The University of Queensland

Likes – fairly close to city center (15 min bus), large beautiful campus like back in Canada, the weather, supplemental exams are given so you can have a second chance before officially failing a course, if you fail a course you can still repeat and continue in medicine (lots of worst-case backup plans if things don’t go as planned), professors are extremely approachable and helpful, libraries open 24/7.

I like the campus, facilities, peers, many of the learning experiences. The organization between subjects sometimes feels disconnected. Large cohort has positive and negative aspects – you are bound to find people you get along with, but the size of the cohort takes away from the intimacy of the program. Make yourself aware of the possibilities post grad, what is required for your goals, and the reality of the challenges to getting there (e.g., matching back to Canada).

I love UQ and Australia. Although this year has been a bit challenging with the role out of the new program, I think it’s to be expected that not everything will be perfect. I have mostly enjoyed the classes, and getting to live abroad. Class size can be a little overwhelming. In addition, I was placed in a “learning community” which is significantly out of town and requires a car for transport by year 3. This is an additional expense that I did not initially account for. For future students: Continue to stay focused, find a mutually beneficial group of friends to avoid the hysteria. It’s what you make of it!

Rapid communication, available to assist with applications and any clarifications.

Facilities on campus have been great. Educational materials are also great. (Personally) dislike how small the campus is compared to Canadian universities. Instructors and staff are fantastic and open. I wish class sizes would be smaller.

Big North American cohort. I truly like Brisbane as a city and think it is a great city to do a med degree. Almost all classes and lectures can be done async. The admin is pretty terrible.  The course material is fine. No school truly has great lectures or resources. Most depend on online material. I think it is flexible enough that lets you get what you need out of it. I think exams are pretty fair, there are no tricks.

It has a beautiful campus but its far from the ocean compared to others. Its very comprehensive and attentive to the students, but I feel like some of the exam questions they use are very specific to the program and not useful anywhere else

The UQ campus and Brisbane are beautiful and I love studying and living here. UQ has so many supports in place for students like myself with accessibility needs, even more so than Canadian unis I think. There’s less Canadian-specific support or clubs than I expected, at least in the med program, but that doesn’t mean guidance and information don’t exist. A lot of the lectures and activities are online coming out of COVID, which can’t really be helped, but on the plus side it’s worked wonders for a flexible schedule which I’ve been using to explore clubs and research-participation opportunities.

The classes have been mostly online and recorded with the option to attend in-person, which has been amazing for my schedule and accessibility needs. I really enjoy the Case Based Learning groups where we do more clinically-relevant problem solving and Clinical Practice, but I believe both are changing with the new curriculum next year for the incoming cohort. The lectures are wide in scope and can feel a little disjointed with the plethora of information, but the more practical classes are fascinating. I was ok just coming out of a Biomedical Sciences degree, but some friends who haven’t studied anatomy in a while struggled to keep up with the fast pace. Regardless of any challenges however, there’s so many resources given to the students, whether its meeting with profs, using library or med hub resources, or those passed down from cohort to cohort, if you have the drive to learn, you’ll do just fine.

Instructors do care. They put in effort in improving their delivery based on our feedback – very receptive to our feedback. Teaching methods are ok – a little inconsistent sometimes with what is “expected” to cover in a sub-module vs what a specific clinician teaches. Tutors for Case Based learning and Clinical practice are amazing and so knowledgeable.

Great community, lots of events, lots of other international students; class sizes are a bit big.

The program is standard, and I think it teaches you everything you need to know. You will have to self-study anatomy (there’ an Anki deck in the Drive which is amazing) and keep up with it so you can find the Gross Anatomy Facility useful. The professors are clinicians and academics, so sometimes they can be a hit or miss with regards to their teaching style. The professor (Suja) who teaches Pathology, which is a huge part of the curriculum, is one of the best teachers I have ever had and is incredibly helpful. I don’t think the exams are too difficult if you manage to keep up with material and study throughout the semester; I would definitely recommend using Notion to create Anki decks for every lecture and reviewing them the same day so you won’t fall behind. I also purchased the Step 1 First Aid book which gives you everything that is taught in lectures but reworded, so you can organize your information and get some clarity if the lecture doesn’t make sense. The Cased Based Learning groups which you get assigned to in the beginning of the year are the group you do everything with, from tutorials to clin prac, and CBL sessions themselves are also helpful if you remain on top of the material taught that week. As you go through a case, you will discuss the differential diagnosis and treatment methods for the patient which can help consolidate a lot of the information for you. I definitely think the more you put into this program and your time in Australia, the more you will get out of it. Stay excited!

Stay on top of your lectures as it will make studying for the exams much easier. Go out and have fun, you’re still living your life here, don’t put it on pause for the sake of education!! Get a counsellor and discuss your struggles. The 10 months go by WAY TOO FAST, I feel like I was just arriving to Australia but now First Year is almost done! And trust me, don’t stress too hard if you’re having a difficult time, it will work out just fine.

It’s a gorgeous campus and there are no complaints regarding the services available. You can get free counselling 10x a year which I think is crucial for medical students; I would highly recommend it as starting out with the course load and maintaining your pace while living in a new country can become challenging as you go on. The opportunity for research through the student research portal is also amazing, I didn’t have to cold-email 50 professors to get 0 research opportunities!

Great program! Very supportive program with professors always keen to help. So much cool stuff to learn!

Love it. Weather is great, the cohort is friendly and the campus is really nice. Cons: I recommend self learning (recommended readings on your own and using additional resource like boards and beyond/pathoma even if you are not going to do USMLE). Also, the campus needs more study space. Love the content we are learning and I have a greater appreciation for the medical profession. You will see that some kids in the program are absolutely brilliant and are willing to help you out if you ask.

Yes UQ and the people there are great. There’s some stuff that the students complain about, but I’ve never been to another med school, and I imagine each has their flaws. I realize the rankings are relatively irrelevant, and what you put in is what you’re going to get out anyway…. Certainly some room for improvement, but overall, lots of good instructors and lecturers, and very comprehensive information is supplied.

I love the university and program. The university has a lot of events and things on campus to help you destress during exam time. It’s also very beautiful with lots of cute coffee shops to do homework at. The one awful thing about UQ is how unbelievably crowded it is. Finding a place on campus to study can be impossible and the place for medical students on the main st. Lucia campus is too small and almost always full to capacity. This is my own big problem with the university. The program is usually fantastic. I love the small groups for learning and the anatomy practicals (although there should be double the amount we’re getting) and the clinical coaching at the hospital. The large class size hasn’t been an issue as far as I’m concerned because everything is done in smaller groups out of lecture. The one problem is sometimes the modules can be disorganized and you might get a little lost if you don’t have the motivation to learn on your own time and search for your own resources. Also, from year to year they’ve been changing the exam formats and it seems like they’re not really sure about how they want to test you. There’s certainly a lot of support though with fellow class mates and the small group tutors if you need it.

The program always teaches me something new everyday. I enjoy hearing from doctors in various disciplines. I have found it valuable to learn about epidemiology and Australian healthcare system. I have found the peer tutorials at UQ valuable part of my learning. I wish there was more teaching done in anatomy practicals rather than self-learning. Also more time in anatomy facility would be awesome.

Everything is actually really really good. I’m surprised at the resources UQ pours into its students. Like, my old university was technically higher ranked on a lot of global indexes, but they didn’t really care as much about students as they do here.

I like the way the program is set up, and the administration seems very open to feedback and suggestions. The clinical coaches and tutors are all great.

Living in Australia is incredible and I’m so happy with my decision to move here. The warm weather, and great people, close friendships have all been worth it. The university of Queensland is a beautiful large campus. Very clean, lots of activity, and feels very vibrant. There’s lots to do on campus to get involved with events, food, etc. It’s a little quiet on late evenings/weekends. The program is great! It’s certainly challenging but very well organized. The program takes student feedback regularly and seriously and is constantly making changes to accommodate our needs. We have many good lecturers and mentors.