ADVANCING HEALTH 2030
Welcome
I am delighted to present Advancing Health 2030, the new strategic plan for the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.
The University of Melbourne’s Advancing Melbourne 2030 strategy sets out our purpose of benefiting society through the transformative impact of education and research. Our aspirations to be a world-leading and globally connected university are grounded in our key focus areas of Place, Community, Education, Discovery and Global.
Over the last six months, we’ve been thinking deeply about how the faculty can contribute to achieving the goals of Advancing Melbourne. We are located at the heart of one of the world’s premier biomedical precincts and we have a 150-year history of delivering outstanding educational experiences to our students. Today, we bring together the largest aggregation of health and medical researchers in Australia to undertake research that makes a global impact.
Since the previous strategic plan, Beyond 2018, the faculty has experienced unprecedented growth and success across our research, teaching and learning programs. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought health and medical research into the public spotlight. As the community came to understand the importance of discovery science and public health, the research world worked at a lightning pace to keep the public safe. The pandemic also catapulted health care into the digital age and required us to find new ways of teaching and learning. If we are to continue to make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of our communities, we must be ready to meet the challenges of a changing world.
The faculty now stands at a pivotal moment. To make an impact and improve lives, we must continue our extraordinary efforts in all facets of health and medical research and education. We must shift our strategic vision to focus on the value of working in collaboration, the importance of building a culture of innovation and the necessity of nurturing our people and their ideas. By doing this we will set ourselves up to find solutions to the complex health problems facing the world.
Meeting the challenges of a changing world will require our steadfast commitment to strengthening an inclusive, diverse and equitable culture, grounded in respect for Indigenous knowledge and for the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we work and study.
Thanks to the many students, staff and partners who gave of their time to tell us what kind of faculty they want to see in 2030. By listening to a cross-section of voices, this strategic plan captures the ambition of our large and diverse faculty to look beyond what we are good at, to what we are good for.
This strategy sets out a unifying vision and articulates the role that our faculty can play as we work with our partners to ensure that Melbourne is a globally leading health innovation centre known for the impact we make on the health and wellbeing of the world.
Professor Jane Gunn, FAHMS, FRACGP, PhD, MBBS
Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
University of Melbourne
April 2022
