Year 3 Preferencing and Allocations

Rural Clinical School

Students in the Rural Clinical School do not need to preference their GP placement, as this is will be arranged directly by their Clinical Unit. 

Greater Brisbane Clinical School

In 2024, all GBCS students (Domestic and International) will have the opportunity to undertake their GP placement in a rural location. Please note that at least 50% of students will be allocated to a rural location and students will be allocated at the discretion of the Medical School, based on operational requirements, unless they have been granted an exemption via the Special Consideration Process. 

Students who undertake their GP placement at a rural location will be provided with accommodation for the duration of their GP placement and are entitled to financial assistance through the Rural Placement Student Support Program. 

Regardless of whether students are allocated to a Rural or GBCS GP placement, they will have the opportunity to nominate their preference for a specific GP practice (preferencing dates can be found here). All placements are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the Medcial School.

Students are not permitted to preference for placements at practices where their family are patients or staff.

For more information GBCS GP placements, email med.gpstudents@uq.edu.au

For more information on Rural GP placements, email med.rrmstudents@uq.edu.au

In 2024, all Students (Domestic and International) are required to undertake MEDI7315 Rural and Remote Medicine (RRM), unless they have been granted an RRM Exemption via the Special Consideration Process.

Rural and Remote Medicine is focused on clinical practice in the rural context.  After the release of finalised allocations, students will have the opportunity to preference by site - this is irrespective of their clinical unit allocation.  While every attempt will be made to minimise changes to rural & remote placements, this may not always be possible due to operational requirements.

Prior to preferencing you will be able to view the location and profiles of possible domestic placement sites. You will be provided with a list of placements that will be available in your course and in your allocated placement block through the Placements system (InPlace).  If you are undertaking the Comprehensive Clinical Practice (CCP) semester in the first half of 2024, you will be required to submit your preferences for RRM in September 2023. Alternatively, if you are undertaking CCP in Semester 2 you will required to submit your preferences in March 2024. As was the case with preferencing for your clinical unit, you will need to log into Placements to rank the available placements in your preferred order. This will occur on a semester basis and specific preferencing dates can be found here.

There are no restrictions on the placements you can choose in the preferencing process, as these placements are not tied to your clinical unit allocation for other courses.  For RRM enquiries please contact med.rrmstudents@uq.edu.au. 

RRM application for Priority Placement

Students have an opportunity to submit an application for Priority Placement  prior to preferencing placement sites. Compelling reasons only will be considered,  such as:

• students with a rural background or connection (i.e. completed TREES Observership) and may wish to complete a rural placement at a specific site 

Further details can be found here, under the Placements tab.

The Extended Placement Program provides an opportunity for all Onshore students (Domestic and International) to spend more time in a rural location by undertaking back to back placements in General Practice and Rural & Remote Medicine. The program focuses on continuity of practice in a rural community, thus for students enhancing patient and learner-centeredness. 

It is known that rural primary care is an excellent setting for high quality clinical and educational experiences (Worley, Stasser & Prideaux, 2009). The chosen rural sites would provide an integrated learning environment with extensive clinical exposure. The Extended Placement Program will be enriched by having a Medical Educator take a role in supporting and assisting medical students to meet all the curriculum requirements. Students who are approved for the EPP will be allocated to undertake their General Practice (GP) placement prior to their Rural and Remote Medicine (RRM) placement.

In 2025, EPP is open to students taking their RRM and GP placements in either the Year 3 Comprenhensive Clinical Practice (CCP) semester, or the Year 4 Primary Care Plus semester.

Students wishing to undertake an EPP will be provided with accommodation for the duration of their EPP placements and are entitled to financial assistance through the Rural Placement Student Support Program.

Please see the EPP information flyer and EPP Information booklet for further details or contact Rural & Remote Medicine Team via email: med.rrmstudents@uq.edu.au or by phone (07) 4633 9705. 

For a first hand insight into the Extended Placement Program, check out Travis' story here.

How to Apply

2025 EPP Applications open: 12:00 noon Monday 27 May, 2024

2025 EPP Applications close: 12:00 noon Monday 3 June, 2024

To apply, complete the Application form.