Foundations for Clinical Practice (MEDS90031)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 43.75On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

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Semester 1 (Extended)
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Foundations for Clinical Practice will introduce students to the scientific knowledge and clinical skills required for medical practice. Core content covered will include bioscience knowledge and clinical communication and examination skills, as well as a focus on early professional identity formation. Students will work towards establishing early clinical competence, under the guidance of tutors from a mixture of scientific and clinical professions. Students are expected to actively attend and participate in a variety of different learning activities, including lectures, tutorials, practical classes and clinical placements. Prerequisite bioscience knowledge for the course will be consolidated and small group exploration of clinically focused cases will provide the context for understanding how major body system’s structure and function contribute to patient health and well-being. Clinical skills will be developed through use of peer learning, simulation and longitudinal community and hospital based clinical placement. A body systems approach will guide studies across the first year of the course (in both Foundations for Clinical Practice and Principles of Clinical Practice 1), with the focus on cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and gastrointestinal systems in this subject. Emphasis throughout the subject will be placed on three streams: biomedical science knowledge; clinical skills; and professional identity. Further threaded throughout the subject will be First Nations health, population health and patient advocacy.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, building upon the knowledge and skills gained in the subject, Foundations for Clinical Practice, students should be able to:

Knowledge:

  • Explain, using biomedical knowledge in combination with the principles of disease prevention, disease management and health promotion, the course of common and important medical conditions focusing on the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and renal systems
  • Integrate knowledge of the biomedical sciences to understand normal human structure, function and development across the lifespan focusing on the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and renal systems
  • Characterise the organizational structure, funding and function of the Australian Healthcare system
  • Recognize the key principles of evidence-based medicine, including research question formulation, study design and literature searching
  • Identify the roles and responsibilities of a variety of different healthcare providers within the Australian Healthcare system
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the determinants of health (physical, psychological, social, cultural, economic, environmental, gender)
  • Describe the relationships between planetary health, climate change and human health
  • Recognise the variety of communications within medical professional practice, and the attributes that contribute to high quality communication
  • Understand the core ethical, legal and moral principles which guide medical practice, with emphasis on consent, confidentiality, different communication media and advocacy
  • Articulate the principles and value of reflective practice for performance improvement, and recognise that opportunities for assessment and feedback come in a variety of forms and from different sources, emphasizing the active role of the learne
  • Recognise and appreciate the resilience of First Nations peoples in advancing their own health and well-being, both now and in future generations
  • Recognise that professional behaviour encompasses personal behaviours, interactions with others, reliability, acceptance and response to feedback, and capacity for self-improvement

Skills:

  • Demonstrate the use of appropriate First Nation's health models with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander patients, families and communities
  • Perform medical assessments that consider the patient's world view, beliefs, culture and understanding of their current health status, to elicit an accurate, problem-focussed and reasoned evaluation of the core medical presentation/s, focusing on the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and renal systems
  • Demonstrate the appropriate physical examination techniques and manoeuvres that would be likely to elicit the physical manifestations of illness, disease and disability in patients with medical conditions focusing on the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and renal systems.
  • Use patient-centred and culturally responsive communication with patients, their caregivers and treating health professional team members
  • Identify a variety of resources that can be used to determine the efficacy and effectiveness of current health care practices
  • Synthesise and integrate foundation knowledge of the body's response to challenge and of common/important medical conditions, with information gained from a medical history, physical examination and investigations, focussing on cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and renal systems
  • Participate in formal and informal opportunities for assessment of knowledge and skills, and engage in regular, constructive feedback processes about performance with the intention of promoting learning and ongoing improvement
  • Display professional behaviour encompassing reliability, respectful and honest communication and interactions with others, willingness to accept and respond to feedback, and personal behaviours, such as confidentiality, honesty, integrity, appearance, respecting privileges and codes of conduct

Application:

  • Utilise understanding of the bioscience principles underpinning health and diseases, with a focus on the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and renal systems, to enable effective communication and consultation with the patient, their family and care-givers and other health professionals
  • Behave professionally as a student and representative of the Melbourne Medical School, including being honest, empathic and reliable, maintaining transparent and respectful interactions with others, proactively seeking and constructively responding to feedback, and personal behaviours, such as confidentiality, honesty, integrity, appearance, respecting privileges and codes of conduct
  • Behave professionally in a culturally proficient way, including demonstrating cultural safety and responsiveness and upholding ethical principles in clinical encounters
  • Advocate for the advancement of the health and well-being of Australia's First Nation's peoples
  • Work effectively and respectfully in group settings with fellow health professional students and staff
  • Display self-regulation and respond to adversity, change and personal health challenges (emotional, physical and psychological) in a proactive manner
  • Maintain safety of self and others in all interactions as a student of the Melbourne Medical School, recognising and working within the scope of practice for a first-year medical student
  • Demonstrate commitment to problem solving, engaging with assessment feedback and to lifelong learning, displaying the flexible and adaptive skills required to provide health care to future generations

Generic skills

On completion of this subject, students should have developed the following generic skills:

  • The ability to understand the relationship of basic scientific knowledge to health and disease
  • The capacity to integrate scientific knowledge across disciplines and with clinical information
  • The ability to work together in a team, including in small group settings, to understand a health problem and communicate solutions
  • The capacity to communicate using clear, non-technical language
  • The ability to adapt to and learn within a workplace setting
  • An understanding of the diversity of the Australian community
  • The capacity to self-regulate learning and respond constructively to feedback
  • The capacity to respond to adversity and to manage personal health in a proactive manner

Last updated: 3 November 2022