The University of Macquarie has a new fully self-funded medical school (Sydney Morning Herald Photo)
Amid controversy, Australia`s newly established full-cost medical school officially opened yesterday, welcoming 50 new students who can afford to pay A $ two hundred and fifty thousand.
According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, the newly established fully self-funded undergraduate student at the University of Macquarie in Australia, (Macquarie University), has a tuition fee of up to two hundred and fifty thousand Australian dollars for an (Doctor of Medicine) degree in a four-year course, attracting a total of 50 domestic students to register. Ten more than expected.
The Australian Medical Student Association (AMSA) and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) said they welcomed aspiring medical students, but criticized Macquarie University for "short-sighted, just to steal money." It says its new medical degree does not guarantee students access to internships and could exacerbate bottlenecks in the training system.
Farrell (Farrell), president of the Australian Medical students Association, said: "Australian medical students have been lengthened and are in a state of breakdown, and in 2016 there were 200 medical graduates who were unable to get internships and therefore were unable to become qualified doctors. Macquarie unresponsibly profited from young, dreamy students who may have a six-figure debt and end up unable to find a job. "
According to the Australian Medical students Association, Macquarie University originally planned to enrol 20 international students, but only three international students were enrolled, resulting in a funding gap of more than 1.75 million.
Farrell said Macquarie had made a "commercial move," fearing that other universities might follow suit and exploit the loophole that public universities could offer full self-paid graduate programs to domestic students.
McNeil (Patrick McNeil), executive director of medical and health sciences at Macquarie University, said there was no guarantee that students would be offered internships at any university in Australia. He also denied that the new degree would cause job bottlenecks, saying that the supply of Australian medical graduates was not excessive and that nearly 3000 professionally trained overseas doctors were introduced each year.
McNeill revealed that the new degree received 500 applications, resulting in 30 female students and 20 male students, with an average age of 23.
