Key facts
Duration
4 years full-time.
The course is only available to students on a full-time basis.
This is a four-year graduate entry program for students who have already completed an undergraduate degree.
Locations
-
Key dates
Direct applications to Deakin University for Semester 1 2025 close 31 August 2024.
Current Deakin Students
To access your official course details for the year you started your degree, please visit the handbook
Course overview
Apply to the Doctor of Medicine and set yourself up for a range of rewarding careers, from general practice to pathology, paediatrics to surgery. The course has a unique focus on rural and regional medicine, Indigenous Health and patient-centred communication skills.
Want a medicine degree that enables you to enhance community health and wellbeing?
Deakin’s Doctor of Medicine takes you beyond the classroom to work with patients all across Victoria and beyond. You’ll learn how medicine is practised in rural areas, while building valuable relationships that kick start career growth once you graduate.
The course shines a light on Indigenous Health, and will help you broaden your perspective of clinical medicine to encompass public health, legal and ethical perspectives. Your study experience will allow you to advance the health and wellbeing of communities in Australia and beyond.
Be part of a community of learners who support each other as you grow your knowledge and capabilities. Be confident in the support provided by the School, as you learn in an environment where a culture of diversity, inclusiveness, respect and social accountability is built, together.
Start your journey at our Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus, home to our $53 million purpose-built facilities. These facilities provide the ideal training ground for problem-based learning – a key theme of medicine at Deakin. You’ll learn to solve the kinds of problems you will face in your future career, while developing your confidence in foundational medical principles, clinical reasoning and the high-level communication skills necessary for excellent patient-centred care.
Off campus, you will build real-world clinical experience through placements in a range of medical settings, from hospitals and general practices to community healthcare centres in the Geelong region. In your third and fourth years, you will have the opportunity to preference one of four clinical schools for training:
- Barwon Health (Geelong)
- Eastern Health (Melbourne)
- Ballarat
- Warrnambool
In addition, the Rural Community Clinical School is available in your third year, giving you the option of parallel consulting in smaller rural and regional towns. The clinical placement component of the course provides at least four weeks of dedicated rural attachment, meeting your Commonwealth Department of Health requirements and further enhancing your practical experience in regional areas.
Interested in gaining a global perspective of medicine? Your fourth and final year includes an elective unit that you can study overseas, as well as a pre-internship hospital rotation that offers a first-hand taste of the day-to-day life of an intern. You will also develop your skills in research design and data analysis, to equip you for career progression and lifelong learning as a medical practitioner.
Read MoreCourse information
- Award granted
- Doctor of Medicine
- Year
2024 course information
- Deakin code
- H911
- CRICOS code?
- 096842G Waurn Ponds (Geelong)
- Level
- Higher Degree Coursework (Masters and Doctorates)
- Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition
The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9.
Course structure
The first two years of the Doctor of Medicine include face-to-face learning activities at Waurn Ponds (Geelong). In years one and two, students learn in simulated clinical environments and dedicated medical sciences teaching spaces, along with small group learning sessions. Teaching activities will be conducted both online and face-to-face. Students will also be exposed to clinical experiences from early in the course, through placements with healthcare providers.
During years three and four students will undergo intensive clinical training within health services attached to one of our clinical schools: the Rural Community Clinical School, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Geelong or Eastern Health. Students will conduct their learning in the clinical environment, guided by experienced staff associated with the clinical schools.
To complete the Doctor of Medicine students must attain 32 credit points. All units are core units (these are compulsory). Students must pass all units including all components of units in the course. Assessments will involve a range of written and performative tasks and are structured to progress across the units of the course.
All students are also required to complete
Students in the Doctor of Medicine may also enrol in an optional Extracurricular Research Program.
The course is only available on a full-time basis.
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.
Units
Year 1 - Semester 1
Year 1 - Semester 2
Year 2 - Semester 1
Year 2 - Semester 2
Year 3 - Semester 1
Year 3 - Semester 2
Year 4 - Semester 1
Year 4 - Semester 2
Optional Elective Unit
^Corequisite unit: HME911
Intakes by location
The first two years will be undertaken at the Waurn Ponds campus (Geelong) for General Entry Stream students, or either Ararat or Warrnambool for Rural Training Stream students. Years 3 & 4 will be undertaken at one of our clinical schools.
Semester 1 - January
- Start date: January
- Available at:
Mandatory student checks
All students are required to undertake a Police Record Check and Working with Children Check at the commencement of their course. Students who fail to do so prior to the commencement of clinical placement will not be able to undertake clinical placement and this will impede progress in the course.
Students are also required to declare their immunisation status to satisfy the requirements of health organisations where they will be undertaking their clinical learning experience. A health organisation may refuse to accept a student for placement if the student’s immunisation status is not satisfactory to the health organisation.
The School will provide commencing students with specific information on their compliance requirements.
Workload
As a student in the Doctor of Medicine program, you can expect to participate in a range of teaching activities each week. This could include lectures, seminars, small group learning activities, workshops, online interaction, and clinical placements. You can refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information. You will also need to study and complete assessment tasks in your own time.
All four years of the Doctor of Medicine require a full-time commitment, with a substantive load of required learning activities and study time. The School endeavours to provide timetables in advance of each semester to enable students to coordinate any work, caring, health or other requirements.
Participation requirements
There are extensive clinical placements throughout the course – see individual unit descriptions for full details. Years three and four require students to undertake placements most days of the week for the full year.
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.
Entry requirements
Selection is based on a holistic consideration of your academic merit, work experience, likelihood of success, availability of places, participation requirements, regulatory requirements, and individual circumstances. You will need to meet the minimum academic and English language proficiency requirements to be considered for selection, but this does not guarantee admission.
Academic requirements
To be considered for admission to this degree you will need to meet the following criteria based on the type of applicant you are:
International applicants
International applicants apply through the Deakin University Applicant Portal, and are selected on the basis of the following factors:
- academic performance in an approved bachelor, honours, graduate certificate, graduate diploma or masters by coursework*. A final GPA (weighted) of 5.0 or greater. The GPA is calculated on the most recent three full-time- equivalent years (FTE) of study
- performance in the GAMSAT or MCAT^
GAMSAT: a minimum score of 50 in each of the three sections of the Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admission Test (GAMSAT), and an overall score of 50 or greater. The GAMSAT score must be obtained within four years of your application. For GAMSAT information including test dates, visit the GAMSAT website.
MCAT: a score of 125 or greater in each of the four sections of the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). The MCAT score must be obtained within four years of your application. For MCAT information including test dates, visit the MCAT website. - performance in an interview~
Please note: As a minimum requirement, applicants must hold a completed bachelor degree (with a minimum weighted GPA of 5.0) or be in the final year of a bachelor degree (scheduled for completion by 31 December in the year of application) to be considered for selection.
Applicants are allocated an aggregate score comprising: their GPA; their GAMSAT or MCAT score^; including an adjustment factor for Deakin Graduates. ##
Applicants are then:
- ranked on the basis of their aggregate score
- selected for interview based on their ranked order. Following the interview, a final aggregate score is calculated as follows:
Final aggregate = (GPA (25%) + GAMSAT/MCAT (25%) + adjustments if applicable) + interview score~ (50%)
Offers will be made to applicants based on rank order and the number of places available.
Notes:
*Degree must have been awarded within 10 years of the projected commencement date of the Doctor of Medicine.
Applicants whose degree was completed outside this 10 year period may be considered if they have completed the equivalent of one half year of approved tertiary study (0.5 FTE) at Australian Qualifications Framework level 8 or higher at an institution recognised by the Australian Qualifications Framework (or equivalent overseas institution determined by Deakin) and completed by 31 July in the year of application.
It must also be completed within the 10 years of commencement date of the course.
^ GAMSAT or MCAT score must be obtained within four years preceding the year of application.
##There is no cap on the number of additional points that can be awarded to eligible applicants.
~Score based on performance at the interview in which applicants must achieve a minimum overall score of 50%
Interview Process
Invitations to interview will be made to applicants based on a combination of their GAMSAT/MCAT and GPA scores (50:50). If your application has been assessed as meeting the entry requirements it will be placed into a pool of eligible candidates. Your application will be considered in the next available offer round and if successful you will be notified then. Offer rounds will continue until all places in the course are filled.
Applications must be lodged four weeks prior to an Interview Round. Applications received after the Interview Round cut-off will be considered in the next available round.
Interview and offer rounds will be as follows:
- round 1 - week of 18 March 2024
Applications close for round 1 - 19 February 2024
- round 2 - week of 17 June 2024
Applications close for round 2 - 20 May 2024
- round 3 - week of 14 October 2024
Applications close for round 3 - 31 August 2024
Interviews are conducted by a panel, using a structured format.
Please note that feedback will not be provided to applicants after interview.
English language proficiency requirements
To meet the English language proficiency requirements of this course, you will need to demonstrate at least one of the following:
- bachelor degree from a recognised English-speaking country
- IELTS overall score of 7.0 (with no band score less than 7.0) in each component of test
- other evidence of English language proficiency (learn more about other ways to satisfy the requirements)
Non-academic requirements
Guidelines for applicants and students with a disability
Deakin University and the School of Medicine seeks to provide an inclusive and supportive environment for all students, including those with a disability. The School encourages potential applicants who have a disability or ongoing health condition to reach out for a confidential and constructive discussion regarding the requirements of the course and the potential for reasonable accommodations. The Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand have provided guidelines for medical students and applicants with a disability.
Admissions information
Learn more about Deakin courses and how we compare to other universities when it comes to the quality of our teaching and learning.
Recognition of prior learning
Recognition of prior learning will not be granted for this course.
Fees and scholarships
Fee information
Learn more about fees and your options for paying.
The 'Estimated tuition fee' is provided as a guide only based on a typical enrolment of students completing the first year of this course. The cost will vary depending on the units you choose, your study load, the length of your course and any approved Recognition of prior learning.
One year full-time study load is typically represented by eight credit points of study. Each unit you enrol in has a credit point value. The 'Estimated tuition fee' is calculated by adding together eight credit points of a typical combination of units for your course.
You can find the credit point value of each unit under the Unit Description by searching for the unit in the Handbook.
Important information: If you are an International student you need to be aware the Australian Government caps Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP) for the Doctor of Medicine. This means if you are enrolled in this course and transfer from a student visa or other temporary visa to a permanent visa, you are unlikely to receive a CSP place. You would however be eligible for a full fee-paying domestic place.
Learn more about tuition fees.
Scholarship options
A Deakin scholarship might change your life. If you've got something special to offer Deakin – or you just need the financial help to get you here – we may have a scholarship opportunity for you.
Apply now
COVID-19 has disrupted the studies of many students. As a result, the School of Medicine has made changes to the selection process for the Doctor of Medicine to avoid any advantages or disadvantages to applicants.
For information on how to apply, please see International student applications.
Entry pathways
Alternative exits
- Master of Health and Medical Sciences (H720)
Careers
Career outcomes
Deakin’s medicine graduates perform extremely well in terms of employment outcomes
In order to qualify as registered medical practitioners with the Australian Medical Council (AMC), these graduates are currently undertaking accredited internships at a number of Victorian and interstate hospitals.
Following successful completion of their intern year, our graduates will be able to apply for entry to speciality training programs for a diverse range of medical careers.
Employment after graduation
International students who graduate from Australian Medical Schools are subject to an Australian Government-imposed 10-year moratorium. The 10 Year Moratorium applies to any international graduate (i.e. those trained domestically) for a period of ten years from the date of their first medical registration in Australia. Any person under the 10 Year Moratorium cannot apply for a Medicare provider number unless they work in an area that is deemed to be located in a rural or remote area where the population has less access to Medicare subsidised services when compared to the national average.
Professional recognition
The Doctor of Medicine is accredited with the Australian Medical Council. Graduates are granted provisional registration as a Medical Practitioner in Australia and New Zealand, and are eligible to undertake paid work as an Intern to become eligible for full registration. International graduates of an Australian course are not guaranteed an Internship position, but in most years the majority of those seeking an Internship are offered a position within Australia.
Following successful completion of their intern year, our graduates will be able to apply for entry to speciality training programs for a diverse range of medical careers including the specialty of General Practice or the emerging Rural Generalist program.
Course learning outcomes
Deakin's graduate learning outcomes describe the knowledge and capabilities graduates can demonstrate at the completion of their course. These outcomes mean that regardless of the Deakin course you undertake, you can rest assured your degree will teach you the skills and professional attributes that employers value. They'll set you up to learn and work effectively in the future.
| Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Diagnose and manage clinical conditions, and carry out practical procedures to provide safe patient care. |
| Communication | Select appropriate communication modes to share complex knowledge and concepts with patients, carers, colleagues and communities |
| Digital literacy | Use digital technology responsibly to enhance medical practice. |
| Critical thinking | Critically appraise and apply knowledge to problem solve and make sound professional and patient care decisions. |
| Problem solving | Formulate healthcare solutions using research skills to evaluate, interpret and implement evidence based practice. |
| Self-management | Demonstrate professional obligation and responsibility to patients, the profession and self as work ready doctors; and show a life-long commitment to reflective learning through practice, research and teaching. |
| Teamwork | Demonstrate collaborative practice within a health care team to provide safe, high quality medical care. |
| Global citizenship | Prioritise prevention and implement holistic approaches to enhance the health and well-being of individuals, communities and populations; advocate for public health and demonstrate a commitment to advancing the health and well-being of rural, remote, Indigenous and marginalised individuals and communities. |
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Doctor of Medicine at Deakin
Deakin doctors graduate with a focus on rural and regional health.