The Newcastle / JMP Medicine course

In problem-based learning the case comes first. A small group and a tutor are given a patient scenario, work out what they need to learn to understand it, study it on their own and report back. At the JMP the cases present members of an extended family whose health changes in one or more body systems. They drive the science you learn, including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology and genetics.

The cases give context to the rest of years 1 and 2. Lectures from biomedical scientists and clinicians, laboratory sessions and clinical skills workshops support the tutorials.

Four themes run through all five years: Science and Scholarship; Clinical Practice; Health, Societies and Environment; and Professional Development. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, rural and remote health, and interprofessional and patient-centred care are threaded through those themes.

From year 3 the method changes. Case-based learning (CBL) replaces PBL: cases are still the trigger for learning, but they are common presentations in general practice and hospital care, linked to your placements. In years 4 and 5 learning happens mainly in hospitals and practices, backed by small tutorials, seminars, online modules and simulation.

Since 2026 UNE has also run the Regional Health Professional Pathway (RHPP), the same degree taken mostly online. It is designed for experienced health professionals, such as nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists and pharmacists, who want to keep working in their communities while they study. In year 1 RHPP students come to Armidale for five intensive schools of five days each, for anatomy labs, physical examinations and other hands-on work, with more intensives in later years. The first intake in 2026 had eight students.

On the standard on-campus timetable in UON's 2026 handbook, a year 1 teaching week includes eight hours of PBL tutorials and five hours of live online biomedical science lectures. Another eight hours go to on-campus lectures and seminars on health, society, professional development and research. There are also five hours of clinical skills workshops and clinical experiences, 1.5 hours in the anatomy lab and two hours of clinical forums.

On top of that come an hour of online practice quizzes, 18 hours of self-directed study and, for six weeks, a 2.5-hour weekly online lab in histology, the study of tissues under the microscope. Attendance is required at every timetabled session. That adds up to about 30 timetabled hours a week plus your own study.

Year 2 has the same shape with more lectures. A week holds ten hours of lectures, eight of PBL, 3.5 of clinical skills, two in the anatomy lab, two of forums and two online. Self-directed study stays at 18 hours. In the second half of the year the tutorial slot also includes sexuality and identity workshops and psychiatry workshops.

Year 3 weeks are mostly placement. Each semester includes 12 weeks of clinical placement: general practice and community weeks run to 32 hours and hospital weeks to 24, with teaching at your clinical school around them. In years 4 and 5 you are on placement five days a week, and some weeks include out-of-hours work.

Anatomy is taught alongside each body system in years 1 and 2, in weekly on-campus anatomy lab sessions: 1.5 hours a week in year 1 and two hours in year 2. Histology is taught in short online lab blocks. Year 1 includes an overview of normal gross and cellular anatomy as well as the anatomy of that year's body systems.

Years 1 and 2 each include a practical anatomy and histology exam in multiple-choice format. In its 2018 review of the program, the AMC noted that anatomy teaching had been more closely aligned with the PBL cases and clinical skills tutorials, and that students had responded well. In year 3 the Gosford timetable also has a few anatomy lab sessions, and the Central Coast Clinical School has a purpose-built anatomy and histology lab.

At UON, human specimens come through the University of Newcastle's Body Donor Program. Its page says most donated bodies are used to teach anatomy to medical and other health students, and that donated body parts are generally dissected to show muscles, blood vessels and nerves. UNE students in Armidale use the School of Rural Medicine's own anatomy laboratory, supplied by UNE's Body Donor Program, from the first days of year 1.

Clinical experience begins in your first semester. In years 1 and 2 you go on short placements in hospitals, nursing homes and general practice to practise taking a history and examining patients. The handbook allocates 96 placement hours to each half of year 1, and 110 and 100 hours to the two halves of year 2.

Alongside real patients, you practise with simulated patients in clinical skills workshops, starting with history taking and examining patients with heart, lung, gut and urinary problems. In year 2 your placements extend into general practice, where a GP supervisor reports on your work.

Year 3 is the step up. Most of the year is placement in general practice, general medicine and surgery, where clinicians assess your work with real patients and you demonstrate ten procedural skills. In years 4 and 5 you are on placement full time, and in final year most students work as members of a hospital team.

You are assessed in every year. Major assessments come at the end of each teaching period, and there is a progression hurdle at the end of each year. Formats include multiple-choice questions (MCQs), short-answer questions, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), clinical cases, logbooks, reflective diaries and portfolios.

An OSCE is a practical exam made up of a circuit of timed stations, each testing one task, such as examining a patient or explaining a diagnosis to a simulated patient. Workplace-based assessments are ratings by the clinicians who supervise you of tasks you do with real patients on placement. They start in year 3.

Each year's work sits in pairs of linked courses, A and B, taken in order, with the result recorded on the B course. If you fail, you repeat both halves of that course. You must finish the five years within eight. Many items are hurdles you must pass in their own right, such as PBL participation, the year 1 clinical skills assessment and attendance at compulsory sessions.

Year 1 has two graded three-hour MCQ exams, sat under exam conditions on campus. The first counts for 40% of the MCQ result and the second, in the second half of the year, for 60%.

• Year 1: MCQ exams, an anatomy and histology practical, a clinical skills assessment, research assignments and a presentation.
• Year 2: MCQ exam, anatomy and histology practical, OSCE, short-answer exam, research assignment and general practice tasks.
• Year 3: MCQ exam, an OSCE in semester 1, an Integrated Clinical and Communication Assessment in semester 2, workplace-based assessments, ten procedural skills and a Sustainable Healthcare assignment.
• Year 4: MCQ exam, OSCE, workplace-based assessments and clinical and professional conduct reports, plus the research reports and your Pathway portfolio and project.
• Year 5: OSCE, case-based discussions with clinicians, a workplace-based assessment portfolio, conduct reports, a prescribing assessment and your Pathway presentation.

The JMP's hospitals and practices sit in two Local Health Districts. Hunter New England covers 131,785 square kilometres, with a major tertiary referral centre in Newcastle, rural referral hospitals at Maitland, Taree, Tamworth and Armidale, and 20 district and community hospitals. Central Coast runs the acute hospitals at Gosford and Wyong. Placements also use general practices across the Hunter, New England and Central Coast, and private hospitals in several towns.

The handbook groups this network into six clinical schools. The urban schools are Hunter (John Hunter, Calvary Mater, Belmont and Hunter Valley hospitals), Central Coast (Gosford and Wyong hospitals) and Maitland. The rural schools are Manning in Taree, Peel in Tamworth and Tablelands in Armidale. The JMP website gives Calvary Mater Newcastle its own clinical school page. The network's footprint also reaches Moree.

In years 4 and 5 most students are based at one clinical school each year. During year 3 you state a preference for the Rural or Urban Stream, and a ballot is used if places are unfilled. Rural Stream students spend one of the final two years at a rural school and one at an urban school. Urban Stream students spend all or most of that time at urban schools, and some do single rotations at a rural school.

Every student is expected to spend one year at an urban school (Hunter, Central Coast or Maitland) unless granted an exception. Placements can fall outside normal university semester dates and can be away from the university you enrolled at. You pay your own travel and accommodation costs. Tablelands provides student houses in Armidale, and at Manning and Peel accommodation subsidies may be available through the UON Department of Rural Health.

Students admitted through the Rural and Remote Admissions Scheme may be expected to do more placements in rural areas. Before placements you also arrange and pay for respirator fit testing, repeated every 12 months.

UNE's School of Rural Medicine runs the LIC for final-year JMP students. It lasts about 18 to 19 weeks, and its current sites are Inverell, Narrabri, Moree and Singleton. You live in the town, see patients with a GP supervisor and follow them to hospital, allied health, rehabilitation, aged care and home. UNE mentions rent assistance, and from 2025 each LIC student is eligible for a $5,000 placement support payment from the Elizabeth Fyffe Trust.

The JMP's elective-style component is the Student Selected Pathway, which runs across years 4 and 5. You are allocated to one Pathway and keep the same supervision in both years. The 2026 handbook lists five: Laboratory Medicine, Indigenous Health, Global Health, Health Professional Education and Rural Health. Both universities' course pages also mention entrepreneurship.

In year 4, Pathways to Medical Practice gives you a six-week Pathway rotation, taught in person, streamed and online from your clinical school, with some travel. You build a portfolio, complete a Pathway project and write an outline for your year 5 placement. The placement is designed with your Pathway lead, a clinical school and the host supervisor or organisation.

In year 5 the Pathways Experience puts that plan into practice. It may be a clinical attachment, a community placement or a laboratory, and it can be interstate or overseas. The handbook's examples include a future paediatrician choosing neonatology, or Indigenous health as part of global health. A supervisor reports on your work and you give a presentation.

Research is built into the course for everyone. In year 3 you design a group project with a team and a supervisor, writing a literature review and a final proposal. In year 4 you carry it out, gathering or analysing data during placements and in a six-week full-time research intensive, supervised by academics and clinicians. The group is assessed on a progress report, a final report and a presentation, and you each keep an individual reflection and record.

If you want more research, the JMP's course rules let you seek up to three years' leave of absence after year 4 to complete a PhD at UNE or UON. These rules are published in UNE's 2026 handbook. The leave may be shorter, or a PhD not allowed, if you have already taken leave from the program.

A one-year Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours) also exists at Callaghan, but the 2026 handbook shows admission to it paused for new students.

The Central Coast Clinical School building at Gosford Hospital officially opened in 2022. Its facilities include a three-ward simulation centre, a purpose-built anatomy and histology lab, a skills lab, a health library, virtual reality spaces and an interdisciplinary learning suite.

At John Hunter Hospital, the Hunter Clinical School has a simulation centre, the hospital library, a student common room with lockers, and lecture and tutorial rooms. Calvary Mater students have a student hub with a kitchen and use the Clinical Skills Building on the John Hunter campus for some simulation. At Maitland Hospital there is a student space with networked computers, lockers and a shared kitchen.

The rural schools have their own education centres. The Manning Education Centre in Taree and the Tamworth Education Centre, opened in 2014, each have a simulation centre, clinical skills labs, a health library and student areas. The Tablelands building beside Armidale Rural Referral Hospital has simulation labs, ultrasound machines kept for teaching and a study area, and runs simulation sessions every week.

Support comes from both universities: AccessAbility at UON and the equivalent office at UNE arrange reasonable adjustments for disability or health conditions. Adjustments cannot change the inherent requirements, the core abilities every JMP student must show, so the program urges anyone who may need support to raise it early, even before enrolling.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are supported by the Wollotuka Institute at UON and the Oorala Aboriginal Centre at UNE. The Central Coast and Hunter clinical schools say they offer dedicated support to Indigenous students. The AMC's 2022 report noted that Oorala had added weekly tutorials and a study space for medical students.

Feedback and wellbeing are built into the early years. In year 1 you assess yourself as a PBL participant and set goals, and cover self-care, mindfulness and Mental Health First Aid. In year 2 you have one-on-one feedback meetings with your PBL facilitator. The Tablelands school in Armidale says its small numbers allow more one-to-one teaching.