Leader: Associate Professor Ben Canny & Dr Carol Lawson

Offered

Clayton First semester 2008 (Day)
Sunway First semester 2008 (Day)

Synopsis

Through a 'Community Partnerships' placement, the student develops an awareness of the sector's relevance to the practice of medicine and the socio-economic context of health and illness. In 'Information Management and Health Promotion' the student develops skills in data management and critical appraisal of evidence and knowledge to assist in clinical decision-making. 'Homeostasis: Maintaing the internal environment' enables the student to study the cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and haematopoietic systems. 'Clinical Skills' assists the student to develop clinical reasoning and focused history taking based on these major systems. Weekly Patient Centred Learning studies will integrate material presented in all themes. The Rural/urban placement focuses on the development of a perspective of experience of practising medicine in either environment. Through the Selective, the student will develop existing, and/or acquire new interests and skills that lie outside the traditional ambit of 'medical education'.

Objectives

Theme I:

• develop a perspective on issues of social equity and justice, particularly as they relate to the practice of medicine;
• develop knowledge of the welfare system and its relevance to medicine;
• appreciate the operational philosophy and service delivery components of key agencies working in the areas of social action, social justice and advocacy;
• understand the concept of the 'whole person' and in particular, the social and economic context of health and illness;
• develop an understanding of social and public policy and how it impacts on people's lives;
• understand that from their position of responsibility within the community, they have knowledge and skills that can contribute to the well-being of those people who are disadvantaged;

Theme II:

• articulate the relationship between data, information, evidence, knowledge and informed care;
• demonstrate in applied situations the following:
• enhanced information technology skills (searching and medical database identification skills, including computer presentation skills)
• application of critical skills to clinical and research questions
• application of a range of knowledge based systems in clinical practice (bibliographic software, decision support systems);
• appreciate the different perspectives in health promotion through the application of the 'sociological imagination';
• define, compare and contrast medical, behavioural and socio-environmental approaches to health promotion;
• understand the application of a range of health promotion theories of change, ranging through individual to social;
• understand and participate in the basic health promotion process of program development, planning, implementation and evaluation;
• systematically apply critical appraisal and knowledge management skills to evaluation of health promotion intervention strategies;
• identify appropriate strategies for health promotion interventions, including targeting high risk and population-based strategies;

Theme III:

• describe the structure and function of the healthy cardiovascular, respiratory and renal systems and the formation and function of blood;
• appreciate the mechanisms and effects of selected pathologies affecting these systems;
• enumerate and understand the mechanisms of action of therapeutic agents commonly prescribed to combat disorders of these systems;
• give an account of the interactions of these systems in the maintenance of homeostasis, drawing upon knowledge acquired in preceding semesters;

Theme IV:

• understand the framework for clinical reasoning in the cardiovascular, respiratory, haematopoietic and renal systems;
• demonstrate focused history taking in the cardiovascular, respiratory, haematopoietic and renal systems;
• perform and understand the relevance of an examination of the patient's cardiovascular, respiratory, haematopoietic and renal system;
• work cooperatively with peers to achieve specified tasks;
• gain experience with patient interviews and examination on hospital wards;
• gain an appreciation of the range and types of disorders in the cardiovascular, respiratory, haematopoietic and renal systems encountered in general practice;
• understand the complementary and diverse aspects of clinical disorders in the cardiovascular, respiratory, haematopoietic and renal systems encountered in general practice and in hospitals;

Selectives - As a result of the chosen Selective, the student will develop existing and/or acquire new, interests and skills that lie outside the traditional ambit of 'medical education'

Rural Placement:

• describe and discuss how rural contexts impact on the assessment of health conditions;
• recognize the importance of context and clinical reasoning in relation to focused history taking;
• describe and discuss how a rural context impacts on the clinical and non-clinical management of patients.

Assessment

Assessment in MED 2031 and MED 2042 will be both formative and summative. Formative assessment tasks in both Semesters include OSCE's and on-line self-tests. Summative assessment tasks:

MED2031 mid semester exam: 5%
MED2031 end of semester exam: 5%
MED2042 mid semester exam: 5%
MED2042 end of semester exam: 10%
MED2042 Student Project Case presentations: 5%
Year Two Portfolio: 20%
Year Two Rural Project: 5%
Year Two Health Promotion Project: 10%
End of Year OSCE (incl. Vertical Integration assessment component): 15%
Vertical Integration Exam (Year One and Two): 20% For MED2031 the end of semester results will be pass grade only (PGO). For MED2042 the end of semester results will be graded.

Prerequisites

MED1011, MED1022

Co-requisites

Must be enrolled in the MBBS or MBBS/LLB