Rural Medicine Placement Programs

At Adelaide Rural Clinical School, we facilitate placements for medical students in rural and remote locations throughout South Australia and across the border in Broken Hill, New South Wales.

During MD 4 to 6 of the Doctor of Medicine, you will put your knowledge into practice through clinical placements. As an undergraduate medical student, you can spend anywhere from four weeks to a full academic year (36 weeks) on rural placement. Adelaide Rural Clinical School’s placements are held at various rural and remote locations, including public teaching hospitals and community-based practices.

Year 4 Surgical Placement – eight weeks

This eight-week rural placement concentrates on the discipline of surgery, one of the key areas of the Doctor of Medicine. On graduation, it is expected that you will have acquired reasonable clinical exposure to surgical patients and a basic understanding of surgical principles.

You will be exposed to the discipline of surgery at varying stages of the clinical curriculum and the foundations are laid during the eight week surgical placement in MD 4.

Locations:

  • Mount Gambier
  • Port Augusta
  • Port Lincoln
  • Whyalla
  • Broken Hill (last rotation only)

Year 5 Integrated Program – one year

The Integrated Medical Program is a year-long clinical placement. You will live and work in a rural or regional community as part of an integrated educational program, with a variety of clinical placements, tutorials and wider learning experiences. Each location has unique and diverse educational, social, cultural, recreational and wider opportunities on offer. We take a holistic approach—so we’ll help you access social and sporting clubs, wellbeing support, and anything else you may need for a fun and rewarding experience. 

The one-year rural placement follows the medicine program's academic calendar. Each semester is a blend of clinical placements and educational activities, coordinated by the local student coordinators and delivered by clinical teaching teams.

Locations:

  • Barossa
  • Broken Hill
  • Ceduna
  • Clare
  • Jamestown
  • Kadina
  • Mount Barker
  • Port Augusta
  • Port Lincoln / Tumby Bay
  • Port Pirie
  • Roxby Downs / Whyalla
  • Whyalla / Cummins

Year 6 Selective Program – four weeks

The year six program offers four-week elective placements in community and ambulatory locations in our learning centres, or we can assist you in finding placements in other rural towns throughout our region. Locations vary each year.