Graduate Diploma of Surgical Anatomy

JCU's Graduate Diploma of Surgical Anatomy provides clinically relevant advanced anatomy training for medical graduates registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Advance your learning of human anatomy through full human body cadaveric dissection workshops, based on core anatomy teaching and specialist surgical teaching.

This one year full-time (or equivalent part-time) program consists of online classes and four block intensives on campus. A flexible delivery mode makes the course well-suited to busy medical professionals.

Graduate with confidence – you will complete, over the course of a year, anatomy of the whole human body including dissection of the same with surgeons and anatomists, who are leaders in their field.

View the handbook for a detailed overview of available subjects.

Cadaveric dissection workshops

The specialised professional, academic and technical requirements necessary for the delivery of the cadaveric dissection workshops requires this part of your studies to be delivered at the JCU Townsville, Bebegu Yumba campus, Douglas.

2025 Workshop dates

Each workshop is held on-campus over four days:

Workshop 1 - Head, neck and neuroanatomy
Date: Tuesday 1 April - Friday 4 April 2025

Workshop 2 - Vertebral column and upper limb
Date: Tuesday 24 June - Friday 27 June 2025

Workshop 3 - Thorax and abdomen
Date: Tuesday 23 September - Friday 26 September 2025

Workshop 4 - Pelvis and lower limb
Date: Tuesday 9 December - Friday 12 December 2025

JCU Surgical Anatomy graduates are highly-regarded medical professionals with extensive skills and anatomical knowledge.

This course is suited to doctors who hold a formally-recognised medical degree and who want to advance their career in surgery or radiology. Other doctors (particularly those working in rural, regional and remote communities) may find this course useful as it will expand their scope of practice through developing a deeper understanding of human anatomy.

A variety of Scholarships are available to suit different student types.

Learn more about fees and financial support

Complete an online application through our Online Application Portal.

All applicants must provide evidence of being immune to Hepatitis B within the first teaching period of their studies. Evidence of having a blood-borne viral disease may result in a student’s inability to obtain a placement in a Queensland Health facility and consequently, may result in your inability to complete the requirements of the course as accredited by the relevant professional accrediting body.

If you have not complied with the above requirement by the last day of the first teaching period of your studies, your enrolment will be terminated immediately.

For more information refer to Infection Control Procedure.