Veterinary Medicine

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.

Scholarship options in Australia are usually limited for international students as they tend to be reserved for those undertaking postgraduate research degrees; however, we can advise you where to look and whether specific programs have a history of offering scholarships.

Occasionally, scholarships are granted to high achievers—those with very high marks. In previous years, we have seen $5000- to $10,000-scholarships given to OzTREKK students.

Check out OzTREKK’s Financing page to learn more about scholarships and paying for your degree.

Rolling admissions means the university assesses applications as they are received, AKA “first come, first served” or “first come, first offered.” As soon as they’ve met the quota and the program is filled, they usually start a waitlist and close the applications. So, for a program that has rolling admissions, the earlier you apply the better!

“School leaver” is a term used by Australians (and those in the UK) that refers to someone who has graduated high school.

Australia offers professional undergraduate programs—like medicine or veterinary science—that allow an applicant to apply straight from high school without having any post-secondary education. In their admissions requirements, you may see “open to school leavers only,” so anyone who has post-secondary studies (completed or not), aren’t eligible to apply.

An official transcript is one that is

• emailed directly from your university to OzTREKK via an official transcript service like Parchment or MyCreds; or
• mailed directly from your university to OzTREKK.

To process your application(s), universities require your transcripts to be certified, which we do on your behalf.

Most undergrad-entry eligible candidates have a high school diploma with an overall average of approximately 85% – 88% or higher.

If applying with some university studies to The University of Queensland, an average of 76% or above is required. For graduate-entry DVM programs, a 77%+ (3.3/4.0) is generally eligible for The University of Melbourne, and 85%+ (3.9/4.0) for The University of Sydney.

Entry is competitive and meeting minimum GPA requirements does not guarantee an offer.

Application deadlines vary by university. Often there are multiple deadline rounds for the veterinary programs and you’re encouraged to apply as early as possible before the deadline. Most OzTREKK students begin their applications in January/February.

It’s uncommon for OzTREKK to see students not meet the Casper requirements for Sydney, UQ, and Melbourne veterinary schools.

If you failed to meet conditions of an offer due to the Casper situational judgement test, you’ll need to re-apply for next available intake, and you’ll be required to retake the test. Your application must be submitted to the university before you’ll be able to register for the test. Please read Applying to veterinary schools in Australia: What is the Casper test? for more information

Some Australian veterinary programs require animal-handling experience as part of their entry requirements:

Sydney BVB/DVM
Requires 5 days of animal-handling experience, which can be part of a paid position, volunteer work, or part of a courses. On the supplementary application, you’ll need to briefly describe your experience and outline the specific tasks/experiences you gained.

Sydney DVM
Requires a minimum of 28 days of relevant work and animal-handling experience. A substantial portion of this must have been completed within 2 years prior to application. You’ll need to include supporting documents for experience, e.g., reference letters, certificates, or forms that provide evidence of the number of hours you worked or volunteered.

Consider applying to the following intake
What a difference a year can make! If you lack animal-handling experience, consider gaining some in the following areas:

• Animal production industries such as sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, horses, and poultry
• Veterinary clinical practice
• Other relevant animal-industry experience including government bodies, charities, and research organizations

Some examples of what the committee might look for in an applicant include

• breadth of experience across a variety of species, or depth of experience in a particular species;
• research experience;
• overall experience and length of experiences;
• commitment and interest in the profession; and
• rural experiences.

Graduates of vet schools that don’t have AVMA accreditation, like JCU’s, must complete an educational equivalency assessment certification program called the Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG) before they can sit the NAVLE.

The ECFVG has 4 steps:

1. Providing proof of graduation
2. Passing an English language assessment
3. Successfully completing the Basic and Clinical Sciences Examination (BSCE)
4. Successfully completing the Clinical Proficiency Examination (CPE)

This AVMA website contains the only official online list of schools and programs accredited by the AVMA COE. The list is updated biannually.