish to study medicine at the ANU are welcome to apply for the next available intake into Year 1 of the program through one of the published application options. Noting that course credit cannot be granted, and they would be required to complete all 4 years of the program.
 

Inherent Requirements

Inherent requirements are core activities, tasks and skills essential to successfully completing a program.

The Inherent Requirements for the MChD program are outlined on Programs and Courses. Given that students may not be able to complete the program if their disability prevents them from meeting the inherent requirements, students are encouraged to review the inherent requirements of the program and the supports available to them prior to applying. If you think you may experience any problems meeting the inherent requirements of the program, please contact the ANU for further advice.
 

Change of Residency

If an applicant’s/ student’s visa, residency and/or passport details change they must notify the university within 10 working days of these changes.

If an international Full Fee-paying student’s residency status changes prior to census date in their first semester, such that their student status is defined as Domestic, their offer will be retracted, and they would need to reapply to a future intake as a domestic applicant.

If an international Full Fee-paying student’s residency status changes after census date in their first semester, such that their student status is defined as Domestic, they will be transferred to a domestic tuition fee-paying (DTF) place in the program.
 

Screening and Vaccination Requirements

All commencing MChD students are required to meet the mandatory screening and vaccination requirements for the ANU, ACT Health and NSW Health.

If you're offered a place in the MChD program, you will receive the detailed Screening and Vaccination Information Booklet with your offer letter. You must complete and provide evidence for all requirements in the booklet prior to commencing the program. Some of the primary requirements include:

• Australian National Police Check
• ACT Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) Card
• Senior First/Provide First Aid + CPR Certificate.
• Evidence of immunity and vaccination against certain diseases