Foundations of Clinical Practice

Foundations of Clinical Practice begins the 4-year graduate Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program. This year-long unit spans 46 weeks (including break weeks), and is designed to introduce foundational scientific and clinical knowledge, local and global perspectives in medicine, professional behaviours, and early clinical skills needed for success in medical practice. This unit employs a blended learning approach, combining small group facilitated learning activities, one-half day of general practice (GP) placement per week, face-to-face instruction, and synchronous online experiences, to foster active engagement and provide opportunities for you to build connections between clinical medicine, biosciences and Streams, collaborate with peers and critically reflect on your learning. Through early clinical experiences, you will also have the opportunity to integrate theory and practice, engage with real patients, healthcare professionals and experience the realities of a clinical practice.

Incorporating innovative teaching methodologies and technology, the Unit enhances your student experience and supports your self-directed learning, reflection and professional development. MDNEW6000 is structured to integrate knowledge and skills across various medical disciplines and healthcare contexts including through integrated streams of Communication and Clinical Skills, First Nations Health, Leadership and Professionalism, Research and Evidence-Based Medicine, Advocacy and Public Health, Cultural Safety and Equity, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health, and Quality and Safety with Applied Clinical Knowledge.

The MD course is committed to preparing future healthcare professionals utilising a programmatic assessment system that aligns with its MD course design, ensuring a holistic view of student progress over four years. This system is consistent with principles of fairness, flexibility, equity, validity, and reliability, supported by medical education research and evaluation.

The MDNEW6000 curriculum incorporates the theoretical knowledge, necessary skills, professional behaviours and the application thereof, required for a doctor in training, so that you are able to function independently as a proficient physician in the Australian medical system upon graduation. The Graduate Outcomes of the MD program are the Graduate Outcome Statements of the Australian Medical Council (AMC). Constructively aligned with the AMC Domains, the streams serve as a scaffold for learning across the 4 years, as well as becoming the integrative component between the yearly Unit Learning Outcomes and the Course Graduate Outcomes across the course.

The Streams develop longitudinally across MDNEW6000, which is also divided into 6 parts: the Commencement Intensive that introduces you to core biomedical knowledge, including (but not limited to) core concepts in pathology, biochemistry and pharmacology; and 5 body system-based Modules where you will progressively work through the medical and clinical sciences that introduce the more detailed structure, function, development and associated pathologies of the human body.

You will also explore interconnected content related to the Streams of Communication and Clinical Skills, First Nations Health, Leadership and Professionalism, Research and Evidence-Based Medicine, Advocacy and Public Health, Cultural Safety and Equity, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health and Quality and Safety specifically within the body system-based module framework, providing opportunities for integration of the bio-psycho-social, environmental and professional aspects of medicine with the body systems covered in Year 1.

MDNEW6000 includes the following:

Commencement Intensive

This two-week intensive course is designed to prepare you for the rigour of the MD program by providing a foundational understanding of essential biomedical science concepts, such as biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, microbiology, immunology and pharmacology, as well as detailed anatomy, physiology, and introductory pathology of major human body systems.

Emphasising a self-directed learning approach, each session guides you with specific Topic Learning Objectives (TLOs) and is supported by a series of online activities that reinforce effective independent learning.

Back to Base (B2B)

To support your learning during the modules, three B2B intensive weeks are scheduled. These intentionally incorporate learning tasks that are best carried out in a ‘face-to-face’ group setting, such as practising clinical and communication skills, team-building and group work, to further prepare you for clinical experiences.

The first B2B in Year 1 in particular, serves as an orientation week during which you will be introduced to the Streams, and be provided with greater detail regarding your clinical placements and the purpose of the different facilitated learning activities that you will participate in during the year. Another primary focus in these B2B sessions is experiential learning and coaching in early clinical skills, where you will have iterative practice of history gathering, system- and region-based examinations, consultation, and procedural skills prior to further development in your general practice placement.

First Nations Health

The health of First Nations peoples is addressed specifically through the First Nations Health curriculum as well as integrated throughout the program.

Key Themes

• Health Care Interactions Through Our Eyes: Cultural Awareness
• develops students' understanding of their culture and its impact on health perceptions and experiences. 
• The Attributes for Learning About First Nations Peoples Health
• introduces strength-based approaches, deficit discourse, humility, and collaborative learning. 
• Principles of Social and Emotional Wellbeing
• students will explore theory on social and emotional wellbeing concepts, supported by recorded lectures and a workshop. 
• The Context of First Nations Peoples Health
• explores historical and current policies affecting First Nation health.

Case-Based Learning (CBL)

An essential component of MDNEW6000 is Case-Based Learning (CBL). During these facilitated learning activities, you will apply your acquired foundational knowledge in the context of integrated clinical cases discussed in a small learning group environment (no more than 10 students per group). The first CBL of the week is formatted as a single long case scenario that you will work through during the session, while the second CBL of the week is formatted to include multiple short case scenarios with a common theme.

These cases have been carefully structured to introduce and expose you to a variety of clinical presentations and contexts pertinent to the Year 1 modules, and scaffolded across the year to allow integration of Stream concepts with the biomedical and clinical sciences. This structure is intended to support the development of your clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills in diagnosis, treatment, and management of the presenting scenarios, promotes collaboration, and acts to integrate the supportive medical sciences and student clinical experience.

Emerging Practitioner Learning Group (EPLG)

Another key activity scheduled weekly across the year is the EPLG, designed to address your understanding of the Leadership and Professionalism Stream. The specialised structure of this small learning group creates a safe and inclusive environment in which you will develop your professional identity as a doctor, while also considering and attending to your own well-being. The learning focuses on the development of self-awareness, team work skills, cultural humility, professional skills, reflective practice and exploring the ethical and legal standards required to be a medical practitioner. There will be opportunities to share and discuss your reflections and progress with your EPLG facilitator as well as your portfolio mentor during the two structured portfolio interviews.

Clinical Workshop

Clinical workshops are regular, small-group, facilitator-led sessions designed to develop foundational communication and clinical skills. Through instruction and practice using Year 1 module-aligned clinical scenarios, you will learn to conduct person-centred medical histories, become familiar with physical examinations and sign interpretation, and build an early understanding of clinical reasoning. Dedicated communication skills sessions will progress to increasingly challenging and complex interactions. Further practice and consolidation of these skills will occur during weekly placements and B2B weeks, with additional observation and feedback.

General Practice (GP) Placement

During Year 1, you will be placed in a GP environment for half a day a week, to gain experience in the clinical work environment and to develop early clinical skills. You will be supervised and guided by experienced GPs, practice staff and healthcare professionals, and provided with opportunities to engage in patient care, consultations, health assessments and management of common medical conditions. Early clinical skills that align with faculty-led teaching during B2B will guide the timing and type of, and engagement in, early clinical skills practice. 

The lead (nominated) GP supervisor will closely monitor your learning and offer regular feedback with some coaching. Quarterly reports will provide a means to record feedback and progress.

In addition, your own insights relating to your placement experience will be sought on a regular basis, and you will also be given opportunities to provide feedback (confidential or otherwise, should you choose).

Context(s) of Practice (ConPrac)

The Context of Practice masterclass provides scaffolding in which broader contexts of medicine are embedded and explored, such as the roles and responsibilities of medical doctors within societal and healthcare settings. You will be placed in medium sized learning groups (up to 30) and delve more explicitly into the NewMed Streams, General Practice theory and whole person care, and radiological principles that inform the broader contexts of the clinical environment. Within the ConPrac session, you will be guided on the roles and responsibilities of medical doctors within different communities, societal and healthcare and medical research settings.

Foundations in Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BMCS)

The Foundations in BMCS is a 2 hour workshop designed to help you apply the information you acquire from the learning resources you encounter during your private study. Each week this medium sized facilitated learning group (up to 30 students) will focus on core BMCS topics associated with the given module, and provide an online space for you to work through and engage in interactive activities and questions in a learning group. Weekly resources that inform the content covered will be available to you in advance of your workshop, and will also provide an introduction to the week.

Question and Answer (Q&A)

To help consolidate your learning, the Q&A session is a one-hour, facilitated, semi-structured whole-cohort open forum that will provide space to re-address concepts covered during the week. A Moodle discussion board will open at the start of each week where you can post questions related to content. This discussion board will serve as a basis for targeted clarifications in the Q&A that is guided by gaps in your knowledge and understanding.

Plenary

Each week, a plenary session in the form of a webinar is scheduled, in which guest speakers will be regularly invited to present on topics covered not only in the biomedical and clinical sciences, but also in the Streams. This whole-cohort webinar is intended to expose you to a vast range of perspectives from different professions, such as health professionals, public health experts, researchers, First Nations peoples, digital experts in health and more, of whom all play an important role in contributing to the advancement of medicine and medical education.

Programmatic Assessment

The key principles underpinning the assessment framework include its programmatic nature, proportionality, focus on feedback dialogue, focus on growth and continuous monitoring of progress towards defined learning outcomes. This longitudinal approach integrates various assessment methods over time to provide a nuanced understanding of learner progress and competence, spanning "Knows," "Knows How," "Shows How," "Does," and "Is" (revised Miller pyramid).

Central to this programmatic philosophy is the longitudinal and integrative perspective: rather than relying on isolated single-event data points of assessments, programmatic assessment emphasises the importance of longitudinal ongoing evaluation and meaningful integration of assessment information. Information from individual assessments is integrated, allowing for holistic judgements to be formed through triangulation of evidence from multiple sources. High-stakes progression decisions are underpinned by rich data, ensuring transparent, credible, accountable and fair judgments. This program of assessment is grounded in evidence-based practice and promotes learning rather than simply measuring performance.

Assessment for learning is designed to help students recognise and develop strengths in areas of knowledge and skills that require improvement. It aims to provide ongoing feedback and support throughout the learning journey, and it is hence a foundational element of programmatic assessment for learning. Assessment of learning (AoL) is used to demonstrate ‘readiness to progress’ and supports decisions about progression to the next stage of education. Through Assessment as learning (AaL), students are active participants in the assessment process and their progress, with reflection, self-assessment and agency, guided by the Portfolio. While the emphasis is heavily on learning and development (AfL and AaL), programmatic assessment also fulfills the need for AoL, for progress and completion of the program. Two of the four GP reports will include the Interprofessional, Patient and Practice (IPPP) Report where feedback will be captured from the broader GP practice team, interprofessional colleagues and patients. Your feedback on your placement experience will be sought on a regular basis too, and we'll also provide ways for you to give confidential feedback, should you so choose.  To support this each assessment outcome is feedback rich and rubrics are designed to report progress against the defined criteria in three categories are:

1. Targeted advancement required
2. MUST address feedback
3. Opportunity to address feedback