Graduate Certificate in Surgical Education
Course code: GC-SURGED
March, July
AUD $16,992 (2026 indicative first year fee). Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) are not available
Access Melbourne is available
March, July
AUD $17,488 (2026 indicative first year fee)
IELTS 7.0 with writing 7.0; speaking 7.0; reading 7.0; listening 7.0
Career outcomes
Overview
Help train the surgeons of tomorrow
The Graduate Certificate in Surgical Education is designed to fill a vital role in the future of health care in Australia.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons estimates that Australia may face a surgical workforce crisis before 2025 unless there is a substantial increase in the number of graduating surgeons. To meet this need, we need expert educators.
Participants in the Graduate Certificate in Surgical Education course will come away with a thorough grounding in theory and practice of medical and surgical education. You’ll gain the skills to create and deliver robust educational programs, and the tools necessary to channel your surgical expertise into essential medical education.
By the end of the program, participants should be able to:
- Design and deliver innovative educational programs in response to real-world challenges
- Use educational theory to enhance teaching and learning activities
- Evaluate contemporary approaches to surgical education
- Appreciate the role of research in developing the field
- Constructively critique educational practices
- Demonstrate effective oral and written communication in a range of educational settings (as learner, peer, teacher, and examiner).
Profile
Debra Nestel
"I'm humbled to see the achievements of graduates of our suite of programs in Surgical Education. Their impact is felt locally, nationally and internationally in both pragmatic and conventional scholarly measures, publishing in the highest impact factor journals. Some students have extended their studies to doctoral level, while others are taking on roles as chief examiners and deans, shaping professional level policy documents, and commercialising concepts started in their thesis work - building simulators for specific surgical tasks.
I can confidently state that the Surgical Education program has also been personally transformative for many students."
Professor Debra Nestel, Course Director and Professor of Surgical Education, Department of Surgery at Austin Hospital.
