Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Demonstrate excellent communication skills that are patient-centred and enable patients and carers to understand their health problems and share decision making around their health care choices; support the maintenance of a patient’s privacy and dignity and recognise the impact of their own values and experiences in their engagement with patients and carers; demonstrate culturally safe practice and deliver safe and accessible health care.
2. Demonstrate skills in comprehensive history taking, examination and appropriate use of investigations for simple clinical presentations; establish relevant differential diagnoses and interpret results to determine a working diagnosis; distinguish between encounters in which a targeted approach is appropriate and those where a thorough and comprehensive history is essential.
3. Synthesise a patient’s history and physical findings to provide a succinct summary of a patient’s main problems, and any other relevant intercurrent issues that may impact on management; acquire safe and effective handover skills to communicate this information to team members involved in patient care.
4. Develop knowledge and skills in formulating a management plan and explain this for simple clinical presentations.
5. Apply medical sciences and population health knowledge to the patient presentation and diagnosis; critically appraise information and integrate quality and safety frameworks in clinical decision making.
6. Contrast the structure and function of the health system in community and acute settings; identify and summarise the challenges of access and equity for community groups who experience health inequities and rural and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities and the doctor’s role in responding to these challenges.
7. Recognise the key elements of fitness to practice medicine through acquiring a commitment to professional behaviours including respect, teamwork, patient safety, ethics, quality and regulatory obligations and demonstrate the capacity to identify and manage their own professional practice and ability to uphold these professional behaviours.

Work Integrated Learning

Placements

All students engage with WIL partners (internal/external) as a major component of the course

Other Information

Academic progress required for medical programs (Academic Progress Rule 2019 )

(1) If a medical student fails 1 or more courses in the student’s medical program in any year of enrolment in the program, the student is considered to have failed to maintain a satisfactory standard of academic progress in the student’s medical program, and is regarded as on probation for the remainder of the program. 

(4) If a medical student to whom subsection (1) applies fails, for a second or subsequent time, any course in the student’s medical program in any year of enrolment in the program, the Delegated Authority may exclude the student from medical programs for a specified period of no longer than 5 years. 

(8) If a medical student fails a second or later year ANU Medical School [since 2023 School of Medicine and Psychology] professional practice course, the student is considered to have failed to maintain a satisfactory standard of academic progress in the student’s medical program and the Delegated Authority may exclude the student from medical programs for a specified period of no longer than 5 years.

Inherent Requirement Descriptors continued:

Insight into their own health and behaviour

• Medical students will be expected to demonstrate an ability to recognise when they experience poor health and put in place effective processes to ensure their own health or behaviours do not pose a risk to others.

Cognition, critical thinking and problem solving skills

• Medical students will be expected to have an aptitude for problem solving, based on scientific principles to understand and solve the complex medical needs of patients, whilst also considering the context of the patient’s circumstances and the health system they are working in.

Team work

• Medical students will be expected to work willingly and cohesively as part of a team, taking responsibility for their actions as well as recognising and respecting the skills of other professionals.

Physical and observational capabilities

• Medical students will be expected to demonstrate their ability to acquire information, carry out a range of procedures suitable to their level of capability, and understand and carry out their role in assisting during a medical emergency.

Sustainable performance

• Medical students will be expected to demonstrate both physical and mental performance at a consistent and sustained level to perform multiple tasks in an assigned period of time that provides safe and effective care without compromise.

Indicative Assessment

1. Assessment for this course requires students to meet the passing standard in each of the three hurdles (100) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
2. Clinical Knowledge and Application Hurdle (null) [LO 3,4,5,6]
3. Clinical Practice Hurdle (null) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
4. Professionalism and Engagement Hurdle (null) [LO 1,2,3,4,6,7]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

This course must be enrolled in twice over two consecutive semesters (24 units +24 units)

The general expectation in Year 3 is a minimum of 6 clinical sessions (4 hours per session) per week in addition to the structured teaching commitments e.g. all day Wednesday. Please see Class Summary for more information.

Inherent Requirements

During the Clinical placements, students will participate in the medical care of patients including vulnerable persons. This requires students to put into practice a range of professional competencies developed in earlier courses. These competencies are guided by the Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand Inclusive Medical Education guidance note and require students to be able to:

 

Communication skills – verbal, non-verbal and written

• Medical students will be expected to communicate effectively and sensitively with a range of different people to establish rapport, involve patients and carers in decision making, and practise in a culturally safe way to deliver high quality, safe care. This applies to listening, speaking, reading, writing, and the capability to use these different modes to elicit information from people, often under pressure and in difficult situations.

Professionalism

• Medical students will be expected to demonstrate capabilities consistent with those of a medical professional, including a commitment to making the care of patients their priority, and to practise safely and effectively, treat people with dignity and respect, and be aware of the limits of their own knowledge, skills and health. They will also be required to comply with the law, regulations and any other university codes or policies.

Insight into their own health and behaviour

Cognition, critical thinking and problem solving skills

Team work

Physical and observational capabilities

Sustainable performance

(See the Other Information for the full descriptors of the final five areas).

It should be recognised that there may be cases where students will not be able to meet the requirements of the program, even with reasonable adjustments. Students unable to meet the course inherent requirements will be unable to complete the Doctor of Medicine and Surgery and will be offered a transfer to the Master of Preclinical Science.

Requisite and Incompatibility

Prescribed Texts

Please refer to the Learning Management System (LMS)

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links