Top 5 reasons to study health & biomedicine at VU
Ready to build a career with impact? From nursing and midwifery to paramedicine, speech pathology, psychology, physiotherapy and osteopathy, Victoria University (VU) lead the way in health and biomedicine courses.
Our exceptional facilities, partnerships and learning methods ensure you get the most out of your study experience. Learn all about it 👇
1. Get practical experience through VU partners
Be the best by learning from the best – VU are proud to have strong partnerships with leading organisations in health and biomedicine. This includes Western Health, the major healthcare provider in Melbourne’s west. As a VU student, you’ll have placement opportunities to advance your skills through practical learning while studying courses we’ve co-developed with industry partners.
The future is even more exciting: you’ll soon be able to learn in a new, world-class health and education precinct built right next-door to our Footscray Park campus: the new $1.5 billion Footscray Hospital.
Opening in late 2025, this is the largest-ever healthcare infrastructure project ever undertaken in Victoria. It offers students the chance to learn in cutting-edge facilities, with access to dedicated research spaces and simulation labs.
Other major partners include:
- Ambulance Victoria for paramedicine students
- Orygen for psychology, speech pathology and nutritional science students
- Western Bulldogs for physiotherapy, psychology, remedial massage and sports science students
- cohealth for dietetics, disability services, midwifery, nursing, psychology, physiotherapy, osteopathy and speech pathology students.
And that’s just scratching the surface: you’ll also have potential placement opportunities at Melbourne Health, Royal Children’s Hospital, Royal Women’s Hospital, Mercy Health Services, Royal Flying Doctor Service, the Australian Institute of Musculoskeletal Science and over 200 clinical agencies.
It’s really exciting that we’ve got VU and Western Health on one site and right next to each other. I think that the opportunity to enhance collaboration, the sharing of ideas, can only have wonderful outcomes for our patients and for our community.
Adjunct Professor Shane Crowe
Executive Director of Nursing & Midwifery, Western Health
2. Simulated learning in high-tech facilities
As a VU student, you’ll graduate confident and ready to dive right into the work you’ve studied and trained for.
Our simulated learning environments closely mimic real-world scenarios: you’ll find mannequins with eyes that dilate, veins you can stick a needle into and who give birth, complete with contractions, bleeding and screams of pain.
These immersive learning experiences are critical, especially in health. Saving lives or bringing new ones into the world takes getting used to. You need to develop your skills and confidence before you’re ready to manage real life situations, whether as a paramedic responding to an emergency or a midwife delivering a baby.
Simulated learning offers a chance to test your knowledge, make mistakes, review what you do and improve your skills. You'll get plenty of time to do that before you go out and work with real people out in the world.
For example, Bachelor of Nursing students complete 800 professional practice hours during work placements. This includes 140 clinical simulation hours at Sunshine Clinical School during your third year of study.
3. Great job outcomes & future employment prospects
Our partnerships also boost job prospects for VU graduates. For example, 94% of our 2024 Bachelor of Nursing graduates secured a job for 2025. On top of that, 147 VU students and recent graduates were hired by our partners at Western Health in 2024.
Job prospects for future students look great too – health care and social assistance represents one of the fastest growing industries in Australia.
According to VU research commissioned by Jobs and Skills Australia, we’ll see 585,000 health care and social assistance jobs created between May 2024 to May 2034.
4. Pathways into your dream biomedicine or health course
At VU, we know everyone’s journey is different. That’s why we offer multiple pathways into our health, biomedicine and nursing courses. So whether you’re fresh from graduating Year 12, looking to switch up your career or new to Australia, we’ll help you find a way into your dream course.
Pathways allow you to build on your learning and rise through study levels – often giving you credits towards your final qualification. This can range from TAFE courses related to your discipline to foundational courses that prepare you for tertiary education.
Learn more about health & biomedicine pathways
5. World leaders in sport & exercise science
Want to get into the world of sports science, health and exercise? VU is world-leading institution in this space, ranked 7th in the world for sports science courses. Our state-of-the-art $68 million research facilities include:
This supports the innovative work our students and researchers do into health and disease, human performance in normal and extreme environments, and improving health outcomes across every age group.
As a student, you’ll study in our hi-tech facilities while building valuable connections with over 350 professional sporting bodies and employers, from FIFA to the AFL.
Learn more about our sport & exercise science research facilities
Study health & biomedicine at VU
Turn your passion into a career with industry-leading courses in health and biomedicine at VU. Whether your future self is a nurse, paramedic, speech pathologist, psychologist or physiotherapist, we’ll help you get there.
