Dean of Wollongong's new medical school announced

Aug 20, 2004

Well-known surgeon, Dr John Hogg, will become the Foundation Dean of the University of Wollongong's new graduate medical school set to start in 2006. He will take up his professorial appointment on Monday August 30.

Dr Hogg is currently Clinical Stream Director of Surgery in the Northern Illawarra, and is Chair of the Illawarra Medical Staff Council. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland.

Dr Hogg said the Shoalhaven and Illawarra region's doctors would play an integral role in the running of the medical school by determining the selection criteria, writing the curriculum and undertaking face-to face teaching.

He said local doctors, as well as international medical schools, have helped form the plan for the school.

"We will be drawing a great deal from other institutions around the world and we will apply this knowledge to the University of Wollongong - we'll be able to take the best of the best in other words," he said.

The Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, announced the establishment of the medical school on 2 August. The Government will provide capital funding of $10 million.The school will be based on an exciting new model that aims to meet the critical shortage of doctors in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia and prepare them for expected medical advances in the 21st century. The medical students will be selected from regional, rural and remote areas of Australia.

The medical school will be based at the University's campuses in the Shoalhaven and Wollongong, drawing on medical practitioners from these respective communities to help drive the teaching program.

The school will have an initial intake of 80 students and within four years should accommodate 320 students at both the Wollongong and Shoalhaven campuses.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong, Professor Gerard Sutton, said he was extremely pleased to have somebody of the calibre of Dr Hogg leading the new graduate medical school."Dr Hogg will bring to the position clinical credibility, an absolute commitment to medical education and the respect of his colleagues in the Shoalhaven and Illawarra," Professor Sutton said.

For further information contact Dr John Hogg at his surgery on 4229 2363 or the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gerard Sutton on 4221 3909.

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128