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Monash University

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery/Bachelor of Laws

Course code: 1074 ~ Course abbreviation: MB BS/LLB ~ Total credit points required: 384 ~ 8 years full-time ~ Managing faculty: Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Study mode and course location

On-campus (Clayton - F/T only)

Course description

This double degree course allows students to qualify with both the degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, and the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Monash is the only university in Australia that offers this joint degree. The combined program is a recognition by the faculties of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Law that the burgeoning area of medical law requires a pool of graduates with an academic grounding in both professions.

Course objectives

The Monash University Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery program will strive to graduate doctors who:

  • are knowledgeable, skilful, reflective and compassionate
  • are innovative in their approach to and solution of problems
  • are skilled at accessing, appraising, and applying the best available evidence to their everyday practice
  • demonstrate awareness of the social, ethical, economic and environmental context of health and illness and psychological well – being and delivery of care
  • are committed to the health of populations as well as individuals
  • are concerned with issues of equity, quality and humanity in health care and act as advocates for the disadvantaged and dispossessed
  • maintain high standards throughout their professional life by a commitment to life long learning and teaching
  • have the skill to address the key questions relevant to the community and to medicine
  • are capable of leadership and yet are comfortable working as a team member
  • uphold the community’s trust and expectations of the role of a doctor
  • are advocates for health by practising preventative medicine and health promotion
  • recognise the essential role of research in underpinning medical practice.

The objectives of the LLB program at Monash are to enable students to gain an understanding of basic legal concepts and legal institutions and of the historical, social, political and economic factors influencing their development. Upon completion of the LLB, students will be able to identify, use and evaluate the concepts, principles, rules and methods used in legal argument and will have developed oral and written skills, especially of legal argument, legal research and critical analysis. Students will have gained an understanding of concepts of justice, a concern to promote justice and an appreciation of their professional responsibilities.

Course structure

Course requirements

The medicine component requires that students complete 240 points of study, comprising 48 points of study in each year, except fourth and sixth year (which is comprised entirely of law units). The law component requires that students complete 144 points of study, including 18 compulsory units and a further 36 points of elective law units. The structure as outlined below would allow a student to complete the double-degree program within 7 years.

First year - 48 points

Second year - 60 points

Third year - 60 points

Fourth year - 54 points

Fifth year - 54 points

  • LAW3201 Constitutional law
  • MED4000 Year 4 final grade
  • MED4071 General practice and psychological medicine
  • MED4082 Women's and children's health

Sixth year - 54 points

Seventh year - 54 points

  • MED5091 Advanced clinical practice I
  • MED5092 Advanced clinical practice II
  • MED5100 MBBS final course grade
  • MED5102 Contemporary developments in clinical practice: patient safety
  • 6 points of law electives

Contact details

Telephone: +61 3 9905 4327; email MBBSstudentservices@med.monash.edu.au ; visit http://www.med.monash.edu.au/medical/combined.html