Postgraduate Research Guide

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Collaborating for outstanding results A PROGRAM OF COLLABORATIVE AND SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING, DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THE ATTITUDE TO, AND VALUE OF, ANATOMY TRAINING FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS AT NOTRE DAME’S SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN SYDNEY HAS PRODUCED OUTSTANDING RESULTS. The program, Beyond Memorising , teaches medical students in a unique multi-modal approach including techniques such as self-directed learning, collaborative problem solving and senior students supporting juniors. Its success is reflected in the vastly improved performance of students. Introduced in 2011, by 2016 medical students’ failure rates dropped from eight percent to zero and those scoring distinctions increased from 34 percent to 84 percent. For second-year medical students failures fell from 17 percent to zero and those scoring distinctions increased from 25 percent to 76 percent. The brainchild of Notre Dame’s head of Anatomy, Professor Sankar Sinha, and senior lecturer, Dr Ali Malik, the program was shortlisted for the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards 2017. Dr Ali Malik and Professor Sankar Sinha RESEARCH MATTERS 39