Clinical Education and Clinical Schools

Clinical Schools - Learning the practical skills of being a doctor

In years 1 and 2 of the MBBS program, students spend the majority of their learning in the Medical School facility on the Campbelltown Campus. This involves lectures, problem based learning tutorials and practical classes, including anatomy.

From Week One of the UWS MBBS program though, students are also placed in a hospital environment, learning skills like hand hygiene which demonstrate the important principle to ‘first do no harm’ (Primum non nocere).

In years 1 and 2, students attend the clinical school for one half day per week. In years 3-5 students will be based at the clinical schools as they focus on clinical learning, which is supported by ‘conference weeks’ on campus and online learning modules.

What happens in a clinical school?

A clinical school is an educational facility run by UWS in a hospital, where students commence learning and practising the clinical skills needed to be highly competent doctors. Technical knowledge and skills, including the capacity to listen and interpret the clinical information which patients provide are the focus.

Tutors in a clinical school are usually medical practitioners of the hospital. They are able to relate their clinical experience to the skills that the students are learning and help infuse to the students the importance to medical practitioners of lifelong learning.

In Semester One, Year One activities are focused on the history taking interview, and in particular in gathering information on the cardinal or key features of the presenting symptoms. In Semester Two, students will apply this initial learning to symptoms relating to the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and learning the accompanying physical examinations skills.

Where are the UWS School of Medicine Clinical Schools?

The Clinical Schools for the UWS School of Medicine are based at Campbelltown Hospital and Blacktown/Mt Druitt Hospital, and our Rural Clincial Schools are located at Bathurst and Lismore.

The UWS School of Medicine also has a growing clinical presence at Liverpool Hospital, and its students undertake placements at Liverpool, Bankstown/Lidcombe and Fairfield Hospitals.

Medical Clerkships

The School of Medicine is in the process of setting up a Medical Clerkship (non-UWS students) program.  If you would like to apply for a Clerkship please complete the Medical Clerkship Registration Application, following instructions on the form.

If you have any queries about this program, please contact the placements officer at medicine-clerkship@uws.edu.au or telephone +61 2 4634 4019.