MEDICINE STUDIES
NEW ZEALAND
All applicants are required to sit the Undergraduate Medical and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT) in the year of application.
Students need to register for the UMAT online.
Registration opens in April each year. The registration deadline is approximately the beginning of June of each year, with the actual UMAT test taking place in late July of each year. For more information visit www.umat.acer.edu.au.
Exception for international graduate applicants
1. First Year BHSc/BSc (Biomedical Science)
In the year of application, applicants must complete (within one academic year, excluding Summer Semester) the eight required first year courses in either the Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) or the Bachelor of Science (BSc Biomedical Science) at the University of Auckland, listed in the tables below. Candidates should be aware that only the first attempt for these courses will be considered for medical admissions in the First Year category.
Following the successful completion of the eight prescribed first year courses, applicants achieving a minimum GPA of 6.0 (B+ average) are eligible for consideration for an admissions interview.
All eligible applicants will then be ranked and shortlisted for interview based on their grades achieved in the four common courses (highlighted below in bold) that are offered in both the BHSc and the BSc (Biomedical Science) programmes.
Meeting the minimum GPA of 6.0 (B+ average) does not guarantee an interview. Approximately twice as many eligible candidates as there are places available in the medical programme will be interviewed. The minimum GPA required for an admission interview is determined once we have received and reviewed the entire application pool for that admission period and it can vary from year to year.
2. Graduate entry
Graduates who achieve a minimum GPA of 6.0 (B+ average) across a degree from any New Zealand university are eligible for consideration for an admissions interview. Where an applicant has completed a degree in more than three years, the best three years of full-time study will be considered in the GPA calculation. Graduate applicants must have undertaken their degree on a full-time basis and the last year of full-time study should have been no more than five years prior to the application.
All eligible applicants will then be ranked and shortlisted for interview based on their GPA from their last two academic years of full-time study only and each year will be weighted equally. If the applicant has taken more than 120 points in any academic year, only the best 120 points will be considered. Please note that the points achieved per course cannot be divided when the best 120 points are considered. This includes Summer School, where the courses taken are at stage 2 or higher.
Meeting the minimum GPA of 6.0 (B+ average) does not guarantee an interview. Approximately twice as many eligible candidates as there are places available in the medical programme will be interviewed. The minimum GPA required for an admission interview is determined once we have received and reviewed the entire application pool for that admission period and it can vary from year to year.
One academic year is defined as Summer Semester, Semester One, Semester Two.
A minimum of 105 points over Semesters One and Two is required to be considered as full-time for medical admissions.
The faculty may permit graduate applicants to be admitted to Part II of the MBChB programme, or require them to undertake part or all of the First Year courses initially, depending on the nature of previous studies.
If such students are directed to take Part I courses, they must pass all these courses clearly within one year in order to proceed to Part II.
Postgraduate study for international students
New Zealand offer a range of postgraduate programmes across all health disciplines — medicine, nursing, pharmacy, population health, public health, biomedical and medical sciences — and at all levels from postgraduate certificate to doctoral studies.
You will need to check the notes and regulations carefully to see if you are eligible for a particular programme. Not all our postgraduate programmes require professional registration, but you must be registered with the appropriate New Zealand registration body to be eligible to take our programmes in advanced nursing or pharmacy practice. If you are a medical practitioner and you want to undertake a clinical programme in New Zealand, then you will also need to be registered.
All enquiries about professional registration, or practising in New Zealand, should be directed to the appropriate website listed below for further information.
Post-graduate training requirements
The purpose of this scope of practice is to provide you with a 2-year opportunity to train in New Zealand and gain knowledge and skills to take back to your own country, or the country providing sponsorship.
During this postgraduate training programme you can develop your clinical and research skills, gain first-hand experience in your field, get exposure to the various components of your scope of practice and work with mentors.
The following requirements are in addition to those provided under our Policy on registration within a special purpose scope. Please also refer to that policy.
Policy on registration within a special purpose scope
To gain registration you must:
· Hold a primary medical degree listed in the Avicenna Directory of medical schools
· be registered in your own country (or the country providing sponsorship), to which you will return on completion of the training; and
· have held registration and been practising in your home/sponsor country for a minimum of one year immediately prior to application (excluding Pacific Island graduates, if you had been training in a different Pacific Island health system at the time of your application because recognised medical training programmes are not available in your home/sponsor country); and
· have been accepted into a formal, recognised scholarship or fellowship programme in New Zealand; and
· Satisfy Council’s English language requirements.
· You must also be sponsored by or on behalf of a country or organisation to which you will return after the proposed period of training; or
· have a post-graduate qualification, approved by us, which shows you are competent in the branch of medicine in which your practise will be limited to while you are in New Zealand; or
· be enrolled in a formal vocational training programme in your own country; or
· have worked for at least 12 months in an institution with which a New Zealand hospital or medical school has an exchange programme.
· within a District Health Board (DHB), your post-graduate training application must be approved by the Chief Medical Adviser or Chief Medical Officer of the DHB (or their delegate). They need to confirm the position is part of that DHB’s training programme and the role’s main purpose is for you to gain postgraduate experience
· within an organisation other than a DHB, high level sign-off is required from an appropriate person or organisation at the discretion of our Registration Manager.
· the proposed supervisor must provide an induction and supervision plan that includes details of your orientation to the New Zealand health system. For more information see below — Guidelines for a postgraduate training plan
· the proposed supervisor must also provide details of the level of responsibility to be delegated to you.
· we need confirmation from your employer that your training will not be funded by the Investment Relationship and Purchasing arm of Health Workforce New Zealand.
· your employer must satisfy some night cover requirements before you are permitted to provide night cover.
· you are only permitted to work in a relief run during your registration if your training is in a cardiothoracic surgical training unit.
· there are limits on the number of post-graduate trainees who can be placed at any one centre. For more information please contact us.
· the requirements of the special purpose postgraduate training pathway exclude you from being able to enter into an official vocational training programme offered by a New Zealand or Australasian College/Branch Advisory Body
· you must provide evidence you are entering into a training position offered by a hospital or institution in New Zealand that has a structured supervision plan. This plan must include explicit and agreed training objectives. We need details on the training objectives and delivery, how the training will be monitored and how outcomes will be measured. For more information see below — Guidelines for a postgraduate training plan
· for each 3-month period you will need to report to us using our approved reporting form
· your reports need to include your progress against learning objectives (both the delivery and outcome) and give details of your supervised practice
· your employer must confirm you will have at least 2 hours each week for teaching and that you will be required to attend any relevant tutorials and grant rounds. Your reports need to confirm this is occurring.
Limitations on your registration to do post-graduate training
NZ will not consider any applications to extend your post-graduate training registration beyond two years.
Registration within this special purpose scope of practice is not a pathway to permanent registration. If you want to continue practising in New Zealand, you may wish to consider applying for admission to NZREX Clinical — our registration examination. Note: an application to sit NZREX Clinical will not be granted if you are still registered within the Special purpose (postgraduate training) scope of practice.
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