Breadth
Did you know that your Bachelor of Biomedicine isn’t filled with just ‘Biomedicine’? Did you know you can study management, communication, language or music? This is possible through your Breadth options!
Breadth is a key feature of your Melbourne curriculum undergraduate degree that allows you to study a wide range of subjects from outside your course discipline. Through breadth, you will develop a broader range of skills and can explore interests that may not traditionally be available within your main field of study.
Why study breadth?
The aim of breadth is not only to encourage you to expand your academic horizons, but also to enable you to bring a broader range of skills to the workplace. Breadth will offer you the flexibility to take on the many challenges of a 21st century global work environment, as well as opportunities for increased personal development.
Breadth is an opportunity to:
- pursue interests outside of your main study area
- challenge the ways you approach and view the world
- meet and share learning experiences with students from other parts of the University
- try subjects in different fields to see if further studies in these areas interest you
- extend skills you already have or learn new skills
- meet prerequisites for graduate courses in non-cognate disciplines.
How do I choose my breadth subjects?
What you choose is really up to you - there is no right or wrong ways to select your breadth subjects. Feedback from employers in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology sector indicates that they look favourably on Graduates who have strategically used their subject choices to enhance their employability. University of Melbourne students are uniquely placed to utilise their Breadth subjects to do just this.
Below are a few suggestions on how to use your Breadth subject choices to complement the content knowledge and practical scientific skills you will develop in your Bachelor of Biomedicine. Subjects included in these lists may have requisite requirements, and these lists are not a complete list of subjects available in mentioned areas.
Communication and Academic English
Communication and Academic English
Excellent skills in communication are cited by employers as being essential criteria in graduate recruitment. These subjects give students a deeper understanding of the theory and practice of effective communication, particularly in the modern multicultural workplace.
Subject Code | Subject Title |
Intercultural Communication | |
Analysing Professional Communication | |
Science Communication and Employability |
Subjects to increase skills where English is an additional language.
Subject Code | Subject Title |
|---|---|
Academic English 1 | |
Clear Speech and Communication |
Entrepreneurship
The rapidly growing commercial biomedical-biotechnology sector requires biomedical scientists with entrepreneurial business literacy. These subjects allow students to learn about the key role of marketing and managing in entrepreneurship.
Subject Code | Subject Title |
Business in the Global Economy | |
Managing Processes and Projects | |
Managing Entrepreneurship and Innovation | |
Principles of Marketing | |
Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation | |
Entrepreneurship Principles and Tools |
Health Sciences from a different Perspective
Health Sciences from a different Perspective
Expand your thinking by looking at Medicine and Health Science disciplines from a different perspective, from drawing the human body to how drugs impact on us as individuals and as a society or the ways that music can be used to promote physical health and healthy behaviours.
Subject Code | Subject Title |
Anthropology: Studying Self and Other | |
Keeping the Body in Mind | |
Contemporary Art and Biomedicine | |
Health Economics | |
Links Between Health and Learning | |
Life Drawing: The Body | |
Drawing with Anatomy | |
Music Psychology | |
Music and Health | |
The Philosophy of Mind | |
Genetics, Health, and Society | |
The Secret Life of the Body 1 | |
Our Planet, Our Health | |
Drugs That Shape Society | |
Designer Humans - Prospects & Perils |
Indigenous Studies
Broaden your perspective with an understanding of how Aboriginal culture permeates the past, present and future of Australian society.
Subject Code | Subject Title |
Introduction to Indigenous Education | |
Indigenous Education in Community | |
Aboriginal Women and Coloniality | |
Racial Literacy: Indigeneity & Whiteness | |
Indigenous Cultural Heritage | |
On Country, On Campus: Wurundjeri | |
Language in Aboriginal Australia | |
Australian Indigenous Public Policy | |
Indigenous Astronomy | |
Indigenous Cultures and Knowledges |
Languages
Studied a language at secondary school and interested in continuing? Interested in learning a second language? Through your breadth studies you could learn a language including, Arabic, Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, French, German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian or Spanish.
Language subjects are organised in a progressive sequence of units. Entry and exit points are determined by the student's background in the language, placement testing, prerequisites, or at the discretion of the language program Convenor.
Placement Testing Information for French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian
Placement Testing Information for Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean
Use the Handbook Breadth Search function to find all language subjects available to you as a Biomedicine student.
Law
The Law surrounds us and governs virtually all our actions and interactions. Become a more active citizen by understanding our freedoms and constraints within the law.
Subject Code | Subject Title |
Principles of Business Law | |
Free Speech and Media Law | |
Corporate Law | |
Regulating Digital Platforms | |
Consumer Law | |
Taxation Law I | |
Taxation Law II | |
Young People, Crime and Justice | |
Gender and Crime | |
AI, Ethics and the Law | |
Sport and the Law | |
Global Human Rights Law | |
Health Law, Ethics and Society | |
Intellectual Property Law | |
Employment Law | |
Human Rights and Global Justice |
Leadership and Management
Equip yourself with the knowledge and skills to be a leader in your community and future profession.
Subject Code | Subject Title |
Youth Leading Change | |
Positive Leadership and Careers | |
Sport, Leadership and the Community | |
Principles of Management | |
Project Management | |
Managing People at Work | |
Cross-Cultural Management and Teamwork | |
Managing in Contemporary Organisations | |
Managing for Competitive Advantage | |
Managing Work and Your Career | |
The Future of Work |
Self-Development and Wellbeing
Self-Development and Wellbeing
Understanding how humans think, learn and are motivated can help you in your studies and future career.
Subject Code | Subject Title |
Understanding Knowing and Learning | |
Wellbeing, Motivation and Performance | |
Performance, Potential and Development | |
Positive Communities and Organisations | |
Expertise and Your Professional Career | |
Well-Being: Learning from South Asia |
Sport/Exercise
Combine your deep scientific understanding of human structure and function with the theory and practice of sports coaching and outdoor education.
Subject Code | Subject Title |
| Sports Economics | |
Sports Coaching: Theory and Practice | |
Sport, Education and the Media | |
Learning via Sport and Outdoor Education | |
Sports Science & Coaching Applications | |
Sport, Leadership and the Community |
These are only some of the subjects you can choose to meet the Breadth requirements of your course. There are many reasons why you might decide to study a particular subject or subjects through breadth, for example, for interest, to achieve prerequisites for graduate studies, or to complement your core studies. There are hundreds of options for your degree!
Alternatively you may choose to follow a Breadth Track. A breadth track is a grouping of three or more subjects that will allow you to progressively develop knowledge and skills in a study area. Breadth tracks are optional and subjects in a track need to be added to the breadth component of your study plan individually. Breadth tracks will not appear as specialisations on your academic transcript.
Learn more about Breadth Tracks
What are the Rules?
- Bachelor of Biomedicine students complete a breadth component of 50 points (four subjects), with another 25 points (two subjects) of free (that is, breadth or science selective) subjects.
- At least 12.5 points (1 subject) of breadth must be taken at Level 2 or 3 (and no more than 37.5 points (3 subjects) at Level 1.
Subjects that may contribute to a student's Bachelor of Biomedicine breadth component will be subjects that contrast with science, technology and Engineering Systems, or integrate these studies with humanities and social sciences so that the subject encompasses a much broader arena of knowledge and skills (e.g. University Breadth Subjects).
Will my breadth studies affect my average (WAM/GPA) or application for graduate study?
When selecting you for a graduate course, some faculties will consider the studies you have completed that are directly relevant to the study area, while some may calculate your average using all of your studies. As these practices vary, you should check the specific entry scores that will be used to assess applications for the graduate courses you are interested.