UWA Handbook 2025

Unit Overview

Description

The Global MD program is based around six themes of Professional, Leader, Advocate, Clinician, Educator and Scholar. This unit provides teaching in all these themes within the clinical attachments and related teaching in Year 4 of the Global MD course. This includes four-week duration clinical placements in emergency medicine and neurology. Students also undertake a four-week placement as a sub-Intern in an area of Primary Care medicine of their choosing as well as 4-weeks of discretionary time to prepare and take the USMLE Step 2 examination. In addition, students have eight -weeks of elective rotations during which they will conduct Residency interviews and application processes for their intended graduate-level training (Residencies are the U.S. equivalent of Internships in Australia). Students undertake clinical care of patients under the supervision of experienced clinicians in a real clinical environment including ward rounds, operating theatre experience, outpatient clinics, emergency department attachments, community practices and other clinical encounters. Students engage in small group learning sessions to discuss evidence-based practice in related clinical disciplines in hospital and community health contexts. Students are expected to apply the knowledge, skills and professional attitudes gained in context within these clinical rotations

Credit

18 points

Offering

Availability	Location	Mode
Not available in 2025	UWA (Perth)	Face to face

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) display professional behaviour in the educational and clinical settings, discuss challenges to professionalism in specified clinical disciplines, and reflect on and manage professional behaviours in the clinical setting; display caring, compassionate and empathic behaviours with patients/carers/families and communicate professionally, respectfully, courteously and effectively with patients, carers, families and other health professionals; display critical and insightful self-awareness of own personal values, well-being, personal difficulties and professional performance; and implement effective management strategies when necessary; comply with medico-legal responsibilities, recognise and discuss complex ethical and legal issues in medical practice; and explain the legal and regulatory requirements of health professionals; (2) discuss the leadership and management roles of the doctor at the societal, community, organisational, team and personal levels; participate effectively in collaborative health teams involving other health professionals and patients/families/carers; discuss health politics, health policy development, the journey of the patient within the health system, system improvement methodologies, and career pathways and governance; (3) demonstrate advocacy for individual patients, groups, communities or populations; display culturally safe, comprehensive health care for patients and their carers/families/communities; display sensitive and individualised health care for patients taking into account diverse socio-cultural backgrounds and factors contributing to health inequalities; and discuss and plan health maintenance, promotion, and prevention interventions with patients and colleague; (4) integrate knowledge of the classification, epidemiology, aetiology, anatomy, pathophysiology, clinical and pathological manifestations, natural history, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies with core presentations and medical conditions; perform an accurate, relevant, timely and prioritised patient assessment; apply justifiable diagnostic reasoning strategies to formulate a relevant and prioritized differential diagnosis and diagnostic strategy for core presentations and medical conditions; demonstrate an ability to prioritise management of illness and injury in partnership with patient/carers/families and other health professionals; select and use therapies under supervision applying their evidence base to individual patients; and perform specified procedural skills appropriately, safely and effectively; assess and respect the patient's values, preferences, context, perspectives and impacts of their health and health problems, and involve and inform the patient/carers/families during the decision-making and management process; contribute professional knowledge, skills and resources within the clinical team to enhance patient care; and apply a quality framework to medical practice; (5) demonstrate critical self-reflection skills as a learner and capacity for life-long learning; discuss and apply effective approaches to developing mentoring and support relationships; plan and implement education for patients/carers/families based on the principles of patient education and counselling; implement teaching sessions that are guided by the principles of effective teaching and learning; display a commitment to continued improvement of clinical performance; display effective self- assessment skills, seek and effectively respond to constructive feedback, provide constructive feedback to others, and evaluate different assessment methods and strategies; and (6) Apply research-based knowledge from medical sciences as the basis for clinical practice; apply evidence-based practice strategies and tools to specified core medical conditions and presentations and clinical practice; use clinical information and support systems and resources in a relevant, effective and professional manner.

Assessment

Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) in-semester assessment; (2) end of semester assessment; and (3) professional behaviour assessment. Further information is available in the unit outline.

To pass this unit, a student must: (a) achieve an overall mark of 50 per cent or higher for the unit; and (b) achieve the requisite requirements(s) or a mark of 50 per cent or greater, whichever is higher and specified in the unit outline, for the professional behaviour assessment component.

Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Unit Coordinator(s)

UWA GMD TBC and Dr George Fantry

Unit rules

Prerequisites

Enrolment in

92850 Doctor of Medicine (Global)

and Successful completion of

GMED5601 Medical Practice 2

Co-requisites

GMED5702 Scholarly Activity 2

Approved quota: 105—selection for the Global MD will be overseen with the Medical School's Medicine and Dentistry Admission and Selection Committee and be consistent with the approved and advertised selection processes for the standard UWA MD (course code 91850).

Contact hours

30-40 hours per week of clinical contact