Clinical Placements

Monash Medical School (MMS) partners with four Clinical Schools across Victoria, each with a range of affiliated hospitals and clinical sites. During the clinical years of your course (Years 3B, 4C and 5D), you will spend around 40 hours per week in clinical placements across metropolitan Melbourne and rural Victoria, with opportunities to:

gain high-quality medical education and supervision
develop best practice pastoral care
broaden your understanding of healthcare delivery across diverse settings.

Placements are allocated in the year prior, based on several factors including your stated preferences, any special requirements, your home address in the Web Enrolment System (WES), and the number of available places at each Clinical School. If no preference is submitted, placements will be allocated at random.

While your preferences are carefully considered, all allocations are subject to availability and cannot be guaranteed. Placements are provisional until academic results are released, and MMS reserves the right to allocate placements as required.

During the allocation process, you can submit special requirements you would like the School to consider when allocating you to a Clinical School. All requests must be supported by appropriate documentation.
Students are reminded that, under the Monash University Code of Conduct, submitting false or fraudulent information or documentation is prohibited and may result in a General Misconduct complaint.
Below are the categories of special requirements that may be considered, along with the required supporting documentation:
1. Major health condition(s) requiring frequent, ongoing and location-specific specialised treatment
  1. Letter from your treating doctor, counsellor, psychologist or other AHPRA-registered health practitioner.
2. Parent of a dependent child or children
  1. Birth certificate of your child.
3. Participation in the Team Monash Elite Student Performance Scheme
  1. Registration letter from the scheme.
4. Registered carer for a dependent
  1. Evidence of registered carer status, e.g. Services Australia or University Disability Support Unit.
  2. Letter from Monash Disability Support Services.
5. Severe financial hardship
  1. Bank statements showing reduced income or spending on essential items and services.
  2. Income statements or payment summaries from all employers.
  3. Letter from employer stating your estimated income for a part-time job in a specific location.
  4. Letter from an accountant.
  5. Report from a financial counselling service.
  6. Debt repayment agreements.
  7. Any additional supporting evidence.
6. Family and domestic violence
  1. a police or incident report
  2. a medical certificate
  3. a court document
  4. a signed statement from a social worker, counsellor, doctor or other party.
7. De facto (common-law) relationship
  1. Evidence of a shared life, committed relationship or domestic arrangement, e.g. joint lease, bills, bank statements, correspondence, statements of shared responsibilities.
8. Malaysia cohort only – accommodation with a friend or family member
  1. Letter from your friend or family member that includes their home address and confirmation of your stay for the duration of your placement in Australia. This must be sighted and signed by a CSJB administration team member and uploaded to InPlace.
Accommodation
Do not enter into a rental agreement until placement allocations are published, as placements cannot be changed based on housing arrangements.
Monash provides an Off-Campus Renting Guide and support for lease-related questions. For enquiries, contact mrs.offcampus@monash.edu.
Accommodation at the School of Rural Health is heavily subsidised and includes college-style living (Year 3B) and shared houses within local communities. All options are fully furnished with equipped kitchens and high-speed internet. Utilities (gas, electricity and water) and garden and household maintenance are covered by the weekly accommodation fee.
Transportation
You should expect to travel to your placement, whether in metropolitan or rural/regional areas. You are responsible for organising reliable transport and arriving on time. If you do not have access to a car, you will need to arrange alternative transport.
It is recommended that you review public transport options in advance. Clinical Site Administrators may assist by connecting you with other students to organise carpooling.
Your safety on placement is a priority. Students may have particular concerns when travelling to and from placements, especially during late hours, so it is important to plan ahead and take appropriate precautions, such as:
- Download the MonashBSafe App and review the staying safe tips and external support services.
- Familiarise yourself with your placement environment.
- Travel in a group where possible. Students on late-night rosters will always be rostered in pairs.
- Have a communication plan in place so someone knows your whereabouts and expected return time.
- Review the Victoria Police personal safety page..
Rising cost-of-living pressures can make it challenging to manage expenses during placement.
Monash University offers emergency grants and low-interest loans to support students. Practical assistance is also available through the Student Wellbeing Liaison Officer (Monash login required) at your Clinical School or clinical site.
Monash Rural Health also provides financial support through its Financial Assistance Fund. Funding is available each year for eligible students.
If you plan to take a 12-month period of leave or undertake an Honours year (BMedScHons), indicate this in InPlace so that a clinical placement is not arranged. If you are undecided or awaiting an Honours offer, select the default option (clinical placement). You can change your selection up to March of the following year without penalty.
You must also apply for intermission through the Web Enrolment System (WES) during the re-enrolment period (October to November).
Review the allocation timeline to stay informed of key milestones, including when each submission phase opens in InPlace and the deadline for special requirements.

Preclinical students

Year A View

Clinical students

Year 3B View

Year 3B consists of two 18-week semesters. Semester dates are published online here.

Phase 1 preferences

Rank your preferred placement location in order, with your first preference at the top.
ERC & E2E students must put the School of Rural Health as their first preference.

Phase 2 preferences

Students allocated to the School of Rural Health will have the opportunity to submit preferences for their clinical sites in Phase 2.

Clinical schools

- Angliss Hospital
- Box Hill Hospital
- Maroondah Hospital
More information
- Casey Hospital
- Dandenong Hospital
- Monash Medical Centre
The School of Clinical Sciences (SCS) sites include Monash Medical Centre, Dandenong and Casey hospitals, all within about 40 minutes of the central business district. All SCS students will return to Monash Medical Centre on Tuesday afternoons for their academic program (and occasionally other days according to scheduling needs). Expect some movement between sites for specialised parts of the program. The School will use the same principles as Phase 1 to determine student allocation to sites within SCS, note it is possible to opt into placement at Casey Hospital, but allocation to MMC and Dandenong Hospital is randomly allocated. No swaps will be permitted.
More information
- Monash Rural Health Mildura
  - Mildura Base Public Hospital
- Monash Rural Health Bendigo
  - Bendigo Health
- Monash Rural Health Gippsland
  - Latrobe Regional Health, Traralgon
  - West Gippsland Healthcare Group, Warragul
  - Central Gippsland Health, Sale
More information
- Alfred Hospital
- Cabrini Hospital
School of Translational Medicine Year 3B students will be based at Cabrini Hospital, Peninsula Health or Alfred Health. The school will use the same principles as the Faculty to determine student allocation to those sites. It is possible to opt into Frankston Hospital but unfilled positions will be randomly allocated.
More information
- Frankston hospital
Located in Frankston (32 km from the Clayton campus) Frankston hospital is the major provider of healthcare services on the Mornington Peninsula.
Located in Berwick (26 km from the Clayton campus) Casey hospital is a major teaching and research hospital, serving of of the fastest growing areas in the south east of Melbourne.

Year 4C View

Placement requirements

Year 4C consists of 2, 18-week semesters. Semester dates are published online here. Students rotate through 4 specialty placement rotations: Students are required to complete the following rotations:

General Practice, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Children’s Health and Psychiatry. The rotations may be in any order. There is some variation between rotation models due to the availability of clinical supervisors. Students have the opportunity to rank their preferred placement location from one of three placement options.

Metropolitan cohort: The metropolitan cohort rotations through 4, 9-week rotations in 4 disciplines: These rotations may be allocated in any order. Students rotate through specialty rotations, rather than clinical schools.
Peninsula Health cohort: Students complete 4 x 9-week rotations at Peninsula Health and associated clinical sites.
School of Rural Health cohort: Students complete one 18-week regional hospital rotation and one 18-week rural practice community rotation. These rotations may be in any order. Students can submit preferences to complete these semesters at different clinical sites in Phase 2 of the allocation process.

Extended Rural Cohort (ERC) Students
ERC students undertake their clinical placements across the Monash Rural Health footprint in rural and regional Victoria in Gippsland or in the north-west of the state undertaking a regional hospital rotation and a rural practice community rotation.

End-to-End (E2E) Rural Cohort Students
E2E students undertake their clinical placements in north west Victoria and are able to preference sites across this region for their regional hospital rotation and a rural practice community rotation. Allocation to a rural clinical placement in either the north west and/or Gippsland is based on student requests and program capacity constraints. Students who have been allocated to SRH are asked to submit online preferences via the Student Placement System (InPlace) in Phase 2 of the allocation process.

Students not enrolled in a rural entry scheme
Non-rural stream students can request a regional hospital rotation and rural practice community rotation placement to be undertaken at rural and regional sites across Gippsland and the north west regions.
Allocation to a rural clinical placement in either the north west and/or Gippsland is based on student requests and program capacity constraints. Students who have been allocated to SRH are asked to submit online preferences via the Student Placement System (InPlace) in Phase 2 of the allocation process.

Phase 1 preferences

Rank your preferred placement location in order, with your first preference at the top.
ERC & E2E students must put the School of Rural Health as their first preference.

The metropolitan cohort rotations through 4, 9-week rotations in 4 disciplines. These rotations may be allocated in any order. Students rotate through specialty rotations, rather than clinical schools.
- Children’s Health
  - Eastern Health (Angliss / Maroondah Hospitals)
  - Casey Hospital
  - Dandenong Hospital
  - Monash Children’s Hospital
- General Practice
  - General Practice clinics in the Melbourne metropolitan areas
- Psychiatry
  - Eastern Health (Maroondah Hospital)
  - Dandenong & Casey Hospitals
  - Monash Medical Centre
  - The Alfred Hospital
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
  - Eastern Health (Angliss / Box Hill)
  - Casey Hospital
  - Dandenong Hospital
  - Monash Medical Centre
  - Sandringham Hospital
- Students complete Children’s Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Psychiatry rotations at Frankston Hospital.
- Students complete the General Practice rotation at clinics in the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula area.
- Regional hospital rotation
  - Mildura Base Public Hospital, Mildura
  - Bendigo Health, Bendigo
  - Latrobe Regional Health, Traralgon
  - West Gippsland Healthcare Group, Warragul
  - Central Gippsland Health, Sale
- Rural practice community rotation
  - Central Gippsland (Sale, Heyfield, Maffra)
  - East Gippsland (Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance, Orbost)
  - Goldfields (Maryborough, Kyneton, Castlemaine)
  - Highlands (Gisborne, Woodend)
  - Murray (Swan Hill)
  - South Gippsland (Leongatha, Korumburra, Wonthaggi, Foster)
  - West Gippsland (Warragul, Trafalgar, Drouin, Yarragon)
- Find out more from the School of Rural Health websiteEither the metropolitan or rural cohorts may be oversubscribed. In this case, students will be allocated to the undersubscribed cohort. Students are allocated to hospital sites to ensure a balance of gender and international/domestic at each site.
- No swaps between the metropolitan and regional/rural cohorts will be permitted.

Phase 2 – School of Rural Health only

Students allocated to the School of Rural Health will have the opportunity to submit preferences for their clinical sites. Students will also have the option to nominate a friend with whom you would like to be placed. Please ensure all in your friendship groups, select the same preferences and provide each other’s names for site preferences, otherwise friendship group requests cannot be taken into consideration.

Year 5D View

The Year 5D course consists of three units completed concurrently across six 6-week rotations:

MED5105: Five six-week clinical rotations in Medicine, Surgery, Emergency, Aged Care and a Specialty area. Rotations may be completed in any order.
MED5101: One research-focused rotation, colloquially known as the Scholarly Intensive Placement (SIP).
MED5103: Simulation days, patient safety sessions and end-of-year written examinations held at Monash Clayton, during Back to Base Week in late October.

You can nominate a Home Base Clinical School to complete your course. You may also indicate a preference for a full-year or a semesterised placement model. A full-year placement is completed at one Clinical School, while the semesterised model allows you to split the year between a metropolitan Clinical School and the School of Rural Health.

As part of the Australian Government’s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) program:

Extended Rural Cohort (ERC) and End-to-End (E2E) Rural Cohort students must complete at least one semester at the School of Rural Health.
A proportion of Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP) students must complete at least one semester at the School of Rural Health if they have not already done so during their course.

Each Clinical School is associated with a range of clinical sites where you will complete your rotations. Depending on your allocated sites, you will have the opportunity to undertake specialty experiences in areas such as anaesthesia, paediatrics, neurosurgery and more.

The Department of General Practice also offers the option to complete your Specialty rotation through its GP placement program outside your Home Base Clinical School. You can opt in during Phase One of the placement allocation process.

For further information, students are encouraged to attend the Semester 1 Year 4C information session or refer to the FAQs document.

Further information

Phase one
All preferences are submitted through the InPlace system. Review the allocation timeline to stay informed of key milestones, including when each submission phase opens in InPlace and the deadline for special requirements.
Submit a preference for a placement model, ranking options from 1 to 4. Extended Rural Cohort (ERC) and End-to-End (E2E) Rural Cohort students must rank ‘Full year metropolitan placement’ last:
- Full year metropolitan placement
- Full year rural placement
- Rural Semester 1/Metro Semester 2
- Metro Semester 1/Rural Semester 2
Then submit your preference for your Home Base Clinical School, ranking options 1 to 5:
- Eastern Health Clinical School
- School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health
- School of Translational Medicine (STM)
- Peninsula Health Clinical School (within STM)
- School of Rural Health
Phase two
Submit a preference for your preferred clinical sites and/or specialties. You will be guided through this process by your Home Base Clinical School, as each school has its own approach.
For logistical reasons, away rotations are scheduled in Rotation 3, 4 or 5 only. Students may be approved to complete a Specialty or SIP rotation away from their Home Base Clinical School in the following circumstances:
- participation in an approved overseas exchange program for the Specialty rotation
- Canadian or United States permanent residents who are required to complete clinical training in their home country for registration purposes, with supporting evidence provided.

Clinical Placements

Preclinical students

Year A View

Clinical students

Year 3B View

Phase 1 preferences

Clinical schools

Year 4C View

Placement requirements

Phase 1 preferences

Phase 2 – School of Rural Health only

Year 5D View

Further information

Phase one

Phase two