Course abbreviation: MB BS
The
final intake into the present six-year medicine course was into first year in
2000.
There are 140 first-year places in the medical course. In addition, the faculty
offers first-year places to suitably qualified international students on a
full-fee-paying basis. A new five-year course will be offered in 2002.
There
will be no year 1 medicine class in 2001 as the Federal Government regulations
state that the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences can only
graduate a maximum of 140 doctors per year.
The faculty has decided that the year 1 class of 2002 will be selected in two
stages.
Approximately 70 places for school leavers only will be selected from Year 12 students in 2000 and the selection will take place at the end of 2000. Successful applicants must defer medical studies for one year and will enter year 1 of the new five-year course in 2002.
Biology is not a prerequisite and there will be no increment for Physics.
Approximately 70 places for school leavers will be selected from Year 12 students at the end of 2001.
These are the only prerequisites.
A
small number of places may be available for non-school leavers to enter the
five-year course in 2002. This selection would take place at the end of 2001.
There will be no selection of non-school leavers at the end of 2000.
All
applicants (school leaver and non-school leaver) will be required to sit an
aptitude test -- UMAT.
Applications to sit UMAT in 2000 must be lodged by Friday 30 June at 5 pm. The
examinations are held in Melbourne, at the University of Melbourne, on 23, 24
and 25 August.
For information about UMAT:
Telephone: (02) 4921 8745
Fax: (02) 4921 8746
Internet:
http://www.newcastle.edu.au
Applications for Medicine at Monash University are made through VTAC:
Telephone: 1300 364 133
Internet: http://www.vtac.edu.au
Applicants must apply to sit the UMAT and apply through VTAC for a place in the
medicine course.
Suitable applicants will be invited to attend a structured interview during December or early January.
In circumstances where applicants have planned overseas travel commitments and will be unavailable in December and January, the faculty may grant an early interview. Such an interview will be conducted during the first week of December. Applications in writing must be received by the faculty office by mid-November and include written support from the school principal and documentation of reasons for unavailability later in December or January.
The final ranked list of applicants from which places will be offered will take into account the applicant's ENTER, performance in UMAT and performance at interview. Applicants will be offered places in the order of this final ranking until the quota of places is filled.
There
are four criteria that distinguish between a structured and an unstructured
interview:
1. Interview content is derived from an analysis of what the selected
people will be expected to do.
2. The questions are standardised, ie similar questions are put to each
applicant.
3. Some sample answers are provided to the interviewers to enable them to
give consistent ratings.
4. The interview is conducted by a panel of interviewers.
The interview questions have been designed to determine which applicants have
relevant personal qualities such as leadership ability and motivation to
succeed in a long and difficult course. The style of questions will fall into
two groups:
(a) accomplishment questions -- applicants are asked about what
they have accomplished in the past that would indicate to the panel that they
have a particular personal quality
(b) situational questions -- applicants are asked what they would
do in the future if a particular situation arose.
Interviewing
panels consist of three members: a member of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing
and Health Sciences, a doctor in practice and an outside person who is not
involved in medicine. The composition of the panels is deliberately broad
because panels composed solely of faculty members or practising doctors have in
the past been legitimately criticised on the grounds that they perpetuated the
personality style of medical graduates by selecting new students in the image
of themselves.
Interviewers have attended at least one of the half-day training programs. In
training the interviewers, emphasis is placed on the following interview
techniques:
(i) creating a friendly and purposeful atmosphere
(ii) indicating that we are more interested in exploring what the
candidates sincerely think and feel about a range of issues rather than simply
their verbal ´slickness'
(iii) ensuring that all the topics listed for discussion are adequately
sampled in the course of the interview.
The
personal qualities sought in the applicant at interview fall into several
fields, including but not restricted to: quality of motivation, appropriateness
of interpersonal style and verbal communication skill.
1. Quality of motivation. This can be looked at in three stages:
knowledge and understanding of what is involved in the medical course and in a
career in medicine; motivating factors -- a realistic desire to become a
doctor, including underlying issues such as idealism, developmental history and
identification; and perseverance -- the ability to persist in the face of
setbacks and frustrations.
2. Appropriateness of interpersonal style. Leadership -- the
ability to inspire other people; teamsmanship -- the ability to work
within a collaborative unit, the ability to listen and be nonjudgemental;
maturity -- an indication that a person has reached an age-appropriate
level of psychological development with an emerging sense of an independent
self; flexibility -- the ability to adapt to new situations.
3. Communication skill. The ability to communicate effectively with
others, both in statement and in manner. As part of the assessment of
communication skill, applicants will be asked to ´detechnicalise' a
scientific issue, ie to explain the issue in non-technical terms. Applicants
will also participate in an ´active listening exercise' in which they will
be expected to summarise and answer specific questions concerning a saga. The
saga will be presented by one of the panel members.
Interviews
will be conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences,
Wellington Road, Clayton, during December or early January.
The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences will determine those
applicants who are to be interviewed. Applicants may not request an interview.
Students who have not achieved their entrance qualifications in Victoria must hold qualifications which are equivalent to those held by local candidates. The qualifications must include the same prerequisite subjects as those for local candidates outlined above. Such applicants must demonstrate at least the same level of academic merit as that which is required for local applicants.
Places
are available in the first year of the medical course for international
students (overseas full-fee-paying students). These students come from overseas
to study in Australia under student visas and return overseas upon completion
of their medical degree.
Selection of international students is determined on the basis of each
applicant's academic qualifications. In addition to original documentary
evidence of such qualifications, applicants may be required to attend for an
interview. In the latter years of the course medical students are given a
considerable measure of responsibility in the hospital wards under the
supervision of hospital staff. It is vital, in the interests of both patients
and staff in the hospital, that students should be able to communicate fluently
and accurately in this situation.
Prospective applicants should be aware that the fee charged for the course will
be set annually, taking into account inflation and other factors. International
students who during the life of their course become citizens or permanent
residents of Australia (including New Zealand citizens) are not automatically
guaranteed a place in the local quota. All such students are required to
compete for a place in that quota and it is possible that insufficient places
may preclude a student from continuing in the course. Applicants should note
that there is no guarantee of an internship place for international students.
Prospective international students should ascertain the mutual recognition
procedures and internship policies of their home country government authorities.
In
order to meet health requirements for working in the wards of teaching
hospitals and for protection of other students and themselves, students in the
MB BS course need to comply with certain precautionary procedures. These
consist of confidential tests for immune status (including blood tests and skin
tests), receiving vaccines and having X-rays where the evidence indicates these
are appropriate and there are not specific contraindications in individual
cases.
This policy is in accord with the National Health and Medical Research Council
advice that educational institutions training students in health sciences
should ensure that such students are protected as far as possible by
vaccination against risks of infection.
The faculty recommends that all students accept responsibility for having
up-to-date immunisations before commencing the medical course. Recommended
immunisations include diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella,
tuberculosis and hepatitis B.
Prospective students should note that on enrolment, students are provided with
detailed written information and, as appropriate, counselling about the effect
that HIV or hepatitis B infection may have on the ability of health care
workers to practise their profession. In addition, arrangements will be made by
the faculty for every student to have a personal consultation early in the
first year with an infectious diseases physician. At this time, a check for
each student's immunity to diseases such as tuberculosis will be conducted and
students will be offered advice and counselling about infectious diseases and
their personal health.
Organisations that host clinical placements may require students to have obtained a police check regarding their suitability to undertake such placements. All enrolled and prospective students are advised that they may be required to obtain and pay for a police check prior to undertaking the clinical placements in their course.
The
six-year course is undertaken by students who have commenced their studies up
to and including 2000.
The course leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of
Surgery (MB BS) is of six years duration. The degrees may be awarded at
either pass or honours standard.
Students spend the majority of the first three years on the Clayton campus and
follow the university pattern in relation to duration of semesters and
examinations. The last three years of the course will be spent in teaching
hospitals. The Alfred Health Care Group, Monash Medical Centre, Box Hill
Hospital, Dandenong Hospital, Frankston Hospital, Maroondah Hospital and
Latrobe Valley Hospital are major teaching venues. Teaching also takes place in
other hospitals and centres which provide opportunities for clinical teaching.
The length of the teaching year in the last three years of the course will be
considerably longer than in the first three years.
The medical curriculum is designed as two overlapping wedges. The first wedge,
basic medical sciences, has its blunt end at the beginning of the course and
its point in the later years, and the second wedge, clinical studies, has its
sharp end early in the course and its blunt end at graduation. The overlapping
wedge design allows the basic medical sciences to be taught in the context of
their relevance to patient care early in the course. Later in the course the
tail of the basic science wedge reinforces clinical teaching with a strong
scientific foundation.
The early years in the curriculum integrate teaching between various
disciplines and emphasise the development of suitable communication and
observation skills. There are no separate and identifiable courses in physics
and chemistry in first-year medicine, as relevant issues from these disciplines
are taught within the biological framework where they are most applicable.
Anatomy (structure) and physiology (function) of the organ systems (eg the
cardiovascular system and the digestive system) are integrated rather than
taught and examined as separate courses in anatomy and physiology. Other
aspects of the basic medical sciences are integrated into a series of units on
the principles of cellular and molecular biology, rather than being taught as
separate subjects.
Course options are available in years one and three with year two undertaking a
rural medicine attachment. While all students will still be required to reach a
level of basic competence in all aspects of the course, the options will allow
students to study selected areas in greater depth than was previously possible.
In addition to their direct vocational significance (ie the opportunity to gain
extra knowledge in a field related to one's proposed postgraduate career) the
options will be of general educational advantage because they will provide an
opportunity for more independent, self-directed learning. Some options are of
an interdisciplinary nature, and all offer an opportunity to pursue and broaden
knowledge and skills in selected areas of interest.
The
faculty is committed to providing significant teaching in rural medicine.
Students participate in a one-week rural medicine attachment in second year
with opportunities to undertake additional rural studies in the option program
of years one and three.
In the later years of the course, a minimum of seven weeks will be spent in
medical specialties and general practice placement in a rural area.
Additionally students are encouraged to join the faculty's Rural Students Club
-- Wildfire.
Students should note that degree regulations are the formal prescription of the requirements to complete a degree and it is the student's responsibility to ensure that the requirements are understood.
There will be no first-year intake in 2001.
Second
year comprises general and systems studies and commences an interface with
patient care in MED2061 and MED2062 (Clinical and communication skills I). The
general subjects in second year include an introduction to pharmacology and
neurosciences, an introduction to statistics and epidemiology, cell and
molecular biology III, principles of human nutrition, basic haematology,
tissue injury, neoplasia and inflammation and infection and immunity. The last
two introduce students to pathology and microbiology at a much earlier stage
than occurs at most medical schools. However this move is consistent with our
contention that learning about abnormal biology can be used to reinforce
learning about normal biology. Integrated systems studies in second year
include cardiovascular and respiratory medicine, and gastrointestinal medicine.
MED2061 and MED2062 (Clinical and communication skills I) integrate the
theoretical learning from other studies with the reality of patient care as
well as providing direct instruction in medical interviewing and physical
examination.
Students undertake a five-day placement in a rural general practice clinic or
hospital as their option study.
The first semester of third year will introduce the study of integrated systems in endocrinology, human sexuality and reproduction, and head and neck and neurosciences, together with a continuation of clinical and communication skills that began in first year.
The aims of second semester are to commence the application of the basic principles of the preceding years to the practice of medicine, and to introduce students to hospital practice. Subjects in this semester will cover infectious diseases, medical genetics and clinical molecular biology, basic and clinical pharmacology and toxicology and health promotion. Bedside teaching in a hospital setting is an important component of clinical and communication skills. Students also undertake an optional study during second semester.
Fourth year provides an introduction to clinical medicine emphasising etiology, pathology, microbiology and the clinical aspects of disease. A fully integrated teaching program with combined teaching from the departments of Medicine, Surgery, Pathology and Immunology, Microbiology, Geriatrics, General Practice, Psychological Medicine and Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine is a major feature of fourth year. Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, radiological sciences and emergency medicine are also studied. Other major features of fourth year include extensive hospital bedside teaching, general practice attachments, laboratory practical sessions and a project from one area of medical research. Case-based teaching is also a feature of the fourth year program.
Fifth year consists of a series of hospital rotations with a strong emphasis on hands-on experience. Rotations are through medicine, surgery, paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology with specific teaching in palliative care and infectious diseases together with an elective term. The major hospitals involved in these rotations include Monash Medical Centre (Clayton and Moorabbin campuses), Alfred Hospital, Caulfield General Medical Centre, Box Hill, Frankston and Dandenong hospitals, and Maroondah, Latrobe Valley and various other country hospitals. The tuition is in many cases strengthened by using a logbook approach to check that all students have been trained in the appropriate procedures and skills.
Sixth year consists of a six-week term of combined clinical and community health studies followed by six five-week terms. These cover medicine, surgery, community medicine, psychological medicine, and specialty areas of medicine and surgery as well as further aspects of forensic medicine, geriatric medicine, palliative care, rehabilitation medicine, social and preventive medicine and therapeutics. During the year an opportunity will be given to students to spend time in a large private hospital in the city, in a rural attachment and in a student internship.
There will be no first-year intake in 2001.
Coordinator: Dr B J Canny (Physiology)
Coordinator: Associate Professor J Rawson (Physiology)
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