• 5 Years Full-time

All students apply directly to the Joint Medical Program and lodge a UAC application. This course is only available on campus (Armidale or Newcastle).

International students apply direct to UNE through International Marketing and Pathways.

Admission to candidature shall be determined on the basis of previous Year 12 studies, or higher education qualifications, and results of the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admissions Test (UMAT); and interview as determined by the Joint Medical Program Governing Committee.

Assumed knowledge is any two units of English.

Rural/Remote students: Students who can demonstrate a significant rural/remote background may be eligible to apply under the Rural/Remote Admissions Scheme (RRAS). For further information call the Enquiry Centre, University of Newcastle (02) 4921 5000 or School of Rural Medicine, University of New England (02) 6773 3877.

Indigenous students: May apply for admission through the Bachelor of Medicine-Joint Medical Program (BMed-JMP) Indigenous Medical Entry Program. Indigenous students wishing to be considered for entry to the BMed-JMP for 2013 must submit a UAC application by 31 October 2012 including Bachelor of Medicine (780000 CSP). For further information concerning indigenous selection and application requirements call Wollotuka Institute, University of Newcastle (02 4921 6863), or the Oorala Aboriginal Centre, University of New England (02) 6773 3034.

Candidates will be required to spend up to two semesters away from their university of enrolment while undertaking clinical placements. Time spent in the Year 3 Health Equity Selective and the Year 5 Primary Health Care Selective shall not be included in the minimum two-semester clinical placement requirement. Candidates may elect to undertake placements of up to two years in an approved 'away' location. Candidates will be responsible for all costs associated with travel and accommodation for 'away' placements.

1. Skills: Graduates completing basic medical education should have developed the following skills and abilities: a) Scientific method relevant to biological, behavioural and social sciences at a level adequate to provide a rational basis for present medical practice, and to acquire and incorporate the advances in knowledge that will occur over their working life. b) The normal structure, function and development of the human body and mind at all stages of life, the factors that may disturb these, and the interactions between body and mind. c) The aetiology, pathology, symptoms and signs, natural history, and prognosis of common mental and physical ailments in children, adolescents, adults and the aged. d) Common diagnostic procedures, their uses and limitations. e) Management of common conditions including pharmacological, physical, nutritional and psychological therapies. A more detailed knowledge of management is required for those conditions that require urgent assessment and treatment. f) Normal pregnancy and childbirth, the more common obstetrical emergencies, the principles of antenatal and postnatal care, and medical aspects of family planning. g) The principles of health education, disease prevention and screening. h) The principles of amelioration of suffering and disability, rehabilitation and the care of the dying. i) Factors affecting human relationships, the psychological, cultural and spiritual well-being of patients and their families, and the interactions between humans and their social and physical environment. j) Systems of provision of health care in a culturally diverse society including their advantages and limitations, the principles of efficient and equitable allocation and use of finite resources, and recognition of local and national needs in health care and service delivery. k) Indigenous health, including the history, cultural development and health of the Indigenous peoples of Australia or New Zealand. l) The principles of ethics related to health care and the legal responsibilities of the medical profession. m) The ability to construct, in consultation with a patient, an accurate, organised and problem-focused medical history. n) The ability to perform an accurate physical and mental state examination. o) The ability to choose, from the repertoire of clinical skills, those that are appropriate and practical to apply in a given situation. p) The ability to interpret and integrate the history and physical examination findings to arrive at an appropriate diagnosis or differential diagnosis. q) The ability to select the most appropriate and cost effective diagnostic procedures. r) The ability to interpret common diagnostic procedures. s) The ability to formulate a management plan, and to plan management in concert with the patient. t) Communication skills, including being able to listen and respond, as well as being able to convey information clearly, considerately and sensitively to patients and their families, doctors, nurses, other health professionals and the general public. u) The skills needed to work safely as an intern, as outlined in the National Patient Safety Education Framework developed by the Australian Council for Quality and Safety in Health Care. v) The ability to counsel patients sensitively and effectively and to provide information in a manner that ensures patients and families can be fully informed when consenting to any procedure. w) The ability to recognise serious illness and to perform common emergency and life-saving procedures, including caring for the unconscious patient and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. x) The ability to interpret medical evidence in a critical and scientific manner and an understanding of the epidemiology of disease in differing populations and geographic locations. y) The ability to use information technology appropriately as an essential resource for modern medical practice.
2. Attitudes As They Affect Professional Behaviour: At the end of basic medical education, students should demonstrate the following professional attitudes that are fundamental to medical practice: a) Recognition that the doctor's primary professional responsibilities are the health interests of the patient and the community. b) Recognition that the doctor should have the necessary professional support, including a primary care physician, to ensure his or her own well-being. c) Respect for every human being, including respect of sexual boundaries. d) Respect for community values, including an appreciation of the diversity of human background and cultural values. e) A commitment to ease pain and suffering. f) A realisation that it is not always in the interests of patients or their families to do everything that is technically possible to make a precise diagnosis or to attempt to modify the course of an illness. g) An appreciation of the complexity of ethical issues related to human life and death, including the allocation of scarce resources. h) A realisation that doctors encounter clinical problems that exceed their knowledge and skills, and that, in these situations, they need to consult and/or refer the patient for help, in clinical, cultural, social and language related matters as appropriate. i) An appreciation of the responsibility to maintain standards of medical practice at the highest possible level throughout a professional career. j) An appreciation of the responsibility to contribute towards the generation of knowledge and the professional education of junior colleagues. k) An appreciation of the systems approach to health care safety, and the need to adopt and practise health care that maximises patient safety including cultural safety. l) A commitment to communicating with patients and their families, and to involving them fully in planning management. m) A desire to achieve the optimal patient care for the least cost, with an awareness of the need for cost-effectiveness to allow maximum benefit from the available resources. n) A preparedness to work effectively in a team with other health care professionals. o) A realisation that one's personal, spiritual, cultural or religious beliefs should not prevent the provision of adequate and appropriate information to the patient and/or the patient's family, or the provision of appropriate management including referral to another practitioner.