Notre Dame Sydney medical school

The Notre Dame Sydney medical school offers 8 points of difference compared to other medical schools. These are:
1. Selection of students based on wider criteria than marks alone
2. The University’s core curriculum with all students studying philosophy, theology and ethics units within their MBBS degree;
3. A return of emphasis on the basic and clinical sciences with 300 hours of anatomy training that includes dissection and procedural skills and 280 hours of dedicated clinical skills training in small groups;
4. Shorts courses and conferences throughout the course
5. Unique clinical debriefing tutorials each week that address the professional aspects of medicine;
6. The ‘Mentoring model’ available with one on one attachments in addition to the standard block rotation models in the clinical years;
7. A strong indigenous health program within the curriculum;
8. A comprehensive pastoral care program for all students with mentors and professional counselling staff.

The curriculum is developed through 4 domains of learning. These are:
1. Basic and Clinical sciences
2. Communication and Clinical Skills
3. Population and Public health
4. Personal and professional development.

In the first two years the curriculum utilises problem based learning (PBL)  principles, supported by lectures, laboratories, tutorials and clinical skills sessions in our new clinical skills laboratories.
In the clinical years, PBL has been replaced with short case learning. This is to provide greater breadth to learning that is possible by PBL.
Assessment in the course has been standard set so that modified Angoff techniques are applied to all written and OCSE examinations and each assessment question is mapped back to learning objectives and Notre Dame graduate attributes.  

The Preclinical School
Facilities: The Darlinghurst campus includes lecture theatres, PBL rooms, seminar rooms, simulated wards and clinical skills rooms, the Schwartz Foundation Anatomy Museum Resource Room and Surgical Skills Centre (the result of a generous bequest from the Schwartz family) and other innovative facilities. 
Basic Sciences and Anatomy: Basic science laboratories have been developed at UTS and will be home to the innovative Notre Dame Sydney surgical anatomy program. The program provides over 300 hours of dedicated surgical anatomy training and includes surgical dissections and surgical procedures being undertaken on cadavers.
Pathology: The School has also developed a unique collaboration with DHM pathology which will see students undertaking pathology training in the real life setting of a large commercial pathology facility. The collaboration has seen the appointment of Professor Annabelle Farnsworth as the DHM Notre Dame Chair in Pathology.
Radiology: An exciting collaboration in Radiology with St Vincent’s and Mater Healthcare (SVMH) will see radiology integrated into anatomy training and ultrasound taught as part of routine clinical skills in training sessions. The school is also working with the College of Radiologists, and SVMH to create two advanced training posts in academic radiology that involve clinical and academic duties.
Clinical attachments: Clinical attachments in years 1 and 2 focus on general practice and aged care.
Surgical skills and counselling attachments: Students also undergo specific modules that address surgical skills and counselling skills.

The Clinical Schools 

Sydney Clinical school
Affiliated hospitals and Divisions are listed below:
St Vincent’s Hospital
Mater Hospital
Auburn Hospital
Hawkesbury Hospital
St Joseph’s Hospital
Eastern Division of General Practice
The Notre Dame Medical School has been awarded lead University status by the NSW State Government at these hospitals. The exception is SVMH which will be shared with the University of New South Wales. 

Melbourne Clinical School
Affiliated hospitals and Divisions are listed below:
Mercy Werribee 
Cabrini Hospital
Healthe Care Hospitals group (Hills private) 
St Vincent’s Hospital 
Western Health 
Western Melbourne and Westgate Divisions of General Practice
The School has developed a working party to work through issues of joint placements with the University of Melbourne in relation to St Vincent’s Hospital and Western Health. This working party has reached agreement on student placement numbers.

Rural Clinical school
The RCS will include the following hospitals:
SJOG Ballarat
SJOG Bendigo
Calvary Wagga Wagga
Lithgow Integrated Health Service
Broome campus of Notre Dame (for indigenous research selectives)
 
The Clinical Years curriculum overview
In the clinical years students spend four days a week in a clinical setting (hospital or general practice) undertaking sequential terms rotating through the medical disciplines.
These disciplines are summarised below:
Year 3
Term 1 Medicine
Term 2 Surgery
Term 3 Women’s and Children’s Health
Term 4 Psychiatry and General Practice

Year 4
Anaesthetics
Metropolitan selective
Rural selective
Preparation for Internship

Each clinical placement has a set of approximately 10 learning objectives. The details of these are available from the School in our publication Term Learning Activities and Learning Objectives.
One day a week students receive formal tutorials, clinical skills and lectures delivered at a ‘back to base’ day of teaching. This curriculum delivers the remaining clinical years learning objectives and is centrally managed. The key component of this program are weekly short cases that students study utilising self directed learning principles. Students are supported in their study with resources such as lectures, tutorials and e-learning.

'Mentoring Model' in the clinical years
One of the two clinical years will include exposure to the unique Notre Dame Sydney ‘Mentoring Model” where students have 1-on-1 clinical attachments with a mentor. Students work as a team of 8 students and 8 mentors with sequential terms of clinical attachments across the year. The other year will usually be the traditional ‘block rotation’ model that currently operates in other Australian medical schools. Only Notre Dame Sydney offers the ‘Mentoring Model’ which has its origin in the traditional Oxford-Cambridge model of professional training and this is another point of difference with Notre Dame Sydney. 

Clinical Debriefing tutorials
Unique to the Notre Dame medical course are clinical debriefing tutorials that address the professional, legal and ethical aspects of medicine. These are scheduled for 1.5 hours a week every week of every year of the course with a single tutorial leader addressing a group of 8 students for a year.

The Notre Dame Core Curriculum
All Notre Dame students, including medical students, study three liberal science units: Philosophy, Ethics and Theology. This is to provide a higher education element to the medical degree and encourage students to think widely about all issues.

Short courses and conferences
The Notre Dame curriculum has developed a number of conferences and curriculum elements that address rural health research, disaster medicine, management of trauma and medicolegal issues.

Further information
If in NSW please contact 02 8204 4400 and ask for the School of Medicine or email sydney@nd.edu.au. The Notre Dame Sydney medical school website: www.nd.edu.au/sydney/schools/medicine. If in Victoria contact 03 94956563 or  email melbourne@nd.edu.au.