University of Sydney School of Medicine - Ranking, Tuition, Campus & Environment | ValueMD

General Information

• Forum: Australian Medical Schools Forum
• Location: Australia
• Medical School Tuition: $40,300/year
• Year Founded: 1883
• Time required for MD: 4 Years
• Student Loans: Stafford and Private Loans
• Email: Email University of Sydney School of Medicine
• Survey: University of Sydney School of Medicine

A Brief History of Australia by The World Factbook 2006

Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name of Great Britain. Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has transformed itself into an internationally competitive, advanced market economy. It boasted one of the OECD's fastest growing economies during the 1990s, a performance due in large part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. Read More

Why Study at The University of Sydney

The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney is Australia's oldest and largest medical faculty undertaking teaching and research in health and medicine of international standing.

For three years running, the University of Sydney has been ranked in the top 20 biomedical universities in the world by the Times Higher Education Supplement.

The University of Sydney Medical Program (USydMP) has taken out numerous teaching awards and is licensed to universities in the UK, South Africa and the Middle East and to other universities in Australia. The USydMP provides a unique learning environment that nurtures communication, team work and life-long learning backed by hard evidence, essential for tomorrow’s doctors.

Our postgraduate coursework programs cover a wide range of disciplines. Many are offered on-line or by distance and some, such as our Pain Management program, are the first of their kind in the world.

Respected as not only a provider of quality teaching but also as a leader in research, the Faculty attracts over $200 million in competitive research funding from state, national and international bodies.

Covering 19 disciplines and with over 40 specialist research units, the Faculty of Medicine is conducting cutting-edge education and research in the full spectrum of health and medical knowledge from the medical sciences through to clinical medicine, public health, health service delivery and medical education.

The University of Sydney is also an outstanding service provider and makes a major contribution to the health of the population through the delivery of clinical care in the more than 40 teaching hospitals associated with the Faculty.

All this makes the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney an outstanding environment in which to undertake study and research.

Why Study Medicine at The University of Sydney Medical Program (USydMP)

The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney is Australia’s first and largest medical faculty. With over 150 years of tradition and achievement it is part of the most comprehensive cluster of health faculties in Australia, encompassing Health Sciences, Dentistry, Nursing and Midwifery, and Pharmacy.

The University of Sydney Medical Program (USydMP) is a four-year, graduate-entry course leading to the award of the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and may be awarded with Honours. Offering a world-leading medical curriculum, you will be learning from the best in a dynamic, clinically relevant environment. The program features:

• patient contact from week 1
• integrated problem-based learning (PBL) approach
• the latest information technology
• a focus on self-assessment skills development, and
• the opportunity to undertake research.

In addition, a limited number of places are held for school leavers. These places may be taken up after satisfactory completion of the Bachelor of Science (Advanced), Bachelor of Medical Science, Bachelor of Arts (Advanced) (Honours) or the Bachelor of Music Studies degree at the University of Sydney.

International applicants

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sydney welcomes applications from international applicants to the University of Sydney Medical Program (USydMP) on a full-fee-paying basis. International applicants compete for places only against other international applicants. The quota for international students is additional to the quota for local students. International applicants are those who are not citizens or permanent residents of Australia, or citizens of New Zealand.

The Faculty of Medicine encourages applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds who will bring to the medical profession a variety of talents and interests. Applicants should have an enthusiasm for medicine, a concern for the welfare of others in the community, a capacity for consistent study, an ability to develop high level communication skills and qualities that will enable them to benefit from self-directed and interactive learning techniques.

No specific courses or subjects are prescribed as prerequisites. There is no preference or advanced standing offered to applicants with particular first degrees and no exemptions are offered. It is emphasised that a science major is not a prerequisite, and that academic excellence in other areas, such as the humanities and social sciences, is encouraged and recognised.

Flexible arrangements allow international students to sit for the USMLE, undertake a clinical rotation or an elective in their country of origin or seek placement as interns in their country of origin (see flexible arrangements).

International applicants for the Medical Program must submit their applications to the Australian Council for Educational Research. (Note: Applications will not be accepted by the Faculty of Medicine or the International Office of the University.)

What are the aims of the USydMP?

The Medical Program at the University of Sydney aims to produce medical graduates who are committed to rational, compassionate health care and medical research of the highest quality.

The program encourages the enrolment of students from diverse backgrounds and aims to help them to become graduates responsive to the health needs of individuals, families and communities and committed to improving the health care system at all levels.

The success of the program will be measured by the extent to which Sydney graduates maintain life-long, self-directed learning and the pursuit of evidence-based medical practice, initiating, leading and supporting advances in clinical medicine, research, education and community service.

How is the curriculum organised?

The program is organised into four curriculum themes which describe the important professional characteristics students will acquire by the completion of the program.

The themes provide the framework for the goals of the program; the development of the curriculum and for assessment. Students are required to demonstrate satisfactory performance in all four Themes.

The learning within the four themes necessarily overlaps and their program objectives should therefore be read as a single collective statement.

• Basic and Clinical Science
• Patient and Doctor
• Community and Doctor
• Personal and Professional Development

Basic and Clinical Science Theme
Graduates of the University of Sydney Medical Program will demonstrate the ability to:

• apply an understanding of normal and abnormal human structure, function and behaviour to the diagnosis, management and prevention of health problems
• use the best available evidence on outcomes to prevent or cure disease, relieve symptoms or minimise disability
• analyse clinical data and published work to determine their validity and application
• participate in the generation, interpretation, application and dissemination of significant advances in medical knowledge
• recognise the limits to scientific knowledge and understanding, and the continuing nature of all scientific endeavour.

Patient and Doctor
Graduates of the University of Sydney Medical Program will demonstrate:

• understanding of the therapeutic nature of the patient-doctor relationship and the impact on that relationship of the individual characteristics of both patient and doctor
• the ability to listen and to identify issues of concern to patients, families and carers and to respond to those concerns, using whatever means are necessary for effective communication
• the ability to elicit and interpret clinical symptoms and signs by interviewing and examining patients systematically and with sensitivity and to use this information to guide further investigations
• the ability to perform important clinical procedures, particularly those vital in life-threatening situations
• ethical behaviour in meeting the needs of patients and families; concern for confidentiality and respect for individual autonomy, enabling patients and their families to make informed decisions in relation to their medical care.

Community and Doctor
Graduates of the University of Sydney Medical Program will demonstrate:

• the ability to evaluate the distribution of and risk factors for disease and injury and understand how to use disease and injury prevention practices in the care of individual patients and communities.
• the ability to make evidence-based, ethical and economically responsible decisions about the most appropriate management of health problems in individuals and in communities.
• the ability to identify the economic, psychological, occupational and socio-cultural factors that contribute to the development and/or continuation of poor health and explain how it impacts on individuals and communities.
• the ability to evaluate the economic, political, social and legal factors which determine the way that individuals and communities respond to health problems and describe how public and population health strategies are systematically planned and implemented.

Personal and Professional Development
Graduates of the University of Sydney Medical Program will demonstrate:

• commitment to compassionate, ethical professional behaviour
• the ability to work cooperatively as a member of a team accepting and providing leadership as appropriate
• recognition of the inevitability of decision-making in circumstances of uncertainty and the capacity to make rational and sensitive decisions based on the best available evidence
• the ability to recognise his or her personal physical and emotional needs and responses to stress, and openness to assistance in time of need
• ongoing commitment to the advancement of learning within a community of medical scholars
• skills in the recording, organisation and management of information including the use of appropriate information technology.

What makes this program different?

Graduate students from diverse backgrounds
Students enter the program as successful graduates from a diverse range of academic and life experiences - all having made a singular commitment to the study of medicine. Each individual will have made a mature decision to participate in the University of Sydney Medical Program as their preferred way of realising their aspirations to become a member of the medical profession.

A four-year integrated learning curriculum
Learning in the University of Sydney Medical Program is integrated across the disciplines and program themes, carefully building from year to year. Learning in Stages 1 and 2 is based on clinical problems presented in tutorial settings. This ensures that individual subjects and disciplines contributing to a doctor's knowledge and understanding are learned in the context of medical practice.

Clinical contact from Week One
From the very first week of the medical program students have patient contact in the various Clinical Schools where they are tutored in full set of Patient and Doctor communication and procedural skills. The Clinical network is comprised of large urban hospitals and also smaller rural hospitals. This offers students a balanced view of urban and rural health care and their differences.

Problem-based learning with online support
By focusing on clinical problem solving from the beginning of the program, students learn how to identify medical issues and then seek out the significant information needed to define, resolve or manage them.

This problem-based approach encourages students to seek information and become skilled independent learners, able to evaluate their own achievements and identify their own learning needs.

Each week of problem based learning in Stages 1 and 2 is supported by a comprehensive set of online resources which are used to present an authentic clinical case and give extensive guidance for both group and independent learning.

PBL clinical reasoning model

An evidence-based approach
Throughout the program, the evaluation of evidence in decision-making is an essential approach. Students learn the skills of critical appraisal early in Stages 1 and 2; practice them in the context of problem-solving and then use the same skills in making decisions about individual patients in their clinical encounters in Stages 3 and 4.

Clinical experience

From the very first week of the medical program students have patient contact in the various Clinical Schools: Western, Central, Northern and Rural Clinical Schools provide students with invaluable clinical experience in a variety of settings.

The Clinical network comprises large urban hospitals and smaller rural hospitals. This offers students a balanced view of urban and rural health care and their differences. Across the hospitals a huge range of specialisations are catered for, with paediatrics and its sub specialties being the focus of the Children's Hospital at Westmead.

Students have access to most parts of the hospitals; they are able to sit in on surgical procedures, visit wards and accident and emergency units.

Clinical Schools provide students with access to the internet, library catalogs and email as well as to study and exam areas. It is not all work, thankfully, as students can relax in common rooms, swimming pools, and lounges or whip up a meal in bbq areas and kitchens within the hospitals.

While practical clinical experience forms the basis for all learning in the latter two stages of the USydMP, it is accompanied by a structured teaching program. The balance between clerkship-based activities and scheduled sessions varies. In general, formal teaching sessions reduce in number and frequency as students move from the early part of their Stage 3 attachments to the last rotations in Stage 4 and are essentially withdrawn in the Pre-internship term.