Important Information

 

Resources

 

All students are expected to read the information in the Program Guide (available for download above) and the essential information below.

Policies and Guidelines

Please familarise yourself with the Federal  and State Government policies related to your program, published at the UNSW Medicine website: https://www.unsw.edu.au/medicine-health/study-with-us/student-life-resources/policies

You should also read the below policies and guidelines that are relevant to your program:

NSW Health Requirements for Clinical Placements

NSW Health requires all Medicine students undertaking clinical placements at their facilities to be fully compliant with their requirements. For more information visit: https://medprogram.med.unsw.edu.au/nsw-health-requirements


Fitness to Practice

UNSW Medicine has established a policy and process to assist students who have, or who may develop, physical or mental impairments that are likely to detrimentally affect their physical or mental capacity to practise medicine. Studying to be, and working as, a doctor are both physically, psychologically and emotionally demanding. You will be exposed to stress and disease. If you have any concerns about these issues or if you are aware of any reason (such as a chronic illness, a disability or mental illness or any impairment) that might make it difficult for you to gain medical student registration with the Medical Board of Australia or to practise as a doctor after graduating from UNSW, we urge you to speak about these important matters in confidence with UNSW Medicine Wellbeing Officer or the UNSW Counselling and Psychological Services or contact the Medical Board. Students can also contact the confidential Doctors Health Advisory Service: http://www.dhas.org.au/or DRS4DRS https://www.drs4drs.com.au/.

 

As a student of the medical profession, you have duties and responsibilities to yourself, the patients you encounter, the community and the profession. Early in the program, these issues will be discussed with you, and you should be aware of UNSW Medical Students Fitness to Practise Policy, which can be found here.

 

As all students are registered with the Medical Board of Australia, its jurisdiction applies with respect to the process of evaluating and assisting impaired students if and when required. If any student has an impairment that, in the course of clinical training, may place the public at substantial risk of harm, the student is obliged to inform the Medical Board. Furthermore, UNSW Medicine must notify the Board if it reasonably believes that a student may be impaired and they may be a risk to patient safety (see: https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/codes-guidelines-policies/guidelines-for-mandatory-notifications.aspx).

 

The predominant aim of UNSW Medicine and the Medical Board is the provision of assistance and remediation for students, with the desired outcome being the successful completion of the BMed MD and subsequent safe practise of medicine.

 


Student Code of Conduct

IMPORTANT: All UNSW Medical students must read and abide by the Professionalism in Medicine: A Student Code of Conduct. 

Students and staff are governed by the normal laws that regulate our daily lives, but in addition UNSW Sydney has its own rules and code of conduct expressed through its policies and procedures. Good conduct and academic honesty are fundamental to the mission of the University as an institution devoted to the pursuit of excellence in scholarship and research, social engagement and to the service of local and global societies. These principles apply to the whole University community, including students and staff, and have been developed over many years. In addition, medical students are expected by their colleagues and the public to demonstrate a high degree of professionalism and these expectations are outlined in our document: Professionalism in Medicine: A Student Code of Conduct. The consequences for unprofessional behaviour can range from a warning or a comment placed by Course or Phase Convenors in the student’s portfolio to an allegation of student misconduct. All students should familiarise themselves with information relating to the code of conduct on the Medicine website, and other associated policies.

UNSW Medicine, the University, and NSW Health take any form of student misconduct, including bullying, intimidation, sexual and non-sexual harassment, very seriously. The University has policies on equity and diversity, anti-racism and equal opportunity. If any student feels that they have been subject to behaviour, from another student or staff member, including staff employed by NSW Health, which would be in breach of any of these policies, it should be reported to the Program Director, Course Convenor, Student Wellbeing Advisor or senior staff member from the BMedMD Teaching Support Team.  An official complaint can also be lodged via UNSW Student Complaints and Appeals - https://student.unsw.edu.au/complaints. Students should be particularly careful with conduct related to social media. Please be aware that what you or your peers may think is “funny or trivial” may be offensive to other students, staff and the public. Even if the post or links are taken down immediately, the offended party can obtain screen shots. If this post has occurred on a UNSW official website or a website linked to UNSW, or the student(s) identify themselves as UNSW students, or it relates to teaching activities, it may breach the UNSW Student Code of Conduct Policy which can result in significant penalties such as suspension from studies:

 

 

Students are also required to abide by the codes or regulations of NSW Health and its facilities governing behaviour during clinical placements:

If a student feels that, during a clinical placement, they are subject to bullying and harassment by an employee of NSW Health who is not a conjoint member of UNSW Medicine, the relevant Course Convenor, Clinical Campus Administrator or Clinical Tutor should be notified immediately. Students can also contact confidential and free Employee Assistance Programs which are available in all teaching hospitals.

 

NSW Health takes bullying and harassment of any student or staff member very seriously as outlined in the Policy:

 

All students are registered with the Medical Board of Australia and are required to abide by the Medical Board of Australia’s Code of Conduct. See information outlined in this guide and on the website: https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/codes-guidelines-policies/code-of-conduct.aspx.


Attendance at Classes

You are expected to attend all classes and it is to your advantage to do so. Please see the university policy on Class Attendance. 
https://student.unsw.edu.au/attendance

UNSW Medicine expects students to attend all scheduled activities (note some of these may be online). Each course assessment includes attendance and engagement. It is important that you contact your course convenor or MESO if you need allowance for illness or misadventure. You are also expected to be punctual for all classes. If you fail to comply with the attendance requirements for a course or term, you may be awarded an Unsatisfactory Fail (even if you pass the end of course examination).

Tutors will keep attendance records in scenario group sessions, Clinical Skills sessions (both campus and hospital based), practical classes and Ethics tutorials. Student attendance at hospital teaching sessions is particularly important. Poor attendance is now flagged by shared systems across all clinical schools and Faculty. Failure to attend appropriately may result (after relevant investigation into reasons) in remarks regarding Professionalism being added to the student Portfolio. More than one such Professionalism comment in eMed would lead to a recommendation that the student would not be eligible to sit the Phase 1 Clinical Skills examination. In this regard it important that students are aware of and comply closely with the NSW Health (ClinConnect) compliance requirements as discussed in the Program Guide, and emphasised below.

It is your responsibility to frequently check the Timetable for assigned classes and any changes. Ignorance of classes, which are scheduled in the Timetable, is not an acceptable excuse for non-attendance.

You can only attend classes to which you are allocated. You may not attend hospital sessions, practicals or other classes at different times or locations to those in your timetable. Staff may ask you to leave if you are not in the correct class. This is particularly important because of the need to adhere to occupancy limits imposed by the “COVID capacity” of individual teaching spaces.


Guidelines for Student Self Care Days

Self-care is an important component of development as a medical professional. Please see the links below for information about Student Self-Care Days.


Equity and Disability

The wellbeing of students and successful academic progress are paramount priorities for the Medicine program. Students should take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. However, the Faculty and University have a responsibility to support students through health and personal issues and to treat all students fairly and without discrimination. Equitable Learning Services at UNSW (formerly known as Disability Support Services) has well-established services that can help students with disabilities or difficult personal circumstances. For example, reasonable adjustments can be instituted to help students’ study. Equitable Learning Services at UNSW provides the following services to students:

  • advice and information on anti-discrimination legislation, policies and practice
  • assistance with grievance handling under UNSW’s discrimination and harassment grievance procedures
  • disability services
  • support for ACCESS students
  • guest lectures and presentations to students

You can contact the Equitable Learning Services at any time to talk confidentially about issues relating to disability and equity in your study: https://student.unsw.edu.au/els/services.

 

The Faculty acknowledges that a student's ability to meet program requirements may change due to parenthood, other caring responsibilities, disability or ill health and we will seek to be supportive and flexible to assist students in completing their studies. Students should contact relevant Phase Convenors or Program Authority as early as possible to discuss options for program leave and flexible learning.


Academic Integrity at UNSW

UNSW has an ongoing commitment to fostering a culture of learning informed by academic integrity. All UNSW staff and students have a responsibility to adhere to this principle of academic integrity. Plagiarism undermines academic integrity and is not tolerated at UNSW. Plagiarism at UNSW is defined as using the words or ideas of others and passing them off as your own (see examples below).

 

The UNSW Student Code provides a framework for the standard of conduct expected of UNSW students with respect to their academic integrity and behaviour. It outlines the primary obligations of students and related procedures:

https://www.gs.unsw.edu.au/policy/documents/studentcodepolicy.pdf 

 

In addition, it is important that students understand that it is not permissible to buy essay/writing services from third parties as the use of such services constitutes plagiarism. Nor is it permissible to sell copies of lecture or tutorial notes or give them to a third party, such as a website, as students do not own the rights to this intellectual property. More information on the UNSW Plagiarism Policy can be found here: 

https://www.gs.unsw.edu.au/policy/documents/plagiarismpolicy.pdf

 

Policies and guidelines regarding academic integrity also cover online assessments and examinations which are used throughout the medical program.

 

When a student breaches the Student Code with respect to academic integrity, the University may take disciplinary action under the Student Misconduct Procedure:

https://www.gs.unsw.edu.au/policy/documents/studentmisconductprocedures.pdf

 

Examples of plagiarism including self-plagiarism:

Copying: Using the same or very similar words to the original text or idea without acknowledging the source or using quotation marks.  This includes copying materials, ideas or concepts from a book, article, report or other written document, presentation, composition, artwork, design, drawing, circuitry, computer program or software, website, internet, other electronic resource, or another person's assignment, without appropriate acknowledgement.

 

Inappropriate paraphrasing: Changing a few words and phrases, while mostly retaining the original structure and/or progression of ideas and information without acknowledgement. This also applies to presentations, where someone paraphrases another’s ideas or words without credit, and to piecing together quotes and paraphrases into a new whole without appropriate referencing.

 

Collusion: Presenting work as independent work when it has been produced, in whole or part, in collusion with other people. Collusion includes students providing their work to another student before the due date or for the purpose of them plagiarising at any time, paying another person to perform an academic task and passing it off as their own, stealing or acquiring another person’s academic work and copying it, offering to complete another person’s work or seeking payment for completing academic work. This should not be confused with academic collaboration.

 

Inappropriate citation: Citing sources which have not been read, without acknowledging the 'secondary' source from which knowledge of them has been obtained.

 

Self-plagiarism: ‘Self-plagiarism’ occurs where an author republishes their own previously written work and presents it as new findings without referencing the earlier work, either in its entirety or partially. Self-plagiarism is also referred to as 'recycling', 'duplication', or 'multiple submissions of research findings' without disclosure. In the student context, self-plagiarism includes re-using parts of, or all of, a body of work that has already been submitted for assessment without proper citation.

More information on the use of Turnitin.


Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism

You are expected to read the University’s policy on Academic Misconduct (including plagiarism) which are available on the following myUNSW site:

Plagiarism may lead to failure of an assessment and a course and may also lead to a charge of misconduct which could result in exclusion from the University. It is imperative you understand how seriously the Faculty and University view plagiarism. UNSW Medicine will scan all items submitted to the eMed: Portfolio system using a commercial plagiarism engine. Items submitted are also compared to other items already in the system.


UNSW Work Health and Safety Policy

There are many locations in UNSW Medicine, its teaching hospitals and clinical placements, and many activities that you may be involved in during your studies that are potentially dangerous to your health and safety and to the health and safety of others. You should at all times observe the requirements of the UNSW Work Health and Safety Policy is available at: http://www.gs.unsw.edu.au/policy/documents/ohspolicy.pdf


Allocation of Students to Clinical Environments

Students will be allocated to Clinical Teaching Sites throughout their time at UNSW according to the Allocation of Students to Clinical Environments Guidelines. Please ensure you read the Guidelines which explain the important information with respect to clinical allocations.

Students are allocated to Clinical Teaching Sites in a way that ensures they receive the highest possible quality of teaching and are exposed to a wide range of patients who have illnesses relevant to their training.

Relocation allowance (RA) for allocation to Rural Clinical School Campuses for Phase 2 or Phase 3 in Medicine Reimbursement for relocation expenses information for students was updated 16 February 2018. Please complete the ER1 Expense Reimbursement Form due as specified in the information for students.

 


Blood Borne Virus Infections

Enrolment in the UNSW Medicine degree program requires you to comply with NSW Health Immunisation and Blood-borne Viruses Policy. The aim of this policy is to minimise the risk of medical students contracting or spreading an infectious disease or blood-borne virus such as HIV and Hepatitis B or C.
You’ll also be required to register with the NSW Medical Board. The board requires anyone potentially undertaking exposure-prone procedures to be aware of their infective status regarding blood-borne viruses.
If you’re aware you have a blood-borne virus or infection you cannot undertake exposure-prone procedures.
An infective student who knowingly undertakes an exposure-prone procedure or endangers the health of patients will be reported to the Medical Board’s Impaired Practitioner program. Consequences can include loss of board registration, expulsion from the Medicine degree program and in some cases criminal prosecution. The student would be also subject to UNSW’s Student Misconduct procedures if a blood-borne virus is knowingly transmitted.

See also documents:


Faculty Wellbeing Advisor

The Faculty Wellbeing Officer offers support services to UNSW Medicine students currently enrolled within the faculty either as undergraduate or postgraduate students. This role focuses on preventative programs including developing student’s mental health literacy and awareness, advocacy and providing additional support and assistance if required.

 

There are several ways that you can obtain support for problems related to your studies or personal issues that may impact upon you getting the best out of your time in the Medicine program:

  • If you are having difficulty with your studies please speak to the relevant course convenor, or phase convenor if the problem is related to more than one course as an initial step.
  • Students should prioritise registering with a GP as soon as is practicable

 

Students are encouraged to seek help early and utilise the student support services on campus including:

 

You are also encouraged to consider making contact with the support services for international students and rural students, if applicable.

 

If you experience problems in accessing these services and feel that you require additional support, please get in contact with the Faculty Wellbeing Officer. The officer can: assess the student’s problem and needs; provide advice; co-ordinate appropriate help both on and off campus if required; and act as an advocate for the student in their interaction with the Faculty, or other authorities, as needed. Accessing support through the Faculty Wellbeing Officer is not intended to be on a long-term basis. Given the high demand for support services, the Faculty Wellbeing Officer provides short-term assistance on as needs basis. Where more intensive or long-term support is needed, the Faculty Wellbeing Officer can assist you in accessing the external support services outlined above.

 

Information given to the Student Wellbeing Officer will be regarded as confidential.

 

The Faculty may also require a student to see the Faculty Wellbeing Officer or the Counselling and Psychological Services, if there is a concern about academic progress or fitness to practice.

 

Further information about student wellbeing is available in the Current Students section on UNSW Medicine website. https://med.unsw.edu.au/student-life/wellbeing

 

 

Back to Top