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Rural Background Sub-quota

If you've lived in a rural or remote area of Australia, our Rural Background Sub-quota may help you gain entry into the Doctor of Medicine.

Rural and remote areas often have less access to educational opportunities, resources and health services.

To help address these challenges, we allocate 28% of all new domestic places in the Doctor of Medicine (MD) each year to applicants from a rural background.

If you're eligible for the sub-quota as a:

  • Provisional Entry applicant (school leavers), you'll have 2 adjustments added to your selection rank 
  • Direct Entry applicant (university graduates), you'll have 2 adjustments added to your overall GAMSAT score.

Who is eligible

To be eligible, you must have lived in a designated rural or remote area for at least:

  • 5 years in a row (consecutively) 
    or
  • 10 years in total (cumulatively).

It doesn’t matter when you lived there. And you don’t need to have lived at the same address for the whole time.

Any addresses you use to apply for the scheme must have been your primary home at the time. If you attended boarding school, you can use your family’s primary home as your qualifying address. You can’t use holiday homes, secondary residences or investment properties to qualify.

Check your address

To check if your address is eligible for the scheme:

  1. Go to the Health Workforce Locator tool.
  2. In the ‘Classification Filter’ list, find Modified Monash Model and select ‘2019’.
  3. Select ‘Find address'.
  4. Enter your full address and select it from the list.
  5. Check the classification that appears under the ‘Modified Monash’ heading.

Your address is eligible if it's classified in any category from MM 2 to MM 7.

How to apply

Provisional Entry applicants (school leavers)

When you apply for the Doctor of Medicine through QTAC, they will contact you about applying for the Rural Access Scheme.

You'll then need to submit a cover sheet and supporting documentation to QTAC by 30 September to provide evidence that you’re eligible for the scheme.

If your application for the Rural Access Scheme is approved:

  • 2 adjustments will be automatically applied to your rank for entry to the Doctor of Medicine and other eligible programs
  • you’ll automatically be considered for the Rural Background Sub-quota.

How to apply for the Rural Access Scheme through QTAC

Graduate Entry applicants (university graduates)

When you apply for the Doctor of Medicine through the Graduate Entry Medical School Admissions System (GEMSAS), you’ll need to indicate that you have a rural background.

You’ll then need to submit a cover sheet and supporting documentation to provide evidence.

If your application is approved:

  • 2 adjustments will be automatically applied to your overall GAMSAT score
  • you’ll automatically be considered for the Rural Background Sub-quota.

To find out more about how to apply and which supporting documents to provide, read the section on Rurality in GEMSAS’s processes.

International students aren't eligible for the Rural Background Sub-quota.

If you're studying high school from Australia, you may be eligible for other admission schemes.

See admission schemes