Undergraduate courses offered by the Faculty
Bachelor of Biomedical Science (SBMS) – Melbourne (Bundoora)
This course is designed to provide a broad training in the biomedical sciences in order to lead to:
- employment in the biomedical research field (e.g. pharmaceutical companies, biomedical scientific instrument suppliers, medical research institutes, hospitals, public service departments dealing with health care)
- postgraduate studies in the medical sciences
- graduate entry to medicine.
The course is designed to provide a foundation year in science (with a focus on biology and chemistry), a choice of biomedical subjects in second year (biochemistry, human anatomy, human physiology, genetics, microbiology) and a specialised course in biomedical science in third year.
Seminar program
The seminar program is an integral part of the medical science course. Seminars are held regularly throughout both semesters and students in their final year must attend at least two thirds of the seminars.
Course structure
The course is of three years full-time or equivalent part-time duration and requires the completion of 360 credit points. The course structure is outlined below. Electives are normally selected from the list of recommended subjects provided for each year level, but other subjects may be taken with the approval of the course adviser.
As a guide, useful electives for those aiming at graduate entry to medicine are, in the first year, PSY1BNA (Introduction to Behavioural Neuroscience 1A), PSY1BNB (Introduction to Behavioural Neuroscience 1B), MIC1IEP (Infections and Edidemics) and STA1LS (Statistics for Life Sciences), and in the second year 80 credit points from human anatomy, human physiology, genetics or microbiology. For those considering a career in medical biotechnology, useful second year electives include chemistry, genetics and microbiology.
Students should be careful in selecting second year subjects to ensure that the appropriate prerequisites have been met for the intended program of study at the third year and at Honours level.
First year (120 credit points)
Core subjects (60 credit points)
| Teaching period | Subject name | Subject code | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | General Principles of Chemistry | CHE1GEN | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Organisation and Function of Cells and Organisms | BIO1OF | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Applications of Chemistry | CHE1APL | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Genetics, Human Biology and Evolution | BIO1GEN | 15 |
Electives (60 credit points)
Students in this course are not permitted to enrol in HBS1API or HBS1HRB.
Recommended subject options are:
| Teaching period | Subject name | Subject code | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Calculus and Number Systems | MAT1CNS | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Discrete Mathematics | MAT1DM | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Infections and Epidemics | MIC1IEP | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Information Technology Fundamentals | CSE1ITF | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Introduction to Behavioural Neuroscience 1A | PSY1BNA | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Psychology 1A2 | PSY1PYA | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Statistical Science | STA1SS | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Physics for Life Sciences A | PHY1LSA | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Principles of Physics A | PHY1SCA | 15 |
| TE-SEM-1 or TE-SEM-2 | Statistics for Life Sciences1 | STA1LS | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Calculus and Linear Algebra | MAT1CLA | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Introduction to Behavioural Neuroscience 1B | PSY1BNB | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Mathematical Applications in Biology | MAT1MAB | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Physics for Life Sciences B | PHY1LSB | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Principles of Physics B | PHY1SCB | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Psychology 1B2 | PSY1PYB | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Public Health for Nutrition Studies1 | PHE1BHN | 15 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Statistics for Psychology2 | STA1PSY | 15 |
Key: 1 PHE1SDH is incompatible with STA1LS and PHE1BHN.
2 Entry into PSY1PYA and PSY1PYB is subject to achieving the minimum ENTER required for entry into the Bachelor of Psychological Science program. Students wishing to proceed to second year level psychology should include STA1PSY in their choice of subjects.
Second year (120 credit points)
Core subjects (80 credit points)
| Teaching period | Subject name | Subject code | Credit Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology A | BCH2BMA | 20 | |
| TE-SEM-2 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology B | BCH2BMB | 20 |
Plus a further 40 credit points must be selected from the following list:
| Teaching period | Subject name | Subject code | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Anatomy: Lower Limbs | HBS2ALL | 20 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Human and Molecular Genetics | GEN2HMG | 20 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Human Physiology A | HBS2HPA | 20 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Introductory Microbiology | MIC2IM | 20 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Anatomy: Trunk and Upper Limbs | HBS2ATL | 20 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Ecological and Evolutionary Genetics | GEN2EEG | 20 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Human Physiology B | HBS2HPB | 20 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Medical and Veterinary Microbiology | MIC2MVM | 20 |
Electives (40 credit points)
An additional 40 credit points may be selected from any second year level subjects for which pre-requisites have been obtained. It is recommended that students select further subjects from those listed above, or from second year subjects in the following disciplines: chemistry (CHE2FND and CHE2DEV), mathematics, public health, physics, psychology, statistical science.
| Teaching period | Subject name | Subject code | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Medical Statistics | STA2MS | 20 |
| TE-SEM-1 | Principles of Nutrition | AGR2PNU | 20 |
| TE-SEM-2 | Animal Physiology | ZOO2APH | 20 |
Third year (120 credit points)
Core subjects (60 credit points)
| Teaching period | Subject name | Subject code | Credit Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Advanced Topics in Medical Science A | MED3MSA | 30 | |
| TE-SEM-2 | Advanced Topics in Medical Science B | MED3MSB | 30 |
Electives (60 credit points)
Students choose a total of 60 credit points from subjects for which prerequisites were obtained at the second year level.
Honours
Honours degree students are selected based on their performance in the final year of the pass degree course, and complete their honours year by satisfying the normal criteria for Honours in their selected discipline area. Students must obtain a minimum average of 60% across all of their third year subjects and obtain at least 65% in subjects germane to the selected Honours discipline to the value of 60 credit points. An Honours year may be taken in any of the departments contributing to the pass degree course for which they have the appropriate prerequisites, or in the interdisciplinary program Medical Science Honours (MED4HNA and MED4HNB).
For a full description of subjects, including the subject name, subject code, credit points, campus/location, subject coordinator, class requirements, assessment, prerequisites and readings, students should access the Subject Database at www.latrobe.edu.au/udb_public.