Course abbreviation: MB BS + Course code 0040 + Clayton on-campus study only
The prerequisites for entry into the MB BS are:
The medicine course at Monash University is only available to:
All applicants will be required to sit an aptitude test - the Undergraduate Medical and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT).
In 2002, applications to sit the UMAT closed in June and the test was held
at the end of July.
For information about the UMAT, contact telephone (03) 9277 5673, fax (03) 9277
5757, email umat@acer.edu.au or visit the website at
http://www.acer.edu.au/unitest/umat.
Applications for Medicine at Monash University are made through VTAC. Telephone
1300 364 133 or visit the website at http://www.vtac.edu.au.
Applicants must apply to sit the UMAT and apply through VTAC for a place in the
medicine course.
For entry into the 2003 class, approximately 400 applicants will be invited to attend a semi-structured interview in December, with selection based on UMAT score, or special circumstances, or an interstate estimated ENTER of >99 (to be later confirmed at >99 to be eligible for selection). In addition, approximately 150 applicants with a confirmed ENTER of >99 will be interviewed in January.
The faculty will determine those applicants who are to be interviewed. Applicants cannot request an interview.
In exceptional circumstances, where applicants have planned overseas travel commitments and will be unavailable in December and January, the faculty may grant an early interview. These interviews usually will be conducted during the first week of December.
Applications for an early interview must be received, in writing, at the faculty office by 8 November and should include written support from the school principal and documentary evidence (eg copy of airline ticket or travel itinerary) of the reasons for unavailability in December or January.
The interview, of approximately 45 minutes, is conducted by a panel of trained interviewers consisting of a member of the faculty, a doctor in practice and an outside person who is not involved in medicine. The interview questions have been designed to determine which applicants have relevant personal qualities such as leadership ability and motivation to succeed in the medical course.
There are two groups of questions:
In the interview, the panel will try to assess several personal
qualities in each applicant, including:
1. Quality of motivation - Applicants should be able to demonstrate a
realistic knowledge and understanding of what is involved in both the medical
course and a career in medicine.
2. Appropriateness of interpersonal style - Applicants should be able to
discuss leadership, particularly the ability to inspire other people, and
teamwork, particularly the ability to work within a collaborative unit. We
expect our students to have the ability to listen and be non-judgemental and to
have the flexibility to adapt to new situations. All of these attributes should
be developed to an extent appropriate to the applicant's age and maturity.
3. Communication skill - Doctors must be able to communicate effectively
with others. We expect our applicants to demonstrate appropriate ability in
communication skills during the interview.
In addition, as part of the assessment of communication skill, applicants will be asked to `detechnicalise' a scientific concept, ie to explain the concept in non-technical terms. Applicants will also participate in an `active listening exercise' in which they will be expected to answer specific questions concerning a short story that will be read to them by one of the panel members. As the interview process is continually refined, other exercises may be included.
The final ranked list of applicants from which places will be offered will take into account the applicant's UMAT score, ENTER and performance at interview.
Students who have not achieved their entrance qualifications in Victoria must hold qualifications equivalent to those held by local candidates. The qualifications must include the same prerequisite units as those for local candidates. Such applicants must demonstrate at least the same level of academic merit as that required for local applicants.
The five-year MB BS curriculum is designed as an integrated structure incorporating four themes, within which sub-units are taught by staff from across the faculty, in an interdisciplinary fashion. This course, leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB BS) may be awarded at either pass or honours standard.
During the early years of the course, the basic medical and behavioural
sciences (anatomy, biochemistry, genetics, immunology, microbiology, pathology,
pharmacology, physiology, psychology and sociology) are introduced within
interdisciplinary sub-units. These sub-units will all have a major focus on
clinical issues through clinical case studies.
The course comprises 15 to 20 formal contact hours per week. This provides
opportunity for self-directed study, and for students to be given the time and
opportunity to be in control of their own learning and to develop skills in
problem-solving and the critical appraisal of information.
For the first two years, semesters comprise 13 weeks. In third and fourth
years, the course has been structured as two semesters of 18 weeks each. In
fifth year, the semesters are a notional 18 weeks, although there may be
some requirement for more flexible arrangements.
The basic knowledge, skills and attitudes that form the curriculum will be
related to clinical and other problems or issues. Learning in an appropriate
medical context is an overarching principle of the new curriculum.
A patient-based learning model will be used, where the knowledge, skills and attitudes that form the content of the curriculum are brought to life via formal patient-oriented teaching exercises. Most of the learning activities are designed to support students as they work with patient-oriented scenarios.
The faculty has adopted a four-theme structure. These themes
are:
Theme I - Personal and professional development
Theme II - Population, society, health and illness
Theme III - Foundations of medicine
Theme IV - Clinical skills
The four themes will run through all years of the course, but will not be of equal weight; nor will they be of constant weight throughout the course.
'Personal and professional development' will focus on the
doctor as an individual. This theme concentrates on the personal attributes and
qualities needed by medical students and, ultimately, medical practitioners. It
covers elements of communication skills, information technology, medical
informatics and computing skills, ethics and legal issues, and clinical
effectiveness.
'Population, society, health and illness' provides the structure to develop
students' abilities in dealing with broader society and population issues.
Students will consider the social, environmental and behavioural contexts of
illness and the practice of medicine, including an emphasis on rural and remote
Australia. Other elements of this theme will be built around health promotion,
epidemiology, public health, community diversity, population and global health,
and a range of other societal issues. The history and philosophy of the
scientific approach to medicine will also to be included, extending this to
approaches to knowledge and information, and an understanding of evidence-based
medicine.
'Foundations of medicine' includes much of the systems-based teaching in the
course. As the term 'foundations' implies, much of the knowledge and concepts
that underpin medicine, both in the basic medical sciences and in the clinical
sciences, will be delivered within this theme. In the early semesters, the
basic sciences of anatomy, biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, pathology,
pharmacology, physiology and psychology of each system will be taught in an
integrated manner and from a relevant clinical perspective.
The `Clinical skills' theme encompasses the whole range of clinical skills,
from the earliest to the later parts of the course. Practice in clinical skills
is stressed early and often, and includes procedural and clinical skills. The
approach in clinical skills development will be to develop defined clinical
competencies. This will begin with clinical aspects of communication skills and
move through history-taking and physical examinations to the more advanced
clinical and procedural skills.
In the early years of the course, this theme will include general practice and rural visits, and an introduction to community clinics and hospitals. Multi-professional education will be promoted through educational interactions with nurses, paramedics, radiographers and other health care professionals. The rural health activities in the early years of the course will provide opportunities for our students to interact with a range of health care professionals. The later years will include advanced elective experience in diverse medical work places, both within and outside the hospital environment.
The five-year curriculum will include a minimum of 12 weeks experience in rural areas for all students. Approximately 25 per cent of the class will receive 50 per cent of their education and training in rural areas. In second semester of the first year, groups of 25 to 35 students are attached to a rural community for one week. In semesters three and four of second year, students are attached to a rural community or a rural GP in pairs or as individuals for a fortnight; half of the class in semester three, half in semester four. The other half of the class will be involved in a two-week clinical skills activity.
In the later years of the course, a minimum of nine 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.
For the protection of other students and themselves, students in the MB BS course should 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 accordance 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 MB BS course. Immunisations
recommended are 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 personal 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.
In the first week of the first year of the course, students will attend a Residential Transition Program, designed to focus on transition to university life, personal ethics, healthy lifestyle, group support and introduction to communication skills.
Throughout the first two years, blocks of systems-based sub-units will be presented with a mix of basic medical science content, patient-based presentations and discussions in small groups. These sub-units combine basic content with generic skills and are set in appropriate clinical contexts, largely through the use of patient-oriented learning. Topics include molecules, cells and tissues; human development and growth; genomics; metabolism; musculo-skeletal; cardiovascular; respiratory; renal; endocrinology; neurosciences; reproduction; human behaviour; gastrointestinal; nutrition; immunology and infection.
In the third and fourth years, the clinical content is delivered in blocks of clinical rotations, with a mix of advanced and applied medical science, patient-oriented presentations, and discussions in small groups. A diversity of clinical settings is used, including a range of hospitals, ambulatory clinics and the rural environment. The emphasis will be on students gaining real clinical experience, participating in patient care and understanding how health care teams work.
In third year, a series of cases on multi-system disease will form a major part of learning. Third and fourth year will be largely taken up with the core clinical rotations of `Integrated medicine and surgery', `Women's and children's health' and `Community and psychological medicine'. The major hospitals involved in these rotations include Monash Medical Centre (Clayton and Moorabbin campuses), Alfred Hospital, Caulfield General Medical Centre, Box Hill, Cabrini, the Epworth, Frankston and Dandenong hospitals, Maroondah, Latrobe Valley and various other country hospitals.
The fifth year of the course will be structured as a series of electives and selectives*, where students will choose to complete their degree by gaining wider experience in chosen disciplines and specific areas of interest.
* Students choose from a range of alternative placements offered by the faculty.
* Details of units for years 3, 4 and 5 will be published in the 2004 handbook.
The six-year course is currently undertaken by students who have commenced their studies up to and including 2000. This 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, 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 that 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 modules
on the principles of cellular and molecular biology, rather than being taught
as separate units.
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.
Refer to five-year course entry.
Fourth year provides an introduction to clinical medicine emphasising aetiology, 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. In addition a block of teaching in Public Health is undertaken. 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 six 6-week blocks of teaching. Students study General Practice, Psychological Medicine, 2 core selective blocks in each of Medicine and Surgery and two selectives from a range of options. In addition students complete a 6 week elective attachment. Students spend time in public and private hospitals and will have the opportunity for rural attachments.
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