Faculty of Medicine and Health (FMH)
In December 2015 Senate endorsed SEG's agreed proposal to reduce the number of faculties from 16 to six. The individual faculties of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Midwifery, and Pharmacy, were to be known as the Faculty of Medicine and Health (also to include the Faculty of Health Sciences when it moved to the Camperdown/Darlington Campus from its location in Lidcombe).
Given the size and complexity of the faculties, it was decided to commission a major external review of their governance structures, chaired by Professor Ed Byrne, Principal of King's College, London. The Byrne committee reported in late June 2016, recommending the establishment of a new Faculty of Medicine and Health. This faculty would consist of schools of Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Public Health, and an enlarged and restructured School of Life or Biomedical Sciences incorporating elements of microbiology and biochemistry from Science. (Senate Resolution SEN_16/6-105)
At the 12 December 2016 meeting, Senate approved the creation of a new Faculty of Medicine and Health and endorsed the creation of the following schools within the new Faculty which would come into effect April 30, 2018:
- The University of Sydney School of Medicine [to continue to be known as Sydney Medical School];
- The University of Sydney Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery [to continue to be known as Sydney Nursing School];
- The University of Sydney School of Dentistry, [to be known as Sydney Dental School];
- The University of Sydney School of Pharmacy [to be known as Sydney Pharmacy School];
- The University of Sydney School of Health Sciences (following the physical relocation to the Camperdown/Darlington campus);
The University of Sydney School of Public Health would no longer be a school within Sydney Medical School, but become a school within the new Faculty of Medicine and Health. The School of Medical Sciences (SOMs) would no longer be a school within Sydney Medical School but become a school within the new Faculty of Medicine and Health. Faculty of Medicine and Health News updates (7 March 2018)
All of the new schools of the new Faculty would retain responsibility for academic governance and accreditation of their professional educational programs. The respective heads of the schools will report to the Executive Dean on elements of strategic planning and decision making and for performance management, and to a new Deputy Executive Dean (Academic) for implementation of strategy and for all operational matters.
The clinical schools within Sydney Medical School will be schools within the new Faculty of Medicine and Health: Broken Hill, Central, Children's Hospital Westmead, Concord, Rural Health (Dubbo/Orange), Nepean, Northern, Northern Rivers, Sydney Adventist Hospital, and Westmead.
On 17 September 2018 the Executive Dean (FMH) Professor Robyn Ward announced that the Faculty of Health Sciences would be formally merged with FMH on 1 January 2020. She said the decision to set a date for integration was to ensure that the strategic planning and alignment would be optimised at the earliest opportunity. [Staff News, 2 Oct 2018]
Professor Robyn Ward's title had changed to Executive Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Medicine and Health (FMH). The change corresponded with the completion of the merger of five former faculties and two schools to establish the Faculty of Medicine and Health.
The last school to join FMH, the School of Health Sciences, completed its merger on 1 January 2020. [Staff News, 10 February 2020]