The Chillcast · 2021
Living With Purpose
Shanaka on the first episode of The Chillcast, a long-form conversation about finding purpose. Plays from 34:24.
Shanaka Jayakody
Founder & Head Coach, The PrepBond Academy
Shanaka Jayakody is the founder and head coach of The PrepBond Academy, an independent academy that prepares Bond University Medicine applicants for the MSCEIT, the emotional intelligence test in Bond's psychometric testing. Based in Melbourne, he studied medicine at Monash University and has coached 1,100+ medical applicants over 15 years.
15
Years coaching medical applicants
1,100+
Students coached
92%
Interview-to-offer rate
14,000+
Hours of one-to-one coaching
Figures cover Shanaka's whole coaching career, not only PrepBond. The interview-to-offer rate counts students who received a medical school offer after attending at least one medical school interview.
Why PrepBond
An academy built around the MSCEIT
By the time Bond Medicine applicants reach psychometric testing, the UCAT is behind them and their marks are in. Then comes a stage no textbook covers: the MSCEIT, sat alongside a personality test, online and under supervision.
Shanaka started PrepBond in 2025 for the applicant who has done everything right and then meets a test with no obvious roadmap. His view is that entry to medicine should rest on merit and prepared emotional intelligence, not on who happens to have insider knowledge.
PrepBond is an independent academy. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with Bond University.
A skill, not a verdict
The MSCEIT is taught as a set of abilities you can learn and sharpen, not a judgement on who you are.
A private place to get it wrong
Simulations where a missed answer costs nothing and explains itself, well before the real assessment.
Calibrated to consensus
Feedback is mapped to the consensus-scoring logic the MSCEIT relies on, so you can see where your judgement drifts.
His approach
From the interview room to the MSCEIT
Interview coaching has been a core part of Shanaka's work with medical applicants, and it is the focus of InterviewMD, which he founded in 2024. A strong interview answer depends on reading another person accurately, staying steady when a scenario turns uncomfortable, and explaining a decision with care. The MSCEIT asks for the same abilities in a different format, through branches such as understanding emotions and managing them.
Since 2021 he has also been Character & Culture Lead at ShareTree, a Melbourne charity, working with young people on what they value and how they act on it. At PrepBond, both strands meet: applicants learn to understand the emotion in a scenario first, then choose a response, instead of guessing at what an examiner wants to hear.
Request a Strategy SessionBackground
A Melbourne educator who has sat on your side of the table
Shanaka is an alumnus of Melbourne High School. He went through medical selection himself and studied medicine at Monash University from 2011 to 2016, so the pressure of applying to medicine is something he knows first-hand rather than from a brochure.
He has now spent 15 years coaching medical applicants, founding organisations in admissions and interview preparation and leading character education with ShareTree along the way. PrepBond is the most focused of them: one university pathway, built around the MSCEIT.
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School
Melbourne High School
Alumnus.
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2011 to 2016
Medicine, Monash University
Studied medicine at Monash.
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2021
MedWithPurpose and ShareTree
Founded MedWithPurpose, which he leads as CEO, and became Character & Culture Lead at ShareTree.
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2024
InterviewMD and Omthentic
Founded InterviewMD and Omthentic.
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2025
The PrepBond Academy
Founded PrepBond to prepare Bond Medicine applicants for the MSCEIT.
Watch Shanaka
Podcasts and a panel where Shanaka talks about purpose, education and life in medicine.
One Percent Better Podcast · 2018
Education Reform
Shanaka is the featured guest on episode 19 of the One Percent Better podcast, talking about education reform. Plays from 4:15.
Keep It Simple Academics · 2021
Med School Exposed
A panel at the first Keep It Simple Academics conference on what studying medicine is really like.
Other work
PrepBond sits alongside the other organisations Shanaka has founded.
Founder, since 2024
InterviewMD
One-to-one medical school interview coaching, backed by practice software, for applicants learning to talk about themselves with honesty and structure.
View Shanaka's InterviewMD profile →Founder & CEO, since 2021
MedWithPurpose
Medical admissions preparation for Australian students, covering the UCAT, medical interviews and CASPer.
Visit MedWithPurpose →Founder, since 2024
Omthentic
Shanaka's venture house, building tools that help people present who they really are rather than a rehearsed version of themselves.
Visit Omthentic →Books
Shanaka is the author of two UCAT guides, published under the UCAT Secrets imprint.
UCAT Secrets
How To Ace The UCAT & Get Into Medicine: Without Sacrificing Your Year 12 Results
A guide to preparing for the UCAT without letting Year 12 slip. View on Goodreads.
UCAT Secrets100 Situational Judgement UCAT Questions
A practice set for the UCAT's situational judgement section. View on Goodreads.
Questions about Shanaka
Who is Shanaka Jayakody?
Shanaka Jayakody is the founder and head coach of The PrepBond Academy, which prepares Bond University Medicine applicants for the MSCEIT. He is a Melbourne-based educator who studied medicine at Monash University, and he has coached 1,100+ medical applicants over 15 years.
What is Shanaka's role at The PrepBond Academy?
Shanaka founded The PrepBond Academy in 2025 and leads it as head coach. He shapes how the academy teaches the MSCEIT, works with applicants directly, and takes the free 30-minute strategy sessions for students weighing up their Bond Medicine application.
How does Shanaka prepare students for the MSCEIT?
He treats the MSCEIT as a set of skills that can be learnt, not a verdict on character. Students practise in PrepBond's private simulation, get feedback mapped to the consensus-scoring approach the test uses, and work out why an answer missed. His coaching draws on 15 years of working with medical applicants, including interview preparation, and on his character education work with young people.
Is The PrepBond Academy part of Bond University?
No. The PrepBond Academy is an independent preparation academy. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with Bond University.
Where did Shanaka study?
Shanaka is an alumnus of Melbourne High School and studied medicine at Monash University from 2011 to 2016.
What else does Shanaka work on?
Alongside PrepBond, Shanaka is the founder of InterviewMD and Omthentic, the founder and CEO of MedWithPurpose, and Character & Culture Lead with the Melbourne charity ShareTree. He is also the author of two UCAT books published under the UCAT Secrets imprint.
Elsewhere: shanakajayakody.com | InterviewMD | Omthentic | LinkedIn
Book a free 30-minute consultation with Shanaka to talk through your Bond Medicine application strategy.