Medical Entrance

The Bonded Medical Program

1 year ago by Chris

The purpose of the Bonded Medical Program is to meet the demand for doctors in areas which have workforce shortages, that is, in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia. The Government provides students with a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) in medicine, in return for a commitment to work in areas of need for three years after they graduate. This is called a ‘return of service obligation’ (RoSO).

What are the different types of medical school places?

Broadly there are three types of medical school places:

CSP (Commonwealth Supported Place)

BMP (Bonded Medical Program Place)

Full fee place

CSPs are the most common medical school places and are offered by all public universities. These are subsidised medical school places, where the government (i.e. taxpayer) pays about 80% of your university fees and you pay 20% (about $10,000 per year). The fees of about $10,000 per year can be paid upfront or taken as a loan from the government which has to be paid back with interest when you start earning.

BMPs are similar to CSPs, however, students undertaking this program need to commit to working in regional, rural or remote areas of Australia upon graduation.

Full fee places are offered by one private university (Bond), and two public universities (Melbourne and Macquarie).

Who can apply for the Bonded Medical Program?

Students can apply for the Bonded Medical Program if they:

are an Australian citizen or permanent visa holder

reside in Australia

have been offered a place to study medicine in Australia

have agreed to the terms of the Bonded Medical Program

The program is open to all first-year medical students who are eligible for a CSP. You do not need to have come from a rural or remote area in order to apply. After submitting your application to study medicine, the selection process for a bonded CSP is determined by the university.

What does the process of applying to the Bonded Medical Program involve?

Australian universities that take part in the Bonded Scheme will offer a bonded place to prospective students. If you accept a bonded CSP to study medicine, you must agree to participate in the program which is legally binding. You will remain bonded to the program until you complete your RoSO.

Your deadline for agreeing to take part in the Bonded Medical Program is 30^th June in your first year of study. You can accept it through the Department of Health’s online web portal: Bonded Return of Service System (BRoSS). BRoSS enables a Bonded Participant to plan and monitor their obligations.

Is the Bonded Medical Program the same as the Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship Scheme (MRBSS) and the Bonded Medical Places Scheme (BMPS)?

This MRBSS accepted participants between 2001 and 2014 and the BMPS accepted participants between 2004 and 2019. They had the same purpose as the Bonded Medical Program in that they provided scholarships to students, provided the students agreed to work in a rural or remote area after they graduated. However, the Bonded Medical Program has superseded the previous schemes by providing a more flexible way to complete the RoSO and making the administrative processes simpler.

What are the obligations for the RoSO?

After you graduate you have 18 years to complete your RoSO. Your RoSO can be:

Full-time – minimum of 35 hours per week

Part-time – minimum of 20 hours per week

As a fly-in / fly-out doctor in eligible locations

Non-continuous

Your RoSO must be completed in locations classified as MM 2-7 under the Modified Monash Model. It is important to realise that if you do not complete your RoSO within 18 years of completing your course, you will need to repay your CSP and interest may be applied.

Which type of place should I put first on my preferences?

We recommend that you put CSP as your first preference and BMP as a second preference. You will not gain any advantage if you put BMP ahead of CSP in your preferences list. If you are ranked highly, you will be offered the CSP place; if you are ranked lower, you will be given a BMP place.

Applying for a BMP place increases your chance of being offered a place in medicine.