Doctor of Medicine

Medicine is potentially one of the most exciting and challenging of all professions. A Doctor of Medicine aims to produce knowledgeable, caring and competent graduates, well prepared to practise medicine under supervision as interns, and subsequently to commence vocational training in any area of medicine. UOW's Graduate School of Medicine offers a four-year program of study to high performing graduates. We encourage applications from high performing students from a diverse range of backgrounds. No preference is given to any particular undergraduate degree.

Course structure

The UOW MD course is a four-year program, with each academic year being approximately 42 weeks in length. In Phase 1, students participate in approximately 25 hours of structured and an additional 20–30 hours of self-directed teaching and learning experiences each week. As the course progresses and the clinical exposure increases, the face-to-face requirement resembles fulltime clinical work.

Participation in scheduled small-group learning activities, clinical skills laboratories, anatomy laboratories and clinical placements are an integral part of each student’s learning. As the course progresses there is increasing reliance on online delivery of the structured learning activities that complement learning experiences in the clinical environment.

The Curriculum Phases

The curriculum is divided into four consecutive phases, each phase involving a progressive increase in the depth of study and skills acquisition in Clinical Competencies, underpinning Medical Sciences, Personal & Professional Development, and Research & Critical Analysis skills.

At the centre of the four-year curriculum are 93 clinical presentations (e.g. headache). For each of these core clinical presentations there are many possible diagnoses that reflect the range of conditions likely to be seen by a newly-qualified doctor. Students will make increasing use of these problems as a “blueprint” to guide the range and depth of learning they need to achieve by the end of the MD. They are introduced to the students via Case-Based Learning (see below), which forms the core of the curriculum.

• Medical Sciences.The Medical Sciences component of the course underpins the clinical problems. All science learning and teaching is integrated with clinical medicine. Rather than having separate “subjects” such as anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, population health or behavioural science, these content areas are woven into the clinical presentations that are the focus of the course delivery within each week or fortnight-long component of the degree.
• Clinical Competencies.From the very start of the course students develop their abilities in listening to patients, in examining them, in reaching a diagnosis, in formulating a treatment plan and in being able to perform a range of procedures. In addition, students become more aware of the interpersonal skills and professional behaviours needed to work as a member of a health care team. A graduated approach to learning clinical and communication skills is complemented by the use of volunteer patients, trained actors, and a range of models for practicing procedural skills, moving on to clinical interaction with the wider medical community as the program progresses.
• Personal and Professional Development.The course includes a significant focus on the interaction between personal development and professional functioning, with structured assessable learning activities designed to foster reflective practice, commitment to life-long learning, and aid understanding of ethical, scientific and philosophical principles underlying the practice of medicine. These activities include the development of a relationship with a mentor who becomes a consistent figure in each student’s professional development. The Personal and Professional Development curriculum is informed by research evidence, and the program itself carefully evaluated.
• Research and Critical Analysis.This part of the course helps students develop the knowledge and skills to conduct research, evaluate evidence and use it as the basis for their practice of Medicine.

• An Australian University listed in the National Register of higher education providers at the TEQSA National Register
• Or an equivalent overseas Bachelor qualification from an institution that is recognised under the framework and guidelines set by the Australian Department of Education and Training Qualifications Recognition Policy Unit (previously AEI-NOOSR).
• Level of English is required to gain admission. IELTS Academic 7.0, TOEFL (Internet-based) - 100.
• All students are required to pay  Overseas Student Health Cover for the duration of their student visa.  OSHC provides for medical and hospital cover for students and their dependants.Our preferred OSHC provider is BUPA. 
• All applicants will be required to submit either certified copies or original transcripts of their most recent Bachelor's degree with their application. The GPA is calculated using all subjects taken within the last three full time equivalent years of the most recent undergraduate degree.
• International applicants sitting the Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admission Test (GAMSAT), GAMSAT (UK and Ireland) need to have gained a minimum score of 50 for each of the three sections and an overall minimum score of 50 to be eligible to apply.
• International applicants that use MCAT must have gained a minimum overall score of 24 or 500 in the MCAT.
• All applicants will be required to prepare a portfolio to be submitted to UOW GSM. For the application round for 2017 entry, please ensure the correct application form (BLUE in colour) has been downloaded and submitted
• The interview for international students will take the form of a semi-structured panel-style interview process and will take place using the best available technology at various locations depending on the applicant pool. Interviews for 2017 entry are scheduled to occur from February to September 2016.
• An international student who is granted Permanent Resident (or New Zealand Citizen) status after an offer is made may be ineligible for a place at the GSM and may be excluded from the program.

Student Services and Amenities Fee

The SAF is a compulsory charge, introduced following changes to Australian Government legislation, which funds improvements to facilities for students across a broad range of service areas, such as subsidised food outlets, childcare, student advocacy as well as sporting, recreational and cultural activities. 

All international students enrolled at UOW will be invoiced twice yearly for the amount determined each year.  The SAF 2016 fee is: 

• Wollongong campus $290.00 per year
• Sydney campus $145.00 per year
• Wollongong Innovation Campus $145.00 per year
• Other campuses in Australia $145.00 per year

Living Expenses

In addition to tuition fees, a single student living in Wollongong will require $10,000 to  $12,000 a year – depending on lifestyle – to cover accommodation, food, transport and other expenses including text books and study materials and entertainment.