Community Engagement

The School of Medicine was created because of a need for more doctors in Greater Western Sydney (GWS). We strive to meet the GWS community's expectation of the next generation of doctors who are deeply grounded in their local communities, understand where their patients are coming from, and are skilled in working in and with the community, particularly in addressing health inequity.

The School of Medicine is committed to Social Accountability and translates this commitment into its teaching and learning, research, and service activities. Our community engagement works embody the University’s Strategic Plan in its Values (Boldness, Fairness, Integrity and Excellence) and Principles (Sustainability, Equity, Transformation and Connectedness). Our hundreds of community partners range from small-scale organisations with a handful of part-time staff to national bodies with international reaches, as well as numerous individuals, many of whom are experts through lived experiences. Starting from the GWS region, our community engagement extends to our Rural Clinical Schools at Bathurst and Lismore, as well as our partnerships with Aboriginal Medical Services across NSW.

We warmly welcome any individuals and organisations who are interested in engaging with us to create the best versions of future doctors for the community. Please see the outline of engagement opportunities for community service organisations and individual community members.

Community input

Community input helps us to develop:

• the skills medical practitioners need to work effectively in their local communities;
• the partnerships where students can learn these skills; and
• research into areas that are deemed important by local communities.

We seek community input via:

• community members' participation in our intake interviews;
• annual community fora;
• community representatives in our governance committees;
• active participation in community networks, inter-agency meetings and events; and
• informal discussions and other means of community consultations.

Community Engaged Learning

Our curriculum adopts the Community Engaged Learning and Partnership Pedagogy principles, which we translate into the Four-of-Fours framework. In this framework, four actors (students, academics, professional staff and community partners) collaborate in four curricular works (co-design, co-deliver, co-assess and co-evaluate), underpinned by Boyer’s four scholarships (of discovery, teaching & learning, engagement, and integration) and four core values (mutual benefit, mutual respect, continuing partnerships, and shared recognition).

Our teaching and learning strategies are:

• start community engagement early in the course (the first week of the first year);
• use the connections formed through the whole course; and
• gradually build students' community engagement competencies.

Through these strategies, we aim to:

• develop competencies in working with communities;
• identify and build on community's strengths and resourcefulness;
• develop insights into community issues and how these might be tackled; and
• appreciate their role as a doctor working among these issues and as a part of a team.

Our community partners in learning and teaching include hundreds of individuals and organisations/service providers across multiple sectors. We always welcome new partners and deepen our existing partnerships.

Community Engaged Research

The School of Medicine ensures that its research endeavours are relevant to the health issues in the community while keeping to the cutting edge of medical knowledge and technology through engagement with community services, Local Health Districts and industry partners. Community members, organisations and industry are welcome to explore our research works and suggest ideas for potential collaborations or new areas for research.

School of Medicine researchers may be engaged in discussing joint research grant applications with community organisations and industry partners.

Apart from staff research, the School of Medicine also has opportunities for student research in the community through MD Projects, Summer and/or Winter Scholarships, Master of Epidemiology projects and Higher Degree Research including PhD studies.

Community Service

The School of Medicine responds to service requests from community groups and proactively seeks opportunities to co-identify and address health needs in the community. Examples include, but not limited to:

• health checks in community events;
• community health education such as targeted events for culturally and linguistically diverse communities;
• expert consultation for community services’ health education contents; and
• expert advice on community research projects and grant applications.

In 2015 the School of Medicine initiated a multi-disciplinary community service collaboration called STITCHES (Serving Through Inter-professional Community Health Services). The STITCHES collaboration includes the School of Nursing & Midwifery and School of Health Sciences, and obtained the 2017 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Community Engagement and Sustainability. While STITCHES was put on hold since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the commitment of the three Schools to collaboratively serve the community remains to date.

Contact Us

For general inquiries, at the first instance please email medicine.engagement@westernsydney.edu.au.

For specific projects/consultations, Brahm Marjadi is Associate Dean for Engagement and Associate Professor of Community Engaged Learning at the School of Medicine. He can be contacted at b.marjadi@westernsydney.edu.au.

Find out more about the School of Medicine Community Placement Program.