Bonded Medical Places Scheme: Information booklet for 2009
What is the Bonded Medical Places (BMP) Scheme?
The BMP Scheme offers students a greater chance of entry into medical school by providing funding to universities for more than 600 additional commencing Commonwealth supported medical school places each year. These extra places are intended to provide more doctors for areas experiencing doctor shortages.
The number of places available under the Scheme is set at 25 percent of all students commencing studies in Commonwealth supported medical places each year.
If you accept a BMP Scheme place, you will sign a formal Deed of Agreement with the Australian Government and agree to work in a District of Workforce Shortage of your choice for a period of time equal to the length of your medical degree upon completion of your medical studies.
Districts of Workforce Shortage are located in either an outer metropolitan area of a capital city, or in regional, rural or remote Australia.
If you breach the Agreement there will be financial implications in the form of cost recovery back to the Australian Government for the cost of funding your medical studies, on a pro-rata basis.
What will it mean for me?
All Australian medical schools providing publicly funded medical degrees enrol a number of BMP Scheme students each year. Medicine is a highly competitive field of study and as a BMP Scheme student you are selected through the same competitive process as non-BMP Scheme students.On completion of your degree you will choose which specialty you will pursue. Please note, there is no scholarship attached to the BMP Scheme and you will have to pay your student contribution (HECS-HELP).
BMP Scheme students only differ from other medical students in that you agree to work in a District of Workforce Shortage for a period of time equal to the length of your degree. Top of page
Application process
The application and selection process for the BMP Scheme is the responsibility of the universities and takes place after an application to study medicine has been lodged.Australian universities use a number of selection processes when offering medical places to Australian students. These may include:
- the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Test (UMAT)
- the Graduate Australian Medical Schools Assessment Test (GAMSAT)
- interviews
- entrance scores
- academic merit based on completion of previous tertiary course/s or
- a combination of the above.
BMP Scheme applicants must meet the same entrance requirements as any other students applying for a medical place.
If you wish to seek further information on the application processes used by one or more universities, contact the medical schools directly.
Eligibility
Applications are open to Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia. If you are a New Zealand citizen or both your parents were born overseas, you will be required to demonstrate Australian citizenship or be in possession of a permanent resident visa at the time of application to be eligible for the BMP Scheme.This is because every person born in Australia on or after 26 January 1949 and before 20 August 1986, is an Australian citizen by birth (with the exception of certain children born to diplomats and certain other excluded people).
Following amendments to the Australian Citizenship Act 1948, a person born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986 is an Australian citizen by birth only if at least one of the parents was an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the time of the person's birth.
Source: www.immi.gov.au Top of page
Further support for BMP Participants
The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) has been engaged by the Department to provide support to BMP Scheme participants.The support program funds students to attend health conferences and provides access to online medical education resources, newsletters and communication with peers and mentors.
To enable students to participate in the support program, the students' contact details will be provided to ACRRM after they sign the BMP Scheme Deed of Agreement.
Further information regarding the BMP Support Program can be obtained through the website: http://www.acrrm.org.au/main.asp?NodeID=29374 or by contacting ACRRM on freecall 1800 223 226, or by email: bmpsupport@acrrm.org.au.
What is a District of Workforce Shortage?
Districts of Workforce Shortage (DWS) are located in outer metropolitan areas in capital cities, as well as regional, rural and remote areas that are experiencing doctor shortages. Districts of Workforce Shortage are subject to change, so you should check the current status of your preferred District of Workforce Shortage location. A searchable database on the BMP Scheme website: www.health.gov.au/bmpscheme is provided for this purpose. The database is updated quarterly.What is RRMA?
RRMA is Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas (RRMA) Classification 1991 Census Edition, published in November 1994. More information about the RRMA classification.What is the difference between the BMP Scheme and the Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship (MRBS) Scheme?
The BMP Scheme places are additional Commonwealth Supported Places at medical schools. Acceptance of a BMP Scheme place includes a return of service obligation to work in a District of Workforce Shortage for a period of time equal to the length of the medical degree. Districts of Workforce Shortage can be in outer metropolitan, regional, rural or remote areas. However, up to half the return of service obligation can be met while completing prevocational training and vocational training.The MRB Scholarships are also linked to additional Commonwealth Supported Places at medical schools. The MRB Scholarship provides over $23,000 each year to medical students. Acceptance of the MRB Scholarship requires a commitment to work for six continuous years in a rural or remote area of Australia. MRBS Scheme doctors start their six year commitment to work in rural Australia after completing their vocational training to become a specialist, including general practice. Top of page
