Goals

Develop a high-quality teaching program and learning environment for Aboriginal health.

Strategies

1. Increase the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students within the undergraduate and postgraduate programs of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (FMDHS) by:

• Supporting the FMDHS to implement an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student recruitment and retention strategy.
• Collaborating with other programs within the University of Melbourne to improve the retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in the health sciences.

2. Implement and coordinate a teaching program on Aboriginal health within the FMDHS medical education program (semesters 1–12) by:
Collaborating with the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) and the Department of Rural Health.

• Implementing the Committee of Deans of Australian Medical Schools (CDAMS) national curricula framework and project (2004–07).
• Developing an Aboriginal health focus within the FMDHS Advanced Medical Science program.
• Developing and coordinating student placement opportunities with other FMDHS health science programs.
• Implementing an Aboriginal simulated patients’ program.
• Implementing strategies to respond to the growing demand for teaching on Aboriginal health within other FMDHS programs and post-vocational medical training programs.
• Supporting OutLook (FMDHS student special interest group with a focus on Aboriginal health) in promoting Aboriginal health to other FMDHS students.

3. Collaborate with the Institute of Koorie Education (Deakin University) in the development of public health programs in Indigenous health both nationally and for Victoria.

4. Develop a focus on Aboriginal health within the School of Population Health postgraduate coursework programs.Developing an Aboriginal health stream within the Master of Health Social Science.

• Marketing the coursework units in Aboriginal health to students in the Master of Public Health and other relevant Masters coursework programs.
• Developing short-course modules for Aboriginal people, health policy makers and health practitioners based on the coursework units in Aboriginal health.

5. Develop collaborations in teaching and learning in Indigenous health with Aboriginal communities and academic institutions to further the development of effective learning in Indigenous health .

6. Develop teaching resources in Aboriginal health, including national curriculum development activities in medicine and public health.

7. Professional networking and workforce policy development.

• Contribute, as appropriate, to the development of an Aboriginal health workforce policy.

8. Collaborate with the Medical Deans Indigenous Health Project in the implementation of the agreed national curricula framework and project, and the Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) Network.