Doctor of Medicine

2023 Deakin University Handbook

Course sub-headings

• Course overview
• Indicative student workload
• Professional recognition
• Career opportunities
• Participation requirements
• Mandatory student checks
• Alternative exits
• Fees and charges
• Course Learning Outcomes
• Course rules
• Course structure

Course overview

Apply to the Doctor of Medicine if you want to make a real difference to human health and wellbeing.  The course has a unique focus on rural and regional medicine, Indigenous Health, the development of your human capabilities and service to marginalised communities.

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 and their families across western Victoria. You’ll learn how medicine is practised in rural areas, while building valuable relationships with communities that will really value and welcome you once you graduate.

The course shines a light on Indigenous Health and will help you broaden your perspective on clinical medicine to encompass public health, legal and ethical perspectives. 

Be part of a community of learners and teachers who support each other as you grow your understanding 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 with two years focussing on the foundations of medicine, encompassing medical sciences, clinical capabilities, public health, medical ethics and law, and Indigenous health. You’ll learn to solve the kinds of problems you’ll face in your future career in a supportive environment, while developing your confidence in foundational clinical skills, clinical reasoning and the high-level human capabilities necessary for excellent person-centred care.

You’ll build on this strong foundation by acquiring real-world clinical experience through placements in a range of medical settings, from hospitals and general practices to community health centres.  Students will spend their third and fourth years on full-time placement at one of our clinical schools:  the Rural Community Clinical School, Ballarat,  Warrnambool, Geelong or Eastern Health.

All of our clinical schools, in rural and metropolitan areas, offer access to first-hand learning in the clinical environment and immersion in a wide range of patient care settings, including hospital and primary care.  Our Rural Community Clinical School offers a more in-depth exposure to community-based care, with students being paired with a clinical mentor and afforded opportunities to contribute directly to the health and wellbeing of a rural area for an extended period during their training.

Across years three and four, you will gain hands-on experience, underpinned by strong knowledge and skills. You will undertake real clinical tasks to preparing you for both professional practice as a doctor and the lifelong training and development required for a career in medicine.  You will also undertake a pre-internship rotation that offers a first-hand taste of the day-to-day life of a graduate doctor.  

The Deakin Doctor of Medicine program is committed to ensuring that applicants from all backgrounds who meet the requirements of entry are able to gain access to study with us. We therefore reserve up to 5% of domestic places for Indigenous Australian applicants applying through the Indigenous Entry Stream, and around 30 places for applicants applying through the Rural Training Stream.  These streams are designed to remove some of the barriers to entry that Indigenous or rural applicants may experience when seeking out a career in medicine.  Similarly, we offer bonuses for entry in the General Stream for applicants who have experienced financial disadvantage or come from a rural background. 

We also recognise the wealth of experience that applicants with diverse study and work experiences bring into both the Doctor of Medicine program and their future professional practice.  We therefore do not have any prerequisite training requirements; applicants may have completed a bachelors-level qualification in any area, from nursing to music, engineering to physiotherapy. 

Indicative student workload

As a student in the Doctor of Medicine program, you can expect to participate in a range of teaching activities each week. This could include lectures, seminars, small group learning activities, 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.  The School endeavours to provide timetables in advance of each semester to enable students to coordinate any work, caring, health or other requirements.

Professional recognition

The Doctor of Medicine is accredited with the Australian Medical Council. Graduates of the Doctor of Medicine are granted provisional registration as a Medical Practitioner in Australia and New Zealand, and are eligible to undertake paid work as an Intern to become eligible for full registration.  Domestic graduates are guaranteed an Internship position in Victoria.

Career opportunities

Doctor of Medicine graduates are highly sought-after for internship positions with healthcare providers in Australia and abroad. Deakin’s Doctor of Medicine 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 Medical Board of Australia, 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 including in the specialty of General Practice  or the emerging Rural Generalist program.

Participation requirements

There are extensive clinical placements throughout the course – see individual unit descriptions for full details.  Years three and four require students to undertake placements most days of the week for the full year.

Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.

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 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

Fees and charges

Fees and charges vary depending on your course, the type of fee place you hold, your commencement year, the units you choose and your study load.

Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.

Use the Fee estimator to see course and unit fees applicable to your course and type of place. Further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods is available on our Current students fees website.

If you are an International student you need to be aware the Australian Government caps Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP) for the Doctor of Medicine. 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 domestic full fee-paying place.

Course Learning Outcomes

Course rules

The first two years of the Doctor of Medicine include face-to-face learning activities at Waurn Ponds (Geelong) for General Entry Stream students, or either Ararat or Warrnambool for Rural Training Stream students.  In years one and two, students learn in simulated clinical environments and dedicated medical sciences teaching spaces, along with small group learning sessions.  Teaching activities will be conducted both online and face-to-face.  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  our clinical schools:  the Rural Community Clinical School, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Geelong or Eastern Health.  Students will conduct their learning in the clinical environment, guided by experienced staff associated with the clinical schools.

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.  Assessments will involve a range of written and performative tasks and are structured to progress across the units of the course.

All students are also required to complete HAI010 Academic Integrity in their first semester of study (0 credit point compulsory unit).

Students in the Doctor of Medicine may also enrol in an optional Extracurricular Research Program.

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

Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.

Course structure

Units

Year 1 - Semester 1

Year 1 - Semester 2

Year 2 - Semester 1

Year 2 - Semester 2

Year 3 - Semester 1

Year 3 - Semester 2

Year 4 - Semester 1

Year 4 - Semester 2

Optional Elective Unit

^Corequisite unit: HME911

Further information

Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.

• Contact Student Central