Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test

The Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT) is a test administered by the Australian Council of Education Research (ACER) in Australia and New Zealand to assist in the selection of students into certain health science courses including most medical (MBBS or MBChB) and Dentistry (BDSc or BDS) courses. The UMAT is used for selection into undergraduate courses only; applicants for graduate courses must sit the GAMSAT. Each year, the UMAT is held on a single day, typically during either late July or early August.

History
Before the introduction of the UMAT as a component of university entrance requirements, the sole criterion for entry into medical or health science degrees was final year high school (Year 12) results. A consortium of universities found this criterion too restrictive, as it did not reflect all the qualities required to successfully study and practice medicine. Consequently, the UMAT was introduced to assess the qualities deemed by ACER and the UMAT Consortium universities to be important to the study and practice of medicine and the health sciences. These qualities include: critical thinking and problem solving, ability to understand people, and abstract non-verbal reasoning.

Format
The 2005 UMAT consisted of three sections:


 * 1) Logical reasoning and problem solving (44 questions to be completed in 65 minutes)
 * 2) Understanding people (36 questions to be completed in 45 minutes)
 * 3) Non-verbal reasoning (30 questions to be completed in 40 minutes)

A candidate's UMAT score consist of three numbers, one for each section of the test, as well as a percentile ranking (out of 100) for each section. These UMAT scores are valid for 2 years.

The nature of the UMAT is quite different from typical school examinations; academic brilliance does not necessarily equate to an outstanding UMAT result.

Usage
The UMAT is now an entry requirement for all UMAT Consortium universities, which constitute the vast majority of medical schools in Australia and New Zealand. Each university determines its own cut-off scores for UMAT results (based either on the "raw" section scores or section percentiles, depending on the university), obtaining the results directly from ACER. In determining whether or not a candidate should be awarded a place, most universities also take into account a structured or semi-structured interview with the candidate, as well as Year 12 results. The University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland and the University of Otago (except for Dentistry) do not use interviews as part of the selection procedure.

Controversy
Due to its inclusion as a mandatory admission requirement into medical and health science courses, as well as the highly competitive nature of entry into such courses, there has been some controversy regarding the UMAT's relevance, structure and necessity. It is the opinion of some that the UMAT is an inaccurate measure of a candidate's aptitude to study medicine, sometimes resulting in the rejection of suitable candidates. However several Australian medical schools respond to this claim by highlighting the fact that the rejection of suitable candidates is unavoidable, no matter what selection criteria is used, due to the scarcity of medical school places relative to the number of candidates. The UMAT is also criticized for the fact that there are a number of different test booklets; with many of the questions uniquely appearing in one. It thus seems unfair to compare students, as these differing questions possess a varying degree of difficulty. Acer do not release their marking procedure, which adds further controversy to the test.

There was controversy over the 2005 UMAT in Melbourne, held at the Royal Exhibition Building, when the majority of candidates were sent to the front entrance instead of being allocated entrances around the building. This caused a delay lasting several hours. It was later claimed by ACER that this was the result of an error with the printing company of the UMAT admission slips, who was supposed to distribute candidates to the various entrance doors of the Exhibition building. Due to this reason, many candidates believe they received results which reflected this situation.

The test sparks controversy both regarding its application and student preparation. No individual not a member of ACER is exposed to the marking methodologies or scaling measures undertaken.

Additionally, numerous preparation courses for the UMAT have developed charging for hundreds of dollars and successfully luring desperate medicine hopefuls. Having preparation for a 'standardised' psychometric test contradicts the point of the test in the first place.

ACER does not encourage UMAT 'training' as companies have taken advantage of eager students and conned them into spending a considerable amount of money.

Preparation courses
Although ACER does not endorse any preparation course, a number of schools and organisations provide UMAT preparation/training courses. ACER has explicitly stated that no intensive preparation is advisable or necessary for performance in the UMAT. The cost of attending these courses may vary, ranging from AU$200 to in excess of AU$1000, all presented with each of their own preparation package to go along with the course. These vary from standard binded question books to online log-in practice tests.

UMAT Consortium universities
The following universities are members of the UMAT Consortium:


 * The University of Auckland


 * The University of Adelaide


 * Bond University


 * Griffith University


 * Monash University


 * Victorian College of Pharmacy (Parkville campus of Monash University)


 * The University of Melbourne


 * The University of Newcastle


 * The University of New South Wales


 * The University of Otago


 * The University of Queensland


 * The University of Tasmania


 * The University of Western Australia


 * The University of Western Sydney