SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY

School leavers may be eligible to apply for a Direct Pathway to Medicine or a Direct Pathway to Dentistry. Entry is on a competitive basis, with places being offered to the highest-ranking applicants. To be considered for a place, applicants must meet minimum eligibility requirements and must not have commenced any tertiary studies, including university degree studies or vocational training at diploma level or above.

Successful applicants who gain a place in a Direct Pathway will commence UWA undergraduate studies and progress to their postgraduate degree without the need to sit a graduate admissions test or undergo further interviews. The International Direct Pathway place in the postgraduate MD or DMD is conditional on:

Successful completion of a UWA bachelor’s degree with a minimum Faculty Grade Point Average (FGPA) of 5.5; and
retention of international student status.
International Direct Pathway students will first complete a UWA Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Arts, Commerce or Science. Students who wish to undertake a Direct Pathway via the Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) require a minimum ATAR of 98 (or equivalent) to be considered.

Applicants should ensure their application preferences reflect their true career aspirations. A course offer for a Direct Pathway to Dentistry or a Direct Pathway to Medicine is specific to that course and cannot be transferred from one to the other. Direct Pathway students may apply for graduate entry into a different postgraduate course should their career aspirations change.

Bachelor degree holders or students who are in their first bachelor’s degree may be eligible to apply for graduate entry into the Doctor of Medicine (MD) or the Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD). Students who are in progress of their first bachelor’s degree may apply during their final year, with any course offer being conditional on completion of all bachelor’s degree requirements by 31 December of the application year.

Graduate entry into the MD and DMD is a competitive process based on GPA, GAMSAT (or equivalent) score and an interview process. Places are limited and are awarded to the highest-ranked applicants.

To be considered for admission into the MD or DMD, an applicant must have:

A bachelor’s degree, or an equivalent qualification, as recognised by UWA. Recognised bachelor’s degrees are those conferred by Australian universities or higher education institutions recognised by the Australian Qualifications Framework or the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR). While academic results from postgraduate study will be taken into account, postgraduate studies undertaken without a bachelor’s degree cannot be accepted as an equivalent qualification

International applicants for the MD or DMD may sit the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) in place of the GAMSAT and require an overall minimum MCAT score of 492 with no section under 123, or a minimum GAMSAT score of 50 with no section under 50. International applicants for the DMD may submit Canadian or American Dental Association Dental Admissions Test results (DAT/CDAT). Refer to information below regarding Graduate Admissions Tests for further details.

The UWA Doctor of Medicine (MD) aims to produce graduates committed to the wellbeing of the patient, community and society as responsible, accountable, scholarly, capable and caring doctors. This course prepares graduates with the clinical and professional attributes required for successful internships and future training. The course is accredited by the Australian Medical Council and graduates are able to be registered for professional practice as a doctor.

In the first year of the MD program, you’ll gain necessary background knowledge in biomedical sciences. In years two and three, students have clinical attachments in the wards and clinics of the hospitals of Perth, general practices and other community settings.

The final year commences with an opportunity to experience an overseas elective, and continues with clinical attachments and a Selective option. During this time, students complete their Scholarly Activity stream, e-Portfolio and Procedural Skills Logbook. Year 4 concludes with a Preparation for Internship block which includes an Extension option in a clinical area of their choice, and an intern-shadowing block to ensure graduates are ready for work as interns.

PLACES Curriculum
The future doctor will need to fulfil a number of roles including that of a professional, leader, advocate, clinician, educator and scholar, and these key roles form the themes around which the UWA MD curriculum is structured.

Scholarly Activity Program
In year 3, all UWA MD students choose a Scholarly Activity Program that continues into year 4. The choices include a research stream, a community-based service learning stream, or coursework streams in public health or health professions education.

Rural Clinical School
In year 3, 25% of UWA MD students undertake their studies in a Western Australian rural setting, being places in hospitals and general practices from Esperance to Kununurra. Rural students complete the same curriculum as the urban students, but in a longitudinal and integrated clinical setting.

The course consists of a total of 32 units within modularised streams covering comprehensive clinical care, Developmental & Behavioural Sciences, Diagnostic & Surgical Sciences, Restorative & Rehabilitative Sciences. DMD core modules cover fundamental dental and medical sciences. DMD clinical practice modules cover clinical dental sciences, including patient care, preventative and conservative dentistry, restorative dentistry and child and adolescent dental health. You’ll have early clinical exposure with dental immersion activities on introductory concepts in clinical dentistry, pre clinical exercises including dental simulation from first year. In your third year you’ll actively engage in a research project. In your final year, you’ll undertake quasi-independent but supervised practice, which takes place inside and outside of the School with compulsory rural and private practice rotations.
The school is equipped with a state-of-the-art digital radiology suite. The centralised production lab is fully equipped with Computer Aided Design (CAD)/Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) facilities and dedicated high spec computers in a Virtual Learning Centre (VLC) for students to undertake CA/CAM design. The VLC has full functional digital radiology and virtual microscopy facilitates.