The Times University Guide – Australia’s Best Medical Schools

So the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2016-2017 were released last week and it looks like Australia is making its way up the ranks. The list looks at a total 980 institutions from 79 countries. This includes 35 of Australia’s top institutions with 6 universities making it into the prestigious top 100. This number has increased with the addition of UNSW in the 2016 rankings moving from 109^th place in 2015 to =82^nd and now in the most recent, has moved to 78^th.
 
With University of Melbourne taking out the top Australian position yet again, here is a brief snapshot of the most recent rankings of Australia’s best universities:
 

Australian Ranking	THE World University Ranking (2016-2017)	University	State
1	=33	University of Melbourne (UMelb)	VIC
2	47	Australian National University (ANU)	ACT
=3	=60	University of Queensland (UQ)	QLD
=3	=60	University of Sydney (USyd)	NSW
5	74	Monash University	VIC
6	=78	University of New South Wales (UNSW)	NSW
7	125	University of Western Australia (UWA)	WA
8	142	University of Adelaide	SA

 
While prestige and overall importance may matter for many, what’s really important for all of us aspiring doctors is where the best medical schools are. But before you go ahead and look at this list thinking this is the official medical schools listing, you must remember that this looks at health and clinical science degrees as a whole. This means that these rankings are persuaded by the caliber of other health degrees such as nursing, exercise physiology and physiotherapy at the same university, meaning that it may not be an accurate representation of the medical degree itself.




Australian universities in the top 100 Clinical, pre-clinical and health
 

Australian Ranking	THE World University Ranking (2016-2017)	University	Undergraduate or Postgraduate?
1	=15	UMelb	Postgraduate
2	33	USyd	Postgraduate
3	35	Monash	Undergraduate
4	43	UQ	Postgraduate
5	=94	UNSW	Undergraduate

 

1. University of Melbourne

Coming in =15^th in the world (tied with University of California, LA) and 1st in Australia, The University of Melbourne is Australia’s second oldest university. It is a 4-year post-graduate degree and has recently switched to the MD program meaning it is more internationally recognized than the MBBS program previously adopted. Since it is postgraduate, you are required to sit the GAMSAT and due to its intensive clinical approach, you are expected to have completed pre-requisites in human anatomy and physiology to be considered for entry. For more information on this, click here.
 

2. University of Sydney

USyd is the oldest university in Australia and offers the most number of degrees in the country. Their MD medicine degree is world renowned for being one of the best in the world, hence its entry into the top 100 at 33^rd. Like Melbourne, Sydney is a postgraduate degree and hence demands that you sit the GAMSAT, however you are not required to have sat any pre-requisite subjects to be included in the selection process.
 

3. Monash University

The first undergraduate medicine program in Australia to enter the top 100 is Monash. Located in Victoria, it is the only undergraduate medicine degree in the state. For entry into Monash, you are required to sit the UCAT. It is a 5 year degree which as of next year will join Melbourne, Sydney and UNSW to become an MD program.

4. University of Queensland

UQ is also a postgraduate degree and unlike others such as Sydney and Melbourne, you are selected on your GAMSAT and GPA with no interview. What this means is that you are guaranteed entry if you reach the benchmark scores set by the university for that year. Understandably though, as there is no interview, the benchmark scores for UQ are much higher than other universities. UQ also offers a number of other health degrees such as Biomedical science, midwifery, nursing, Occupational therapy etc.
 

5. University of New South Wales

UNSW just scrapes in at 94 in the top 100, but this should not put you off. Like UQ, UNSW has multiple other health courses that are also considered in this ranking. Its medical degree, as of 3 years ago, is one of the only MD programs offered in Australia for an undergraduate degree. Entry is based on the UMAT® Exam, ATAR and interview and it has multiple entry schemes.
 
Although this only provides a brief outline of the top 5 medical degrees in Australia according to THE World University Rankings 2016-2017, there are several other undergraduate and postgraduate medical degrees in Australia. Whether these rankings influence your decision or not, it is important that you research more into each university and their entry cut-offs and requirements. With applications for individual medical schools and UAC submissions closing in less than a week, now is as good as time as any to release these rankings. Good Luck All!