2009 Faculty of Health Sciences' new undergraduate curriculum
Your questions answered

A1:                   The courses which will change for 2009 are:

• Bachelor of Health Information Management changes to Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Health Information Management;
• Bachelor of Occupational Therapy changes to Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Occupational Therapy Practice
• Bachelor of Orthoptic and Ophthalmic Sciences changes to Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Orthoptics
• Bachelor of Physiotherapy changes to Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Physiotherapy Practice
• Bachelor of Podiatry changes to Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Podiatric Practice
• Bachelor of Prosthetics and Orthotics changes to Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Clinical Prosthetics and Orthotics
• Bachelor of Social Work/Bachelor of Human Services changes to Bachelor of Human Services and Master of Social Work
• Bachelor of Speech Pathology changes to Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Speech Pathology

A2:                   The Bachelor and Master degrees will lead to the same professional qualifications and registration as the current Bachelor degrees.  The difference between the current Bachelor structure and the proposed Bachelor and Masters program will be an increased emphasis on professional practice in interdisciplinary settings and independence in the workforce.  Programs have been constructed based on the graduate attributes expected of an entry level health professional and aim to produce a higher standard graduate.

A3:                   All Bachelor and Master programs will be of four years duration.

A4:                   Nursing courses will remain the same as for 2009. There will still be a 3 year Bachelor of Nursing (BN); 2 year graduate entry Bachelor of Nursing, a 2 year Bachelor of Nursing for Division 2 Nurses and a 4 year Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Midwifery.
The 3 year BN will undertake the common first year with other disciplines while the other nursing courses will also share some common units.

A5:                   The Bachelor of Health Sciences and its associated double-degrees will still be offered.  The only difference is that the Bachelor of Public Health offered at the Bendigo campus has been restructured and is now called a Bachelor of Health Sciences.  The accredited environmental health officers course, a major within the Bachelor of Health Sciences, is only available at the Bendigo campus.
Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Health Sciences will study with students enrolled in the Bachelor and Master programs in the first year of their degree.  The commonality of the first year will have an advantage for students enrolled in the three year Bachelor of Health Sciences.  Students may apply to transfer into one of the Bachelor and Master programs after completing their first year.  If successful, with the possible exception of social work, students will be able to continue in the second year of the Bachelor and Master program.

A6:       The first year comprises a Foundation Program or Common First Year for students enrolled the Bachelor and Master programs of Health Information Management, Occupational Therapy, Orthoptics, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Prosthetics and Orthotics and Speech Pathology.  Those enrolled in Social Work and Nursing will also study part of this common first year. 
The focus of this year is on basic human biosciences and factors influencing health and on developing an understanding of the roles of health professionals in the health and welfare sectors.  Students will utilise case based scenarios to look at the health sector as both a User and a Provider of health care.  Students will learn in an interdisciplinary environment and develop an understanding of their chosen discipline as well as how it relates to other health disciplines.
The interdisciplinary nature of the first year also allows students to experience the broad range of health disciplines offered by the Faculty.  There is an opportunity to transfer between programs at the end of first year depending upon grades and the availability of places.  The advantage of the common first year is that it allows for successful applicants to continue in the second year of another Bachelor and Master program.  The possible exception to this is in the social work program.
For example, if someone completed the first year of the Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Speech Pathology program but at the end of the 1st year decided they were more interested in podiatry, they could apply for transfer into the Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Podiatric Practice program.  Transfer will depend on availability of places and will be on a competitive basis,  so for e.g. a successful transferee would be able to commence the 2nd year of the podiatry program without having to start from first year all over again.  This will also apply to students who undertake the Bachelor of Health Sciences or the 3 year Bachelor of Nursing.
Generally, the second year of the Bachelor and Master programs comprise a pre-professional practice program.  Students will undertake more discipline specific activities and begin to develop skills specific to the discipline.
The third year of the Bachelor and Master programs comprise a professional practice intermediate program.  At this level, applicants who have completed relevant degrees elsewhere can apply for entry into a graduate entry master (GEM) program.  This means that if you do not get into a professional program directly after successfully completing Year 12, there is another opportunity to enter such a program after completing a different degree.  Of course, there are high entry requirements for the GEM programs.
During the third year of the course, students will expand on the theoretical knowledge of their chosen discipline.  Learning will be enhanced by strong practical skills in research methodology, clinical assessment, and the application of discipline-specific techniques.
At the end of the third year of the course, those students who decide they do not want a professionally accredited degree can exit the course at with a Bachelor of Health Sciences.
The final year of the four year programs comprise an advanced professional practice program.  By the fourth year, students will be able to apply their knowledge and practical skills to the management of discipline specific disorders across the life span using case based learning techniques.  Extensive professional placement experience is a strong feature of the final year.

A7:                   The prerequisites are not changing for any of the programs.  They will be the same as the existing courses.  For example, the prerequisites for the Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Orthoptic program will be the same as for the current Bachelor of Orthoptic and Ophthalmic Science course.

A8:                   For students offered a place in the articulated Bachelor and Master program, the entire four year program will be Commonwealth Supported. 
For those who enter directly into the Graduate Entry Master (GEM) program, there is likely to be a mixture of Commonwealth Supported Places and Full-fee places available depending upon the discipline.

A9:                   At this stage the current Commonwealth Scholarship Guidelines exclude students from receiving a scholarship when undertaking a Masters degree.  Therefore, students may be able to obtain a scholarship for the first 3 years of the course but not for the final year.  The University is lobbying to have these guidelines amended where the master degree is recognised as entry to professional practice.

A10:                 The short answer is ‘NO’. 
The biggest distinction between our model and the University of Melbourne model is that students can still select and enrol in the discipline of their choice straight from secondary school.  For example, if a student wants to be a physiotherapist, there will be a course listed in the VTAC Guide called the Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master of Physiotherapy Practice.  Successful completion of this program will qualify a student as a physiotherapist in four years.  The “Melbourne Model” does not allow this as students must undertake a generic three year degree and then enrol in at least a two year Graduate Entry Master program to gain the same professional health qualification.  Thus, our model takes you four years to become a health professional while the “Melbourne Model” will take you at least five years.
Of course, there is another advantage to our model.  If you were to choose to undertake occupational therapy at either Monash University or Deakin University, it would take you four years or the same amount of time as our program.  Upon successful completion of either of those courses, you would receive a Bachelor degree in occupational therapy and be able to practice as an occupational therapist.  If you choose our model, you will also be able to practice as an occupational therapist after successful completion of our program but you will receive two degrees – a Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Master of Occupational Therapy Practice.

A11:                 Transferring is possible between courses, but is dependent on the grades you obtain and whether there are vacancies in the course into which you wish to transfer.  See A6 for more details about transfer.

A12:                 The ENTER score to get into any course is determined by the number of places available in the course, the demand for the course and the quality of applicants.  Currently demand for places in the undergraduate courses offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences is high.  The ENTER score cut-off for most of the courses is also high but ENTER cut-off does fluctuate from year to year.  We do not expect demand to decline and demand could rise if the new course structures are popular.  However, we will not be able to gauge the competitiveness of entry into courses until after the first few intakes.   

A13:                 Not necessarily.  Students are entering an articulated degree structure where the integrated nature of the program allows for accelerated learning.  The integrated case based nature of the program is designed to assist students to achieve the end goal of a Master degree and entry to professional practice.  To assist students, the learning environment will be monitored and there will be support mechanisms such as mentoring to help students.  By the time a student reaches the final year of the course, it is expected they will be operating at a Master’s level.

A14:                 It is anticipated that this will be possible in the future but not in 2009.  The common first year will operate at the Albury Wodonga, Bendigo, Bundoora, Mildura and Shepparton campuses.  For 2009, if you are offered a course at a given location, then you will undertake the first year at that campus.  In future years, subject to quotas, it may be possible to undertake first year at any of these campuses regardless of the campus at which the rest of the course is offered.

A15:                 Yes.  There is an Honours program embedded in the Master component of the programs.  In most cases, this will involve an extra semester of study and the completion of a thesis.  Students will be accepted into the Honours stream dependent upon their grades and the availability of places.  Students will still undertake clinical placements in the final year of their program regardless of whether they are enrolled in the Pass or Honours stream.  Depending on the Honours grade obtained by the students who successfully complete the Honours stream, graduates can apply to undertake higher degrees by research.

A16:                 In the first year inter-professional units (subjects) students will work in inter-professional teams to develop their understanding of health and human service disciplines.  There will be discipline specific presentations to students and discipline-specific tutorials.  Each discipline will have a 1st year discipline mentor and in first year there will be a “home-class” concept (1st year academic co-ordinator organising activities where students from the same course come together at various times throughout the year).  Once the courses have 2nd year students (from 2010) these students will be peer mentors for the 1st year students which will enhance students feeling part of the discipline.

A17:                 The courses will be based on an enquiry-based learning style.  Support modules will be available for students requiring assistance with their learning. Enquiries are written in a way that will also allow students the flexibility to undertake further study into the topics presented. In other words depending on the student’s capabilities, different modules/activities will be given to students to assist and enhance their abilities.  Overall, each student must complete the minimum requirements for each professional program in order to qualify to practice.

A18:                 Depending upon the program in which the student enrols, there will be the opportunity to take at least one elective unit (15 credit points).  In some courses it may be greater but as most programs lead to professional accreditation, the majority of units are core and must be completed.

A19:                 See A10.

A20:                 All disciplines have discussed changes to the curriculum with their respective professional bodies and relevant registration boards.  In some disciplines the professional association and/or registration board will not provide accreditation until the first cohort of students has graduated.  Therefore, the answer is that yes all courses will be accredited so graduates will be able to register upon successful completion of their program.

A21:                 The minimum requirement for entry into a GEM program will be a Bachelor degree in a relevant discipline.  The list of disciplines relevant to each GEM program will vary depending upon the GEM program.  Entry into these two year GEM programs will be competitive and based primarily on academic merit.  Therefore, the higher a student’s Grade Point Average in their undergraduate degree the better their chance of gaining entry into a GEM program.

A22:                 See A8.

A23:                 Eventually all of the Bachelor and Master programs will have a GEM program.  In most cases, they will be introduced at the same time as the third year of the articulated Bachelor and Master program.
In 2009 the Master of Occupational Therapy Practice and the Master of Speech Pathology will be offered.
In 2010 it is anticipated that the Master of Health Information Management, Master of Orthoptics and Master of Social Work will be offered.  If these are not offered in 2010 they will definitely be offered in 2011.
In 2011 the Master of Physiotherapy Practice, Master of Podiatric Practice and Master of Clinical Prosthetics and Orthotics will be offered.

Content Approved by: Registrar
Page maintained by: Senior Academic Officer
Last Updated: April 30th, 2008