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Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences : Guide to courses
The variety of careers available to graduates is enormous. Few professions can boast such a diversity of opportunity, ranging from general practice to surgery, general medicine to obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics to psychiatry. Other specialities may include anaesthetics, geriatric medicine, rehabilitation medicine, dermatology, pathology, radiology, neurosurgery and occupational medicine.
Graduates may also become medical administrators in hospitals or government departments, or medical academics and/or researchers involved with teaching and/or medical research.
Graduates are required to complete an intern year in an Australian hospital as a prerequisite for full medical registration. Many graduates will then stay in a hospital for at least one or two more years. Those who wish to train for one of the major specialities may need to continue in a teaching hospital for about five years after the intern year.
Postgraduate training for most of the specialities is supervised by speciality colleges or societies. The colleges run their own qualifying examinations, specify training programs, and attend to the professional needs of their members after they have qualified for membership.
Dental graduates are offered a wide range of career opportunities. Although most graduates enter private general practice, graduate training is available in many other areas. These include preventive dentistry and community dental health, paediatric dentistry (children's dentistry), orthodontics (the correction of malpositioned teeth), periodontics (treatment of the supporting tissues of the teeth), conservative dentistry and endodontics (conserving teeth and restoring lost tooth substance), prosthodontics (replacing lost teeth and tissue with artificial appliances), oral surgery, oral pathology (disorders of the mouth) and oral medicine.
As the emphasis in dentistry changes from corrective to preventive work, dentists increasingly act as part of a team with auxiliary health professionals such as dental therapists, licensed dental nurses, dental hygienists and advanced dental technicians.
The University of Melbourne's BDSc is recognised by the Dental Boards of all Australian states. Graduates may apply for registration as a dentist (without further examination) anywhere in Australia or its territories.
Registration may also be granted in some other countries, subject to entry requirements and those of the registering authorities.
It has been proposed that a compulsory, one-year, fully-paid internship be introduced for all dental graduates following graduation. At present, a one-year, fully-paid internship is available to a limited number of recent dental graduates, via a selection process, through the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne.
The Diploma in Oral Health Therapy offers graduates the opportunity to work as dental therapists or dental hygienists. Dental therapists, under the general supervision of practising dentists, provide dental care for children and adolescents through the School Dental Service, and promote oral health within the broader community. They examine oral and dental conditions, restore and conserve permanent and deciduous teeth, perform extractions of deciduous teeth, remove calculus and take and interpret radiographs. Great importance is given to the prevention of dental and gingival disease. Dental therapists carry out a range of preventive procedures, including fissure sealant placement and topical fluoride applications and undertake dental health education and promotion for children, adolescents, parents and community groups.
Dental hygienists provide dental care for all age groups, under the direct supervision of a practising dentist. They examine and record the nature and severity of periodontal conditions, clean, scale and root plane teeth. Great importance is given in dental hygiene to the prevention of dental and periodontal diseases. Dental hygienists carry out a similar range of preventive procedures as dental therapists, including topical fluoride applications, as well as provide dental health education and promotion for individual patients and community groups.
A physiotherapy degree opens the door for many career opportunities. Many physiotherapists work in health care and promotion, hospitals, community centres and private practices in a range of fields. They practise in the areas of women's health including preparation for pregnancy and birth, children and adolescents, exercise and sport, occupational health, rehabilitation, and geriatrics. Physiotherapists work as consultants to industry and government bodies, and as academics and researchers.
Many physiotherapists commence their careers as junior physiotherapists in public health care settings such as hospitals or large private practices, where they rotate through specialist physiotherapy units and are provided with the opportunity to reinforce and consolidate their knowledge and clinical skills. Career paths in hospitals develop along clinical and administrative lines. Senior clinical physiotherapists are highly experienced in a particular area of physiotherapy and are responsible for senior and junior staff, and for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Private physiotherapy practice encompasses many sub-discipline areas and may range from individual to large multidiscipline practices.
Physiotherapy graduates of the School are establishing their careers within the public service or in private centres within Australia and overseas. In community centres, the physiotherapist is a resource to provide treatment and health education for local residents. Physiotherapists also work in the Department of Human Services, in School Support Centres, and in individual schools of various types. In private practices, physiotherapists work in every suburb and country district for clients who require their diverse services.
Most physiotherapists undertake postgraduate studies to enhance career opportunities in clinical practice, teaching, research and administration.
Psychology is concerned with the study of human behaviour and experience. People trained in psychology work in a wide variety of areas in health, education, industry, commerce, welfare and government.
To be able to practise as a psychologist in Victoria, registration is required with the Psychologists Registration Board of Victoria. To register with the Board, an accredited four-year sequence in psychology followed by either a two-year full-time coursework Masters degree or two years supervised training is required.
Specialisation normally requires additional training. Some of these areas of specialisation are community psychology, counselling psychology, educational psychology, forensic psychology, clinical neuropsychology, clinical psychology, organisational psychology and sport psychology. After completing your training as a psychologist you may be eligible for full membership of certain professional organisations, such as the Australian Psychological Society (APS). Student membership is also available.
Search : Index : Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
Prev 6. University of Melbourne Physiotherapy Alumni Society (UMPAS)
Next 8. Faculty courses
Status: Official 1999 Last Modified: Tuesday October 20 11:52 SGML to HTML Conversion: Information Technology Services Authorised by: Academic Registrar Email Enquiries: Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au