Postgraduate - Course0099 - Master of Family Medicine

The Department of General Practice offers this program to general practitioners and other healthcare professionals working in the area of family medicine who wish to expand their knowledge and skills in areas relevant to family medicine. Additonally, the course also provides the opportunity to develop clinical, teaching, and research skills within a family medicine framework.

Upon successful completion of the coursework component of this course it is expected that graduates will be able to:

• accurately define and describe the nature of the discipline of general practice including its history, philosophy, and practice
• compare and contrast general practice with other medical specialties
• demonstrate awareness of the significance of patient centeredness when differentiating family medicine from other disciplines
• describe the role of the general practitioner as the gatekeeper of the health care system
• outline the implications of the roles of general practitioners and other primary healthcare providers in providing cost effective primary medical care to the community
• critique the nature and scope of research in a general practice setting, including the similarities and differences to research in other medical disciplines
• practice critical appraisal of literature and evidence-based clinical practice in delivering primary healthcare
• employ clinical audits as a form of quality assurance of professional practice and as a way of gaining the skill of reflective learning
• demonstrate knowledge and skills in a number of chosen areas of special interest as defined by the objectives and content of the individual elective units for this course
• recognise and demonstrate the theories of learning and teaching and how they apply when teaching aspects of family medicine to undergraduate and postgraduate clinicians as well as other members of the community.

Upon successful completion of the research component of this course it is expected that graduates will be able to:

• practice independent and collaborative research in a family medicine setting at a level expected of a Monash graduate
• supervise research projects at a level comparable to those required of masters' graduates
• participate in curriculum development, teaching, assessment, and evaluation of education programs at various levels, including undergraduate, vocational training, and continuing clinical education of primary healthcare providers
• demonstrate organisational skills required of academic primary healthcare providers.

Assessment

Assessment will be by coursework participation, formal assignments, projects and minor thesis.

This course is accredited with the Royal Australia College of General Practitioners Quality Assurance Continuing Professional Development Program.

This course consists of coursework core and either coursework elective units/modules or a research stream including a minor thesis at level five. All units are 12 points unless otherwise indicated.

• Family Medicine

Core units

• MFM4000 Principles of general practice
• MFM5006 Introduction to research methods
• MFM5008 Applied research in general practice
• MFM5007 Learning and teaching*
• MFM5004 Chronic disease management
• MFM5003 Preventative care
• MFM5005 Evidence based practice

* Required for alternative exit to course 2677 Master of Family Medicine and highly recommended for students interested in teaching skills.

Streams

Students complete one of the following options.

Coursework stream

• 24 points of elective units or modules from the lists below

Research stream

• MFM5001 Masters thesis (24 points)

Electives

• MCM5504 Dermatology
• MCM5507 Child health
• MCM5601 Women's sexual and reproductive health in general practice
• MCM5414 Musculoskeletal medicine (6 points)
• MCM5417 Medical ethics (6 points)
• MCM5419 Ophthalmology (6 points)
• MCM5501 Depression and anxiety disorders in general practice (6 points)
• MCM5602 Stress management (6 points)
• MCM5606 Issues in general practice prescribing (6 points)
• MCM5608 Men's sexual and reproductive health (6 points)

Offered by other areas in the faculty

• PHC5000 Concepts in primary health care (6 points)
• PHC5002 Service development and quality improvement in primary health care
• NUR5833 Refugee health and wellbeing
• NUR5844 Health promotion and education
• CRH5010 Indigenous health for health professionals (6 points)
• CRH5000 Health and health care communities (6 points)

Minimum grade for course completion

Students must achieve a minimum result of 65 per cent in MFM2006 (Introduction to research methods).

Students wishing to exit this course may apply to graduate with a Graduate Diploma in Family Medicine or Graduate Certificate in Family Medicine, provided they have satisfied the requirements for that award as follows:

Graduate Certificate:

General Stream - units MFM4000, MFM5004 and MFM5005

Research Stream - units MFM4000, MFM5006

Graduate Diploma:

General stream: units MFM4000, MFM5004, MFM5005, MFM5007, MFM5003 and any 6 point elective

Research Stream: units units MFM4000, MFM5006, MFM5007 and MFM5008

Master of Family Medicine