Is medicine for you?

Medicine is an intellectually rigorous program leading to a challenging and demanding professional life. Whatever specialty you choose, medicine offers personal satisfaction on numerous levels. Read more ...

Hands-on

The Bachelor of Medicine was Australia’s first Problem-Based Learning (PBL) medical degree and adheres to both the philosophy and practice of PBL in small tutorial groups. Read more ...

Careers

The JMP provides an internationally recognised medical degree that prepares you for a career in any aspect of medicine. Read more ...

Achiever profiles

Why would you do this degree? Find out from graduates, students and academics. Discover how their future is taking shape, and learn first-hand what it's like to study at uni. Read profiles ...

Is medicine for you?

Medicine is an intellectually rigorous degree leading to a challenging and demanding professional life. Whatever specialty you choose, medicine offers personal satisfaction on numerous levels.

The degree emphasises the promotion and maintenance of health, both of individuals and the community. Preventive care is pursued as the most effective approach to complement treatment of the individual patients.

All the academic disciplines associated with a medical degree are represented, including surgery. The program’s community orientation is reflected in an emphasis on general practice, public health and communication skills.

The JMP is an expansion of the highly successful University of Newcastle Bachelor of Medicine program in partnership with the University of New England, Hunter New England Health and Central Coast Health. Students choose to study in either Newcastle in the Hunter region or Armidale in Northern NSW. There is a common curriculum at both institutions. The cohort is treated as one cohort of 170 Commonwealth supported places located at the two universities.

Why study with us?

We provide early clinical exposure (dealing with patients, visiting hospital wards and outpatient clinics, and spending time with doctors in practice) beginning in the first semester and continuing throughout the degree. Substantial community involvement helps students to see the individual in context, treating the patient as a whole person and in a manner consistent with his/her social or physical environment.

Student learning is self-directed and problem-based which reflects a clinician’s encounter with a patient’s health problem. You will work in small tutorial groups to analyse clinical problems and gain an understanding of relevant scientific data. This assists learning in the context of clinical problems in the later years of the degree and into postgraduate years.

You will also have the opportunity to enrol in a Bachelor of Medical Science. This degree is comparable to the additional year taken by candidates in an Honours degree.

The degree actively encourages applications from Indigenous Australians. The Indigenous Entry Program offers up to 176 positions each year for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates. The Bachelor of Medicine – JMP is renowned for providing excellent support to its Indigenous medical students. This renowned support is now offered through both campuses. Almost half the Indigenous doctors in Australia have graduated from the University of Newcastle and currently there are 31 Indigenous students enrolled in the degree.

How to apply

All candidates are required to follow the process outlined below.

To apply for admission all candidates must:

• Register with the UMAT Office; and
• Apply direct to the JMP (either standard non-rural or RRAS); and
• Apply through the Universities Admissions Centre (NSW & ACT) Pty Ltd (UAC)

Note: New Zealand citizens intending to apply for admission to the Bachelor of Medicine - JMP at the University of Newcastle/University of New England are strongly encouraged to contact the Department of Health and Ageing’s website Doctor Connect at www.doctorconnect.gov.au regarding information about their ability to practise medicine in Australia following graduation.

For more information visit - http://www.newcastle.edu.au/joint-medical-program/how-to-apply/application-process.html

Hands-on

The Bachelor of Medicine was Australia’s first Problem-Based Learning (PBL) medical degree and adheres to both the philosophy and practice of PBL in small tutorial groups. Clinical and communication skills are acquired throughout the five years of the curriculum; patient contact begins in first semester of first year. You will be required to spend up to two semesters in a clinical school location away from your University of enrolment. You may apply to undertake placements of up to two years in any 'away' location.

Our clinical school network provides students with a range of experience. Placements are available in large metropolitan hospitals in Newcastle and the Central Coast as well as rural and regional centres in the lower Hunter, Tamworth, Armidale, Taree, Moree and primary care settings across the Upper Hunter, New England and Central Coast regions.

Careers

The JMP provides an internationally recognised medical degree that prepares you for a career in any aspect of medicine. Bachelor of Medicine - JMP graduates are recognised for their innovative thinking and clinical skills and are prepared for practice in rural, regional and metropolitan Australia.

For basic registration, as a graduate, you must undertake a one year internship in the public hospital system. Following pre-vocational training mainly in public hospitals, graduates enter vocational training for specialist qualifications in general practice, surgery, internal medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and other areas of medical practice.

The JMP is committed to addressing the doctor shortage in rural and remote Australia and other places of medical workforce need. It actively recruits students interested in practising rural medicine. Candidates can choose to study at a rural university, the University of New England based in Armidale in northern NSW, with the advantage of having a greater experience of medicine in a rural health environment.

Be recognised

Graduates apply for registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). After completing a one year internship, graduates can then register for medical practice in Australia. The degree is recognised in the UK and Northern Ireland by the General Medical Council (UK), and in Singapore by the Singapore Medical Council and in New Zealand. Registration may be possible in other countries after passing an examination set by the registration bodies of those countries. The current standard English Language Competency for registration as a practitioner in your chosen health discipline in most states of Australia is an IELTS of 7.0.

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