New funding of $3.5 million for School of Rural Medicine

October 05, 2007

The Commonwealth Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, has announced additional funding of $3.5 million, through her Department's Capital Development Pool (CDP), for the School of Rural Medicine that will open next year at the University of New England.

The Commonwealth Government granted the project an initial $3 million in capital funding when, in July last year, it accepted the proposal by the University of Newcastle, UNE, and Hunter New England Health for the establishment of a Joint Medical Program to be conducted by the two universities.

The Minister's announcement takes the amount of Commonwealth capital works funding for the School of Rural Medicine to $6.5 million. In addition, the Commonwealth is funding places for 60 students at the School next year. The NSW Government will provide substantial assistance for clinical placements in hospitals within the Hunter New England Health area.

Minister Bishop's announcement included a total of $70 million of CDP funding for 27 universities. The $3.5 million for the School of Rural Medicine at UNE is the maximum amount allocated to any university project in the current round of CDP funding.

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, said the University "warmly welcomed" the additional Commonwealth funding. "It confirms the Commonwealth's commitment to this important project," he said. "This additional funding will enable us to ensure that UNE's students in the Joint Medical Program will be training in some of Australia's most modern and well-equipped facilities throughout their five-year Bachelor of Medicine degree program."

Professor Pettigrew said that, thanks to Commonwealth funding, capital works associated with the School of Rural Medicine were proceeding according to schedule. "Curriculum development is also on schedule," he said, "we're getting a great deal of support from clinicians in the Hunter New England Health area, and there has been strong demand for places in the course."

Posted by Jim Scanlan at October 5, 2007 09:00 AM