Unique focus on rural and regional medicine
Learn how to make a difference to community health
Extensive clinical experience across a variety of settings
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
For General Entry students: a blended learning offering of online and on-campus based at Waurn Ponds Geelong
From 2024 onwards for Rural Training Stream (RTS) students: a blended learning offering of online and on-campus based at either Ararat or Warrnambool
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 if you want to make a real difference to human health and wellbeing. The course has a unique focus on rural and regional medicine, Indigenous Health, the development of your human capabilities and service to marginalised communities.
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 and their families across western Victoria. You’ll learn how medicine is practised in rural areas, while building valuable relationships with communities that will really value and welcome you once you graduate.
The course shines a light on Indigenous Health and will help you broaden your perspective on clinical medicine to encompass public health, legal and ethical perspectives.
Be part of a community of learners and teachers who support each other as you grow your understanding 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 with two years focussing on the foundations of medicine, encompassing medical sciences, clinical capabilities, public health, medical ethics and law, and Indigenous health. You’ll learn to solve the kinds of problems you’ll face in your future career in a supportive environment, while developing your confidence in foundational clinical skills, clinical reasoning and the high-level human capabilities necessary for excellent person-centred care.
You’ll build on this strong foundation by acquiring real-world clinical experience through placements in a range of medical settings, from hospitals and general practices to community health centres. Students will spend their third and fourth years on full-time placement at one of our clinical schools: the Rural Community Clinical School, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Geelong or Eastern Health.
All of our clinical schools, in rural and metropolitan areas, offer access to first-hand learning in the clinical environment and immersion in a wide range of patient care settings, including hospital and primary care. Our Rural Community Clinical School offers a more in-depth exposure to community-based care, with students being paired with a clinical mentor and afforded opportunities to contribute directly to the health and wellbeing of a rural area for an extended period during their training.
Across years three and four, you will gain hands-on experience, underpinned by strong knowledge and skills. You will undertake real clinical tasks to preparing you for both professional practice as a doctor and the lifelong training and development required for a career in medicine. You will also undertake a pre-internship rotation that offers a first-hand taste of the day-to-day life of a graduate doctor.
The Deakin Doctor of Medicine program is committed to ensuring that applicants from all backgrounds who meet the requirements of entry are able to gain access to study with us. We therefore reserve up to 5% of domestic places for Indigenous Australian applicants applying through the Indigenous Entry Stream, and around 30 places for applicants applying through the Rural Training Stream. These streams are designed to remove some of the barriers to entry that Indigenous or rural applicants may experience when seeking out a career in medicine. Similarly, we offer bonuses for entry in the General Stream for applicants who have experienced financial disadvantage or come from a rural background.
We also recognise the wealth of experience that applicants with diverse study and work experiences bring into both the Doctor of Medicine program and their future professional practice. We therefore do not have any prerequisite training requirements; applicants may have completed a bachelors-level qualification in any area, from nursing to music, engineering to physiotherapy.
Read MoreCourse information
- Award granted
- Doctor of Medicine
- Year
2023 course information
- Deakin code
- H911
- CRICOS code?
- 096842G Waurn Ponds (Geelong)
- Level
- Higher Degree Coursework (Masters and Doctorates)
- Approval status
This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework.
- 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) for General Entry Stream students, or either Ararat or Warrnambool for Rural Training Stream students. 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 HAI010 Academic Integrity in their first semester of study (0 credit point compulsory unit).
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. Click here for more information
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:
- Waurn Ponds (Geelong) for General Entry Stream students
- From 2024 onwards: Ararat or Warrnambool for Rural Training Stream (RTS) students only.
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.
Need help?
Ask a question about studying at Deakin
Entry requirements
Entry information
There are three entry streams available for applicants: General Entry Stream, Rural Training Stream and the Indigenous Entry Stream. Please note that course transfer applications from other Medical Schools are not generally accepted due to restrictions on the numbers of places in the course.
Please note that meeting the minimum admission requirements does not guarantee selection, which is based on selection criteria and availability of places in the course.
For more information on the Admission Criteria and Selection (Higher Education Courses) Policy visit the Deakin Policy Library.
General Entry Stream
The application process for admission to the general stream of the Doctor of Medicine (MD) is administered by the Graduate Entry Medical School Admissions System (GEMSAS).
Academic requirements
Entry requirements include:
- Academic performance in an approved Bachelor, Honours, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Masters by coursework completed no more than 10 years before the course commencement date. This 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 relevant further Higher Education study. The institution must be recognised by the Australian Qualifications Framework (or equivalent overseas institution determined by Deakin).
Please note: As a minimum requirement, applicants must hold a completed bachelor’s 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. - A final GPA (weighted) of 5.0 or greater, and
- 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 score on the GAMSAT must have been obtained no more than two years before the course commencement date.
- Interview performance.
Note: The GAMSAT validity period has been changed from 2 years to 4 years. GAMSAT results obtained from different sittings are directly comparable and can be used when applying to universities for up to four consecutive years in Australia.
Further details can be found on the GEMSAS website or Deakin’s Admission Criteria and Selection Procedure.
In 2023, our student intake had an average GPA of 6.62 and an average GAMSAT of 67.6.
Indigenous Entry Stream
The Doctor of Medicine offers an Indigenous Entry Stream. For more information go to Deakin’s Indigenous Entry Stream webpage.
Rural Training Stream
The Doctor of Medicine offers a Rural Training Stream. For more information go to Deakin’s School of Medicine Rural Training Stream (RTS) webpage.
The RTS consists of around 30 places for applicants with a rural background. The entry process includes a written application and a tiered priority entry system aligned with specific rural geographical locations.
English language requirements
All applicants must meet the minimum English language requirements
Adjustment (bonus) information
Applicants may be eligible for the following adjustments (bonuses) which will count towards your aggregate score for interview consideration. For detailed information on the adjustments (bonuses) please refer to the Admissions Guide on the GEMSAS website.
Rural/Regional residency
Applicants who meet defined rural and regional residency criteria have additional points added to the combined grade point average (GPA) and Graduate Australian Medical School Admission Test (GAMSAT) score. To qualify for an adjustment for rural/regional residency, applicants must have lived for at least 10 years cumulatively or any 5 years consecutively after birth in a place classified by the Modified Monash (MM) category as level 2-7 or Geelong MM1. Residence in:
- MM2 or Geelong MM1: an adjustment of 4% of the combined GPA and GAMSAT score
- MM3-7: an adjustment of 8% of the combined GPA and GAMSAT score.
Please note that applicants with a rural background are also eligible to apply for entry through the dedicated Rural Training Stream (RTS).
Further information on Rural Training Stream course structure and eligibility criteria can be found here.
Prior Clinical Experience
Applicants who have completed one year (12 months) of full-time clinical practice (minimum of 36 hours per week for one year consecutively or minimum of 1872 hours cumulatively) as an AHPRA registered health professional, or in speech pathology or dietetics, may have a 4% adjustment (bonus) added to the combined GPA and GAMSAT or GPA score.
Applicants with international clinical practice and registration that aligns with the professions listed on the AHPRA website including speech pathology and dietetics, may also be eligible to receive this adjustment (bonus).
Applicants who claim the Work Experience adjustment (below) are not eligible to apply for this adjustment.
Work Experience
Applicants who have worked full time (minimum of 36 hours per week for 2 years consecutively or 3744 hours cumulatively over a 4 year period) may have a 2% adjustment (bonus) added to the combined GPA and GAMSAT or GPA score.
Applicants who claim the Prior Clinical Experience adjustment (above) are not eligible to apply for this adjustment (bonus).
Financial Disadvantage
Applicants who can demonstrate financial disadvantage which may have impacted on academic performance during their recent study may qualify for an adjustment. The following benefits are recognised as providing eligibility for the adjustment:
- Centrelink income support payments and allowances: ABSTUDY, AUSTUDY, Parenting Payment, Youth Allowance, Newstart Allowance Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment, JobSeeker, JobKeeper, Farm Household Allowance
- Department of Veteran’s Affairs income payments and Veteran’s Children Education Scheme (VCES)
- Other Australian Federal or State Government income payments of similar amounts may be considered.
- StudyLink benefits (exclusive of StudyLink loans) apply for applicants from New Zealand.
Applicants who are able to demonstrate that they have been in receipt of an approved Centrelink/StudyLink benefit for at least 12 months during their undergraduate degree, may have a 2% adjustment (bonus) added to the combined GPA and GAMSAT or GPA scores.
Deakin Graduate
Applicants who at the time of application meet the following requirements may have a 4% adjustment added to their combined GPA and GAMSAT or GPA score:
- have completed and graduated with an undergraduate or postgraduate degree by coursework from Deakin University with a minimum of two thirds of their course requirements completed at Deakin University; or
- will be completing an undergraduate or postgraduate degree with Deakin University in the year of application and have completed a minimum of two thirds of their course requirement at Deakin University.
Note: Recognition for Prior Learning granted for study at another institution may impact on the two years’ full-time equivalent (FTE) completion requirement.
Interview Process
Eligible applicants are invited to attend a Multi-Mini Interview (MMI) which consists of up to 6 five minute stations addressing a range of key areas, that may include:
- Communication Skills
- Commitment to Rural and Regional Practice
- Evidence-based Practice
- Self-directed learning
- Teamwork
- Motivation for a Career in Medicine
- A commitment to social justice
- Professionalism
- Effective Use of Resources
- Health promotion
Interviews are conducted in September. Further information will be provided on the selection update page.
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.
Deakin University offers admission to postgraduate courses through a number of Admission categories.
Please note that meeting the minimum admission requirements does not guarantee selection, which is based on merit, likelihood of success and availability of places in the course.
For more information on the Admission Criteria and Selection (Higher Education Courses) Policy visit the Deakin Policy Library.
Recognition of prior learning
Recognition of Prior Learning will not be granted for this course.
Fees and scholarships
Fee information
The available fee places for this course are detailed above.
Tuition fees are determined by your enrolment:
- If you are offered a full fee paying place, your tuition fees are calculated based on your course.
- If you are offered a Commonwealth supported place, your tuition fees are calculated depending on the units you choose. Not all courses at Deakin have Commonwealth supported places available.
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 8 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 domestic full fee-paying place.
Learn more about fees and available payment options.
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.
The Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT) has been developed to assess applicants' capacity to undertake studies in an intellectually demanding course.
All applications to the Doctor of Medicine must be made through the Graduate Entry Medical School Admission System (GEMSAS)
Entry pathways
Alternative exits
- Master of Health and Medical Sciences (H720)
Contact information
Our friendly advisers are available to speak to you one-on-one about your study options, support services and how we can help you further your career.
- Call us: 1800 693 888 Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm
- Live Chat: Mon–Thurs, 8am–7pm, Fri 8am–5pm
- Submit an online enquiry
- Help hub find common and trending questions and answers
Careers
Career outcomes
Doctor of Medicine graduates are highly sought-after for internship positions with healthcare providers in Australia and abroad. Deakin’s Doctor of Medicine program allows you to develop a deep understanding of the challenges and nuances of rural medicine, putting you in a strong position to address the shortfall of doctors in regional areas.
In order to qualify as Registered Medical Practitioners with the Medical Board of Australia, our graduates are currently undertaking accredited internships at a number of prominent Victorian and interstate hospitals.
After successfully completing an intern year, graduates can apply for entry to specialty training programs that lead to a broad range of medical careers including in the specialty of General Practice or the emerging Rural Generalist program.
Professional recognition
The Doctor of Medicine is accredited with the Australian Medical Council. Graduates of the Doctor of Medicine 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. Domestic graduates are guaranteed an Internship position in Victoria.
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. |
Events Explore more events
