Doctor of Medicine (Joint Program)

The Doctor of Medicine (MD) Joint Program in Medicine is a five-year undergraduate program offered jointly by Charles Sturt University and Western Sydney University.

Applicants can only receive one offer to the Joint Medical Program, to study at either Western Sydney University or Charles Sturt University. Your preference of campus will be considered but cannot be guaranteed. The campus offered will be subject to the availability of places and the preferences of other eligible applicants.

The course is structured around problem-based learning. The first two years of learning focus on the basic sciences (pharmacology, physiology, anatomy, population health and biochemistry), clinical skills and evidence-based medicine. An e-portfolio commences in the first year and runs through all five years of the course.

Clinical learning begins in the first weeks of this highly practical course. In your third, fourth and fifth years you’ll extend your professional skills through full-time clinical and community placements in a number of clinical schools throughout New South Wales and Victoria, covering the broad range of general, specialist medical and inter-professional training. This will include surgery, medicine, critical care, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, mental health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and medicine in context rotations.

Every student in the Doctor of Medicine program is required to undertake a research project. You will choose a project in the second part of Year 2 and complete the project over Years 3 and 4.

Medicine is a physically and mentally challenging profession in which practitioners are often required to put the interests of their patients above their own. You must be prepared to commit to a lifetime of service and continuous learning.

While medical education will provide candidates with the foundation of knowledge, attitude, skills and behaviours required to practise medicine, it is recognised that there are certain inherent requirements that are necessary to progress through the curriculum and ultimately receive the Doctor of Medicine (MD). Review the inherent requirement statements and think about whether you may experience challenges in meeting these requirements. Download the Inherent Requirements for Medicine [PDF].