Notre Dame Fremantle Medicine Interview — Format, Questions & Prep Tips
From the 2024 intake onwards Notre Dame Fremantle replaced its portfolio + panel system with CASPer + MMI. Interview shortlist composite: 30% GAMSAT + 30% GPA + 30% CASPer + 10% bonus points (rurality, WA residency, higher degrees research). Final offer: 50% shortlist composite + 50% MMI. The MMI is delivered asynchronously online via Modern Hire (≥7 stations, 2 minutes reading + 5 minutes recorded response per station).
Notre Dame is a Catholic institution — applicants are expected to engage with the school's commitment to whole-person care, social justice, and ethics, but faith adherence is not a selection criterion. GAMSAT minimum is 52 overall + 50 in each subsection (UNDA averages the three sections). 2023 intake averages: GAMSAT 66, GPA 6.70.
The placement network across St John of God Fremantle, Joondalup, Rockingham, Bunbury, and rural WA clinical sites distinguishes Fremantle from Sydney's catchment. From 2027, the school opens a 20-CSP Kimberley Centre for Rural and Remote Medicine and Training (KCRMT) pathway in Broome. Indigenous CSP allocation is uncapped from 1 January 2026 (Commonwealth policy change). Total 2027 intake ≈ 127 (+17 vs 2026).
Key Facts at a Glance
- Applicants per year
- Aggregator estimate ~200-250 interviewed for ~100 places
- 2027 intake
- 80 CSP (60 Fremantle + 20 KCRMT Broome) + 32 BMP + 15 international + uncapped Indigenous ≈ ~127
- 2026 intake
- ~110 total
- Format
- CASPer + MMI (Modern Hire asynchronous online)
- MMI stations
- ≥7 (2 min reading + 5 min recorded response per station)
- Place types
- CSP + BMP + International + Indigenous (uncapped from 2026)
Interview Format
- CASPer + MMI replaced the portfolio + panel system from 2024 intake onwards.
- Interview shortlist composite: 30% GAMSAT + 30% GPA + 30% CASPer + 10% bonus points.
- Final offer: 50% pre-interview composite + 50% MMI.
- MMI delivered asynchronously online via Modern Hire — ≥7 stations, 2 min reading + 5 min recorded response.
- Bonus points (10%): rurality, WA residency, higher degrees research completion.
- 2027 expansion: 20-CSP KCRMT Broome pathway + uncapped Indigenous allocation (Commonwealth policy change from 1 Jan 2026).
Sample Interview Questions
Why Notre Dame Fremantle specifically? What attracts you to the school's mission?
Engage with the Catholic ethos, the ethics-rich curriculum, and the WA placement network (St John of God Fremantle, Joondalup, Rockingham, rural WA).
What does "whole-person care" mean to you in practice?
Move past the cliché. Engage with biopsychosocial-spiritual frames and how they translate to clinical encounters.
Tell us about one experience that genuinely shaped your view of medicine.
Pick one moment. Reflect on what specifically shifted in your thinking — CASPer and MMI reward reflective depth over polish.
Voluntary assisted dying is legal in WA (since 2021). How does VAD interact with Catholic hospital settings?
Reference the WA VAD Act, institutional objection provisions, and practitioner referral obligations even for objectors. Engage with patient-access trade-offs.
A patient at St John of God Fremantle asks about contraception. Walk us through your response.
Institutional objection framework, duty of candour to patient, referral obligation for services not provided on-site.
Describe your service experience — what did you actually contribute, and what did it teach you?
Authentic specificity. CASPer and MMI both reward reflection over performance.
Closing the Gap targets continue to lag in WA. Notre Dame Fremantle has Aboriginal health placements. What role can you play?
Concrete: AMS partnerships, cultural safety, racism in clinical encounters. Don't centre yourself.
How would you explain a serious diagnosis to a patient whose first language is not English?
Plain language, interpreter use, cultural context, pauses, checking understanding.
A patient asks you to pray with them before surgery. You are not religious. What do you do?
Respect the patient's spiritual needs. Offer silent presence or arrange a chaplain. Don't feign belief; don't dismiss.
Why medicine rather than another caring profession?
Honest engagement with medicine's specific scope — diagnostic reasoning, procedural responsibility, longitudinal care.
A homeless patient declines admission for a treatable condition because they want to keep their dog. What do you do?
Capacity, social context, advocacy, creative problem-solving.
Tell us about a time you worked with someone whose values differed from your own.
STAR with reflection. Notre Dame values respectful engagement across difference.
What does social justice mean to you in the context of medicine?
Structural determinants, equity of access, advocacy. Not just charity.
A patient declines palliative sedation despite uncontrolled symptoms. Family disagrees. What do you do?
Capacity, autonomy, family communication, ethics consult, palliative care escalation.
How does Notre Dame's explicit Catholic identity sit with you, given your own beliefs?
Honest engagement. Thoughtful coexistence over allegiance.
A junior colleague at St John of God confides they're struggling with an ethical decision and asks you not to tell anyone. What do you do?
Listen, support, but make clear limits of confidentiality if safety is at stake.
How does Notre Dame Fremantle differ from Notre Dame Sydney?
Engage with the WA-specific placement footprint, the Fremantle community context, and the rural WA clinical sites.
How to Prepare
- Prepare for CASPer as seriously as GAMSAT — Notre Dame weights it at 30% of the interview-shortlist composite.
- Engage genuinely with Catholic medical ethics, even if not Catholic — examiners assess engagement, not adherence.
- Read the WA VAD Act and the institutional objection framework.
- Rehearse the Modern Hire asynchronous MMI format: 2 min reading + 5 min recorded response per station. Practise to camera.
- Brush up on whole-person care and biopsychosocial-spiritual frames.
- Bonus points (10% of shortlist): rurality, WA residency, higher degrees research — confirm eligibility.
- If interested in the 2027 KCRMT Broome 20-CSP pathway, build credible Kimberley / remote WA engagement before applying.
Common Pitfalls
- Preparing for the legacy portfolio + panel format — replaced by CASPer + MMI from the 2024 intake onwards.
- Treating Notre Dame Fremantle as a Notre Dame Sydney clone — examiners probe WA-specific engagement.
- Pretending to be religious if you're not — Notre Dame examiners spot performative answers.
- Generic "I want to help people" service framings.
- Avoiding the VAD or contraception questions — Notre Dame expects engagement with difficult institutional positions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to be Catholic to study at Notre Dame Fremantle?
No. Notre Dame Fremantle is open to applicants of all faiths and none. The Catholic ethos shapes the curriculum (medical ethics, end-of-life care, social justice) but faith adherence is not a selection criterion.
How is CASPer weighted?
CASPer is weighted at 30% of the interview-shortlist composite (alongside 30% GAMSAT + 30% GPA + 10% bonus points). Notre Dame replaced its portfolio + panel system with CASPer + MMI from the 2024 intake — one of the heaviest CASPer weightings in Australian medicine.
Does Notre Dame Fremantle use UCAT-ANZ?
No. Notre Dame Fremantle uses GAMSAT (52 overall + 50 in each subsection; UNDA averages the three sections rather than using the overall weighted GAMSAT) + CASPer + MMI.
What are the 2027 intake numbers?
2027 cycle: 80 CSP (60 Fremantle + 20 KCRMT Broome pathway) + 32 BMP (Fremantle only) + up to 15 international (Fremantle only) + uncapped Indigenous = ~127 total (+17 vs 2026). The KCRMT Broome pathway is new for 2027 and Indigenous CSP allocation is uncapped from 1 January 2026 (Commonwealth policy change).
How does the institutional objection framework affect students?
Notre Dame Fremantle's placements include hospitals with institutional objections to VAD and some other procedures. Students gain exposure to both objecting and non-objecting sites; the curriculum explicitly addresses how doctors navigate these settings while respecting patient autonomy and referral obligations.
Is there an Indigenous entry pathway?
Yes. Notre Dame Fremantle has a dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entry pathway. From 1 January 2026, Indigenous CSP allocation is uncapped (Commonwealth policy change).
How does Notre Dame Fremantle differ from Notre Dame Sydney?
Both share the Notre Dame ethos and the same CASPer + MMI selection model since 2024 (when both replaced the previous portfolio-based shortlist). Sydney anchors at St Vincent's, Northern Beaches, and rural NSW; Fremantle anchors at St John of God, Joondalup, and rural WA — plus the new 2027 KCRMT Broome 20-CSP pathway. The schools admit independently.
Sources & official admissions information
We cross-check every interview guide against the school's own admissions guidance and the UK regulators.
- Notre Dame Fremantle — official admissions page — Programme overview, entry requirements, interview format and timeline straight from the school.
- GEMSAS - Graduate Entry Medical School Admissions Service — Central application portal for the 8 graduate-entry consortium schools (Sydney, Melbourne, UQ, Wollongong, Notre Dame Sydney, Notre Dame Fremantle, Deakin, Flinders, ANU). Preferences, deadlines, application fee.
- ACER - GAMSAT — Official GAMSAT registration, March and September sitting dates, scoring methodology, practice materials and section guidance.
- UCAT-ANZ Consortium — Official UCAT-ANZ registration, the single July test window, scoring methodology, and free practice questions. The Australia / New Zealand consortium is separate from the UK UCAT and scores are NOT interchangeable.
- Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand — Peak body for medical schools in Australia and New Zealand. Course directory, accreditation status, workforce data and admissions policy guidance.
- AHPRA - Medical Board of Australia — Regulator for Australian doctors. Approved medical programmes of study, registration standards, fitness-to-practise expectations from day one of training.
- AMA - Australian Medical Association — Peak professional body for Australian doctors. Medical-student resources, career pathways, workforce policy and Medicare reform updates.
Ready to nail your Notre Dame Fremantle interview?
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