Monash University

Leader(s): Professor Julian Smith and Associate Professor William Sievert

Offered

Clayton Second semester (extended) 2009 (Day)
Sunway Second semester (extended) 2009 (Day)

Synopsis

MED3062 is an integrated medicine/surgery curriculum based on the four themes of the medical curriculum: personal and professional development; population, society, health and illness; foundations of medicine; and clinical skills. Evidence-based educational approaches support students in acquiring appropriate knowledge, attitudes and skills in medicine, surgery, clinical skills, evidence-based clinical practice, occupational and environmental medicine, patho-physiology, pharmacology, ethics and law. Previous learning will be extended. By the end of the semester students must be capable of undertaking history and clinical examinations of patients with straightforward conditions.

Objectives

By the end of Year 3, students are expected to be able to:

Theme 1: Personal and Professional Development

1. describe ethical and legal issues pertinent to clinical contexts;
2. articulate professional rights and responsibilities including advocacy for patients and their families;
3. demonstrate ability to work in multi-professional teams;
4. identify, develop and use strategies to meet professional and personal challenges and needs;

Theme II: Population, Society, Health and Illness

5. correctly apply principles and key steps in evidence based clinical practice;
6. demonstrate application of the principles of evidence-based medicine to the diagnosis, management and prevention of occupational and environmental disease;
7. elicit an accurate occupational and environmental history;
8. describe how to certify a patient's fitness for work;
9. effectively advise patients on the cause and prevention of the better-known occupational and environmental diseases;
10. recognise human and institutional factors relevant to risk management in health care settings;

Theme III: Scientific basis of clinical practice

History/examination and Differential Diagnosis:

11. Identify and apply the scientific bases that underpin the rational approach to eliciting a history and examining a patient in common diseases;
12. Formulate a differential diagnosis and problem list relevant to the patient;

Clinical Features, Natural history, Pathogenesis and Pathology of disease

13. Describe the natural history, pathogenesis and morphology of pathological processes related to specific diseases and conditions. Relate these to their clinical manifestations;

Recognition of Complexity in Patients' Health and Disease:

14. Recognize that patients can present with problems due to multiple causes and contributing factors, including psychosocial factors, which impact upon their management, care and outcomes;

Investigating Health Problems:

15. Determine and describe the scientific rationale that underpins the selection of appropriate investigations to confirm the diagnosis and guide the management of the patient;
16. Interpret the results of investigations and relate these to the diagnosis and/or management of the patient's condition;

General Principles of Management

17. Outline the scientific basis for the range of therapeutic approaches available to manage a patient's problem;
18. Analyse the scientific rationale that underpins medical and surgical therapies (the scientific basis of therapies and their implementation);
19. Select appropriate management options for patients, medical (including pharmacological) and interventional (particularly surgical);

Surgical Management

20. Explain the key features of processes undertaken to provide surgical care for a patient, including preoperative assessment, operating room processes, anaesthetic management and postoperative care;
21. Describe the key principles of common operations and procedures important to the effective surgical management of patients' problems;

Pharmacotherapeutics

22. Use a rational approach, incorporating knowledge about safety, to select appropriate therapeutic drugs. Describe the basis of their mechanism of action, important aspects of their pharmacokinetics, adverse effects and drug interactions;

The Role of Research in Advancing Medical Knowledge:

23. Identify and criticise how research contributes to the body of scientific knowledge available to medical practitioners;

Theme IV: Clinical skills

24. communicate clearly, considerately and sensitively with peers, patients, relatives, doctors, nurses, other health care professionals and the general public;
25. conduct a patient-centred interview that is tactful, accurate, organised and problem-focused;
26. describe principles for giving information to patients (eg applied to procedural information, patient education skills);
27. conduct relevant and appropriate physical and clinical examinations;
28. describe and use clinical reasoning skills;
29. frame appropriate diagnoses/differential diagnoses in commonly presenting complaints;
30. correctly perform specified practical techniques, tasks and procedures; and
31. describe normal and abnormal reactions to illness, disability and loss.

Assessment

Assessments are continuous and will be both formative and summative. Formative assessments may include written instruments such as EMQs and short answer questions linked with PBLs together with observation of clinical skills through Mini Case Records (MCRs) and completion of a clinical skills logbook. Students will receive feedback from tutors and peers on their participation in group activities. There will be integrated content as well as theme based content in formative assessments such as pathology and evidence based clinical practice.
Students will be expected to demonstrate satisfactory performance in clinical skills activities during clinical attachments.
Objective structured clinical examinations: 30%
Extended matching questions: 30%
Observed clinical encounters: 20%
Integrated clinical appraisal activity: 10%
Group assessment: 10%
Portfolio: Satisfactory completion (Hurdle requirement for progress to Year 4).
Students must attend a minimum of 80% tutorials and clinical placements to pass this unit. OSCE+EMQ: 65%
MCRs: 25%
Theme/Continual assessment: 10%
Portfolio: Satisfactory completion (Hurdle requirement for progress to Year 4).

Contact hours

Approximately 13 hrs/week of structured teaching and learning, 10 hrs/week unstructured learning in clinical settings and 10 hrs/week self directed learning (private study).

Prerequisites

MED2031, MED2042, MED3051

Co-requisites

Must be enrolled in the MBBS or MBBS/LLB