Putting health on the agenda

October 2004

A new vision for Monash's Peninsula campus will put health more prominently on the agenda for both the campus and the region. Diane Squires reports.

When Monash's Peninsula campus accepts its first students in the Diploma of Health Sciences next year, it will represent more than just a new student intake.

Healthy learning: Ambulance and paramedic studies sessional lecturer Mr Ben Piper.

The course will herald a new vision for the campus - one that will see the university put health more squarely on the agenda for the campus and the wider region.

While still in its early planning stages, the vision includes developing a health and well-being precinct at the campus and providing a greater emphasis on teaching and research in health care. It also includes the continued development of teaching and research in the Arts, Business and Economics, Education and Information Technology faculties. The university will also increase its links with the broader community by further establishing collaborative projects with health providers in the region.

Both the local council and politicians have welcomed the idea and are keen to work with the university to see the precinct develop.

One of the initial key developments in the health care push is the offering of three new health-related courses at the campus in 2006 - health sciences/social work, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. While social work is currently offered at the university's Caulfield campus, occupational therapy and physiotherapy are new courses for the university.

Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences dean Professor Edward Byrne says the new courses will add further prestige both to the campus and to Monash.

"Courses such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy are in great demand," he says. "These courses will complement Monash's strengths in medicine and health sciences and further attract high-quality students to the university.

Teamwork: Graduate Diploma in Emergency Health (MICA paramedic) students Mr Glen Fairall and Mr Matt Riddle practise patient treatment techniques on a simulation mannequin. Photo: Greg Ford

"And by offering them at our Peninsula campus, we will help keep young people in the Frankston area who may otherwise leave."

Next year, the campus will offer the Diploma of Health Sciences - a one-year course that will feed into the three new courses. In its first year, the course will provide 95 places.

Academic director of the Peninsula campus Professor Phillip Steele says plans for the new health and well-being precinct at the campus recognise the strong health focus already established at the campus and in the wider region.

Already more than half of all students enrolled at the Peninsula campus study in the health care area - through the School of Nursing or the Centre for Ambulance and Paramedic Studies and the Centre for Health Services Operations Management.

The community also has a large number of health care agencies nearby, including Frankston Hospital, the Mornington Peninsula Division of General Practice, Royal District Nursing Service, Peninsula Surgery Group, Peninsula Community Mental Health Service, Peninsula Hospice Service, Frankston Aged Care and Rehabilitation Centre, Peninsula Private Hospital and Nepean Rehabilitation Hospital.

"Both as a campus and as a region, we are already strong in this area," says Professor Steele. "So let's build on that strength and make it even stronger.

Nursing student Ms Louise Robinson Photo: Greg Ford

"We also anticipate that there will be many opportunities for other faculties on the campus to identify and develop health and well-being related links.

"But courses in business and economics, primary and early childhood education and network computing are also very strong at this campus - and that won't change.

"What we're saying is that we recognise there is an opportunity to develop a high-quality health precinct at this campus that will address community needs, strengthen research and help build on Monash's already strong profile."

Other faculties on the campus have already begun developing health-related projects. The Faculty of Information Technology offers a Graduate Certificate in Medical Informatics, and the Faculty of Business and Economics will introduce a major in sports management in 2005.

"We are still working on connections with other faculties, but I'm confident there are very significant new teaching, research and community engagement initiatives for all areas," says Professor Steele.

The focus will also provide an opportunity to create a teamwork approach to health care by bringing together different disciplines to undertake core units such as ethics, basic research and the organisation of health systems.

Professor Byrne says this will give the campus a unique quality that will broaden students' health care study experiences.

"It will provide a thriving environment where young people enter a health discipline and work closely with other disciplines, share relevant courses and learn to work in teams in a way that is essential for any health care worker."

Action
For information on the Peninsula campus, go to the Peninsula campus website.