Final accreditation for Deakin’s Medical School

Deakin University’s medical program has received the final Australian Medical Council (AMC) accreditation.

Accreditation by the AMC is a requirement for all medical courses in Australia and New Zealand and ensures that medical graduates can perform at the same high standard.

Dean of the Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences, Professor John Catford, led the successful Deakin team to establish Victoria’s first rural and regional medical school based in western Victoria.

Professor Catford said that the accreditation was the culmination of four years hard work by a number of people including clinicians, community members and politicians at local, state and national levels, and he thanked them for their support.

‘It means that we now have the final clearance to commence the program in February 2008 with our first intake of 120 students,’ Professor Catford said.

‘From 2012 we will be producing a new group of specially trained doctors who will begin to make improvements to the acute shortage of medical practitioners in regional Victoria.’

Foundation Head of the Deakin Medical School, Professor Brendan Crotty, said many people both from within the University and outside it, have worked hard to ensure that the Deakin program would meet the stringent requirements of the AMC.

‘We are very grateful for the enthusiasm and hard work of all our colleagues in hospitals and general practices in Geelong and south-west Victoria who made a major contribution to our success,’ Professor Crotty said.

In a further development to the program, the Victorian Government, Alcoa of Australia and Deakin’s Medical School have joined forces to create a Centre for Rural Emergency Medicine.

The Centre will operate through Deakin’s School of Medicine, hospitals at Portland District Health and South-West Healthcare, Warrnambool and through a network of regional doctors.

The Centre will play a major role in the development of emergency medicine teaching programs for the Deakin Medical School.

Professor Crotty said the Centre will make an important contribution to coordination and delivery of effective emergency medical management in western Victoria and will provide national leadership in emergency medicine research.

‘The Centre will focus on areas of emergency medicine which are of special concern in rural and regional areas. These include bushfires, road trauma, farm and agricultural accidents and the management of medical and psychiatric emergencies,’ Professor Crotty said.

Deakin’s School of Medicine will begin teaching in February 2008. The School aims to train a cohort of new doctors who are skilled and motivated to pursue a career in rural and regional areas, either as specialists or general practitioners.

‘This is definitely an exciting time for the Deakin Medical School,’ Professor Crotty said.

For more information on Deakin's Medical School visit the website.