Faculties of Health Deans Meet in Dubbo

12 June 2007

Tomorrow, 13 June, the School of Rural Health, Dubbo Campus, will host the regular dean’s meeting of the University of Sydney’s faculties of health, also known as Health@Sydney.This will be followed by the faculties of health rural committee meeting.

Health@Sydney is arguably the largest and most comprehensive consortium of health-care professionals and health-related researchers in the southern hemisphere.

Professor Bruce Robinson, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, will also present at grand rounds at Dubbo Base Hospital. His topic is the specialised field of the function and disorders of the hormonal endocrine systems of the body. Grand rounds is a weekly event organised at many hospitals so that staff can listen to a specialist, and ask questions.

The deans and the rural committee will meet with local health professionals in the afternoon, followed by a dinner together at the Lazy River Estate Vineyard (29R Old Dubbo Road).

The University of Sydney’s commitment to rural health is demonstrated by the fact that 25 per cent of students enrolled in its graduate medical program will this year spend a full half of their clinical training years at the School of Rural Health.

The School of Rural Health covers one third of the state, encompassing an enormous area that stretches from Broken Hill to Lithgow and from Bourke to Parkes.

The University of Sydney set up a rural clinical school, the School of Rural Health, in response to a Federal Government initiative in 2000. Aiming to attract more doctors to rural areas, the Government implemented a program to establish rural clinical schools as part of its regional health strategy. The initiative is designed to give medical students exposure to rural life and rural medicine, thus encouraging them to choose a rural career.