Admissions criteria

Applicants must in their final year, or have completed their most recent degree to apply. The Academic Calendar in Australia differs from Schools in the United States in that it runs from February to November each year. Please keep this in mind when applying to indicate the most appropriate entry year.

Applications will be assessed on the following criteria:

1. MCAT

A minimum score in MCAT of 504 is required. Please note that a score of 504 is not a guarantee that you will receive an offer. This is a very competitive program and the final cut-off MCAT scores may be higher than 504. The MCAT must be gained in the four years preceding the year of commencement.

2. GPA and pre-requisites

B average in your most recently completed degree (Bachelor or Masters degree). This degree must have been completed within the ten year period preceding the proposed commencement date. You must also have completed, or be enrolled to complete the two required subject pre-requisites. More information about this is detailed below. 

If you have completed both a Bachelors degree, and a Masters degree, the GPA from your masters degree will be calculated as this is the most recent. Science courses are not weighted any higher than other courses; if you fail a course and retake it, the higher grade is not taken instead. Every grade taken as credit towards your degree will be used to calculated GPA evenly. The pre-requisites are not weighted at all, only marked as having been completed. 

If you apply and have completed a Bachelors degree, but are still in progress of a Masters degree, only the Bachelors GPA will be used for admission as it is the degree that is complete at the time of application. For this reason, we require applicants to apply as a senior, and provide a semester 1 transcript that includes finalised grades. 

3. Interview

Please see below for information on our Multiple Mini Interviews.

Please note applications will not be assessed on resume, extra-curricular activities, essays, or letters of recommendation. You are not required to supply these with the application, and any documents sent through will not be reviewed. 

The Medical School fosters a culture of inclusivity and the provision of equivalent opportunities to access an education in medicine. Enabling effective inclusion requires a collaborative effort by an applicant and the Medical School. We ask that applicants read the Medical Deans Inclusive Medical Education Guidelines and report identified likely barriers to participation by emailing the Academic Guidance staff, med.academicguidance@uq.edu.au.

All commencing medical students are required to be fully vaccinated with a completed dosage of a vaccine approved or recognised by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Please note, no medical exemptions will be accepted. 

How to apply

Applicants applying for entry into the UQ-Ochsner MD program are not required to have completed a specific program, or degree of study. The current cohort comes from a range of backgrounds including arts, humanities, sciences, and economics.

While a particular degree is not required, it is recognised that science, biomedical science, or health sciences degrees are good preparation for medical study and a subsequent medical career.  Therefore, all graduate entry applicants need to have successfully completed two subject pre-requisites subjects/courses, or equivalent by the time of enrolment into the UQ-Ochsner MD program.

To meet the pre-requisite requirement, we ask applicants to provide evidence (i.e. syllabus, or course description) of subjects/courses they have taken that cover cell biology and systems physiology. Courses should include topics such as: an understanding of cells and genes as the fundamental building blocks of life; understanding the connections between physical processes at the molecular level and whole organism phenotype; and an understanding of how the major organ systems of the body perform their normal functions and how these are regulated and integrated in order to maintain homeostasis.

If you are planning future enrolment in these subjects, we suggest seeking guidance from an academic advisor at your school. For more information on the specifics of this requirement, including validity period, please visit the Faculty of Medicine webpage. 

Eligible applicants will be invited to participate in a Multiple-Mini Interview (MMI). Invitations to interview are based on MCAT, GPA, and places available. Interviews begin in March and continue into the Fall. Review a summary of important dates between submitting an application and commencing classes. 

Learn more about MMI's

If you completed high school or a degree (undergraduate or postgraduate) in The United States of America, you will meet the minimum English language proficiency requirements as listed below. If you graduated from your bachelor's, or master's degree more than five years prior to the program start date, we will ask for your official high school transcript to be sent to our team. 

IELTS overall 7; reading 7; writing 7; speaking 7; listening 7. For other English Language Proficiency Tests and Scores approved for UQ, view the English proficiency policy.

International students who are accepted into full-time study in the Doctor of Medicine (MD-Ochsner) program are eligible to apply for an Australian student visa.

The Australian Government has simplified the visa application process. Now, all international students apply for the Student Visa (subclass 500).

There are a number of requirements you must satisfy before a visa is granted. Please note to enter Australia you are required to be fully vaccinated with a completed dosage of a vaccine approved or recognised by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Find out more about the visa application process.

• Gender: 46% male, 54% female
• Average age: 26
• Terminal degree background: Bachelors 70%, Masters 30%
• MCAT average: 510