GEMSAS Processes
Applications
Applications in 2024 for entry to GEMPASS Australia medical schools and the University of Melbourne Doctor of Dental Surgery and Doctor of Optometry in 2025 are made through GEMSAS. Applications from domestic applicants for medicine and Dental Surgery will open in early May 2024 and close on 31 May 2024 at 5pm AEST. Applications for the Doctor of Optometry will open in early May 2024 and close on 31 July 2024 at 5pm AEST.
GPA Calculations
Grade Point Averages (GPAs) will be calculated by GEMSAS according to an agreed formula. Some local variations will be applied. If you want to work out your GPA for each of the schools you are applying to, please follow the general guidelines and then apply any local variations for schools in your list of preferences.
A GPA calculator is available for use on our application page at www.applygemsas.edu.au.
GAMSAT scores
The Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT) has been developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in conjunction with the Consortium of Graduate Medical Schools to assist in the selection of students to graduate-entry medical programs at participating schools. GAMSAT is designed to assess the capacity to undertake high level intellectual studies in a demanding course.
GAMSAT 2024 March testing window 9 – 10 March and 22 – 24 March 2024. Standard registrations to sit GAMSAT close on 22 January 2024. See the GAMSAT website for full details.
GAMSAT results obtained from different sittings are directly comparable and can be used when applying to universities for up to four consecutive years in Australia. To apply in 2024 for entry in 2025, only the following results can be used: September 2020, March 2021, September 2021, March 2022, September 2022, March 2023, September 2023 and March 2024. Your GAMSAT results show a score for each of the three test Sections and an Overall Score..
Helpful information can be found on the GAMSAT website that shows the validity of all the GAMSAT tests. https://gamsat.acer.org/results/currency-of-results
Academic transcripts
For Medicine, Dentistry and Optometry applicants, most Australian universities allow results to be directly gathered through the Automated Results Transfer System (ARTS). If you have completed all your tertiary study at one of these universities, you do not need to send a transcript to have your GPA calculated.
If any of your tertiary study was completed at a university not on the ARTS list, you will need to source an original academic transcript from each institution at which you studied. Ensure original transcripts are sent to GEMSAS for all study at non-ARTS institutions including those at which you undertook exchange studies. PLEASE NOTE: Any qualification undertaken in a language other than English must be documented by the original transcript, accompanied by an officially translated original (by a NAATI translator), in English. The NAATI Translation cannot be a photocopy, PDF printout and it must be stamped and signed on every page by an accredited NAATI translator. Follow the instruction provided in the application, once your application is submitted and paid for, on how to upload your original academic transcripts.
Rurality
If you have resided in an Australian rural area, MM 2 to 7, for 5 years consecutively or 10 years cumulatively, you may be eligible for consideration in rural schemes and sub-quotas. You will need to complete the Rurality question in the Application Form and submit supporting documentation. For information about rural sub quotas or bonus points please view the schools’ entry requirements pages.
The Modified Monash Model (MMM) is how the Department of Health define whether a location is a city, rural, remote or very remote. The model measures remoteness and population size on a scale of Modified Monash (MM) category MM 1 to MM 7. The Modified Monash Model (MMM) 2019 has been updated to align with the latest available census data. The model was developed to better target health workforce programs to attract health professionals to more remote and smaller communities. The MMM classifies metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas according to geographical remoteness, as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and town size. The most recent classification (Modified Monash Model 2019), based on 2016 census data, is the one by which we will assess your rurality.
The Graduate Entry Medical School Admissions System (GEMSAS) will use these guidelines in the processing of Rurality Claims.
The Modified Monash Model (MM 2019) is made up of 7 categories:
- MM 1 Metropolitan areas
- MM 2 Regional centres
- MM 3 Large rural towns
- MM 4 Medium rural towns
- MM 5 Small rural towns
- MM 6 Remote communities
- MM 7 Very remote communities
If you have resided in a MM 2 to 7 area for 5 years consecutively or 10 years cumulatively and wish to be considered for rural schemes and sub-quotas, you will need to provide documentary evidence.
The Australian Government currently defines ‘Rural origin’ as residency for at least 10 years cumulatively or any 5 years consecutively in a MM2-7 area.
You can check your MMM status at (select Modified Monash Model 2019): https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/health-workforce-locator/health-workforce-locator
- Modified Monash Model must be selected and year 2019 selected: see screenshot below.
- Enter the full physical address and search
Acceptable supporting documents include:
You, the applicant, must provide an official statutory declaration in your name. If you are providing bills or invoices in a parent’s name, from when you were under 18, then both a statutory declaration from a parent and one from yourself will be required. The statutory declaration/s must be accompanied by either:
- Professional supporting letters from a GP/dentist, bank, school, university or workplace.
- Professional supporting letters must be dated, signed, include your rural residential address and rural address history, and the dates that you resided at the address.
- The professional supporting letters must detail how you are known to the author of the letter and you must be known in a professional capacity e.g. patient of the GP or student of the school/university.
- The GP practice/school/bank/work place/university should be in or around the same rural area you are providing support for residing in. If not, the letter needs to clearly detail how the author is able to confirm the rural address history and time periods. The professional letter of support must be official on letterhead and include, if from a GP their AHPRA registration number or official practice stamp.
OR;
- Documents to prove residence such as invoices for telephone, utilities, or bank statements showing your (or your family’s) address, can be provided.
- If you were over 18 at the time, bills and invoices will only be accepted if in your name.
- Rates notices are not acceptable.
- An online printed invoice will only be acceptable if dated the year it was issued. E.g. a bank statement must be dated the year you are supporting (i.e. dated 19 July 2017 if you are supporting the year 2017, it cannot be dated 2021 if you are supporting the year 2017).
The professional letters of support and official statutory declarations must include the rural address history and time periods.
Please note:
- Residing is where you physically reside/live. If residing on campus this is taken into consideration and if not a campus in a rural location, it is not considered rural time and cannot be claimed as rural residing. If you do not physically live at the claimed rural location it will not be considered as rural residing, it does not matter where your family or primary residence is. We will only consider rural locations where you physically reside. Consecutive means “follow one after another without an interruption”. Please ensure you claim and support rural locations where you have physically resided. See the Rural background document guide for more information and examples.
- If you reside (physically live) more than 5 years consecutively in a rural location and prior to or after this time, reside in a non-rural location, you should not detail this non-rural time in your application nor provide documentation to support the family home where you have not physically resided. You should only claim the time you physically resided in a rural area and only provide supporting documentation for this time. Ensure the time is consecutive if consecutive has been claimed.
- If you reside (physically live) in a rural location and study via distance education, while remaining at your rural location, and this time is included in meeting the rural criteria, you must provide a letter from the university to confirm that the studies were via distance education.
- All rural residing should be included in the online application but supporting documentation only needs to support 5 years consecutive or 10 years cumulative rural residing.
- School reports are not sufficient documentation as we need to clearly see your rural residential address
- Please ensure your documentation supports 5 years consecutively or 10 years cumulatively of rural residing and includes the cover sheet you will print off when you submit your on-line application.
- You cannot claim time in the future as part of the 5 or 10 years, as there is no way to establish proof that you will continue to reside in a rural setting.
- Time spent at a holiday home (second residence) or during school holidays in a rural setting, will not be considered.
- If selecting 5 years consecutive then the supporting documentation must support 5 full years (documentation is required for every year) and must be consecutive.
- If selecting 10 years cumulative then the supporting documentation must support 10 full years and documentation will be needed for each time period, one document for the start of each time period and one for the end of each time period (documentation is required for every year).
- An official statutory declaration template must be used, either your state or territory one or a Commonwealth one.
Please email your supporting documentation with the Rural coversheet to
Note that the supporting documentation must be emailed no later than 5pm your time on Monday 17th June 2024.
You can log into your GEMSAS account and see your rural background outcome, on the MyApplication page, in early August.
Matching for offers of interviews
GEMSAS is a computer matching system which allocates applicants to offers of interview according to school selection rules and applicant preferences.
Applicants can list up to six preferences and can indicate what types of offers they would be prepared to accept. GEMSAS calculates a GPA for each of the listed preferences, and then develops a course rank taking into consideration GPA, GAMSAT results and any other selection criteria such as bonuses. This ranked list is used by schools to make offers of interview.
Interviews
All participating medical schools conduct interviews. These are either structured interviews or Multi Mini Interviews.
Structured interviews are conducted by a panel of interviewers who ask each applicant the same set of questions and arrive at a single interview score for the applicant.
Multi Mini Interviews (MMI) have a number of ‘stations’ that applicants move around. Each station has one or more assessor and involves one question or task. The scores for each station are totaled to give the applicant’s interview score.
Standardising of interview scores
Interview scores for each applicant are standardised to give a score that can be used by other participating schools in the allocations for offers of places.
Matching for offers of medical school places
GEMSAS is a computer matching system which allocates applicants to offers of medical school places according to school selection rules and applicant preferences.
Applicants can list up to six preferences and can indicate what types of offers they would be prepared to accept. GEMSAS calculates a GPA for each of the listed preferences, and then develops a course rank taking into consideration school selection rules which may include any combination of GPA, GAMSAT results, interview results and any other selection criteria such as bonuses. This ranked list is used by schools to make offers of places.
Offers
An offer of a medical school place will be made to successful applicants in late October/early November. The letter of offer will include details about admission and enrolment. Some offers will be conditional. Generally this means that final academic results are not yet available and the offer is conditional upon the current degree being completed and often will include the maintenance of a specified GPA.
If you were unsuccessful, you will receive notification of this directly from GEMSAS. Should schools have any vacancies following the date for acceptance of offers, additional offers will be made to selected previously unsuccessful applicants. Note that should you decline an offer, you will not be eligible to participate in further offer rounds, but may apply again next year.
Accepting or declining an offer
Your letter of offer of a medical school place will include details of what you need to do to accept or decline your offer, and the timeframe in which that must be done.
Note that should you decline an offer, you will not be eligible to participate in further offer rounds, but may apply again next year.
Admission
Your letter of offer of a medical school place will include details of what you need to do to enrol at that university, and the timeframe in which that must be done.