Year 4 Preferencing and Allocations

Preferencing

In Year 4, students will undertake a range of clinical placements across two semesters.

Women’s and Children’s Health Semester

Obstetrics and Gynaecology (6 weeks)

Paediatrics (6 weeks)

Elective (6 weeks)

Advanced Hospital Practice Semester

Medical Specialties (6 weeks)
Surgical Specialties (5 weeks)
- Ophthalmology (2 weeks)
- Orthopaedics (3 weeks)
Critical Care (7 weeks)
- Anaesthetics (2 weeks)
- ICU (2 weeks)
- Emergency (3 weeks)

NOTE: Surgical Specialties (Orthopaedics & Ophthalmology) and Critical Care (Emergency Medicine, Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Unit) are not placements in themselves, but a series of two and three week placements within the Advanced Hospital Practice Semester (depicted below).

Students will be allocated to a Clinical Unit for the duration of the academic year, and will undertake most of their clinical placements in the teaching sites associated with that Clinical Unit. Depending on the course students will be required to complete some of their clinical placements at other clinical locations (e.g. Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

Students should read this information in conjunction with the Allocation Guidelines, 2023 Year 4 Pathways and Preferencing Dates. Students can also find the 2023 Year 4 Allocation Presentation on the MD Community Site 2022.

Students will have the opportunity to nominate their preference (rank order) for allocation to a Clinical Unit, as well as a preferred placement block for their Personalised Learning Course (PLC) Elective placement. Students who do not have a preferred block for their PLC Elective placement do not need to submit preferences for their placement block order.

2023 Preferencing Tracker

Clinical Unit	Available *	First Pref *
Northside	47	12
PA/Southside	38	52
RBWH	44	84
Mater	19	48
Greenslopes	24	12
Ipswich	26	23
Bundaberg	6	2
Hervey Bay	10	0
Toowoomba	6	3
Rockhampton	18	1

* as at 12pm 8 August 2022 – subject to change

2023 Year 4 Allocation Presentation (Video) - under 'Allocations - Year 4 2023'

2023 Year 4 Allocation Presentation (PDF slides)

Please click here for access to the Placements System

Medical Specialties

After the release of finalised allocations, students will have the opportunity to nominate their preferences for Medical Speciality sub-disciplines that are available within their allocated Clinical Unit. Medical Specialties preferencing will be semester based (specific preferencing dates can be found here).

A summary of the available medical specialties at each Clinical Unit in can be found here. Please note this is a guide, with some placements not offered all blocks, and is subject to change due to operational requirements.

Eligible Rural Clinical School students (i.e. students who completed Year 3 and continued into Year 4 at the RCS) wishing to undertake their Medical Specialties placement at a metropolitan site will be contacted to confirm their preferred GBCS Clinical Unit (from RBWH, Northside - TPCH and Southside - PAH). Once students have been allocated to a Clinical Unit, they will preference with the rest of the cohort, from the options available at their allocated Clinical Unit.

Rural Clinical School students who choose to undertake their Medical Specialties placement at a GBCS Clinical Unit will be required to follow a specific protocol aligned with advice provided by the Chief Health Officer of Queensland, if applicable, when returning to their Rural Clinical School site. This will provide assurance to rural communities in Queensland that UQ medical students are committed to slowing the spread of COVID-19. Further details will be emailed to students from the Rural Clinical School, as required.

Ochsner Clinical School

Domestic and International Onshore Students may also apply to undertake their Medical Specialties at the UQ-Ochsner Clinical School in New Orleans. It is important to note that priority will be given to students who:

Are committed to practising medicine in the United States or Canada (e.g. have been approved, have applied, or expect to apply to undertake medical licensing examinations), or
Have applied to undertake their elective placement at the OCS.

Important to note:

Students can ONLY apply for blocks that correlate with their allocated placement pathway
Further details can be found below under 'Ochsner Clincial School Placements'

Elective (Personalised Learning Course)

Students are required to undertake the elective course during Year 4 of their program. The elective course includes a placement period that is six (6) weeks in duration. The elective placement can be undertaken at any approved location worldwide, including but not limited to Clinical Units of the Medical School. Applications for the elective placement activity must be made in accordance with the published guidelines and timeline.

> Find out more

Ochsner Clinical School Placements

Important Update

As a result of both Government and Medical School travel directives, at this time, we are unable to offer placements at Ochsner Clinical School. Until these restrictions are lifted the clinical placements team will not be accepting applications.

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Each year domestic and international onshore students in Year 4 have the opportunity to apply for placements at the Ochsner Clinical School through a pre-approved selection process. These placements cannot be split, and must be taken in their entirety. Students can ONLY apply for blocks that correlate with their allocated placement pathway.

Medical Specialties

Surgical Specialties & Critical Care

Emergency Medicine / Orthopaedics
Anaesthetics / ICU / Ophthalmology

Elective

UQ Ochsner Clinical School, USA

Open to all Students - priority will be given to students who can demonstrate an intention to practice medicine in North America

Medical Specialties

In Year 4, students will be provided with the opportunity to undertake their Medical Specialties placement at the UQ Ochsner Clinical School in New Orleans, Louisiana (subject to availability). If you are successful in gaining one of these places, you will be contacted at a later date by Ochsner with a list of available specialties.

Surgical Specialties & Critical Care

In Year 4, the Surgical Specialties (Orthopaedics & Ophthalmology) and Critical Care (Emergency Medicine, Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Unit) are not placements in themselves, but a series of two and three week placements within the Advanced Hospital Practice Semester (depicted below).

Like Medical Specialties, students will be provided with the opportunity to undertake these placements at the UQ Ochsner Clinical School in New Orleans, Louisiana (subject to availability).

For further information - Clinical Placements at Ochsner

Elective

Sub-specialties are not available for the elective (unspecified) placement, but will consist of sub-specialties such as Cardiology, Infectious Disease, Endocrine, etc. If you are successful in gaining one of these places, you will be contacted at a later date by Ochsner with a list of available specialties. If you would like to complete your elective in either ED, Anaesthesia or Hospital Medicine, you should apply for these under their specific name and not the general Medical Specialites or PLC Elective (unspecified).

Applications Open: N/A

Applications Close: N/A

Pre-Approved placements at Ochsner apply HERE (link will become active when applications open)

Priority will be given to students who are committed to practising medicine in the United States or Canada (e.g. have been approved, have applied, or expect to apply to undertake medical licensing examinations).
Students applying due to their desire and commitment to practise medicine in North America are required to supply supporting documentation.
Students undertaking a placement at the OCS are responsible for all associated costs.

If you have any questions please contact med.placements@uq.edu.au