Full Fee Places for Domestic Medical Students

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 a contribution, while the rest of the medical school fees are subsidised by the government.

BMP requires students to be bound by contract to work in a rural area/workforce shortage 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, public 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 entering the University of Melbourne MD program in 2026 will pay around AUD $94,976 per year, which increases every year with inflation, equaling a total of around AUD$379,904 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 $13,558 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 $12,500 per year, while at Flinders University, a CSP place costs $12,720 per year. At the other end of the spectrum, the newest Medical School in Australia (which began student intake in 2018), at Macquarie University, does not provide government support places, and 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.

 

Conclusion – The Cost of Medical Schools in Australia

 

It can be disheartening to consider the possibility of full-fee medical school tuition. For this reason, it’s important to be up to date with the different universities and their options for study in terms of CSP/BMP/FFP, as well as options for scholarships. 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 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.