School ‘hampered’ by image

Press, 5 March 1988, Page 3

School ‘hampered’ by image

By

DAVE WILSON

Chronic underfunding, unfinished buildings and a low public profile were hampering the effectiveness of the Christchurch School of Medicine, said the school’s dean, Professor Alan Clark, last evening.

Professor Clarke said one department of the school with 38 staff had “a budget for teaching and research expenses which would not meet Hugh Fletcher's morning tea bill.” At a function to mark thex start of the school's academic year. Professor Clarke emphasised what he saw aSjproblems confronting the 1 , school. Although >the heart of the school was good, it was suffering because of its unfinished buildings and a poor public profile, he said. “The Christchurch School of Medicine building is unfinished 16 years after the school was established. The University of Otago (which founded the school) is totally unable to schedule completion of the building before 1995.

“Id 1995 some ‘reassessment’ of priorities will be made. Meanwhile, some of our academic departments have been accommodated by the hospital. Others remain in very unsatisfactory and temporary premises. “Christchurch must now live with a painfully obvious uncompleted building in front of its splendid new hospital. I think it is a disaster for Christchurch that we cannot finish this job.” The medical school’s image problem was that it had no public profile. Christchurch did not know that it had got a medical school. “Yet the presence of a medical school is more important to the quality of the health and health care of all the citizens in the regions than almost any other single component of the health sector. , “However, medical schools are not news and in any race for the front

page, cardiac surgery wins hands down." Professor Clarke said chronic underfunding affected all medical schools in New Zealand. Society must now realise it got what it paid for. “I personally have enormous difficulty freeing up money for development within this faculty without generating unpleasant conflict between the departments; Prizes and awards announced last evening were: Student awards Rhodes Scholarship: Ceri Evans. Colquhoun Memorial Medal, clinical medicine, T. W. Johnson Memorial Prize, clinical medicine, Dawn Short Prize in Psychiatry, and SKF (N.Z.) Prize Psychiatric Medicine (with! commendation): Margaret Chavasse. Ota'go Medical School Alumnus Association Prize in Medicine for top graduand, SKF (N.Z.) Prize Psychiatric Medicine (witti commendation), and Travelling Scholarship in \ Medicine: Richard Kitching. Ardagh Memorial Prize 1986, for trainee intern with highest over-all performances: Sean Riminton. Denis Stewart Prize in Pathology 1987: Murray Smith. Charles Hastings Prize in Medicine: i Penny Burn and Andrew Mai-1 colm. Degrees with distinc-j tion. in 1987: Ceri Evans,! Dianne Hampton, and Rich-' ard Kitching. In the Otago Medical School, 23 subject distinctions: were obtained, of which nine,’ came to Christchurch. Staff awards I M.D.. ChM: Robin Fraser.;' Alan Edwards Prize in Surgi-'j cal Oncology: Alastair; Rothwell, - John Baxter. Well-; come Prize for Excellence in Research at Flinders Medical Centre: Richard Robson. Nuf-'; field Aitken Travelling Fel-j lowship: Robert Allison. Com, monwealth Post-graduate Feb lowship: Allan Simpson. Aver), ill Medical Research Fellow (C.M.R.F.): John Elliot. Roti ary! Exchange! Scholar from the University of Virginia: Scott Doyle, i