Foundation of the Faculty of Medicine in 1856
From Faculty of Medicine Online Museum and Archive
On June 13th 1856, The Faculty of Medicine formally came into being when the Senate appointed a Board of Examiners. The foundation board included Professor John Smith, the existing Professor of Chemistry and Experimental Physics and eight medical practitioners of Sydney. Professor Smith later became the first Dean of Medicine. Initially, the Faculty served as an examining board only and approved the award of both the Bachelor's and Doctor's degrees in Medicine (MB and MD).
The University was then only six years old, but by 1859 the Senate adopted a scheme of medical teaching which was intended to commence in 1860 and instructed the University's architect, Edmund Blacket, to prepare plans for an Anatomy school. However, the scheme was opposed on the grounds that 'the constitution of such studies and the establishment of a medical school would retard the completion of the curriculum in the Faculty of Arts'. Further schemes in 1866 and 1874 likewise failed. [1]
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- Faculty of Medicine from 1856 to 1900
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- Faculty of Medicine from 1920 to 1940
- Faculty of Medicine from 1940 to 1960
- Faculty of Medicine from 1960 to 1980