Introducing blackfriars new medical pathways mentor peter le

A former head prefect has returned to Blackfriars to support students considering careers in medicine, dentistry or oral health.

Peter Le, who was head prefect in 2020, is Blackfriars new Education Support Officer: Learning Engagement – Medical Pathways.

“As part of my role, I am responsible for providing guidance and support to students who are interested in pursuing a career in medicine or dentistry,” said Peter, a second-year medical student at Flinders University.

“I bring with me a wealth of experience and knowledge and I am excited to work with the students at our school to help them achieve their goals.”

_{Former head prefect Peter Le has returned to Blackfriars to mentor aspiring medical and dentistry students.}

In Australia and New Zealand, students wishing to gain a spot in many medicine or dentistry degrees must sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test, known as the UCAT.

Peter, who came to Blackfriars as a Reception student and left with an ATAR of 97.80, said, ideally, students should start preparing for the UCAT in Year 10.

“For students wanting to study for the UCAT, I think preparation is really important,” he said. “When I sat it in 2020, I didn’t do so well, because I started my preparation too late. If you have the idea of wanting to study medicine, dentistry or oral health, you should be starting to prep for the UCAT from Year 10 or 11 … not leave it too late, like I did.”

_{Old scholar Peter Le has returned to Blackfriars to mentor students eyeing careers in medicine, dentistry or oral health.}

He said it was important for the Blackfriars boys to have someone to mentor and guide them through the university admissions process.

“When I was in their position, there wasn’t someone that I could readily message, that knew everything, in terms of how to get in, what score I should be getting for an ATAR, the UCAT,” he said. “I had to really ask around. I would have really liked someone to help me, to hold my hand in terms of getting into medicine and dentistry and helping with that admissions process.”

Peter would work with students to “create a roadmap … making their tasks they need to complete very clear”.

Meanwhile, the University of Adelaide will host an information session on admission to Medicine, Dentistry and Oral Health tomorrow (16 May). The Medicine session is from 6pm to 7 pm and the Dentistry and Oral Health session from 7pm to 8 pm. Find out more and book tickets here.

What is the UCAT?

The UCAT ANZ was established to help universities achieve greater fairness in selection. Around 14,000 candidates sit the test each year as part of their application to courses in medicine, dentistry and clinical sciences.

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is a computer-based admissions test, used by the UCAT ANZ Consortium of universities in Australia and New Zealand to help select applicants for their medical, dental and clinical science degree program.

The UCAT ANZ replaced the UMAT (Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test) in 2019.

_{*Information courtesy ucat.edu.au}