Information for prospective students
Accommodation
There is no accommodation available at the hospitals, but accommodation is provided when students are on a rural placement.
Allocation to hospitals
In Stage 1 your clinical day is Monday or Wednesday. You are allocated to either RNSH (Monday), Manly (Wednesday) or Hornsby (Wednesday) Hospitals, for the whole year on your clinical day. In Block 4 (Haematology) you attend your clinical school for all teaching, which includes lectures and PBLs. However, your clinical day remains at your allocated hospital.
In Stage 2 your clinical day is Tuesday or Thursday. You will be allocated to either RNSH (Tuesday or Thursday) or Hornsby (Tuesday) for part or all of the year. In Block 9 (Oncology) you attend your clinical school for all teaching and mostly attend RNSH, but again some students will attend peripheral hospitals for some teaching.
In Stage 3 you complete Core Blocks in Medicine, Surgery and Critical Care, as well as Specialty Blocks in Perinatal and Women’s Health, Child and Adolescent Health, Community, and Psychological and Addiction Medicine. You also complete an eight week Elective Term and an eight week Pre-internship term.
The clinical placements will be at a variety of the hospitals including RNSH, Hornsby, Manly, Mona Vale, Ryde, Macquarie, Mater, Sydney Adventist, Children’s Hospital Westmead, Lismore, Murwillumbah, Grafton, Alice Springs, Remote NT. In addition students have the opportunity to attend the School of Rural Health for at least one year in Stage 3.
Clinical school hours
In Stages 1 and 2 you could be at your hospital from 8am – 6.00pm. In Stages 3 and 4 your hours vary, as you participate in clinical terms (i.e. Surgery, Emergency, Obstetrics) where you may be required to start at 7am and finish late, or work evening/night shifts.
Specialties at RNSH
RNSH is a major teaching hospital. It has a bed capacity of approximately 750 which makes it one of the largest general hospitals in Australia. The Emergency Department is designated as a major trauma centre for the northern region as well as providing a range of sub-specialty services in medicine, surgery, critical care, anaesthetics, aged care, mental health, drug and alcohol, obstetrics and gynaecology, neonatology and paediatrics.