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Graduate-entry medical school opened

18 June 2008

The Federal Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon has officially opened Monash's new A$10 million Gippsland Medical School.

Based in purpose-built facilities at the Gippsland campus, the school has enrolled 59 students into the graduate-entry Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program in its first year.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins said the school was the latest achievement in the University's long tradition of excellence in medical and allied health teaching and research.

"Monash University is proud of the fact we have been fostering our best and brightest in the health professions since 1961 and have trained doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who now work throughout Australia and around the world," Professor Larkins said.

"This state-of-the-art facility will focus on training future generations of doctors for rural and regional Australia."

Students will spend their first year in the Gippsland centre, and undertake clinical rotations at hospitals, community health centres and in general practice over the four years of their course.

Placements will be made across the Gippsland region.

Head of the Gippsland Medical School Professor Chris Browne said the graduate-entry MBBS course built on Monash University's wide experience in undergraduate medical education and on the strengths of the University's medical programs at the Clayton and Malaysian campuses.

"The graduate-entry program offers an innovative, integrated curriculum and works in partnership with a number of other Monash schools and departments including the well-established regional clinical schools located in Traralgon and Bairnsdale," Professor Browne said.

"Students of the Gippsland Medical School will be immersed in the important medical and population health issues facing the people of the Gippsland region.

"They will have a unique opportunity to learn medicine in a rural setting, working with rural practitioners, in both general and specialist settings. These skills and knowledge will allow them to take up a career anywhere in Australia."

Professor Browne said the new school would also have a positive impact on health services provided to the Gippsland community, with some practitioners showing greater interest in working in the region and partnering with Monash.

He said the facilities at the Gippsland campus had been designed to provide the best possible hi-tech learning environment for the students, with internal observation and consultation rooms which feature interactive simulation manikins and video capture of student performance to aid learning.

The latest information technology has been extensively used throughout the building and incorporated into teaching and learning practices, particularly in the areas of microscopy and pathology.