About Medicine at UWS

The UWS School of Medicine accepted its first intake of students in 2007, after being accredited by the Australian Medical Council in 2006. It achieved federal government funding and state government support in 2004 as a means of addressing the emerging medical workforce shortage in Greater Western Sydney (GWS) and to improve retention of doctors in the area.

It offers a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree and is active in research at all levels.

The school is based at the University’s Campbelltown campus, an area being developed as a focal point for the teaching and research of health sciences and medicine at UWS. Clinical schools exist at Campbelltown and Blacktown Hospitals and will provide an introduction to clinical medicine for students in years 1 and 2 and clinical placements through years 3-5.

Greater Western Sydney

Greater Western Sydney has a population of 1.85 million people and is the second fastest growing population in Australia. It comprises 14 local government areas with a combined economic output totalling $54 billion per year – making it the third largest economy in Australia. It is also regarded as a being a particularly diverse and multicultural region of the country.

The GWS region is regarded as being critically under served by GPs and medical specialists and it is hoped the establishment of a medical school in the area will go some ways toward addressing the problem.

Campbelltown Campus
Campbelltown offers a unique balance between city and rural lifestyles. About one hour by road or train from the Sydney CBD, it is a city set in a landscape of rolling hills and farms. There are a number of historic buildings from the Colonial era around town and the surrounding district.
The diverse multicultural population of 150 000 residents includes many people from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Recreational activities abound with venues for golf, swimming, tennis, horse riding and fascinating walks in the nearby Mt Annan Botanic Garden – Australia’s largest botanic garden, with an abundance of birdlife and Australia’s native plant species.

Campbelltown campus is located in Narellan Road, Campbelltown. The 166-hectare Campbelltown campus is a ten-minute walk from Macarthur railway station, and there is a bus service from Campbelltown station. By car the campus is accessible from the M5 motorway. Residences are available for students wishing to live on the campus itself, which is conveniently located close to Campbelltown hospital.

Law students can hone their skills in the Moot Court located on-campus. The court, a replica of the Campbelltown Local Court, provides students with a realistic training environment during their studies.

The campus it is a ten-minute walk from Macarthur railway station and there is bus service from Campbelltown station.

Macarthur Square Shopping Centre is located a convenient 7 minute walk away from the School of Medicine and boasts and extensive food court as well as numerous cafes and restaurants. Major stores include Woolworths, Coles, Target, David Jones, Myer and Dan Murphy's. Entertainment at Macarthur Square include a Bowling Alley and a large Cinema.

Accommodation

UWS Campbelltown Student Residences
The UWS School of Medicine is based at the Campbelltown Campus where on-campus accommodation is provided at Gunydji Student Residences. The residences are colloquially known as 'old res' and 'new res'; the 'old res' is the existing 120-person residence, whilst the 'new res' is the new 195-bed residence with a mix of studio, 3-bedroom and 5-bedroom apartments.

Students reside in townhouse-like units normally living with 4 other people. Each student has their own room and units include a common living room (with TV) and common kitchen. Students may opt for an ensuite room or share a bathroom between two to four other housemates. Shared bathrooms and common areas are professionally cleaned by the college.

The Residences include a common building which includes a pay TV room, a common functions room, a computer room (6 computers connected to the university network), a kitchen and toilets. The common function room includes two pool tables and a piano. There are two on-site laundry areas fitted with $1 pay per use washing machines, and $2 pay per use dryers. There is also a community BBQ and outdoor tables provided. Student residences have wireless internet access.

At any one time the residences are able to house 315 people, of which the brand-new residence contributes significantly to. In 2007, when the residence had a maximum capacity of 120 people, about 10% studied medicine; in 2008 this rose to a third of all (12 first years and 28 second years) residents. There are also a significant number of medical science, nursing, law, occupational therapy and economics students. There are some osteopathy and podiatry students – however these courses have been discontinued at UWS – some PhD students, and often about 10% of students are on international exchange.

Demand for rooms often outstrips supply, and students planning to stay on residences are recommended to apply at least before first round offers are released (optimally well before this). Preference for rooms is given first to international students, then interstate students and so on.

Number of Places

Altogether 130-150 places will be offered.
· ~120-135 places will be Commonwealth-Supported Places (CSP)
· ~15-20 places will be International student places
· Graduate International places will make up ~25% of the overall 15 places

Student Demographics

In 2007, 104 Students were enrolled in the first year of the new UWS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery course. Of these, 55% were female, 60% of students were residents of Greater Western Sydney and 11% of students were from interstate. About half of the students were school leavers with students who had completed or commenced an initial degree making up the rest of the cohort. The vast majority of students were aged between 18 and 24 (94%), 4% of students were aged 25-34 and 2% were aged over 35.

In 2008, the student intake increased to approximately 120 students, including 5 international students.
In 2009, the student intake increased to approximately 130 students, including approximately 15 international students.
In 2010, the student intake was approximately 120 students roughly 60% were female with 20 international students.
Roughly 10% of each intake will fail/dropout and repeat one or both of the clinical years.

Indigenous Students

The inaugural cohort contained 5 indigenous students and the school continues to aim to increase numbers. UWS recognises the need for a greater representation of indigenous students within the medical profession and is committed to maintaining Indigenous representation. Indigenous applicants are assessed on a case-by-case basis with key determinants being; a desire to study medicine and perceived ability to handle the academic stress of a medical course, as judged by the Dean and other UWS academics.

MBBS Course Structure

The UWS Medical degree is five years in duration. In the first two years, or pre-clinical years, the course is built around the PBL process; whilst in the final three years, or clinical years, the course is based in community and hospital settings within the GWS community.

In keeping with general trends across most medical schools of Australia, the course aims to integrate all aspects of the curriculum and actively encourage the practice of self-directed learning. As such, the basic sciences, clinical context and professional practice behind cases are brought together in a staged fashion to add relevance to student learning. As such, students are not taught subjects individually but in an integrated fashion under the banner of the Foundations of Medicine course.

At UWS much of the assessment in clinical years, as well as some of the assessment in preclinical years, is carried out in OSCE format; that is, an Objective Structured Clinical Examination. A wiki is available on the OSCE content at some of the past UWS OSCEs.

Year 1 and 2

In the first two years the course structure is built around a weekly PBL case with lectures and practicals supporting the case content. The PBL case is introduced on the Monday with students developing learning issues that are further complemented by lectures and practicals. Students are presented initially with a ‘trigger’ and later a ‘history’ and ‘clinical examination results’, as they progress through the 2 hour tutorial. Learning objectives are then generated and completed by students during the week as a part of self-directed learning. On the Friday, learning issues are presented in the PBL tutorials and aspects of the case are discussed. Investigation results may be presented and the tutorial concludes with a final clinical impression and closure. The UWS PBL system is explained in detail at this thread.

The course content is divided into two streams; Foundations of Medicine (SBM) and Personal Professional Development (PPD). The Foundations unit is designed to provide students with an understanding of the principles behind body function and, later, a more in-depth look at each of the body systems in turn. There are approximately 7 Foundations lectures each week, however, this ranges from 3-11 depending on the week’s specific timetable. There is a computer or lab practical most weeks, where attendance is compulsory. Foundations content is generally built around the topics to be covered in each week’s PBL but you will be expected to learn the content from PBL in much greater detail. All content taught or self learnt should be considered examinable in all exams unless specifically told otherwise.

PPD is designed to complement the Foundations aspect of the course. PPD is the non-science part of the course which is structured around the art of medicine, all of which is very examinable.
Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) is taught via tutes and assignments in the first and second year providing students with an insight into evidence based practice with elements of epidemiology, statistics and psychology. All of the above are integrated into the course and are taught alongside each other.

In addition, in pre-clinical years, students are exposed to the hospital environment by means of weekly clinical tutorials known as ICM tutorials (short for Introduction to Clinical Medicine). The content of these tutorials include history taking, physical examinations, and professional communication skills. An allocated registrar or consultant takes these classes which comprise of 6 students, for 1.5 hours each week. In keeping with the ideology of immersing UWS students in the clinical environment, this hospital environment experience is increased in Year 2, with an additional 2 hour session per week of CPS (Clinical Procedural Skills) tutorials. The content of these tutorials includes procedures such as taking blood pressures, taking bloods and learning Basic Life Support, as well as familiarisation with hospital equipment. The large focus on clinical experience during pre-clinical years helps students to become familiarised with the hospital environment, which can be daunting when one is then thrust into the full-time clinical years.

Year 3

In Year 3 Students will rotate between medicine, surgical, critical care and medicine in context attachments.

Medical and surgical attachments will be delivered within hospitals and will require students to become a part of the hospital ward team. This will include attendance at ward rounds and outpatient clinics, as well as self-directed learning of clinical skills. Medicine in context will involve two, six week attachments, each having a specific focus on a particular Greater Western Sydney health concern. Examples of these include: aged care, alcohol and drugs, children and youth, disability, housing and new communities, mental health, migrant health, public health, and women's health. These attachments will also include 1-2 days in a general practice setting.

During conference weeks, all students (regardless of current rotation) will return to the Campbelltown campus for a week-long series of lectures and workshops. These weeks will ensure consistency of teaching and provide a method for teaching subjects that would otherwise be difficult in a clinical setting (e.g. ENT, ophthalmology, dermatology etc).

Throughout the rest of years 3 to 5 online computer-based scientific streams will be conducted for students to work through at home, while they are partaking in associated clinical attachments. Each stream will take approximately 25 hours to complete and will aim to link together basic sciences, clinical medicine, and also population health.

As well as MCQ and SAQ exams, the scientific streams, and Mini-CEX, an EBM project, will also be a part of the assessment during year 3. An OSCE of approximately 8 stations will form a major part of the assessment in year 3.
Years 4

In year 4, students have started to develop their clinical skills and awareness of the provision of health-care within a hospital system. This year students will use these skills to broaden the scope of their medical and surgical knowledge. Rotations in year 4 include obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, mental health, oncology (and palliative care) and community research. These rotations allow students to consider the unique challenges encountered in caring for children, women, the unborn foetus, the mentally unwell, and those who are terminally ill. Community research provides students with an opportunity to consider the context in which healthcare is provided and the impact of disadvantage on health.

Assessment in year 4 is continuous, througout the year. OSCEs are taken at the end of the obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and mental health attachments. Students are also required to present cases, explore investigation and management, consult the literature, and expand their
repotoire of clinical skills. There are no written exams in year 4.

The elective

At the end of year four and in the beginning of year 5 students are provided with a long window to time to prepare and organise an elective in any area of medicine they may have taken an interest in. The minimum time spent in an elective is 5 weeks but students may elect to spend much more time than this if they choose (at the expense of their holidays).

Common themes for electives include the third world (Africa, India, South East Asia, and South America), Research (overseas or in Australia), or specialised areas of interest (e.g. Neurosurgery or Trauma medicine and surgery). Students may choose to do an elective in any area that takes their fancy, the only provision being that it be related in some way to medicine and that it be done not with the University of Western Sydney.

Year 5

Students in year 5 are in their final year of medicine and surgery and are aiming to consolidate the knowledge and skills they have learnt throughout their course and to develop the skills they will need to practice as an intern. As such final exams are mid-way through year 5 and include content from the entire course. The second half of year 5 is spent as in preinternship where students will gradually assume the role of an intern on the ward while still benefiting from heavy supervision and little responsibility.

Attachments in year 5 include general practice, indigenous health, and critical care (anaesthetics, intensive care, emergency medicine) as well as medical and surgical attachments.

Medicine at UWS

Hospitals and Clinical Schools

Pre-clinical years are taught at the Blacktown and Mount Druitt (BMD), and Campbelltown and Camden hospitals. Allocation to the hospitals are largely based on geographical location.
Clinical years are taught at BMD, Campbelltown, Camden, Lismore, Bathurst, and other urban hospitals. Negotiations are in place for sharing of larger hospitals, especially in Year 5.
Contact Details

Postal Address
School of Medicine
University of Western Sydney
Locked Bag 1797
Penrith South DC NSW 1797
Australia

School Enquiries
Email: medstudent@uws.edu.au

Course Enquiries
Australian Students
Tel: 1300 897 669
Fax: + 61 2 9678 7160
Course enquiries form

International Students
Tel: + 61 2 9852 5499
Fax: + 61 2 9685 9298
International course enquiries form

Manager of Medical School Admissions
Ms Lyndal McCulloch
Ph: (02) 9852 4630
Fax: (02) 9852 4630
Email: l.mcculloch@uws.edu.au

Student Support Officer, School of Medicine
Ms Penny Lee
Ph: (02) 9852 4632
Fax: (02) 9852 4700
Email: p.lee@uws.edu.au

Links

UWS Course Description
UWS SOM Website
UWS Medical Society

Questions?

If you have any questions about the application process for UWS that have not been answered feel free to ask questions in any of the many threads related to applications or start a new thread if your question hasn't been answered elsewhere.