We welcome students from Monash University and Melbourne University.  We have also had students here from interstate and overseas universities.

• Placements are arranged via the respective univeristies.  
• Students are to come well presented and at the appointed time.
• There is a dedicated student room interconnected to the supervising doctor, where the student can see their own patients - and then discuss with the supervising doctor.

Our supervisors:

Dr Fouad Dawood, Dr Tereza Ghaly, Dr David Lee and Dr Carmen Yau are passionate about teaching and providing many learning opportunites for our students.

"My experience at Hill Medical Services"

When I completed my 4-day GP placement with Dr Fouad at Hill Medical Services (HMS) during my 2nd year of Doctor of Medicine course, I knew for sure that I really wanted to come back for my 6-week GP rotation in my 3rd year. And I did, and that was a very good decision to have made!

All the doctors, nurses, allied health and administrative staff were very friendly and approachable, and they helped create a warm and welcoming environment and I was genuinely regarded as part of the team!

As I was observing my supervisor, Dr Fouad, in his consultations with patients, I could see that the patients had established a strong trust and faith with him and the rest of the treating team. So, not only could I learn about various clinical pearls in medicine with a great mix of diagnostic and management issues, I could also have an appreciation of how the "art of medicine" could be practised. In addition, HMS provided me with a holistic perspective of patient care in the primary care setting, thanks to the allied health professionals working on-site, such as dietitians, physiotherapists and psychologists.

That HMS has a dedicated consulting room for medical students shows how supportive they are for medical student education. It was a valuable experience to take history and examine patients independently and receive constructive feedback. And I could also have a chance to see the same patients I saw previously and follow up with their care, taking part in the continuity of care to some extent.

Also, there were many opportunities to gain hands-on experience in assisting and peforming procedures with great supervision. Dedicated educational sessions on Friday afternoons with invited speakers for GPs, GP registrars and medical students were very valuable, to familiarise myself with latest information and to hear from experts in their respective fields. Not only I enjoyed these extra learning sessions, I admired the commitment to life-long learning and continuing professional development at HMS.

In short, I strongly recommend medical students to take the opprtunity to come to HMS, be supported by a team of staff who truly cares for you, and to have a wonderful and unique experience!

Gregory Lee

Final year MD student, University of Melbourne (2015)

I feel so privileged to have completed my GP rotation at Hill Medical Services. All the doctors were so willing to teach. They really got me involved and taught me not only about the medical side of things but also about the human side of things. They have a great connection with their patients and are committed to truly learning about their patients’ lives so as to provide the best care. All the doctors that were involved in my learning- Dr Fouad Dawood, Dr Tereza Ghaly and Dr David Lee- have such a wide and deep base of knowledge and you can really tell that they are passionate about medicine and passing on their knowledge. With different teaching styles and different medical interests they provided me with a very diverse, interesting, and positive picture of general practice. The practice itself is very friendly and well run, and the nurses and doctors perform a wide variety of procedures on their patients, some of which I was able to perform or assist with, under supervision.  The practice is very much a teaching one, with a handful of students and registrars at the practice at any one time, which makes for a very dynamic and exciting practice. Students are also welcome to attend registrar teaching every Friday which I found very helpful.  Both the medical and administrative staff were very welcoming! My experience at HMS was definitely a positive one.
Raychel Barallon, MD3, Doctor of Medicine, University of Melbourne 2016

My experience in Hill Medical Service is absolutely amazing. During my 6 weeks in the clinic, I have the opportunity to be involved in obstetric share care, paediatric medicine, skin lesion excision, care plan appointment, community mental health and management of chronic medical conditions. My best time of all is with my supervisor Dr David Lee who has a passion in looking after the well being of culturally diverse group from different social background around the area. Case managers and interpreters are often involved in the appointment. It was an unique experience for me to see how GP and staffs from different community service work together as a team to overcome both cultural and language barrier between patients and health care providers.

Every doctor and nurse I have met in HMS is keen to teach and deliver their content in a well-organised fashion. My first week here was mainly absorbing knowledge of common conditions in the context of  primary care. From second week onwards Dr Lee offered  me opportunity to take history and examine patients with immediate feedback about my performance on daily basis. I benefit a lot from this style of teaching as it shows me what can be done better. During the last two weeks of the rotation I was given a room to see patients on my own before reporting back to my supervisor. Conducting a consultation is both exciting and rewarding for me. I can really feel the progression of my clinical knowledge and skill along my 6 weeks here. 

I really enjoyed my placement at Hill Medical Services.  The staff were very welcoming and friendly.  The GPs and registrars were very eager to teach, they got me involved and shared interesting cases.  Also, the patient population at the clinic is quite diverse, which enrished my learnng experience. 

I highly recommend medical trainess to undertake their placements at Hill Medical Services.

I had the pleasure of working with Dr Fouad and his team at HMS for 9 weeks. During this time, I was very impressed by the professionalism and depth of knowledge displayed by both the doctors and nurses. They also had genuine concern for every patient, and made sure that treatment and individual patient goals were well-aligned. There was also a strong commitment to keeping all staff abreast with the latest medical guidelines. I would definitely recommend HMS to patients, medical students, and GP trainees.

My 9 weeks at Hill Medical Services has been exceptional. I have been given the opportunity to see and assist with a wide variety of presentations, across a diverse patient demographic. My supervisor, Dr Carmen Yau, made great efforts to involve me in as many cases as possible, allowing me to either consult patients in parallel with her or by myself. This is also the case for procedures, where I am frequently given opportunities to do simple procedures such as vaccination. Even while encouraging me to take on greater challenges to hone my clinical skills, she always remained ready to lend support and advice should the need arise. Through this, she fosters a learning environment where one can step up to new challenges, knowing there is always a safety net to fall back on should it be needed. Dr Carmen Yau also devotes time to teaching after her shift is over or between patients when there is a lull period. She discusses cases she has seen before and allows me to think through each step of the way, essentially seeing the case as she saw it – taking the history, getting examination findings etc. and making the diagnosis. Experience hones the pattern recognition skill, and where I cannot see the cases for myself, she talks me through the scenario to expose me to another potential presentation seen in practice.

Other doctors I have followed, Dr Fouad Dawood and Dr Tereza Ghaly, have been just as devoted to teaching and as accommodating to a student presence in their consults. Through each of their unique perspectives and patient populations, they have provided me invaluable learning experience with regard to approaching scenarios and honed my thinking with regard to different cases.

The nursing staff have also been invaluable for my learning, be it by working through care plans with them or learning the finer points of simple procedures. Their inputs are subtle, yet have an important impact on the difference between a job done well versus one done excellently. I daresay their experience in managing patients easily rivals the information contained within textbooks and online databases in terms of utility; the former goes one step further by refining standard information and tailoring it to each individual patient.

The administration / reception staff have all been very friendly and helpful towards me, often giving useful titbits of knowledge in how the practice is run from an administrative perspective, allowing for a broader and more comprehensive understanding of how a general practice clinic is run apart from the viewpoint of a doctor. Especially noteworthy was how the practice manager, Dina Dawood, left no stone is unturned for opportunities to be had. She has ensured I got to see a wide range of activities, including reception, practice nurse and care plans, apart from regular GP sessions. When my regular supervisor went on leave, Dina had already anticipated the issue and scheduled me to sit in with other GPs during the period of absence. From an administrative point of view, the rotation could not have been smoother.

In conclusion, I have experienced an amazing rotation at Hill Medical Services. I can think of few other times throughout my degree where such a rich learning experience was had. Any plethora of positive superlatives cannot completely encompass how I feel about my 9 weeks here. I fully recommend Hill Medical Services as a clinic for all medical students to do a rotation in.

I had the pleasure of completing my General Practice rotation at Hill Medical Services. I had an amazing time at the clinic. The teaching doctors did a great job at providing an exceptional learning environment and experience. I could consult independently and formulate management plans, then discuss it with the patient and supervising doctor. All the staff members were friendly and happy to involve me in all aspects of the practice. The clinic has a long history of teaching students. This means that patients are very welcoming of students! The practice is very busy but this became an opportunity to learn and contribute as much as I could. I would highly recommend other medical students to complete their General Practice rotation here!'

Han Jie Soh – Monash University 2017

Being at Hill Medical Services for my 9-week General Practice placement has been amazing. My supervisor, Dr. David Lee, has been incredibly supportive of my learning experience. He guided me through simple procedures such as vaccinations and has given me multiple opportunities to consult patients. He would block out clinical slots for teaching and would always offer tips for me to improve in my clinical skills. Additionally, my learning was not limited to the clinic. Dr. Lee has always made an effort to include me while he does his rounds at one of the nursing homes. This gave me great exposure and really shaped my understanding of General Practice. 

Although I was allocated to Dr. Lee, all of the other doctors, nurses and administrative staff at the clinic have been incredibly willing to teach. They always involved me and taught me about the various roles which really improved my appreciation for clinical practice. Also, Dina, who is the clinical coordinator at HMS have ensured that the administration was smooth flowing, allowing me to focus on clinical learning.

Overall, this has been a great experience and I highly recommend any students or doctors-in-training to consider HMS for their clinical rotation. 

I had an amazing time on placement at Hill Medical Services. As a medical student, I have learnt much from the general practitioners that work at the clinic. Each doctor strongly encouraged me to become actively involved whenever possible and always took the time to help when it was required. Apart from the medical knowledge that I gained from my experience at Hill Medical Services, I was also greatly inspired by how much each doctor cares about every patient that comes to the practice. Every consultation was conducted professionally and respectfully, with the patient's well being as the most important factor. The culture at Hill Medical Services is one of empathy and understanding and this is something I hope to reproduce in my future practice.