Integrated Clinical Practice - Semester 12

The final semester of the medical course consists of 3 five-week rotations in general practice, general medicine and general surgery. This has been designed as a pre-internship period, in which students will hone the knowledge and skills they will require as interns.

For the general practice rotation, students will be based within a practice in either a rural or urban region, and will attend three full-day release sessions for group learning on specific issues. In their practices, students will be well placed to participate in day-to-day patient care, assisting with a range of supervised activities including seeing patients, developing management plans, home visits and health promotion. General practice provides the ideal setting for students to apply their clinical knowledge, while learning about the specific elements of the discipline and functioning within a health care team.

The Department of General Practice accreditates practices for this rotation and offers training and guidance for all GP supervisors, as well as developing the curriculum for release days, log books and assessment tasks.

The semester ends with integrated clinical exams and submission of a logbook of clinical experience. GP supervisors will contribute to the assessment by providing a mark for their student, assessing their clinical skills, team work and professionalism.

Overall, this rotation provides students with an exciting culmination to the course and an opportunity to be involved in general practice just before launching into their professional career.