FAQs

Only 2 undergraduate medical programs permit students to enter the program with prior undergraduate studies: James Cook University and Maquarie University. The rest are direct-from-high school entry.

Macquarie University – Bachelor of Clinical Science, Doctor of Medicine
Students may apply for recognition of prior learning (RPL). In the past, we have seen applicants get a few credits granted to lighten their course load; however, the degree duration remains the same at 6 years.

James Cook University – Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
JCU tends to be even stricter with granting credit. In OzTREKK’s history, we have only seen 1 student get credit. This student had a completed bachelor’s degree and master’s in public health.

Many Canadians wish to fulfill their career goals after getting married, having kids, or both! We’ve had plenty of students who have taken their partner and/or children with them.

If you want to take your partner or family with you, you’ll need to add them as a secondary applicant or dependents to your student visa application. Even if you don’t plan on taking them with you, we suggest you add them to your application anyway because it can be complex, expensive, and time-consuming to add them afterwards. You’ll then need to provide additional documentation to support your claims of a relationship or your children’s dependency status.

In addition to looking after the visa, you’ll also need to ensure they’re included on your Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), you have appropriate accommodation, and if you’re bringing children, you’ll need to enroll them in school.

Visit our Health Insurance page for more information.

We recommend you begin your OzTREKK application about a year before your program would start. Most programs in Australia start between January and March, so that means you would start your OzTREKK application between January and March the year prior.

Here’s how the typical “cycle” works if your program starts January – March:

March – May: You gather all required documents like passport photo page, transcripts, résumé, personal statement, and send them to our office. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you exactly what we need!

June – August: Interviews (if your program requires one)

September – December: Offer time! If you get an offer, we’ll walk you through the acceptance (or decline) process and give you all the help you need to get ready to go.

January – March: Time to head Down Under!

Australian medical schools offer high-quality education and clinical training in an amazing setting. Every year, we help hundreds of students choose the right Australian med program for them. With an understanding of admissions requirements, application procedures, and practicing medicine following graduation, we can guide you through the entire process of studying medicine in Australia.

World-class reputation & rankings
OzTREKK represents several Australian medical schools, many of which consistently rank in the top 100 and top 200 in the world. Each of them is known for its problem-based learning and world-renowned research.

Postgraduate Training options
Australian medical graduates can choose to apply to postgraduate programs in Canada, Australia, and the US. We have students practicing in all regions today!

Graduate and Undergraduate Pathways
Depending on your educational background, you may be eligible to apply to graduate-entry MD programs (require a degree and the MCAT in most cases) or undergraduate-entry programs (for students directly from high school or in some cases, with a partially completed degree).

The Medical College Admission Test^® (MCAT) is a standardized test designed to assess a medical school applicant’s foundational science knowledge and critical thinking abilities. It’s broken into four parts based on topic: chemistry and physics, biology and biochemistry, psychology and sociology, and critical analysis and reading (CARS).

Each section takes 90 to 95 minutes to complete, and each section also contains an optional 10- to 30-minute-long break. In total, including breaks, it takes 7.5 hours to finish. It’s a long day!

If you write the MCAT, check in with us to see if your score could get you into one of Australia’s top medical schools. Or if you don’t want to take the MCAT but still want to be a doctor, we can help. There are some Australian medical programs that don’t require the MCAT, including undergraduate programs. Reach out to medicine@oztrekk.com to learn more.

Australia and New Zealand offer professional dental programs at both the undergraduate- and graduate-entry levels. Undergraduate-entry or bachelor’s-level dental degrees like the Bachelor of Dental Science or Bachelor of Dental Surgery are open to applicants who have completed high school, as well as to those who have fully or partially completed an undergraduate degree.

Graduate-entry (master’s-level) dental degrees like the Doctor of Dental Surgery and Doctor of Dental Medicine are only open to applicants who have completed an undergraduate degree and have written the Canadian or American DAT. The only graduate-entry option OzTREKK features that doesn’t require the DAT is the University of Otago’s graduate-entry Bachelor of Dental Surgery.

Both the graduate-entry and undergraduate-entry dental programs will allow you to practice as a general dentist in Canada as well in Australia. The name of the program does not necessarily affect its accreditation status. The program is not required to be a “doctor” program to be accredited as it is the content and quality of the program that determines its eligibility, not simply the name.

Yes, but you’ll require parental or guardian consent (signature). OzTREKK will provide the necessary documentation for this signature.

If you won’t be 18 when your program starts, you’ll be required to show that you’ll be living with an approved guardian until you turn 18. If you don’t have an approved guardian in Australia, you may need a family member to apply for a guardian visa to accompany you. This guardian visa should be obtained as part of the student visa application

Please visit our Eligibility page for past competitive scores.

No, not necessarily. If you’ve completed university degree studies in the dentistry field (e.g., Bachelor of Dental Hygiene), the admission requirements to study dentistry at an Australian or New Zealand dental school would be the same as if you were coming from a non-dentistry related field; however, depending on the level of education, this may impact an assessment. Based on the Australian Qualifications Framework, our featured universities consider diploma/college studies as a different “level” from university studies (level 5 = college studies vs level 7 = university studies). This means you won’t be assessed in the same way as an applicant with post-secondary studies would be, and therefore, your application won’t be viewed as “competitive.” We’ve had students with very strong college scores (near perfect) not receive offers because the conversion used for college studies is not particularly favorable.

Additionally, if you were coming from a partially or fully completed Bachelor of Dental Science/Doctor of Dental Medicine elsewhere, the Australian universities may question why a student would then be seeking to enter an equivalent program in Australia.

No, not necessarily. Some of the universities have told us that they do not want to see a gap year (it may make the application less competitive); however, this doesn’t prevent them from considering your application. In these instances, we often ask for a résumé so that we can provide the university with information about the time in question. For instance, did you volunteer, work, take additional studies, etc.? You won’t be penalized by taking a year off.

We encourage all dental school applicants to begin the process by filling out the OzTREKK application in January – February. Afterward you’ve pressed “Submit,” we’ll send you an email outlining the documents required by the universities to complete your application (e.g., official transcripts, passport photo, DAT score report, etc.).

You can also start by sending us unofficial (personal) copies of your transcripts, so we can complete a pre-assessment and verify eligibility right off the bat! Beginning early sets you up for success. With OzTREKK guiding you through the process, you’ll have all your paperwork in order, and you won’t miss any deadlines!

The competitive average for most dental school applications starts at approximately 80%, but it’s important to remember that universities use other methods of assessment including prerequisites, admissions tests, interviews, etc.

Please see OzTREKK’s Eligibility page for the most recent competitive dentistry application statistics and GPA Conversions.