Year in review 2022

A message from the Head of School

In 2022 we emerged from an intense period of pandemic-related lockdowns back into a world with more mobility and face-to-face interactions. The SARS-CoV-2 virus was still present, but with vaccination and a range of novel medications available, we were able to move around more freely. I acknowledge and pay tribute to the healthcare workers within our communities who worked tirelessly to deliver care during the pandemic. I also thank our School staff for the way in which they faced the professional and personal challenges of the pandemic. Indeed a number of the features of living with COVID-19 were retained within the University, with staff working some of the time from home, greater use of Zoom videoconferencing for meetings and increased consideration given to hybrid online/face-to-face teaching strategies.

The year brought opportunities to celebrate significant milestones - the 30th Anniversary for our School and the 10th Anniversary of the graduation of the first graduate entry medicine cohort from Churchill. Fittingly the year also marked the first intake of students into the Gippsland Partnership Program, a collaboration between Monash and Federation Universities.

Through the year we were able to physically place more medical, nursing and allied health students in our rural communities to support the recruitment of the rural health workforce. There are great stories about our students engaging with the rural communities and health services during their placements. Our support for young doctors to enable them to participate in professional development, research and scholarship continued and we worked closely with our partner health services and Specialty Colleges to increase rural postgraduate training opportunities.

A number of our research and evaluation projects are yielding positive impacts on the health outcomes of our communities and we are pleased to report on the progress of selected projects in this review.

To our stakeholders, I thank you for the strong partnerships that we have developed with you over the years that continue to benefit the communities in which we live and work.

I hope you enjoy reading our Year in Review.

Professor Shane Bullock
Head of School