Clinician-scientist training

We encourage medical students and clinicians at all levels of their career to consider research training at WEHI, which is the University of Melbourne’s Department of Medical Biology. Opportunities for training include short-term placements as well as programs to support clinicians undertaking PhDs and postdocs.

WEHI offers opportunities for medical students to undertake paid research internships over a 4-week period between November and February. Please note that payments for this placement are subject to tax.

Vacation research internships allow medical students to get hands-on experience in medical research, contributing to the work of leading research teams at WEHI. Students can be placed in a range of research disciplines, such as cancer, infection and immunity, neurological disorders, genetics and computational and structural biology.

Eligibility and selection criteria

• Be currently enrolled in an Australian medical degree, and continuing with that degree in the year after the vacation research internship
• Be currently in years 2 to 4 of their degree*
• Be available between November and February for their full-time internship
• Have approached potential supervisor/s to discuss research project and internship

* First year students can apply if they have completed an Honours degree

If you have attempted to contact a potential supervisor, but have been unable to secure an internship, please email cdt_coordinators@wehi.edu.au to enquire regarding alternative opportunities.

How to apply

The 2025 application round will open in mid-2025. This page will be updated as details are finalised.

Contact

For all other enquiries, please contact cdt_coordinators@wehi.edu.au.

WEHI offers specific programs for clinician scientists to support their professional development and career progression. These include mentoring, career advice and support for maintaining their clinical involvement.

To support clinician PhD students and postdocs remaining clinically engaged during their research tenure, WEHI offers clinician session support to selected applicants when other funding options are not available.

This scheme considers the value offered to the applicant and their host laboratory from the proposed clinical engagements.

Please contact the Clinical Discovery & Translation team to discuss this opportunity.

WEHI has established an informal clinician-scientist mentor program. This program is open to all PhD student and postdoctoral clinicians.

Mentees are paired with a mentor who is a senior clinician lab head, to provide an opportunity to discuss their project, research experience, clinical workload and work/life balance, and also to enable clinicians to form networks within WEHI.

MACH-Track is a new program organised by the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health (MACH) in which WEHI is a partner. It allows promising recent medical graduates to integrate career development in research, including PhD studies, with completion of postgraduate specialist or generalist training.

Learn more about MACH-Track.