Creation of an academic medical centre: Management and service delivery at the Canberra Clinical School

Abstract

The Canberra Clinical School is attached to Woden Valley Hospital, the principalhospital in the Australian Capital Territory. The clinical school arose out of amemorandum of understanding signed between the University of Sydney and theACT Department of Health (as it then was) in March 1993. One of theaspirations of those who negotiated the memorandum of understanding was thatthe creation of the clinical school would lead to a cultural shift in attitudes towardschange within the health care system. This paper looks at the management structureof Woden Valley Hospital and at what the development of a clinical school inCanberra can achieve, particularly in relation to hospital and health servicemanagement.