JCU JCU Medicine: General Entry Discussion

[medbuddy]

Super worrying to see all these 99.95s not getting offers Does anyone know how they pick between the 99.95s - specifically non-rural interstate applicants?


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A1 replies: With 99.95 you can afford to miss JCU. Can go to USC, Griffith, UMelb Chancellor's, USyd, or Flinders with 92ish %ile UCAT.

That means 99.95 metro student avoid applying JCU medicine

 

[link1]

hi just wondering what my chances for jcu are. I live in canberra atar 99.3-99.95 potentially mostly upper ranges. would they consider canberra very metro or do i have a chance. my ucat was not great, 2100.

hi just wondering what my chances for jcu are. I live in canberra atar 99.3-99.95 potentially mostly upper ranges. would they consider canberra very metro or do i have a chance. my ucat was not great, 2100.

also wondering i do need to apply to both the townsville and cairns campus for maximum chance right?

 

[The1&Only]

also wondering i do need to apply to both the townsville and cairns campus for maximum chance right?

JCU doesn't look at ucat just maximise your atar and hope for the best. Apply to both campuses to maximise your chances.

 

[enzokken]

Hey! I'm a first year med student at JCU (townsville campus) + have been living on college. Really happy to answer any questions you guys have about accomodation, interview + applications, college experience, academic workload etc.

Feel free to PM or just ask here

 

[Deleted member 55240]

QTAC status has moved from pending to satisfied? What does that mean? And does JCU have subject adjustments?

 

[enzokken]

QTAC status has moved from pending to satisfied? What does that mean? And does JCU have subject adjustments?

Pretty sure this means that you've satisfied the minimum entry requirements to be considered for the course e.g. JCU wants you to have a certain mark threshold for prerequisite subjects such as Chemistry, Maths, English etc.

JCU has subject adjustments for some courses, but Medicine is excluded from this scheme.

 

[CaffeinePapi]

Hey friends, current fourth year med student at JCU here (Townsville Campus) - Also, more than happy to answer any questions that anyone might have re accommodation, interviews/applications or living in college (I've lived at Saints/UniLodge), placements, etc

If you don't want to ask on here, feel free to PM )

 

[2_Maya_2]

Hello, I am currently trying to get into medical school as a school-leaver. I performed badly on the UCAT and did not receive an offer for interviews for Monash (which was my dream university). I have decided to apply interstate, focusing on JCU due to it not having UCAT as a requirement. I am, however, a non-rural applicant from Melbourne with a predicted ATAR of 98. People have been saying that because I am non-rural and have an ATAR prediction of less than 99, then my chances of getting an interview offer are close to zero. Apparently, JCU being a rural university really prioritises rural applicants and those with a disadvantaged background (which I came to AUS as a refugee and qualify for the Education Access Scheme). Do I have a chance of getting an interview? Is there any hope?

Another thing, I know it is far too early to be thinking about specialisations and my preferences/goals may change later on after completing the MD. Still, I really would like to get into surgery (cardiothoracic is the aim), would studying at JCU hinder me achieving this goal? I have heard mixed information/opinions regarding this topic.

My last inquiry is, would studying at JCU given its focus on rural health, which is something I am looking forward to given my limited exposure, hinder my prospects of getting a job in Melbourne, near my home?

 

[enzokken]

Hello, I am currently trying to get into medical school as a school-leaver. I performed badly on the UCAT and did not receive an offer for interviews for Monash (which was my dream university). I have decided to apply interstate, focusing on JCU due to it not having UCAT as a requirement. I am, however, a non-rural applicant from Melbourne with a predicted ATAR of 98. People have been saying that because I am non-rural and have an ATAR prediction of less than 99, then my chances of getting an interview offer are close to zero. Apparently, JCU being a rural university really prioritises rural applicants and those with a disadvantaged background (which I came to AUS as a refugee and qualify for the Education Access Scheme). Do I have a chance of getting an interview? Is there any hope?

Another thing, I know it is far too early to be thinking about specialisations and my preferences/goals may change later on after completing the MD. Still, I really would like to get into surgery (cardiothoracic is the aim), would studying at JCU hinder me achieving this goal? I have heard mixed information/opinions regarding this topic.

My last inquiry is, would studying at JCU given its focus on rural health, which is something I am looking forward to given my limited exposure, hinder my prospects of getting a job in Melbourne, near my home?

Hi there! You do have a chance of getting an interview as a metro applicant - I wouldn't say a predicated ATAR of 98 would rule you out here as many non-rural students who ended up getting in my cohort did not necessarily have get a 99+ ATAR by the end of year 12.

For context, I am a metro student too (I'm from Sydney) and a lot of my other friends from high school also managed to land an interview. Maybe an ATAR estimate of 97+ is what they look for metro applicants, but that information is not certain and could definitely change year to year depending on the batch that applies. I would say you have a very solid chance though so do apply!

I will let someone else answer your 2nd and 3rd question in more depth, but I will do my best to answer them to the best of my knowledge.
For your 2nd question, it does not really matter which Australian medical university degree you graduate with if you are planning to work in Australia. Graduating with an MBBS at JCU compared to an MD at WSU does NOT put you at a disadvantage or anything like that - I personally know a dual internal med/cardio advanced trainee in Sydney who got his medical degree at JCU and he is doing absolutely fine. Everyone graduates achieving all the outcomes expected by AHPRA I believe, each university just does that differently.

For your third question, I am not too familiar myself with the PGY system, but I have heard that there are priority categories for different states or something like that. For example, if you wanted to apply in Melbourne but you studied interstate, you become 2nd priority compared to students who got their medical degree in Melbourne. However, I believe the system of selection is much more complex than that, and I would say that even if you did not get, lets say, your PGY1 in Melbourne, you can always re-apply the next year and get in a Melb hospital during PGY2 etc. Personally, if Medicine is what you absolutely want to do and you have the ability to move interstate for study, I would not forego an offer just because of the possibility of not getting a job immediately back at home. Medicine is already ridiculously competitive.

Hopefully someone on the forum will better answer your 2nd and 3rd question, as I don't know much myself as well as a first year med student at JCU haha.

 

[CaffeinePapi]

Hello, I am currently trying to get into medical school as a school-leaver. I performed badly on the UCAT and did not receive an offer for interviews for Monash (which was my dream university). I have decided to apply interstate, focusing on JCU due to it not having UCAT as a requirement. I am, however, a non-rural applicant from Melbourne with a predicted ATAR of 98. People have been saying that because I am non-rural and have an ATAR prediction of less than 99, then my chances of getting an interview offer are close to zero. Apparently, JCU being a rural university really prioritises rural applicants and those with a disadvantaged background (which I came to AUS as a refugee and qualify for the Education Access Scheme). Do I have a chance of getting an interview? Is there any hope?

Another thing, I know it is far too early to be thinking about specialisations and my preferences/goals may change later on after completing the MD. Still, I really would like to get into surgery (cardiothoracic is the aim), would studying at JCU hinder me achieving this goal? I have heard mixed information/opinions regarding this topic.

My last inquiry is, would studying at JCU given its focus on rural health, which is something I am looking forward to given my limited exposure, hinder my prospects of getting a job in Melbourne, near my home?

Hey mate, also a former metro applicant here - you can definitely get into JCU with an ATAR of 98!

1. Like Enzokken stated, it very much depends on who is applying to JCU that year and what the average ATAR is for that cohort. There are people in my cohort with ATARs ranging from 89-99.95, and the majority of those who are metro applicants (Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney etc) had ATARs ranging from 95-99.95, so don't let the ATAR be the biggest source of discouragement!

Unfortunately, we no longer have the supplementary application for medicine where you could talk about your background, but if you get an interview then talking about the challenges of coming to a new country as a refugee and how that's impacted you/your choices on wanting to pursue medicine would be something that I would definitely try and weave into your interview!

As for your second and third questions, respectively:

2. Studying at JCU would definitely NOT hinder your eventual goal of wanting to do surgery; however, JCU as a university/medical program does place a lot of emphasis on Rural Generalism, but over the past few years, the student-run clubs/associations have been doing lots of different events covering a wide range of specialties! If you're interested in surgery, then check out the JCU Surgical Society's events/social media - we do guest speaker nights and surgical skills nights etc. Also, at the end of your first year, you can do your 2-week elective placement in whatever specialty you want (i.e cardiothoracics), assuming you can find a supervisor/get one of the College of Medicine's pre-arranged placements in surgery. You will also have opportunities to see theatre/scrub in later in your degree, including on rural placements, and during your surgical rotations in 5th and 6th year as well, so plenty of opportunities for exposure.

This is also assuming that you do not go and seek out extra curricular opportunities in surgery outside of the curriculum by the way, Townsville is a full tertiary centre so we've got every speciality in surgery aside from major burns/trauma as that all goes down to Brisbane, but we have Ortho, CT, Neurosurg, Vascular, General, Breast/Endocrine, Colorectal, Urology/UroGynae, Obstetrics and Plastics all at Townsville University Hospital. Cairns Base Hospital just doesn't have Cardiothoracics and Neurosurgery (for now), but again, your proper surgical terms aren't until Year 5 of the MBBS program. Happy to answer any more specifics about this if you want as well!

3. Studying at JCU would not hinder your prospects of getting a job during your postgraduate years (PGY) as a junior doctor (PGY2+) in Melbourne; however, it might affect your ability to get a job as an Intern (PGY1). Basically, every state in Australia categorises the applicants via different scoring systems (some systems have changed recently), but if you are an Australian citizen/PR and have graduated from a medical school in QLD, you will be a lower priority for intern positions in Victoria relative to the Victorian grads, and vice versa for them in QLD (you get higher preference in QLD vs a Victorian medical school graduate). Victoria and QLD also have slightly different training schemes for specialty training depending on what you want to pursue, but you can always find that info on the specialty-specific websites for their respective Royal Colleges (i.e Royal Australasian College of Surgeons aka RACS). If you are not an Australian citizen/PR, you will be considered in a lower category than the "Domestic" applicants, but this doesn't mean you won't get a job, it just means that you might not get a metro internship position in the first round of offers/may have to interview at the various hospitals you are applying to/submit a CV etc.

In terms of Internship, though it's early for you to think about it right now, have a read of this (AMSA Internship Guide 2025) as it covers the basics of the categorisation systems and the major hospitals you can do your internship training at: AMSA Internship Guide 2025 – Australian Medical Students Association .

If it makes you feel any better, I know plenty of surgical registrars and consultants who are all JCU graduates, or who have done their internships in Townsville/Cairns/Mackay and have all said that they're very happy having done it that way!

Biggest thing to make note of: Internship and specialty training requirements are subject to change year to year, so DON'T base where you go to medical school off of the requirements right now, as by the time you're graduating, things could have changed exponentially. Also, the bigger the school/program/hospital, the harder it can be at times to get exposure to different specialties or procedural skills in the hospital, so that is something to keep in mind as well.

Apply to medical schools that you think you would enjoy going to/that you feel like align with your own belief systems, and the whole journey will be much easier!

Hope all of that helps, and all the best with your applications!

 

[2_Maya_2]

Hi there! You do have a chance of getting an interview as a metro applicant - I wouldn't say a predicated ATAR of 98 would rule you out here as many non-rural students who ended up getting in my cohort did not necessarily have get a 99+ ATAR by the end of year 12.

For context, I am a metro student too (I'm from Sydney) and a lot of my other friends from high school also managed to land an interview. Maybe an ATAR estimate of 97+ is what they look for metro applicants, but that information is not certain and could definitely change year to year depending on the batch that applies. I would say you have a very solid chance though so do apply!

I will let someone else answer your 2nd and 3rd question in more depth, but I will do my best to answer them to the best of my knowledge.
For your 2nd question, it does not really matter which Australian medical university degree you graduate with if you are planning to work in Australia. Graduating with an MBBS at JCU compared to an MD at WSU does NOT put you at a disadvantage or anything like that - I personally know a dual internal med/cardio advanced trainee in Sydney who got his medical degree at JCU and he is doing absolutely fine. Everyone graduates achieving all the outcomes expected by AHPRA I believe, each university just does that differently.

For your third question, I am not too familiar myself with the PGY system, but I have heard that there are priority categories for different states or something like that. For example, if you wanted to apply in Melbourne but you studied interstate, you become 2nd priority compared to students who got their medical degree in Melbourne. However, I believe the system of selection is much more complex than that, and I would say that even if you did not get, lets say, your PGY1 in Melbourne, you can always re-apply the next year and get in a Melb hospital during PGY2 etc. Personally, if Medicine is what you absolutely want to do and you have the ability to move interstate for study, I would not forego an offer just because of the possibility of not getting a job immediately back at home. Medicine is already ridiculously competitive.

Hopefully someone on the forum will better answer your 2nd and 3rd question, as I don't know much myself as well as a first year med student at JCU haha.

Thank you so much for all of this information. I really appreciate the time you have taken to reply to my questions!! I have applied to multiple universities in QLD but ultimately, I like JCU the most and feel like I have the best chance at getting in there. Thanks so much again!!

Hey mate, also a former metro applicant here - you can definitely get into JCU with an ATAR of 98!

1. Like Enzokken stated, it very much depends on who is applying to JCU that year and what the average ATAR is for that cohort. There are people in my cohort with ATARs ranging from 89-99.95, and the majority of those who are metro applicants (Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney etc) had ATARs ranging from 95-99.95, so don't let the ATAR be the biggest source of discouragement!

Unfortunately, we no longer have the supplementary application for medicine where you could talk about your background, but if you get an interview then talking about the challenges of coming to a new country as a refugee and how that's impacted you/your choices on wanting to pursue medicine would be something that I would definitely try and weave into your interview!

As for your second and third questions, respectively:

2. Studying at JCU would definitely NOT hinder your eventual goal of wanting to do surgery; however, JCU as a university/medical program does place a lot of emphasis on Rural Generalism, but over the past few years, the student-run clubs/associations have been doing lots of different events covering a wide range of specialties! If you're interested in surgery, then check out the JCU Surgical Society's events/social media - we do guest speaker nights and surgical skills nights etc. Also, at the end of your first year, you can do your 2-week elective placement in whatever specialty you want (i.e cardiothoracics), assuming you can find a supervisor/get one of the College of Medicine's pre-arranged placements in surgery. You will also have opportunities to see theatre/scrub in later in your degree, including on rural placements, and during your surgical rotations in 5th and 6th year as well, so plenty of opportunities for exposure.

This is also assuming that you do not go and seek out extra curricular opportunities in surgery outside of the curriculum by the way, Townsville is a full tertiary centre so we've got every speciality in surgery aside from major burns/trauma as that all goes down to Brisbane, but we have Ortho, CT, Neurosurg, Vascular, General, Breast/Endocrine, Colorectal, Urology/UroGynae, Obstetrics and Plastics all at Townsville University Hospital. Cairns Base Hospital just doesn't have Cardiothoracics and Neurosurgery (for now), but again, your proper surgical terms aren't until Year 5 of the MBBS program. Happy to answer any more specifics about this if you want as well!

3. Studying at JCU would not hinder your prospects of getting a job during your postgraduate years (PGY) as a junior doctor (PGY2+) in Melbourne; however, it might affect your ability to get a job as an Intern (PGY1). Basically, every state in Australia categorises the applicants via different scoring systems (some systems have changed recently), but if you are an Australian citizen/PR and have graduated from a medical school in QLD, you will be a lower priority for intern positions in Victoria relative to the Victorian grads, and vice versa for them in QLD (you get higher preference in QLD vs a Victorian medical school graduate). Victoria and QLD also have slightly different training schemes for specialty training depending on what you want to pursue, but you can always find that info on the specialty-specific websites for their respective Royal Colleges (i.e Royal Australasian College of Surgeons aka RACS). If you are not an Australian citizen/PR, you will be considered in a lower category than the "Domestic" applicants, but this doesn't mean you won't get a job, it just means that you might not get a metro internship position in the first round of offers/may have to interview at the various hospitals you are applying to/submit a CV etc.

In terms of Internship, though it's early for you to think about it right now, have a read of this (AMSA Internship Guide 2025) as it covers the basics of the categorisation systems and the major hospitals you can do your internship training at: AMSA Internship Guide 2025 – Australian Medical Students Association .

If it makes you feel any better, I know plenty of surgical registrars and consultants who are all JCU graduates, or who have done their internships in Townsville/Cairns/Mackay and have all said that they're very happy having done it that way!

Biggest thing to make note of: Internship and specialty training requirements are subject to change year to year, so DON'T base where you go to medical school off of the requirements right now, as by the time you're graduating, things could have changed exponentially. Also, the bigger the school/program/hospital, the harder it can be at times to get exposure to different specialties or procedural skills in the hospital, so that is something to keep in mind as well.

Apply to medical schools that you think you would enjoy going to/that you feel like align with your own belief systems, and the whole journey will be much easier!

Hope all of that helps, and all the best with your applications!

Thanks so much for the info you provided! I really appreciate it. JCU does seem like the right university for me, so I am hoping I receive an interview offer. I will also keep in mind your interview advice if I do get the opportunity. I guess I tend to overthink my decisions at times (especially with the variety of opinions I tend to hear around me), but your words truly helped put my mind at ease. Thanks again!!

 

[Deleted member 55240]

....

 

[legendofzelda]

I find this JCU process a bit strange. Without the written application - how would a 98 ATAR get an interview? JCU is where everyone with an uncompetitive UCAT applies (if moving is possible) and their ATAR is not 99.8+. With no written application to make a case - how would a 98 get an interview?

I am not trying to be unkind but it doesn't really add up surely??

JCU is not transparent with their process so people with higher predicted ATARs or higher ATARs do not always get picked before those with lower scores. I know this based off multiple anecdotes from friends. If they interview before ATARs release and end up getting like a 98, but their interview was good, they may still end up getting an offer. They look at other things in one's application but no one really knows what.

 

[2_Maya_2]

JCU is not transparent with their process so people with higher predicted ATARs or higher ATARs do not always get picked before those with lower scores. I know this based off multiple anecdotes from friends. If they interview before ATARs release and end up getting like a 98, but their interview was good, they may still end up getting an offer. They look at other things in one's application but no one really knows what.

Yes, I have heard the same thing as well. I also want to add that they had a weird question in their application portal that applicants had to complete. They asked for the location and name of the schools you went to from primary school all the way to your secondary education. I am unsure if they would be using something like this to determine an interview offer, but it is a possibility. They are not so transparent with the process for interview offers, however, I do believe they weigh the interviews slightly higher than the ATAR.

 

[A1]

I really would like to get into surgery (cardiothoracic is the aim), would studying at JCU hinder me achieving this goal? I have heard mixed information/opinions regarding this topic.

My journey to specialty training
- After being accepted as one of 120 interns at the hospital network I was given a list of 120 rotations to rank from 1st to 120th prefs. They are various mixes (of surg, psych, ICU, gastro, ED, cardio, respiratory, geriatric etc) for the intern year's 5 terms. Don't know how they allocate but I got a middle pref with 2 terms I liked + 1 term I didn't mind + 2 terms I would dodge if I could.

- Near end of year I spoke to the hospital HR that I'd like to pursue ICU/Anaes, please don't give me PGY2 terms that are unrelated. They were kind to allocate me 4 related terms + 1 unrelated. The best ratio I could hope for.

- From this I managed to "escape" the term-rotation system in PGY3 with contracted 3/6-month jobs in ICU/Anaes. Then (with a research publication, completing external courses, voluntary work, interview/simulation practices) onto formal training programs.

IOW how we get into a particular training program depends on efforts, rotation circumstances, and luck in the RMO years. Practically zero relation to which med school and what med the school teaches you.

 

[2_Maya_2]

My journey to specialty training ...

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate it! Hearing about your journey truly helps take away some of the stress I was feeling regarding this topic.

 

[enzokken]

Thank you so much for all of this information. I really appreciate the time you have taken to reply to my questions!! I have applied to multiple universities in QLD but ultimately, I like JCU the most and feel like I have the best chance at getting in there. Thanks so much again!!


Thanks so much for the info you provided! I really appreciate it. JCU does seem like the right university for me, so I am hoping I receive an interview offer. I will also keep in mind your interview advice if I do get the opportunity. I guess I tend to overthink my decisions at times (especially with the variety of opinions I tend to hear around me), but your words truly helped put my mind at ease. Thanks again!!

No problem! I just wanted to make you aware and other applicants here aware (because I do not know if this has been publicly disclosed yet to prospective students) that JCU Medicine is moving to online lectures from next year.

So the cohort that starts in 2026 will have online lectures, which replaces the 50 minute in-person lectures typically delivered on the first/second day of the week. However, the entire course is NOT going online, this is just for the introductory 50 minute lectures that start off the week.

 

[2_Maya_2]

No problem! I just wanted to make you aware and other applicants here aware (because I do not know if this has been publicly disclosed yet to prospective students) that JCU Medicine is moving to online lectures from next year.

So the cohort that starts in 2026 will have online lectures, which replaces the 50 minute in-person lectures typically delivered on the first/second day of the week. However, the entire course is NOT going online, this is just for the introductory 50 minute lectures that start off the week.

I did not hear about this from anyone, and I do not believe it is on their website, so thank you for letting us know!

 

[Deleted member 55240]

......

 

[enzokken]

I have concluded that either people are lying about not having any rural schooling in their background ever or JCU does not just suffer from a lack of transparency it is downright dishonest.

Hey, what makes you say that? There is definitely a large cohort of students who have undergone rural schooling, but there are previous applicants like myself in the degree who only have a metro background. Happy to chat via pm if you'd like!