Building on the foundation laid in our Bachelor of Medical Studies, the Doctor of Medicine will complete your training as a practice-ready doctor.

The Medical program at the University of Adelaide has a six-year full-time duration which leads to the awards of Bachelor of Medical Studies and Doctor of Medicine. Entry to the Doctor of Medicine is based on completion of the Bachelor of Medical Studies at the University of Adelaide.

What will you do?

This masters-level degree has a dual emphasis on high-level clinical and research skills.

You will undertake multiple placements in diverse settings, including primary care, rural hospitals, outreach clinics and more. And you’ll be encouraged to broaden your horizons by doing at least one placement interstate and/or overseas.

You’ll do internship rotations in medicine, emergency medicine, surgery and psychiatry, and have the opportunity to explore a discipline of particular interest in greater depth.

In the area of research, you’ll conduct two key projects in consultation with world-class University of Adelaide researchers: a minor project in year one, and major in year three.

You’ll graduate with the knowledge, skills and insight to:

• Formulate and implement patients’ health management plans in consultation with other health professionals, patients, carers and communities
• promote and optimise individuals’ and populations’ health and welfare
• deliver safe, effective, collaborative and evidence-based health care.

You will also have a solid grounding in the non-clinical aspects of a medical career, such as practice management, entrepreneurship and working with industry. And you’ll have a firm grasp of medicine’s future, including the exciting possibilities of AI, gene therapy and personalised medicine.

Where could it take you?

Upon graduation you will have the confidence and capability to enhance health and wellbeing anywhere in the world. You could join a thriving metropolitan GP clinic. You might strengthen a busy regional hospital’s consulting team. Perhaps you’ll help close the health gap in Indigenous communities.

The Bachelor of Medical Studies and Doctor of Medicine is an integrated program. Combined, these degrees will equip you with the knowledge, skills and attributes that will enable you to practice as a medical doctor safely and effectively. Throughout all six years, there is a strong emphasis on scenario-based learning, evidence-based decision making and professional practice. You will learn in South Australia’s premier health education precinct, the Adelaide BioMed City, situated next door to the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. You will be part of the eco-system of education, research and clinical care working together to create better health outcomes for individuals and communities.

You will practice and refine your skills in our world-leading simulation facilities, the only simulation facilities in Australasia with accreditation by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare for excellence in learning and teaching. You will be taught by practising clinicians who are leaders in their field and learn from the best of the best.

Whilst you get clinical experience throughout the early years of the medical program, the final three years under the Doctor of Medicine are structured to ensure you are ready for the workforce and ready to practice as a medical doctor.

The Doctor of Medicine utilises situated learning during supervised clinical placements and parallel consulting to facilitate the development of clinical skills in history taking, physical examination, advanced communication, clinical diagnostic reasoning, patient consultation, and management. These clinical placements will occur across a range of primary care, rural, community-based, outreach, allied health, research institutes, regional and tertiary hospital settings, where you are an integral member of the health care team.

Building on what started in the Bachelor of Medical Studies, in year 4 you will continue to build your research skills, but a major focus will be the commencement of the full-time clinical placement.

In year 5, you will have the opportunity to choose from continuing to undertake a full-time clinical placement in Adelaide or undertake an extended longitudinal rural placement based in one of our six rural clinical sites.

In year 6, you will undertake a nine-week research placement and nine-weeks of elective professional placements. During the professional placement, you will have the option to choose the discipline of medicine most appealing—this placement may be undertaken locally, interstate or overseas.

Upon completion of the medical degree, graduates are required to apply for provisional registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Provisional registration is required to undertake a 12 month internship which provides supervised clinical experience in an approved hospital.

After successful completion of the internship, graduates are eligible to apply to AHPRA for general registration, allowing them to practise in Australia and New Zealand.

Internships are separate from the medical degree and the University of Adelaide does not facilitate internship placements. It is current practice that SA Health guarantees an intern placement for South Australian commonwealth-supported medical graduates. International medical graduates may need to complete an intern placement in their home country. Further information regarding internship allocations can be found on the SA Health Careers  and SA Medical Education and Training  website.

Adelaide Medical School graduates are well regarded in the industry for their knowledge and experience, and are in demand for positions in public hospitals, private practice, public health, teaching, clinical research, aid organisations, the defence forces and more. The full, wide range of medical career paths and options become apparent as students’ progress through the degree.

The University of Adelaide Careers Service prepares, inspires and empowers students to achieve successful career transitions and connect with industry.

Industry Placement

In years 4 to 6 of the medical program, which make-up the Doctor of Medicine, you will undertake full-time clinical placement in primary care, major hospitals and in rural South Australia. Year 4 placements will focus on general medicine and surgery, mental health, musculoskeletal, cancer and palliative care. Year 5 placements will focus on child health, obstetrics and gynaecology, general practice, geriatrics, anaesthesia, and you will have the opportunity to work in settings focused on Indigenous or disadvantaged people. Year 6 provides a comprehensive preparation for internship. You will rotate placements in surgery, medicine, psychiatry and emergency medicine. In the final year of the program you will also have an opportunity to explore an area of interest in greater depth with a nine-week placement locally, interstate or overseas and undertake a scholarly research project.

Students who undertake clinical placements, internships and research projects involving children, or people who are ill, elderly or vulnerable, must obtain the following clearances before attending clinical placement:
 

• AHPRA student registration (undertaken on the student's behalf)
• criminal history clearance and a national police clearance
• immunisation 
• prescribed communicable infections screening
• tuberculosis screening.

Please see the clinical placements page for more information. Students who do not meet the above requirements are at risk of not completing the degree, as placements are a compulsory component of the degree. For further information, visit: Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.

Professional Accreditation

The Bachelor of Medical Studies and Doctor of Medicine have been accredited under the existing accreditation of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery by the Australian Medical Council (AMC).

Potential careers

Graduates of this program have gone on to roles such as:

Medical Researcher;  Medical Scientist;  Physiologist;  Coroner;  Psychiatrist;  Immunologist;  Doctor / Medical Practitioner;  Surgeon

Bachelor of Dental Surgery or equivalent.

IELTS - Overall 7.0 (Reading 7, Listening 7, Speaking 7, Writing 7), TOEFL - Overall 94 (Reading 24, Listening 24, Speaking 23, Writing 27), Pearsons - Overall 65 (Reading 65, Listening 65, Speaking 65, Writing 65), C1 Advanced - Overall 185 (Reading 185, Listening 185, Speaking 185, Writing 185).