Melbourne university private medical places defy bradley review recommendation
5 May 2010
The Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) is outraged by reports this week that University of Melbourne will be offering 'domestic full fee paying' places in its new medical program.
President of AMSA, Ross Roberts-Thomson said that the University of Melbourne was dodging the Commonwealth Government’s ban on domestic undergraduate full fee-paying places by changing their medical degree to a ‘post-graduate’ course rather than an ‘undergraduate’ course.
“The Australian higher education system has always been based on equity of access. That is, if you are good enough to get in to a university it does not matter whether you are rich or poor, finances should not restrict participation in higher education. This is as true for medicine as it is any other course, and this announcement threatens this principle," said Mr Roberts-Thomson.
"The University of Melbourne's announcement may lead to a lower-standard of student entering medicine at the University of Melbourne," he said.
"The Bradley report into Higher Education stated that participation by students from low socio-economic backgrounds in higher education in Australia needs to be increased. The Federal Government and Universities have been working hard to achieve this aim, which AMSA strongly supports. So for one of Australia's leading Universities to make an active decision to disadvantage students from low socio-economic backgrounds is very disappointing and will undermine much the good work being done around the nation,” said Ross Roberts-Thomson.
AMSA strongly opposes domestic full-fee paying places for medical schools and calls for government action to ensure that medical school remains accessible for all Australians.
Background
The University of Melbourne is preparing to offer 60 full fee paying places in its four-year post-graduate Doctor of Medicine program. These places will be split between domestic students who will pay $51,000 per year and international students who will pay $60,000 per year. The remaining 270 students will be in Commonwealth-Supported Places and pay approximately $9,000 per year.
