Melbourne’s new graduate doctors

The Doctor of Medicine (MD) at the University of Melbourne was first introduced in 2011 to meet the changing needs of future doctors. Building on established relationships with hospitals and research institutes across the Parkville biomedical precinct and further afield, the MD is well placed to provide unique experiences for students throughout their clinical training. 

An intensive research component is a unique point of difference within the course, and each member of the first graduating class has gained quite different experiences as a result: as broad as working in very remote Australian Indigenous communities to presenting research in London.

Passionate about women’s health, Calida Howarth was attracted to the MD at the University of Melbourne due to its research component which she felt would be an important learning experience. She was based at Austin Hospital for her clinical training. 

Dr Howarth made the most of this opportunity and intrigued by Medicare data that showed Victorian women undergoing genital cosmetic surgery had increased by 252 per cent from 2000-2011, she went on to undertake research into young women’s views on genital cosmetic surgery.

“I wanted to find out what was driving this trend,” Dr Howarth says. “I also found it concerning, as a young woman and future doctor, that the risks and benefits of these procedures have not been fully ascertained, and that it is promoted in an unregulated manner.”

This area is highly topical and fellow student Tristan Harding, based at the Western Clinical School between Footscray and Sunshine hospitals, undertook separate research investigating the role of the GP in managing this procedure. 

“I interviewed a range of health professionals including GPs, gynaecologists and plastic surgeons, asking about their knowledge of the topic and experiences they had with patients,” Dr Harding says. 

“The aim of the research has been to try to develop management guidelines for general practice as none currently exis It has been very successful with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners commissioning the development of a toolkit for GPs to assist in their management of these patients from this research.”

This work has been presented at meetings around the world, including at conferences in England and Greece, and is currently being submitted for publication. 

Closer to home, Sarah Eaton undertook research into the determinants of the quality of life of adults who had been born with congenital heart disease, and found that this condition didn’t affect a lot of their outcomes, and many are doing well in the community. 

She had a taste of life in rural Victoria through her studies, spending three years split across Mansfield, Wangaratta and Bendigo after spending her first year of the course in Melbourne and enjoyed this rural experience.

“My favourite place was probably Mansfield as it was a smaller town but had a lot of tourists coming in and out, so it was always quite busy but there was still that small community feel about it. The Rural Clinical School provided a really good opportunity to have one-on-one training with senior doctors who we were with most of the time. We really got to know them and their families.”

Fellow student Daniel North undertook research at St Vincent’s Hospital, exploring the effectiveness of a new prognostic marker in a type of blood and bone cancer. Mr North hopes to pursue physician and haematology training next. 

“During the course I loved the chance to meet and talk to people from an enormous range of backgrounds and the experience enormously broadened my horizons,” Dr North says. 

“I had the chance to be involved in research that I found challenging and exciting. I even had the chance to do an elective in the Indian Himalaya!” 

As for next steps, these four exceptional students are going their separate ways to undertake various internships and learn more about their various specialty interests. Dr Howarth, interested in a career in obstetrics, will start at The Royal Melbourne Hospital; Dr Harding, interested in pursuing a career in paediatrics, will start at Western Health; Dr North, considering a career in haematology, will stay on at St Vincent’s; and Dr Eaton will move back to Melbourne to start at The Royal Melbourne Hospital. 

The MD opened up a new avenue to allow students to pursue such a range of opportunities and leave with a strong sense of commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of communities. Dr North feels the highlight of the course was undertaking a placement in the remote Aboriginal community of Kaltukatjara through the John Flynn Scholarship program.

“I'll never forget the people I met, and how much I learned about Aboriginal culture. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I feel very lucky to have had it,” he says.

www.mdhs.unimelb.edu.au