University of Queensland: interview format, dates, what they actually assess

The University of Queensland interviews for the Doctor of Medicine with a multiple mini-interview on video conferencing. Provisional (QTAC) and graduate (GEMSAS) applicants sit the same MMI format. That is UQ's current public position, including the 2026 briefing pack issued to invitees.

Read the entry interviews page and, once invited, the Doctor of Medicine pre-interview briefing pack for your round. Station timing in the pack we checked was 2 minutes silent reading then 7 minutes to respond, across 8 stations. Packs are versioned. If yours differs, the pack wins.

Format, from UQ's own pages and the 2026 briefing pack

• MMI, several stations, a different assessor at each. Each assessor gives a score that contributes to your admissions rank.
• Held via video conferencing (Zoom in the briefing pack). You need a PC/Mac or tablet with speakers, microphone, moveable webcam, and stable internet. Desktop users need an external webcam that can show the room.
• 8 stations. First station includes government-issued ID check and a room check (on and under the desk). About one minute of virtual transition between rooms.
• 2 minutes to read the scenario and questions in silence. The interviewer then stops sharing the stem. 7 minutes to respond. A one-minute warning appears on screen. You may ask for the stem to be reshared briefly; it cannot stay up for the whole answer because they need to see you.
• You are not permitted to take notes, use timers, or have other people in the room. Hands visible. Only Zoom open.
• If you finish a station early, sit in silence. UQ's FAQ says you are marked on quality, not on filling the seven minutes, and that chatting after you finish can informally bias the station.
• No acting or role-play stations in the current pack. "We currently do not use any acting or role play stations." Practise role-play for other schools; do not build a UQ plan around an actor.
• Same MMI format across UQ pathways.
• Confidentiality acknowledgement at booking. Sharing content can make you ineligible.

Allow up to about two hours in a private room. Late arrival is exam conditions: you may not be admitted.

UQ also runs a non-compulsory online briefing before the MMIs. They recommend it. It is not recorded.

What they say they assess

The interviews page lists personal qualities and values, including:

• kindness and compassion
• integrity
• adaptability
• verbal communication skills

That is a short, official list. It is not a claim that ethics, motivation, or teamwork never appear as vehicles. What an MMI is still holds: the stem is a vehicle, the mark is the competency.

AHPRA's Good Medical Practice, not the GMC. Queensland context is fair: rural and regional workforce, Closing the Gap, Medicare access, voluntary assisted dying as Queensland statute. Do not deliver a generic "Australian health" paragraph that could have been written in London.

Dates: two clocks, one circuit

Provisional entry (high-school pathway, QTAC): applicants are selected for interview on UCAT ANZ aggregate. UQ has said it is reviewing how that aggregate is calculated after UCAT ANZ's testing-methodology changes, check the current provisional how-to-apply page. UCAT annotations are not used. A minimum of 50% of domestic MMI invites go to Queensland Year 12 students.

For the 2027 intake, UQ's provisional pages said invitations in mid-to-late October 2026 and interviews mid-to-late November 2026. Confirm on the page dated for your year.

Graduate entry (GEMSAS): interview ranking is a 50/50 combination of unweighted GPA (converted to a percentage) and unweighted average GAMSAT, with GPA as tie-breaker, plus published GPA and GAMSAT hurdles. GEMSAS interviews are allocated as one school only. If UQ is the school that interviews you, you sit this MMI in the GEMSAS September/October window. You cannot later leapfrog a higher GEMSAS preference you were not interviewed at.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway applicants have a separate booking note on the interviews page. Follow that pathway's instructions.

Provisional ranking after the MMI

UQ does not publish a public formula that turns ATAR, UCAT and MMI into a single number you can reverse-engineer. Treat forum "weightings" as unverified. What you can verify: interview selection for school leavers is UCAT-driven; offers come after the circuit; Queensland Year 12 applicants are protected in the invite pool at a minimum of half. That is a place-composition rule, not a bonus on your personal score.

If you hold both a QTAC provisional preference and a GEMSAS graduate application in different years, do not mix the clocks. This page is the MMI. The application portal is not.

Reasonable adjustments exist but must be requested in advance. UQ points to the Medical Deans Inclusive Medical Education Guidelines. Adjustments are not improvised on the day. Email med.admissionsenquiries@uq.edu.au before the booked session.

Booking: if you miss the window, UQ will not treat "I did not check junk mail" or "I did not know the timeline" as exceptional circumstances. Requests for late booking need supporting documents and must arrive at least three business days before interviews start, and even then a slot is not guaranteed.

How to prepare for this specific circuit

Practise eight spoken stations with a two-minute silent read and a seven-minute answer, then a hard stop. Reading time matters more here than at schools with thirty seconds: two minutes is enough to wander. Do not.

Ethical stations still apply even without an actor: position, people, plan, then take the follow-up. Why medicine should be specific; seven minutes is long enough to sound rehearsed if you arrive with a speech.

Virtual-exam hygiene is part of the assessment environment: room check, ID, no notes, hands on camera. Virtual versus in-person is the logistics piece. Test Zoom, disable gesture recognition (UQ flags this), and do not use a phone as the main screen if you can avoid it, stems are hard to read small.

After UCAT, the Sep to Dec timeline fits provisional applicants. Graduate applicants should not wait on ATAR; their clock is GEMSAS.

MasterMed's first speaking station is free on /interview. No card. The trial never auto-converts. Use it to hear a seven-minute station before the briefing pack lands in your inbox.