Welcome

Welcome to Sydney Medical School!

This Handbook provides detailed information on the structure and requirements of all of our coursework and research training programs. I hope that you will find it a helpful guide for your program of studies.

The Handbook shows the considerable range and scope of our faculty’s programs in medicine, public health and biomedical sciences. As your chosen studies progress, we hope that you will become increasingly aware of the breadth and depth of expertise of the faculty’s staff and affiliates. As you might expect, many of them are international leaders in their fields.

We are proud of the recognition the Faculty has achieved for the quality of its teaching and the impact of its research. As a medical school we are currently ranked 17th internationally and first in Australia. In 2016 the Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program received the final report of a review conducted by the Australian Medical Council, which led to reaccreditation for a further six years. The AMC review team noted:

• ‘The culture of excellence and scholarship in medical education… which has resulted in extraordinary productivity at all levels of the program across all sites.’
• ‘The School’s exceptional research performance that informs the program’s learning and teaching, as demonstrated in the clinical teaching environment…’
• ‘The impressive number of committed clinicians who teach and provide clinical supervision, promoting positive role modelling in clinical practice and research.’

The enthusiastic input, advice and research contributions of our students are important contributors to the performance of our faculty. We also seek feedback from our graduates and from their potential health service employers and supervisors. We are determined to ensure that graduates are optimally prepared for the ever-changing demands of their careers in health and medicine, whether in healthcare delivery or as researchers or educators or, as is so often the case, by combining two or more of these key roles.

As you explore the University’s Camperdown campus, you will notice several new buildings and much ongoing work. The University is implementing a master plan to improve its facilities and landscaped environment for learning, study, research and recreation. You will find many examples of excellent modern facilities in new and refurbished buildings amongst the historic sandstone structures that will remind you that Sydney Medical School is the oldest medical school in Australia. Between the ovals, you will notice the recently completed Charles Perkins Centre, a major education and research facility that houses the University’s ‘SPARC’ (Strategic Priority ARea for Collaboration) in Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. Closely linked to the Camperdown Campus is Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) and the Brain & Mind Centre as well as several medical research institutes. You will also find excellent facilities in the University’s Clinical Schools based in The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Concord Hospital, Nepean Hospital, Royal North Shore Hospital, RPAH, the School of Rural Health sites at Orange and Dubbo Base Hospitals, the Sydney Adventist Hospital in Wahroonga, and Westmead Hospital, as well as the University Departments of Rural Health at Broken Hill and Lismore. Together, these facilities are drawing academics from around the world intent either on collaborating with our staff or to consider our Clinical Schools as potential models when planning their own new facilities.

We are particularly excited to be partners in the development of the Westmead Precinct, which will start to take shape in 2017. It will be one of the largest health and medical healthcare delivery, teaching and research precincts in Australia, embracing Westmead Hospital, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, the Clinical Schools located at these hospitals, several research institutes, and NSW Pathology.

As part of the quest for improvement, the University is also embarking on a major organisational restructure of its health faculties. Sydney Medical School, the Faculty of Dentistry & Oral Health, Sydney School of Nursing & Midwifery, the Faculty of Pharmacy, and the Faculty of Health Sciences will unite to form one comprehensive Faculty. The intent is to make best use of our extensive intellectual and physical resources and to exploit our opportunities for inter-professional and inter-disciplinary collaboration in teaching and research. The new structure will not affect your candidature or your degree program. You may, however, enjoy encountering more students and staff from the other faculties, and with them, more opportunities for inter-professional learning and collaborative research. The quality of the programs will remain paramount.

Again, welcome everyone, and we wish you all the best in your studies and for your time here with us.

Arthur D Conigrave
Professor | Acting Dean