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“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you” – BB King

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We have organised all the study materials for you. So, you do not waste time searching materials and focus on your studies!

Our main goal is to see our trainees successfully passing their exams on their first attempt. 

Melbourne-Q bank is more than a question bank, this is a comprehensive medical training resource.  

This question bank includes every single item asked in the AMC examination. We have questions covering every subject and every question type presented in the exam, from the basic biological fact question type to the trickiest ones with complex clinical scenarios. Our panel of experts uses the latest medical evidence available including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners guidelines, subscription-based TG guidelines, National Prescribing Service data, scientific articles, books of reference and summarizes everything for you. This facilitates the rapid learning of our students and puts them ahead of the Gaussian curve. Furthermore, our unique approach to recall-inspired multiple-choice questions keeps us updated with the latest changes on the AMC exam structure.  An important aspect that distinguishes us from the rest of the question banks is that we are all doctors with vast experience in medical training. This allows us to make clinically relevant questions with precise explanations that will make your learning process even easier.  

What are the studying resources for the AMC MCQ exam?

Studying resources can be divided into five categories:

1) QUESTION BANKS - - - - - (Subscription)

2) TEXTBOOKS - - - - - - - - - (Purchase) 

3) MEDICAL GUIDELINES

           – Oz Medical Guidelines (Subscription)

           – Therapeutic Guidelines (Subscription)

           – GP guidelines (Free)

4) WEBSITES OF REFERENCE - - (Free)

5) BRIDGING COURSES - - (Subscription)

1) QUESTION BANKS

In order to obtain certification through an Australian Medical school or by the Australian Medical Council, you are required to take multiple choice exams. Therefore, you need to practice with a computer-based system that allows you to train yourself in solving difficult medical scenarios in a limited time (84 seconds per question). 

Unfortunately, the Australian Medical Council has not released an updated version of the only book of reference (Handbook of multiple choice questions) since its first edition in December 2009. Furthermore, they only offer 1 mock exam of 50 questions on their website (MCQ Trial Examination). These questions have been noted by candidates to be easier and straightforward in comparison to the questions you get in the real exam. 

Therefore, with such a limited source of information provided by official sources, students need to seek preparation somewhere else. There are several question banks available on the internet.  However, most of them are not based in Australia. Furthermore, the Australian-based ones lack updates and are not peer-reviewed. 

Melbourne Q-Bank is the only peer-reviewed Australian-based question bank in the country.

2) TEXTBOOKS

In this section, we will only mention the textbooks recommended by the Australian Medical Council – AMC website. However, bear in mind that there are multiple textbooks available that can be used for this exam. A very popular strategy among our trainees is studying from review books made for the preparation of the American exam (USMLE) or the Canadian equivalent. Kaplan series, First aid, and Toronto notes are reviews that go straight to the point and summarise all the information. The problem is that they are based on the American or Canadian medical system.

Handbook of multiple choice questions, first edition. Also known as “the blue book” this is the only official textbook elaborated to cover the content of the AMC MCQ exam. This book was written by the Australian Medical Council and released in 2009. This is a 13 years old book (2022).  PDF downloadable version is still available. Hard copy (printed) is not available on the AMC website anymore, nor on external libraries → Link.

Anthology of Medical Conditions published by the Australian Medical Council in 2003.  Although contains several cases with differentials and treatments, this book was not specifically created for the AMC MCQ examination. Not to mention that this is a 19 years old book. → Link

Annotated Multiple Choice Questions. Also known as “the purple book”. This was a previous book release with a similar structure to the one found in the handbook (blue book). It was published by Blackwell Publishing (USA) in 1997 and reprinted until 2008. This is a 25 years old book (2022). → Link 

Murtagh J. General Practice. On the AMC website, the 5th edition is recommended, published by McGraw Hill Australia in 2010. However, it is worth mentioning that there is an 8th edition available that was published in October 2021. This is an encyclopedia-like textbook and only covers general practice. Although this is a good book of reference, it was not written thinking in the student who has to master every discipline. → Link

The AMC Good Medical Practice. Professionalism, Ethics, and Law is an ideal core textbook for international medical graduates (IMGs) and medical students. → Link

Other books we consider of importance: 

Australian Medicines Handbook 2022 (Pharmacology) → Link

USA and Canada equivalent exam preparation books:

3) Oz MEDICAL GUIDELINES

This is a sample - To get full access you need a subscription

⇒ Abbreviation List for use in Medical Records:  

⇒ Anesthesia / Perioperative Medicine:

⇒ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health:

⇒ Abuse and Violence:

⇒ Cancer: 

    • Managment for Avanced Breast cancer (pdf) – Prepared by the iSource National Breast Cancer Centre Advanced Breast Cancer Working Group – National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) – Jan 2001.
    • iPrevent™ is a breast cancer risk assessment and risk management decision support tool designed to facilitate prevention and screening discussions between women and their doctors.
  • Cervix: 
    • National Cervical Screening Program: Guidelines for the management of screen-detected abnormalities, screening in specific populations and investigation of abnormal vaginal bleeding.
  • Colon
    • Colorectal cancer. Clinical practice guidelines for the prevention, early detection, and management of colorectal cancer.
    • Surveillance Colonoscopy: Summary of NHMRC approved recommendations. Cancer Council Australia, updated March 2019. 
  • Endometrial: 
    • Endometrial cancer – Shared follow-up care for women with low-risk endometrial cancer: A guide for General Practitioners (GP Guide). RACGP – ASGO – The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2020. 
  • Skin:
    • Keratinocyte Cancer. Summary of NHMRC approved recommendations. Cancer Council Australia, updated March 2019.

Oz Medical Guidelines

Subscribe to have full access

4) VALUABLE WEBSITES OF REFERENCE

Website of reference mainly from Australia and New Zealand:

  • General Medicine:
    • Australian Capital Territory Health – ACT Health
    • Australian Journal of General Practice – AJGP – Topics 
    • Health Direct – healthdirect
    • National Prescribing Service, MedicineWise – NPS
    • Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – PBS
    • Royal Australian College of General Practitioners – RACGP
    • Therapeutic Guidelines  – TG guidelines
    • Therapeutic Goods Administration – TGA
    • Safer Care Victoria – Clinical Guidelines – SCV  
  • Infectious Diseases:
  • Paediatrics:
    • The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne – RCH
  • Pathology:
    • The Royal College of Pathologists of Australia – RCPA
  • Rheumatology:
    • The Australian Rheumatology Association – ARA
    • Musculoskeletal Australia  – MSK

Courses: Continuous Profesional Development 

5) BRIDGING COURSES

Bridging courses can be useful if you need to be guided through subjects where you do not feel confident. Furthermore, if you have not studied medicine for a while these courses may help to regain appetite for reading and learning. However, keep in mind in these courses you are a passive learner and they teach you concepts that you can find on textbooks and Australian guidelines. Most of these courses are run by IMG’s (international medical graduates) and this is because no Australian, nor UK doctors are required to take this exam. Therefore, the only ones with real experience in AMC are the IMG. The Australian Medical Council allows UK, Irish, Scottish, South African, and New Zealanders to practice medicine in Australia without any process of recertification. Therefore, having a supply of doctors with equivalent qualifications from the mentioned countries leaves Australians with little to no interest in training IMG’s for this exam. While tanking a bringing course can help be helpful, do not solely base your preparation on these courses because your test is a multiple-choice exam, not a listening contest. You need to develop test-taking skills.

⇒ Abbreviation List for use in Medical Records:  

⇒ Anesthesia / Perioperative Medicine:

⇒ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health:

⇒ Abuse and Violence:

⇒ Aged care:  

⇒ Cancer: 

    • Managment for Avanced Breast cancer (pdf) – Prepared by the iSource National Breast Cancer Centre Advanced Breast Cancer Working Group – National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) – Jan 2001.
    • iPrevent™ is a breast cancer risk assessment and risk management decision support tool designed to facilitate prevention and screening discussions between women and their doctors.
  • Cervix: 
    • National Cervical Screening Program: Guidelines for the management of screen-detected abnormalities, screening in specific populations and investigation of abnormal vaginal bleeding.
  • Colon
    • Colorectal cancer. Clinical practice guidelines for the prevention, early detection, and management of colorectal cancer.
    • Surveillance Colonoscopy: Summary of NHMRC approved recommendations. Cancer Council Australia, updated March 2019. 
  • Endometrial: 
    • Endometrial cancer – Shared follow-up care for women with low-risk endometrial cancer: A guide for General Practitioners (GP Guide). RACGP – ASGO – The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2020. 
  • Skin:
    • Keratinocyte Cancer. Summary of NHMRC approved recommendations. Cancer Council Australia, updated March 2019.

⇒ Cardiology   

⇒ Critical Care

⇒ Disability:

⇒ Emergencies in Primary care:   

⇒ Emergency Medicine:

⇒ Ethics:  

⇒ General Medicine

⇒ Genomics:   

⇒ Legal Medicine:

⇒ Infectious Diseases: 

⇒ Imaging:   

⇒ Mental Health:  

⇒ Musculoskeletal health: 

⇒ Neurology:  

⇒ Neuro-surgery:  

⇒ Ophthalmology:    

Otolaryngology:    

⇒ Perioperative Pandemics and immunisation:   

⇒ Pain management: 

  • Opioids update – RACG 2020.
  • Prescribing drugs of dependence in general practice: Part A (Clinical governance framework); Part B (Benzodiazepines); Part C1 (Opioids); and Part C2 (The role of opioids in pain management). 

⇒ Paediatric – child health:  

⇒ Preventive Medicine:

  • Choosing Wisely Australia  is part of a global healthcare initiative to improve the safety and quality of healthcare.
  • “The Red Book” – Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice, 9th edition.
  • “The green book” – Putting prevention into practice. Guidelines for the implementation of prevention in the general practice setting. RACGP, third edition, published in May 2018.
  • Smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical activity (SNAP). A population health guide to behavioural risk factors in general practice RACGP, second edition, 2015. 
  • Smoking cessation – A guide for health professionals. Chapter 1 (Introduction to smoking cessation); Chapter 2 (Pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation); Chapter 3 (Behavioural and advice-based support for smoking cessation); Chapter 4 (Smoking cessation for high-prevalence groups); and Chapter 5 (Tobacco harm reduction). 

⇒ Psychiatry

⇒ Psychology:

⇒ RACGP Reports and communications: 

⇒ Refugee health: 

⇒ Respiratory Medicine –

⇒ Rheumatology

⇒ Rural Medicine:

⇒ Sexual health:  

 

⇒ Telehealth:  

⇒ Thoracic Surgery: 

⇒ Toxicology and Wilderness:  

⇒ Vascular Surgery:  

⇒ Women’s health:   

Motivation plays an important role. Remember that behind huge efforts are even bigger rewards. You need one thing... determination.

Jim Rohn said the world has a strange ways of stepping aside when somebody says "I'll do it or die". Nothing can resist the human will, that will stake even its existence on the extent of its purpose.

"Life is a fight for territory and once you stop fighting for what you want, what you don't want will automatically take over." Les Brown.

Do not waste your time, maintain your focus on the exam, and practice every day with high-yield multiple choice questions. Make this practice a habit, if you fail to keep this routine, things that are not that relevant for you will take place.