As a prospective medical student, you may be aware, and understandably weary of, how proposed government policy or legislation can impact your medical school fees. Incredibly, it seems to go largely unnoticed that medical students are often charged exorbitant fees for
studying medicine in Australia. In fact, since the Doctor of Medicine (MD) program replaced the traditional Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery dual degree, several universities have started charging even domestic students full fees.
It’s hard enough having to study for the
GAMSAT exam and navigate the complicated
medical school admission requirements, but now students also have to worry about how to afford the costs of attending a medical school in Australia. So, how has this happened? And are all prospective medical students at risk of the same fate in the future? Exactly how much will it cost to study medicine in Australia? In this blog we will explain this increasing issue further.
How much does it cost to study medicine in Australia?
There are 3 different medical school fee types available in Australia:
- Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)
- Bonded Medical Place (BMP)
- Full Fee-Paying Place (FFP)
CSP is the most common type. Students only pay a certain amount as contribution, while the rest of the medical school fees are subsidised by the government.
BMP requires students be bound by contract to work in a predetermined location, often a rural area, after they have completed medical school in exchange for financial support.
FFP, as the name suggests, requires students to bear the entire weight of medical school costs themselves, without assistance from the government.
As it stands, Australian universities are banned from offering full fee domestic places to undergraduate students. In other words, a student undertaking their first degree cannot be asked to pay their university fees upfront. However, this does not apply to postgraduate students; of course, this is a policy that is putting many prospective medical students at risk. An example of this occurred in 2011, with the University of Melbourne introducing an MD program with full fee places.
Of course, as many students would realise, paying full fees for an MD program is no cheap undertaking. Students that entered the
University of Melbourne MD program in 2022 will pay around $77,888 per year, equaling a total of around $335,707 in fees over the entire four-year course. Comparatively,
Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP) (students that were not required to pay upfront) could expect a bill closer to $11,401 per year—none of which needed to be paid until the student had graduated and gained employment.
It is of course discretionary as to what fees the MD programs apply to students, and the cost of medical school varies around the country. For example, in the
MD program of Griffith University, a CSP (government-supported) place costs about $11,550 per year, with
Flinders University being $100 cheaper per year. While at the other end of the spectrum, the newest Medical School in Australia (began student intake in 2018), at Macquarie University, charges approximately $256,000 for Australian students in total. The Australian Medical Association has lambasted Macquarie University’s degree as a ‘
short-sighted cash grab’.
It is fair to feel cynical and speculate that many Australian universities are opting for the route most likely to line their pockets nicely. This assumption aligns with the growing trend of universities transitioning to masters-level medical programs; narrowing the margin of hopeful doctors that will actually be able to study medicine, as if the challenging task of
preparing for the GAMSAT exam isn’t enough of a hurdle.
Indeed, domestic full fee degrees will increase the disparity of medical education participation between high and lower socioeconomic groups further. It is concerning that other universities will follow the University of Melbourne and Macquarie University to exploit the same loophole, allowing public universities to offer domestic, full-fee places for graduate-level programs.
A flow on effect of this financial burden is that MD graduates will start off their career pressured into opting for the most financially gainful path possible. This will impact our health system as a nation, with longer waiting times and less access to services performed by lower-income medical professionals. This would have great implications for the future, and particularly for the medical resources available to rural/regional areas.
This distasteful trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, with most medical schools now using or transitioning to the Medical Doctor program. Although the MD was introduced with the argument that the degree would increase research, enhance the international employability of our medical graduates, and align with world-wide standards, it now seems this new degree has been implemented to open up the possibilities of full fee places. This is alarming, and medical schools need to give assurances that they will not prohibit entry to medical school for those from a lower socioeconomic background, and not contribute negatively to increasing health disparities in rural/regional Australia.
Conclusion – The Cost of Medical Schools in Australia
It can be disheartening when you think about the fact that all prospective medical school students want to do is help people, but there are so many hurdles along the way. Be that as it may, don’t be discouraged. If becoming a doctor is truly your calling, there are many
pathways to medicine that you can take into consideration. One of these pathways will surely lead you to your destination.
As covered in the section above, you can opt for CSP and BMP places at medical school in order to receive financial support from the government. Although CSP is really competitive and with BMP you will need to dedicate some time after graduation to pay the community back by working at a (usually) remote location, applying for these places is still worth it. You never know which medical school might give you one of these much-coveted places, thus launching your medical school journey.
Check out our
GAMSAT To Med School Podcast for more interesting news, tips & tricks about the GAMSAT, applying to medical school, and life at med school.
