Curtin Medicine

Curtin medicine is the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery taught by Curtin Medical School in Perth. This page explains the Curtin MBBS: what surgery at Curtin means in that degree title, how the five years are taught, who the course is for, and how selection works. Curtin prints dates, fees, minimum ranks, place numbers, and selection weights in the admissions guide for each intake. Use the guide for the year you are applying, because those figures move.

Curtin medicine is the Curtin MBBS

Curtin medicine is a five-year, full-time, on-campus Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery. The course code is B-MBBS. Curtin describes it as the only direct-entry MBBS in Western Australia, and as the only undergraduate-entry medical degree in the state. Teaching starts at Curtin Perth, in Bentley, in Semester 1. The international course CRICOS code is 105741A. Those points are set out on the Curtin MBBS course page , in the 2027 domestic MBBS admissions guide , and in the 2027 international MBBS admissions guide.

The Australian Medical Council lists Curtin Medical School's Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery as an accredited primary medical program, and the course page states the same accreditation. The AMC list of accredited medical schools is the register to check. The degree's aim is a generalist graduate, with primary-care expertise, leadership, and the ability to work in an interprofessional team, trained with Western Australian healthcare needs in view. Graduates are prepared to begin an internship and to pursue further medical training after that. Where this degree sits in the path from school or a prior degree through to internship is covered in how to become a doctor in Australia. Curtin's place among the other Australian programs is on the Australian medical schools directory. See also UWA Medical and Notre Dame Medicine. How Australian medical degrees are ranked is covered in MD Ranking.

What surgery at Curtin means

Surgery at Curtin is the Bachelor of Surgery in the degree title. The course page presents the offering as "Medicine, Surgery" and names the award Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery. Across the five years, the Clinical Practitioner domain covers the clinical, procedural, and communication skills used in practice, including skills learned on hospital and community placements. That training sits inside the primary medical degree. Specialty training, including a surgical specialty, is a later step graduates take after internship, through the colleges that run it. This page stays with the Curtin MBBS.

Registration and internship

Curtin arranges student registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) for the length of the course. After the degree, graduates apply to Ahpra for graduate registration and complete a 12-month internship in an approved hospital before full registration. Internship places are separate from the degree. The 2027 domestic admissions guide states that Curtin does not determine them. The Postgraduate Medical Council of Western Australia publishes the local internship information. The international admissions guide states that an Australian internship is not guaranteed for international students, or for students in an international or domestic fee-paying place. Completing the MBBS also does not automatically qualify a graduate to register in another country.

How the five years are taught

The five years move from the campus to the clinical workplace. Year 1 introduces problem-based learning and structured time in the community. Years 2 and 3 are a closer study of the body in health and disease, still through problem-based learning, with more time in healthcare settings. Year 4 is the change from mainly campus learning to learning in clinical settings, including outer metropolitan, rural, and regional placements in hospitals and the community. Year 5 is spent in clinical settings as a member of the healthcare team, as preparation for internship. The 2027 domestic admissions guide sets out that sequence.

The first three years are taught at Curtin Perth, with occasional visits to clinical sites. The later years are the placement years. Each year of the course is one full-year unit, taught over an extended study period. A student who fails that unit and is allowed to repeat it repeats the whole year. Each year has to be completed before the next begins. Progression also depends on professional behaviour, and Curtin can end enrolment when that behaviour is unsatisfactory.

Four domains run through all five years. The Clinical Practitioner domain is clinical, procedural, and communication skill. The Professional and Leader domain covers professional values, ethics, law, interprofessional teamwork, and looking after your own wellbeing. The Health Advocate domain covers health systems and the cultural, socio-economic, and physical factors that shape health and illness. The Scientist and Scholar domain covers the biological, clinical, epidemiological, social, and behavioural sciences behind practice, and the use of evidence.

The domestic guide names clinical placements at St John of God Midland Public Hospital, Royal Perth Hospital, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Peel Health Campus, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Joondalup Health Campus, Hollywood, Armadale, Mount Lawley, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Perth Children's Hospital, and Rockingham General Hospital, plus general practice clinics and rural medical settings across the state. Check the guide for your intake before you treat that list as fixed.

A student who leaves during year 4 or year 5 may be eligible for a Bachelor of Science (Health Studies). After third or fourth year, a student in the MBBS can apply for an optional one-year Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours), aimed at clinical research or a later higher degree by research after internship. That honours year is a research addition for someone already in the medical course. The Curtin MBBS course page describes both the exit award and the honours year.

Before a placement, students complete the checks in the guide, including a National Police Certificate, first aid, a Mental Health First Aid certificate, immunisation, and a Working with Children Check from second year. Offer holders confirm they can meet the inherent requirements of the MBBS. Curtin asks anyone with questions about disability and those requirements to speak with the MBBS course coordinator early. The time from this degree through internship is part of how to become a doctor in Australia.

Who the Curtin MBBS is for

Domestic applicants are Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents, New Zealand citizens, and holders of an Australian refugee or humanitarian visa. The degree is aimed first at Western Australian school leavers who have finished Year 12, or an equivalent, and who do not hold a higher-education record. A smaller group of places is for Western Australian non-school leavers, including Curtin course switchers and graduates. Places are also available for non-Western Australian applicants on the school-leaver and non-school-leaver pathways. Curtin prioritises Western Australian candidates from rural and regional areas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, and students who have experienced long-term educational disadvantage. The intake guide states how many places are offered, and how unfilled rural, equity, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander places are used. Meeting a published minimum does not guarantee an interview or a place.

Chemistry is the prerequisite. The guides describe it as mastery of key chemistry concepts from about 220 hours of chemistry, shown in one accepted way: Chemistry ATAR, International Baccalaureate Chemistry, another overseas chemistry qualification the relevant guide lists, or two first-year bachelor-level chemistry units. Curtin's examples are CHEM1003 Introduction to Chemistry with either CHEM1007 Fundamental Chemistry for Biosciences or CHEM1001 Biological Chemistry. The guides state that bridging units are not accepted. Mathematics Applications, Mathematics Methods, or Mathematics Specialist, and Human Biology or Biology, are listed as desirable. English competency is required. The mark required for each chemistry route, and the English standard, are printed in the guide for that intake.

School leavers, Curtin course switchers, and graduates

School leavers have completed Year 12 with a Western Australian Certificate of Education, or an equivalent senior secondary qualification, and an ATAR or equivalent. They have not started post-secondary study at diploma level or above, and they do not have a higher-education record from an Australian or overseas university. Enrolling past a census date counts as that record. Students in the Innovative Schools Scholars Program, or an equivalent Curtin accepts, in Year 10 or Year 11 are exempt from the higher-education-record rule. Mature-age applicants who want to be considered as school leavers are advised to take four ATAR courses in the one year. The course page states that work and life experience, and vocational education and training, are not entry routes into this degree. Curtin's UniReady enabling course is not accepted, with one named exception: the Indigenous Pre-Medicine and Health Sciences Enabling Course. The domestic guide also states that STAT is not the academic score for medicine. STAT may be used for English competency only.

A Curtin course switcher is enrolled in a Curtin undergraduate degree, has no tertiary record from another Australian or overseas university, and has not already completed a Curtin degree. Someone who has completed a degree is assessed as a graduate. In the 2027 domestic guide, a switcher needs at least 200 credits completed, or on track to be completed, by the end of the year before admission, and at least 200 credits still remaining. Confirm those credit points in the guide for your intake. That guide also publishes the course weighted average required. Applicants who have already moved between Curtin undergraduate courses can still apply, and the average is calculated from all units completed. Course switchers start in the first year of the MBBS. The guide states there is no credit for recognised learning. Students who transferred from Curtin's optometry stream to Flinders University's Bachelor of Science (Vision Science) cannot apply as Curtin course switchers. They can apply as graduates once that Flinders qualification is complete.

Graduates hold a completed degree from Curtin or another university. Curtin assesses the full academic record and does not use incomplete qualifications for the notional ATAR. The degree has to be finished before application, or be due for completion in the year before the planned intake. Curtin calculates the notional ATAR internally and does not disclose it. The guide publishes the minimum and a grade guide by qualification. Applicants excluded from another medical school are ineligible. Curtin does not accept a transfer from another medical course into Year 1. A later-year transfer depends on places, curriculum match, and good standing.

Rural, equity, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathways

Rural entry is open to Western Australian, Northern Territorian, and South Australian applicants who, as of 31 December before the admission year, have spent at least 10 years in total, or any five years in a row, in a Modified Monash Model category MM 2–7 area since the start of primary school. The test uses the main home. For a student at boarding school, the family home is the residence. Eligible rural applicants compete with one another for the rural places. They apply through TISC and also send Curtin Medical School a rural entry form, with confirmation of rural origin from a recognised member of the community. The guide describes an adjustment to the ATAR or notional ATAR, and how that adjustment interacts with StepUp. The share of places and the size of the adjustment are in the guide.

Equity places are for Western Australian school leavers who qualify for StepUp to Curtin and who meet the MBBS rules. School-based StepUp is assessed from the school attended, and eligibility is shown on the Universities Admission Advice Letter. Financial hardship needs its own StepUp application. Equity applicants compete with other equity applicants. A Western Australian school leaver who qualifies for both rural and equity entry is considered under both. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants who would qualify for StepUp are encouraged to apply through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway.

Some Commonwealth supported places in Australian medical degrees are reserved for the Australian Government's Bonded Medical Program. Curtin allocates bonded places across the MBBS pathways. Applicants cannot apply for a bonded place as its own pathway. The domestic guide states that New Zealand citizens are not eligible for a bonded place. The difference between a bonded place and a rural pathway, and how fees compare across Australian medical schools, is explained in the Australian medical schools guide.

Curtin is an undergraduate-entry school. Domestic applicants, other than those on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway, apply through the Tertiary Institutions Service Centre. Graduate-entry schools that share one application, and the way those schools weight the GAMSAT ^® and the GPA, are covered in graduate-entry medicine requirements.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants apply on Curtin Medical School's own form. They do not lodge a TISC application for this pathway, and they do not sit UCAT ^® ANZ or Casper. The application includes a letter confirming Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, carrying the common seal of an Indigenous community organisation, plus documents that show motivation and academic readiness. Applicants who use the Indigenous Pre-Medicine and Health Sciences Enabling Course must pass every unit in that course. The enabling course prepares Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students for Curtin health degrees, including the MBBS. An MBBS offer still depends on the medical school's selection. Eligible applicants attend a Formal Yarning Session with the Aboriginal Health Team. Shortlisted candidates then attend a multiple mini interview. Students who are offered a place are asked to attend the three-day Ngullar Moorditj Koorliny Keny pre-orientation program. The form deadline is in the intake guide.

International applicants

An international place is for an applicant who is not an Australian or New Zealand citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or a humanitarian visa holder. Applications go to Curtin, online or through a registered agent, using the international admissions guide. That guide has its own academic scores, English requirements, chemistry list, place information, and fees. In the 2027 international guide, offers are ranked from academic merit and the interview. That guide does not describe UCAT ^® ANZ or Casper, so check the international guide for your intake before you assume the domestic tests apply. An international place is for a student visa, or another temporary visa that allows full-time study. The guide explains what happens if residency changes before or after the census date.

UCAT ^®, Casper, and the Curtin interview

Domestic applicants, other than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants on that pathway, sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT ^®) ANZ and the Casper test in the same year as the application. Curtin will not consider an application if either test is missing. Each result is valid only for the admissions year straight after the test, so a later application needs a new sitting. Curtin uses the UCAT ^® ANZ cognitive subtests, read with the academic score and Casper, and it does not adjust UCAT ^® results. Special test conditions are arranged with the test provider. What medicine applicants use the test for is explained in UCAT ^® for medicine. How the cognitive result is reported is explained in UCAT ^® scores.

School leavers and Curtin course switchers complete the Undergraduate Casper test. Graduates complete the Postgraduate Casper test. Registration is with Acuity Insights. Curtin does not adjust Casper results. What the sitting involves is explained in the Casper test guide. The test window and the fee are on Acuity Insights and in Curtin's intake guide.

Curtin's domestic answer states that these applicants sit UCAT ^® ANZ and Casper, and that Curtin does not use the GAMSAT ^®. That statement is on Curtin's page about UCAT ^® ANZ and Casper for the MBBS.

For an interview, the 2027 domestic guide combines academic merit, the Casper score, and the UCAT ^® ANZ cognitive score. For an offer, it combines academic merit from the actual ATAR or equivalent, the UCAT ^® ANZ score, and the interview. The ratios are printed in that guide and belong to that intake. Only shortlisted applicants are invited. On the standard pathways, Curtin asks applicants not to send personal statements, testimonials, references, or certificates. Special consideration goes through Curtin's central process and the TISC Educational Access Scheme.

The interview is a multiple mini interview. Shortlisted applicants use it to show communication, critical appraisal, thinking about issues in medicine, and personal attributes the profession expects. Domestic interviews are mainly face to face, with a limited number of online interviews where that is required, including for interstate or overseas applicants. The process is the same in both settings. You need to attend the interview you are given if you want to stay eligible for an offer. Interviews are held on dates Curtin publishes, and they are not moved to a date that has not been published. Current Western Australian school leavers can be invited on a predicted ATAR, with a later round that uses the actual ATAR for applicants who keep Curtin as a first preference. Non-Western Australian domestic applicants are interviewed in a further round. Station design and interview practice are in the guide to MMIs.

Domestic applicants, including Curtin course switchers and graduates, apply through TISC. Applicants do not need to name an entry pathway on that form. Curtin assigns it from the qualifications completed. A new MBBS preference lodged after the closing date in the guide is not considered. Interview messages use the contact details on that application. Rural forms, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander forms, and any deferral request have their own rules and deadlines in the same guide. Deferral is considered only in exceptional and unforeseen circumstances.

International interviews can be held online. In the 2027 international guide, attending is required to stay eligible for an offer, and the offer uses academic merit and the interview.

Curtin medicine questions

What is the Curtin MBBS?

The Curtin MBBS is the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (course code B-MBBS) at Curtin Medical School. It is a five-year, full-time, on-campus degree at Curtin Perth, and Curtin describes it as the only direct-entry MBBS in Western Australia. The Australian Medical Council lists it as an accredited primary medical program. The current admissions guide is the place to check dates, fees, and minimum ranks.

What does surgery at Curtin mean?

Surgery at Curtin refers to the Bachelor of Surgery in the MBBS title. The course teaches procedural skills as part of becoming a doctor, inside the Clinical Practitioner domain and on clinical placements. Specialty training, including surgery, comes after internship. This page is about the medical degree.

Does Curtin use the GAMSAT ^® for medicine?

Curtin's domestic admissions answer states that applicants sit UCAT ^® ANZ and the Casper test, and that Curtin does not use the GAMSAT ^®. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants on that pathway do not sit UCAT ^® ANZ or Casper. The 2027 international guide ranks offers from academic merit and the interview, and it does not describe those two tests. Graduate-entry GAMSAT ^® weighting belongs with the schools that use it.

Who has to sit UCAT ^® and Casper for Curtin?

Domestic applicants sit both in the year they apply, except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants on the direct pathway. School leavers and Curtin course switchers sit the Undergraduate Casper test. Graduates sit the Postgraduate Casper test. A result lasts for the next admissions year only. International applicants should follow the international guide, which for 2027 does not describe UCAT ^® ANZ or Casper.

Can you apply to Curtin medicine after you have started university?

Yes, on two domestic routes, if you meet the rules in the current guide. Curtin course switchers are still in a first Curtin undergraduate degree, with no tertiary record elsewhere and no completed Curtin degree. The 2027 guide sets a minimum amount of Curtin credit already done and still remaining, and a course weighted average, and switchers start in year 1 with no credit for recognised learning. Graduates need a completed degree. Curtin turns that record into a notional ATAR, which it does not disclose. An incomplete degree at another university does not qualify, and Curtin does not take transfers from another medical course into Year 1.

Does Curtin interview medicine applicants?

Yes. Shortlisted domestic applicants attend a multiple mini interview, mostly in person, with some online interviews for interstate or overseas applicants. Attendance is required to stay eligible for an offer. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants have a Formal Yarning Session first, and shortlisted candidates then attend the interview. International interviews can be online. The intake guide publishes the dates.

Where are Curtin medicine clinical placements?

The first three years are based at Curtin Perth, in Bentley, with some visits to clinical sites. The fourth and fifth years are mainly in hospitals, general practice, and rural settings. The 2027 domestic guide names St John of God Midland, Royal Perth, Fiona Stanley, Peel Health Campus, Sir Charles Gairdner, Joondalup, Hollywood, Armadale, Mount Lawley, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Perth Children's Hospital, and Rockingham General Hospital. Confirm the list for your intake.