Doctor of Medicine

2021 Deakin University Handbook

Note: You are seeing the 2021 view of this course information. These details may no longer be current. [Go to the current version]

Year	2021 course information
Award granted	Doctor of Medicine
Campus	Offered at Waurn Ponds (Geelong)
Cloud Campus	No
Duration	4 years full-time. The course is only available to students on a full-time basis. This is a four-year graduate entry program for students who have already completed an undergraduate degree.
CRICOS course code	096842G Waurn Ponds (Geelong)
Deakin course code	H911
Approval status	This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9.

Course sub-headings

Course overview

Apply to the Doctor of Medicine and set yourself up for a range of rewarding careers, from general practice to pathology, paediatrics to surgery. The course has a unique focus on rural and regional medicine, Indigenous Health and patient-centred communication skills.

Want a medicine degree that enables you to enhance community health and wellbeing?

Deakin’s Doctor of Medicine takes you beyond the classroom to work with patients all across Victoria and beyond. You’ll learn how medicine is practised in rural areas, while building valuable relationships that kick start career growth once you graduate.

The course shines a light on Indigenous Health, and will help you broaden your perspective of clinical medicine to encompass public health, legal and ethical perspectives. Your study experience will allow you to advance the health and wellbeing of communities in Australia and beyond.

Be part of a community of learners who support each other as you grow your knowledge and capabilities. Be confident in the support provided by the School, as you learn in an environment where a culture of diversity, inclusiveness, respect and social accountability is built, together.

Start your journey at our Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus, home to our $53 million purpose-built facilities. These facilities provide the ideal training ground for problem-based learning – a key theme of medicine at Deakin. You’ll learn to solve the kinds of problems you’ll face in your future career, while developing your confidence in foundational medical principles, clinical reasoning and the high-level communication skills necessary for excellent patient-centred care.

Off campus, you’ll build real-world clinical experience through placements in a range of medical settings, from hospitals and general practices to community healthcare centres in the Geelong region. In your third and fourth years, you’ll have the opportunity to preference one of four clinical schools for training:

Barwon Health (Geelong)
Eastern Health (Melbourne)
Ballarat
Warrnambool

In addition, the Rural Community Clinical School is available in your third year, giving you the option of parallel consulting in smaller rural and regional towns. The clinical placement component of the course provides at least four weeks of dedicated rural attachment, meeting your Commonwealth Department of Health requirements and further enhancing your practical experience in regional areas.

Interested in gaining a global perspective of medicine? Your fourth and final year includes an elective unit that you can study overseas, as well as a pre-internship hospital rotation that offers a first-hand taste of the day-to-day life of an intern. You will also develop your skills in research design and data analysis, to equip you for career progression and lifelong learning as a medical practitioner.

The Doctor of Medicine is accredited with the Australian Medical Council. Graduates who successfully complete pre-registration training will qualify as Registered Medical Practitioners in Australia and New Zealand.

Up to 5% of domestic places in Deakin's Doctor of Medicine course are held for Indigenous Australian applicants applying through the Indigenous Entry Stream.

Indicative student workload

As a student in the Faculty of Health you can expect to participate in a range of teaching activities each week. This could include classes, seminars, workshops, online interaction and clinical placements. You can refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information. You will also need to study and complete assessment tasks in your own time.

All four years of the Doctor of Medicine require a full-time commitment, with a substantive load of required learning activities and study time.

Professional recognition

The Doctor of Medicine is accredited with the Australian Medical Council (AMC). Graduates who successfully complete pre-registration training will qualify as Registered Medical Practitioners in Australia and New Zealand.

Career opportunities

Doctor of Medicine graduates are highly sought-after for internship positions with healthcare providers in Australia and abroad. Deakin’s MD program allows you to develop a deep understanding of the challenges and nuances of rural medicine, putting you in a strong position to address the shortfall of doctors in regional areas.

In order to qualify as Registered Medical Practitioners with the Australian Medical Council (AMC), our graduates are currently undertaking accredited internships at a number of prominent Victorian and interstate hospitals.

After successfully completing an intern year, graduates can apply for entry to specialty training programs that lead to a broad range of medical careers.

Participation requirements

There are extensive clinical placements throughout the course - see individual unit descriptions for full details.

Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. Click here for more information.

Mandatory student checks

All students are required to undertake a Police Record Check and Working with Children Check at the commencement of their course. Students who fail to do so prior to the commencement of clinical placement will not be able to undertake clinical placement and this will impede progress in the course.

Students are also be required to declare their immunisation status to satisfy the requirements of health organisations where they will be undertaking their clinical learning experience. A health organisation may refuse to accept a student for placement if the student’s immunisation status is not satisfactory to the health organisation.

The School will provide commencing students with specific information on their compliance requirements.

Alternative exits

Master of Health and Medical Sciences (H720)

Alternative Exit Points

The alternative exit point from the Doctor of Medicine H911 is

H720 Master of Health and Medical Sciences

Fees and charges

Fees and charges vary depending on your course, the type of fee place you hold, your commencement year and your study load. To find out about the fees and charges that apply to you, visit the Current students fees website or our handy Fee estimator to help estimate your tuition fees.

If you are an International student you need to be aware the Australian Government caps Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP) for the Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery. This means if you are enrolled in this course and transfer from a student visa or other temporary visa to a permanent visa, you are unlikely to receive a CSP place. You would however be eligible for a full fee-paying domestic place. For more information about fees, please visit Current students fees website.

Course Learning Outcomes

Graduate Learning Outcomes	Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities	Diagnose and manage clinical conditions, and carry out practical procedures to provide safe patient care.
Communication	Select appropriate communication modes to share complex knowledge and concepts with patients, carers, colleagues and communities
Digital Literacy	Use digital technology responsibly to enhance medical practice.
Critical thinking	Critically appraise and apply knowledge to problem solve and make sound professional and patient care decisions.
Problem Solving	Formulate healthcare solutions using research skills to evaluate, interpret and implement evidence based practice.
Self-management	Demonstrate professional obligation and responsibility to patients, the profession and self as work ready doctors; and show a life-long commitment to reflective learning through practice, research and teaching.
Teamwork	Demonstrate collaborative practice within a health care team to provide safe, high quality medical care.
Global Citizenship	Prioritise prevention and implement holistic approaches to enhance the health and well-being of individuals, communities and populations; advocate for public health and demonstrate a commitment to advancing the health and well-being of rural, remote, Indigenous and marginalised individuals and communities.

Course rules

The first two years of the MD are based at Waurn Ponds (Geelong), where students learn in simulated clinical environments and dedicated medical sciences teaching spaces, along with small-group learning sessions. Students will also be exposed to clinical experiences from early in the course, through placements with healthcare providers.

During years three and four students will undergo intensive clinical training within health services attached to one of five clinical schools, Barwon Health (Geelong), Warrnambool, Ballarat or Eastern Health (Melbourne), or with the Rural Community Clinical School. Students will conduct their learning and assessment in the clinical environment, guided by experienced staff associated with the clinical schools.

The course concludes in year four with two five week rotations - an elective that can be taken in Australia or overseas and a pre-internship hospital rotation in which the student experiences the day to day life of an intern.

To complete the Doctor of Medicine students must attain 32 credit points. All units are core units (these are compulsory). Students must pass all units including all components of units in the course.

All commencing Faculty of Health Undergraduate and Postgraduate course work students are required to complete HAI010 Academic Integrity in their first semester of study (0 credit point compulsory unit).

The course is only available on a full-time basis.

Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. Click here for more information.