Degree of Bachelor of Biomedical Science (BBiomedSci)

• Objectives
• Structure of the course
  • General considerations
• Elective subjects
  • Faculty of Arts
    • First-year electives
    • Second and third-year electives
  • Faculty of Business and Economics
    • First-year electives
    • Second and third-year electives
  • Faculty of Engineering
  • Faculty of Law
    • First-year electives
    • Second and third-year electives
  • Faculty of Information Technology
  • Faculty of Science
  • Faculty of Medicine
• Rules and protocols for third-year subject selection
• Course and subject management
• 
  Course plan

Objectives

A graduate of the Bachelor of Biomedical Science degree will be expected to

• have acquired a basic knowledge of the biomedical sciences in a range of important multidisciplinary areas;
• have mastered the essential analytical procedures and methods of written and oral communication relevant to the field of biomedical sciences;
• be graduates who are well prepared for potential employment opportunities in most facets of the health care and related industries;
• be well prepared to embark on further vocational training or postgraduate studies in the biomedical sciences or other discipline areas;
• have completed a degree which will have been as broadly-based or as specifically focused as each individual student requires;
• have received training relevant to a range of knowledge-intensive health care industries;
• understand the relationship of biomedical science to other areas of learning;
• have acquired skills in modern information technologies, which will enhance their effectiveness in employment as modern biomedical scientists;
• have been exposed to the research frontier at which advances in biomedical science are occurring.
• have an appreciation of the ethical and social attitudes and responsibilities which arise as a professional, practising biomedical scientist.

Structure of the course

The course is designed as a series of interlinked and consecutive sequences of subjects designed to permit students to readily acquire fluency and proficiency in the concepts, language and fundamentals of the biomedical sciences. The development of such a flexible curriculum may be achieved as part of one or more orderly course sequences or knowledge streams. The distinctive feature of this educational approach is that students are allowed some flexibility in their choice of subjects so that they are able to construct a sequence of studies suitable to their own requirements. In this way, students choose the most appropriate studies for their own particular career aspirations.

General considerations

The undergraduate course is normally taken in three years of full time study.

• The course consists of core and elective subjects in each semester.
• All subjects within the degree are valued at six credit points.
• Each semester, students must complete four six-point subjects.
• In first and second year, students must complete three core and one elective subject in each semester.
• In third year, students can either combine core and elective subjects or study core subjects only.
• In third year, students must study between two and four core subjects in each semester. The core subjects are multidisciplinary in nature, and are taught by several departments in combination.
• Other faculties are offering elective subjects, which are fully described in their handbooks.
• Up to eight six-point subjects may be taken from outside the Faculty of Medicine.

Elective subjects

Students will study two elective subjects in each of the first two years of their degree, and up to four elective subjects in the third year of the program. The following faculties are offering electives in various years of the program.

Faculty of Arts

First-year electives

In principle, all first-year Faculty of Arts subjects are available as electives for the Bachelor of Biomedical Science degree, subject to their availability, timetable considerations and the rules and regulations of the Faculty of Arts. A range of subjects are available, which will, over two years, provide a minor sequence (twenty-four points) in arts. These include several language subjects and subjects from philosophy, geography, sociology, history and politics. Several of these are also available by distance and flexible modes. The Faculty of Arts together with the Department of Physiology have developed a pair of first-year elective subjects, BME1111 and BME1122.

Second and third-year electives

The Faculty of Arts has several possible elective subjects at later year levels, which would include languages, philosophy and geography. A range of subjects are available, which will, over two years, provide a minor sequence (twenty-four points) in arts.

Faculty of Business and Economics

First-year electives

Students may choose electives from a range of subjects that can provide a minor sequence (twenty-four points) in business and economics. These include accounting subjects AAF1021 and AAF1022, AAF1031 and AAF1032; economics subjects ECM1020 and ECM1031 or ECM1032; and management subjects MGC1020 and MGC1030. For full details of these subjects, please consult the handbook of the Faculty of Business and Economics.

Second and third-year electives

Students may choose from several sequential subjects in accounting, economics and management, providing that the appropriate first-year subjects have been completed successfully.

Faculty of Engineering

The Faculty of Engineering will be offering, via the Centre for Biomedical Engineering, a third-year elective 'Sports medicine and rehabilitation', which will also involve the departments of Anatomy, Physiology and Surgery.

Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law has agreed to make available a small number of places to suitably qualified students in the following elective subjects.

First-year electives

Legal process; Legal philosophy

Second and third-year electives

Legal issues in medicine; Elements of forensic medicine
Students wishing to be considered for these subjects need to consult with the associate dean (teaching) of the Faculty of Medicine.

Faculty of Information Technology

The Faculty of Information Technology is reviewing the development of elective subjects for the second and third year of the degree.

Faculty of Science

Students may choose from several elective subjects offered by departments from the Faculty of Science. In particular, the Department of Psychology, in collaboration with other departments, is developing a series of subjects for the Bachelor of Behavioural Neuroscience degree. Many of these subjects will be available as electives in all three years of the BBiomedSci program. These will include subjects such as 'Biorhythms and behaviour', 'Psychobiology of language' and 'Psychobiology of addiction'. In addition the Department of Mathematics in first year and the Department of Biological Sciences in second and third year are offering several elective subjects.

Faculty of Medicine

Students may choose from elective subjects from the Faculty of Medicine in all three years of the degree. The Department of Physiology, together with the Faculty of Arts, have developed a pair of first-year elective subjects, BME1111 (Race and evolution) and BME1122 (Sex, gender and health).
Among the elective subjects from the Faculty of Medicine that students can choose from in the second and third year of the degree are 'Drugs and society', 'Genomics', 'Ethical and legal perspectives of health', 'Assisted reproduction', 'Molecular microbiology', 'Fertility regulation', 'Perinatal medicine', 'Physiology of exercise' and 'Nutrition and health'.
A multidisciplinary laboratory practical elective subject is available for each semester of third year. These electives will provide practical laboratory experience that may prepare students for a laboratory based honours year.

Rules and protocols for third-year subject selection

(a) Students must study at least four of the eight core subjects, two per semester.
(b) Students may elect to study:

• Option one All of the eight core subjects
• Option two Three of the eight core subjects in each semester, together with one six point elective in each semester
• Option three Two of the eight core subjects in each semester, together with two six-point elective subjects in each semester.

Options one and two would particularly suit the student who wants a general, broad-based outcome.
Options one, two and three would particularly suit the student who wants a vocational outcome.
Option three would particularly suit the student who wants a biomedical research outcome.

Course and subject management

The management of all undergraduate courses in the Faculty of Medicine is overseen by the Curriculum Review and Development Committee (CRDC), which reports to the Medical Faculty Board. The Bachelor of Biomedical Science Course Management Committee is responsible for the development and delivery of all aspects of the degree, and reports to the CRDC. Individual subjects are developed and delivered by conveners and subject management committees that consist of interdepartmental and interfaculty representatives.

Course plan

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