Clinical Learning

The Medicine program embodies the philosophy of experiential learning, and therefore a substantial amount of learning takes place in clinical environments, commencing in the second week of the Program.

The majority of teaching in Phase 1 (first 2Ľ years) occurs on the main university campus (at Kensington) and during these years, clinical sessions are held in hospitals across Sydney. In Phase 2 of the Program (next 1ľ years), the clinical sessions held in clinical environments increase to 3 days per week. Campus teaching is held on the other 2 days per week. In one 8-week course, this includes 2 weeks in a rural primary care practice. In Phase 3 of the Program (final 2 years), almost all teaching is conducted in hospitals which are located in Sydney and elsewhere in New South Wales, including rural locations. In all three Phases of the Program, students are required to travel to various clinical environments associated with UNSW. These will be the predominant locations for learning in Phases 2 and 3, and will include at least 8 weeks in a non-metropolitan setting and for a quarter of the local students will include between one and two academic years in a non-metropolitan setting in Phase 3.

In Phase 1 clinical learning, the focus is to understand the impact of illness on the patient and develop skills for gathering information, using both medical history taking and physical examination for clinical problem solving.

In Phase 2, students will have the opportunity to assess patients with common clinical problems. Each week will focus on a different clinical problem allowing students to see patients with a variety of medical conditions. Students will be able to refine their clinical skills and apply these skills and knowledge of disease processes in determining a patient’s diagnosis.

Phase 3 embraces the principles of what is commonly referred to as ‘clinical clerkship’. Students will have opportunities to take responsibility for tasks in real units of work as part of a health-care team and under appropriate supervision. Through these experiences, students should develop an understanding and approach to working with patients and other health care workers in managing patients’ illnesses.

The Teaching Hospitals

The main hospitals located in Sydney which are used for clinical teaching are:

The main hospitals located outside of Sydney and in rural New South Wales and Victoria which are used for clinical teaching are:

It is expected that students who gain entry via the Rural Student Entry Scheme will be allocated to a rural hospital and undertake between half and all of their final 2 years in rural hospitals. Other local students may have the option or be required to undertake at least 12 months and up to 2 years of studies in rural hospitals. International students are not usually given this option of undertaking an extended placement in rural hospitals. However, all students should expect at least 8 weeks in a rural rotation.

Students who are allocated to a rural hospital currently have as their home hospital Wagga Wagga, Albury, Coffs Harbour or Port Macquarie. Such students are also required to undertake some terms or part of terms in hospitals or health care facilities other than their home hospital. Wollongong Hospital is also being developed as a teaching hospital.

The Faculty will always consider the personal preferences of students in their allocation to home hospitals and to other hospitals on rotation. However, the Faculty reserves the right to allocate students to hospitals that are not their first preference in order to ensure that students receive the highest possible quality of teaching. Students considering applying for entry into UNSW Medicine must take this into consideration and be willing to undertake their training in a range of hospital and health care facilities. For further information please refer to the Faculty’s Policy on Allocation of Students to Clinical Environments.