Postgraduate - Course3412 - Master of Forensic Medicine

Students who commenced study in 2014 should refer to this course entry for direction on the requirements; to check which units are currently available for enrolment, refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course.

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This course entry applies to students commencing this course in 2014 and should be read in conjunction with information provided in the 'Faculty information' section of this Handbook by the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Managing faculty	Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Abbreviated title	MForensMed
Total credit points required	72
Standard duration of study (years)	3 years PT
Study mode and location	Off-campus (Southbank)
Admission, fee and application details	http://www.monash.edu/study/coursefinder/course/3412
Contact details	Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine: telephone +61 3 9684 4115; email postgrad.courses@vifm.org
Course coordinator	Associate Professor David Wells

Notes

This course is not available to international students who are holders of an Australian student visa, for study onshore in Australia. However holders of some other categories of Australian visas living in Australia, and students studying off-campus by distance learning (where this option is available) and living outside of Australia, may be eligible for this course.
Unit codes that are not linked to their entry in the Handbook are not available for study in the current year.
Part-time study only. This course must be completed in a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 5 years. The course duration is inclusive of any periods of intermission.

Description

This course is designed to further develop medical practitioners knowledge and skills so that they are able to provide a high quality clinical forensic medical service. This will include ethical and legal issues arising in forensic medical practice, the skills required to interpret injury patterns and communication with the justice system.

Outcomes

These course outcomes are aligned with the Australian Qualifications Framework level 7, the Bologna Cycle 1 and Monash Graduate AttributesAustralian Qualifications Framework level 7, the Bologna Cycle 1 and Monash Graduate Attributes (http://opvclt.monash.edu.au/curriculum-by-design/aligning-course-outcomes-with-aqf-bologna.html).

This course is designed to:

establish academic standards in clinical forensic medical practice
produce graduates who have a sound knowledge of medico-legal principles
develop practitioners skills in providing clinical forensic services in the community
strengthen the teaching- research nexus in forensic medical education
foster the development of career pathways in forensic medicine.

Assessment

Assessment activities, including the thesis option, are designed to further develop the participants' understanding of the theoretical principles underpinning forensic practice. Assessment methods will vary but may include coursework and workshop participation, formal assignments, casebooks and minor thesis.

Structure

This course consists of coursework and a minor thesis, or coursework only.

Areas of study

Forensic medicine

Requirements

Core units

Semester one

FOR4003 Ethics, medicine and the law

Semester two

FOR4001 Medical evidence
FOR4002 Injury interpretation

Coursework and minor thesis option

Students must complete:

a minor thesis
48 points of electives from those listed below

Students undertaking the minor thesis are required to prepare a research proposal at an early stage of their minor thesis enrolment and have this approved by their thesis supervisor. The area of research must cover a topic directly related to forensic medicine, and should include at least one elective unit of instruction on research methodologies and basic statistics.

Coursework only option

Students must complete:

54 points of electives from those listed below

Elective units

FOR4004 Elements of the forensic sciences
FOR4005 Child and adolescent sexual abuse
FOR4006 Non accidental injury in childhood
FOR4007 Elements of forensic odontology
FOR4008 Post-mortem dental identification - principles and methods
FOR4009 Clinical forensic odontology
FOR4010 Disaster victim identification - principles and methods
FOR5005 Adult sexual assault
FOR5006 Traffic medicine
FOR5007 Elements of forensic toxicology
FOR5008 Custodial medicine
FOR5009 Advanced issues in sexual violence
FOR5010 Project in forensic medicine
FOR5011 Advanced issues in non-accidental injury of children
other postgraduate units offered by the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health SciencesFaculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/units/index-byfaculty-med.html), other facultiesother faculties (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/units/index-byfaculty.html) at Monash University or other tertiary institutions (with departmental approval)

Suitable elective units can also be identified using the browse units toolbrowse units tool (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/units/search) in the current edition of the Handbook..

Minimum grade for course completion

All assessable components of each unit must be passed in order to complete this course.

Students must achieve a minimum distinction grade average in all three core units to qualify for this award. Students who do not achieve this average may exit with a Graduate Certificate of Forensic Medicine or Graduate Diploma of Forensic Medicine, providing all requirements for the award have been met.

Alternative exit(s)

Students wishing to exit this course may apply to graduate with one of the following, provided they have satisfied the requirements for that award:

Graduate Certificate of Forensic Medicine
Graduate Diploma of Forensic Medicine.

Award(s)

Master of Forensic Medicine