Doctor of Medicine (MD)

This program is currently under review by the Higher Degree Committee of the Faculty with particular reference to new enrolments.

The reasons for review are:
1. its lack of distinction from the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with respect to progression and examination requirements,
2. the potential for confusion with overseas medical degrees eg MD in the USA (equivalent to the MBBS program), and
3. the steadily declining rate of enrolments into this program (current MD by thesis enrolments are 2.4% of the total higher degree enrolments in the Faculty).

From April 2009, all applications for admissions into this program will be assessed by the Higher Degree Committee; in the absence of a strong case for the MD by thesis, the Higher Degree Committee reserves the right to recommend enrolment into a PhD program.

The degree of Doctor of Medicine by published work may be awarded by the Council on the recommendation of the Higher Degree Committee of the Faculty of Medicine (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) to a candidate who has made an original and meritorious contribution to some branch of medicine.

Qualification
A candidate for the degree shall:
1. hold the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of New South Wales of at least five years standing; or
2. hold the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery or a qualification considered equivalent from a university other than the University of New South Wales with at least five years’ standing and have been associated with the University of New South Wales or one of its teaching hospitals for a period of at least four years.

Enrolment and Progression
A candidate for the degree on the basis of published work shall lodge with the Registrar an application together with:
1. four copies (if possible) of the published work;
2. any additional work, published or unpublished, that a candidate may wish to submit in support of the application;
3. a declaration indicating those sections of the work, if any, that have been submitted previously for a university degree or other similar award.
   

Every candidate in submitting published work and such unpublished work as is deemed appropriate shall submit a short discourse. In preparing the accompanying discourse, candidates are reminded that they need to emphasise
• their individual role in any collaborative work, including hypothesis generation, design and execution of experiments, supervision of others doing experiments, analysis of results, and contribution to meetings of the research team,
• the ways in which the work relates to a central theme or themes,
• the significance of the work, both at the time of initial publication and subsequently, and
• the evidence of impact of their work on the field using measures such as h-index, the number of citations of their publications and/or other relevant indices

Examination
• There shall normally be three examiners of the work, appointed by the Committee, at least two of whom shall be external to the University.
• Before the work is submitted to the examiners the head of the appropriate school shall certify that it is prima facie worthy of examination.
• At the conclusion of the examination each examiner shall submit a concise report to the Committee on the merits of the published work and a recommendation as to whether the degree should be awarded. The examiners may require the candidate to answer orally or in writing any questions concerning the work.

Fees
A candidate shall be required to pay such fees as may be determined from time to time by the Council.


* In these rules, the term ‘published work’ shall mean printed as a book or in a periodical or as a pamphlet readily available to the public. The purpose of requiring publication is to ensure that the work submitted has been available for criticism.
The examiners may disregard any of the work submitted if, in their opinion, it has not been available for criticism.