Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

The Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences is one of Australia's leading medical schools, and offers the broadest range of undergraduate and postgraduate medicine-related programs of any Australian university. It is the largest health care faculty of any Australian university, and is part of the largest university in Australia.

The faculty operates from Monash University campuses in Australia, Malaysia and South Africa. The Clayton, Peninsula (Frankston) and Caulfield campuses are all based in metropolitan Melbourne, and the Gippsland campus is in rural Victoria, where it can best contribute to the faculty’s strengths in rural health research and education. The medical course at the University's Sunway campus in Malaysia is the only program outside of Australia to be accredited by the Australian Medical Council, and is also accredited by the Malaysian Medical Council. Researchers, clinicians and students are also based at major hospital sites, particularly at The Alfred, Monash Medical Centre, and Bendigo Hospital. The Faculty's commitment to rural and regional health is reflected by a presence in many such areas including a clinical school in Johore Bahru, Malaysia.

The Faculty supports over 1,500 academic and general staff (not including casual and sessional staff), along with some 1,500 honorary staff, and a total of approximately 9,500 postgraduate and undergraduate students.

The research facilities and platforms at Monash, which are based around the new complex at Clayton campus, make the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences one of Australia's premier research organisations.

Representatives from the faculty, including the Dean, Professor Steve Wesselingh,^[1] are prominent in the program of the World Health Summit held annually in Berlin, where Monash participates as the only Australian member of the prestigious M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers and Medical Universities. Professor Wesselingh is the Co-President of the 2011 World Health Summit, to be held during October 2011 in Berlin under the patronage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy. The Governor of the State of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser is closely connected with the Faculty as a former leader of the Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR), and is a member of the advisory council for the World Health Summit.

Key research areas^[2]

• Stem cell science
• Early human development
• Cardiovascular disease/Cardiac Regeneration
• Public health and epidemiology
• Global health
• Health science
• Infectious diseases
• Inflammation, allergy and autoimmunity
• Mental health and cognitive neurosciences
• Indigenous health
• Rural health
• Structural biology and drug development
• Women’s health
• Men’s health

Teaching and learning

Recognised as being in the top tier of Australian universities for health by the Australian Government’s Learning and Teaching Performance Fund, the faculty offers 23 undergraduate courses, as well as a range of postgraduate options (by both coursework and research). Up to 2010, no comparable health care faculty has received a greater cumulative amount of such funding in recognition of academic performance^{[citation needed]}.

Undergraduate courses

The undergraduate courses^[3] include:

• Medicine/Surgery
• Behavioural neuroscience
• Biomedical science
• Biotechnology
• Emergency health (Paramedic)
• Health sciences
• Nursing
• Midwifery
• Nutrition and dietetics
• Occupational therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Psychology
• Radiography and medical imaging
• Social work

Postgraduate studies

Postgraduate studies^[4] cover those areas and additional fields including:

• Medicine/Surgery
• Community emergency health
• Epidemiology and preventive medicine
• Evidence-based practice
• Forensic medicine
• General practice
• Health informatics
• Health professional education
• Immunology
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Paediatrics
• Reproductive Sciences
• Rural Health
• Surgery

Schools of the faculty

The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences is administered through ten schools.^[5]

• School of Biomedical Sciences

• Anatomy and Developmental Biology
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Microbiology
• Pharmacology
• Physiology
• Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences
• Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories (MISCL)

• School of Nursing
• School of Psychology and Psychiatry
• Central Clinical School

• Australian Centre for Blood Diseases
• Medicine, Alfred Hospital
• Surgery, Alfred Hospital
• Surgery, Cabrini Hospital
• Immunology
• Academic Board of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine

• Eastern Health Clinical School
• Southern Clinical School

• Paediatrics
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Surgery, Monash Medical Centre
• Medicine, Monash Medical Centre
• Nutrition and Dietetics

• School of Primary Health Care

• Ambulance and Paramedic Studies
• General Practice
• Social Work

• School of Rural Health
• School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine

• Health Social Science

• Medical Schools

• Central Clinical School (Clayton)
• Gippsland Medical School
• Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences (Sunway)

Research centres and institutes^[6]

The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences incorporates three research institutes that enjoy varying degrees of autonomy, being:

• Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) based in the Monash Biosciences Precinct at Clayton campus and housing the Australian element of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL-A)
• Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR), part of the Monash Health Research Translation Precinct co-located with the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton
• Monash Obesity and Diabetes Institute (MODI), a 'virtual' institute based at Clayton campus

Research centres within or jointly established by the Faculty include:

• Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre
• Australia New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre
• Australian Centre for Blood Diseases
• Australian Cochrane Centre
• Brain Research Institute at Monash Sunway (BRIMS)
• Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics
• Centre for Clinical Effectiveness
• Centre for Developmental Psychiatry
• Centre for Developmental Disability Health (jointly with the University of Melbourne, but managed by Monash)
• Centre for Human Anatomy Education
• Centre for Medical and Health Sciences Education]
• Centre for Obesity Research and Education]
• Centre for Rural Mental Health
• Centre for Vascular Health
• Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia (CAPRA) formally the National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse
• Monash Ageing Research Centre
• Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre
• Monash Centre for Inflammatory Diseases
• Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health
• Monash Centre for the Study of Ethics in Medicine and Society
• Monash Clinical Psychology Centre
• Monash Institutes of Health
• Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre
• Monash Institute of Health Services Research
• Southern Synergy
• Van Cleef/Roet Centre for Nervous Diseases

References

1. ^ Dean Professor Steve Wesselingh
2. ^ Faculty Prospectus 2009
3. ^ Future students: Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
4. ^ Postgraduate Study in Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
5. ^ Schools and Departments at Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
6. ^ Centres and Institutes

External links

• Monash University, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences website
• Monash University, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences research organisations
• M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers and Medical Universities.