UWA Handbook 2025

Unit Overview

Description

Parts 1 and 2 must be completed to fulfil the requirements of the unit.

The Doctor of Medicine (MD) course is based around six themes of Professional, Leader, Advocate, Clinician, Educator and Scholar. This unit provides teaching in all of these themes within the clinical attachments and related teaching in Year 4 of the MD course. This includes five-week duration clinical placements in emergency medicine, surgery, internal medicine, rural general practice, anaesthesia, cancer, palliative care and a placement where students are able to select a clinical placement to suit their interests (Selective). 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
(see Timetable)

Availability	Location	Mode
Non-standard teaching period	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 critical and insightful self-­awareness of own personal values, well-­being, personal difficulties and professional performance and implement effective management strategies when necessary; and 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; and contribute professional knowledge, skills and resources within the clinical team to enhance patient care; participate effectively in collaborative health teams involving other health professionals and patients/families/carers; and 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 secure, comprehensive health care for Aboriginal people and their carers/families/communities; display sensitive and individualized 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 colleagues; (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; and apply logical clinical judgement and decision-making in individual clinical situations; 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; 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; and apply a quality framework to medical practice and display a commitment to continued improvement of clinical performance; (5) demonstrate critical self-reflection skills as a learner a 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; and 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; and 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-training assessment during the clinical attachments including assignments, tutor ratings, structured clinical assessments, case presentations, quizzes and other portfolio based items; (2) an end of unit written examination; (3) end of unit OSCE; (4) professional behaviour assessment; (5) portfolio; and (6) procedural skills log. 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 in-training assessment during the clinical attachments including assignments, tutor ratings, structured clinical assessments, case presentations, quizzes and other portfolio based items, an end of unit written examination, end of unit OSCE, professional behaviour assessment, portfolio, and procedural skills log components.

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

Unit Coordinator(s)

Professor Neil Boudville

Unit rules

Prerequisites

IMED5311 Integrated Medical Practice 2 Part A (ID 4770)
and IMED5312 Integrated Medical Practice 2 Part B (ID 4771)
or RMED5311 Integrated Rural Medical Practice 1 (ID 4648)
and RMED5321 Integrated Rural Medical Practice 2 (ID 4650)

Approved quota: 240—210 domestic and 30 international

Contact hours

up to 40 hours/week

Note

In order to pass the unit, students are required to achieve a pass in the unit overall, AND a pass in the combined written examinations, AND a pass in the in training assessment, AND a pass in the OSCE, AND a pass in the PBA, AND a pass in the portfolio component, AND a pass in the procedural skills log.