College of Health and Medicine

Hello Colleagues and Friends,

It has been a busy and productive year so far for all at the Faculty of Health and the Australian Institute Health Service Management (AIHSM) in Sydney.

The year began with a refreshed format for Semester 1 with a strong Orientation focus on student engagement, support and professional expectations of the fast track programs. Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Paramedic Practice courses are running at capacity across both campuses, and we are successfully rolling out new Bachelor of Nursing curriculum. Over 80 students completed the four-day UniStart with a local Sydney Student Support Working Group established to maintain ongoing support and mentoring.

In April we celebrated an inspiring and diverse graduation round involving the School of Health Sciences, School of Medicine and the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics with 17 groups of graduates and diplomats from associate degrees and diplomas, and more than 250 students.

The graduation was presided over by Mr Harvey Gibson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Brigid Heywood and Faculty of Health Dean Professor Denise Fassett. The special milestone event was shared with a full house of family and friends at the Sydney City Recital Hall.

Currently students are gearing up for their end of semester written and OSCE assessments.

This year also marks St Vincent’s Health Australia (SVHA) and School of Health Sciences Darlinghurst Campus’ 10-year anniversary. 

To commemorate this occasion, the school in partnership with SVHA will coordinate a series of events across 2016 to engage as partners, reconnect with our alumni and celebrate with our current staff and students.  Included in the celebrations will be a blessing ceremony, professional development bursaries and a Research Symposium held at the prestigious Garvan Institute of Medical Research, to coincide with Research Week.

The Professional Experience Placement (PEP) team in Sydney are also finalising students upcoming Community and Mental Health Nursing Practice placements (12 weeks) commencing this month, which will include six students who will travel to Broken Hill in rural New South Wales to complete this placement. The first cohort last year found the experience eye-opening, challenging and hugely rewarding and we look forward to hearing about this year’s student experiences on their return.

The Sydney team along with Associate Professor Annette Marlow and Bachelor of Nursing PEP Coordinator John Cooper have just completed a research project – the Evaluation of the MACRO Framework and Placement Guides, developed to improve forecasting, planning and communication between all PEP stakeholders. Findings and final research report will be completed by the end of June.

A key appointment in February this year has been Professor Michelle Cleary to Mental Health Nursing, who has been reinvigorating early career research with an active mentoring program.

In May, we also welcomed Professor David Greenwood, Director AIHSM to the University and Rozelle campus. David’s position is co-joint with Sydney Local Health District.

As this semester comes to an end, we wish everyone all the best for a safe relaxing break and we look forward to seeing everyone back on campus next semester.

Best Wishes

Annah, Luke and Greg