Facts & figures
- 750 beds One of Australia's largest general hospitals
- Est. 1947 The fourth University of Sydney clinical school
Faculties and schools_
The University of Sydney Northern Clinical School
Education and research in Sydney's northern hospitals
Providing knowledge of medicine and an understanding for compassionate care within clinical teaching facilities in northern Sydney.
The Northern Clinical School is a teaching hospital of the Sydney Medical School headquartered at Royal North Shore Hospital.
We support students in our Doctor of Medicine program and well as practitioners completing postgraduate specialist training. We also assist in the training of nurses and allied health practitioners, in hospital and community settings.
Many of our programs are also taught at other teaching hospitals within our local health district, including Mater Hospital, Macquarie Hospital, Hornsby Hospital and Ryde Hospital.
Elective placements
Please refer to the FMH elective placements page.
Research
Medical research is another important activity within our school. Over one hundred postgraduate students are involved in a broad spectrum of research ranging from basic laboratory research to clinical and epidemiological projects across the campus.
The Kolling Institute of Medical Research is the oldest research institute in the state of New South Wales. It forms the nucleus of our research activity, which is conducted at a variety of locations on the hospital campus and throughout the northern area of Sydney.
Research centres, institutes and groups
Facilities
Our clinical school teaches from the Kolling Building at the Royal North Shore Hospital. Facilities include a 200 seat auditorium, lecture, tutorial, meeting and computer rooms, the Douglas Piper Library and the Sydney Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre (SCSSC).
For information on room bookings and facilities please contact Facility Officer, Liam Brennan (liam.brennan@health.nsw.gov.au).
- Douglas Piper Library
- Sydney Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre
- Lecturing and tutorial spaces
Teaching opportunities
We pride ourselves on our reputation for the excellence of our clinical teachers, who play a key role in the development of our medical students. We recruit tutors for all years of the MD Program across a number of areas.
If you are not already teaching with us, we hope that you will consider joining us. We invite new as well as existing tutors to please fill out an expression of interest to let us know what year you are interested in teaching and your availability.
Please also refer to the Teaching Opportunities Guide (PDF, 204.5KB) for more details on teaching opportunities.
While the teaching is not paid, regular clinical tutors are encouraged to apply for University of Sydney affiliated academic titles through the Clinical School. For further information please email Sarah Hartnett.
Royal North Shore Hospital is one of the largest general hospitals in Australia. It provides a comprehensive range of medical services to the upper and lower north shore areas of Sydney as well as being a tertiary referral service state-wide. The Emergency Department is designated as a major trauma centre for the northern region.
Located in Sydney's upper North Shore, Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital is an acute care hospital with 300 beds: 200 general, 25 maternity, 24 mental health, 26 rehabilitation and aged care and 25 paediatric. It is the major centre for the Hornsby and Ku-Ring-Gai Health Service.
North Shore Private Hospital is owned by Ramsay Health Care, Australia’s leading private hospital operator. The hospital provides acute medical and surgical services, specialising in intensive care, coronary care, cardiac surgery, cardiology, cardiac catheterisation, orthopeadics, obstetrics, neurosurgery, day surgery, oncology and general surgery.
Ryde Hospital has 212 beds to serve the municipalities of Ryde, Hunters Hill and nearby suburbs. The hospital has a busy emergency department and its facilities include a modern intensive care/coronary care unit, rehabilitation assessment unit, maternity unit, day surgery unit, and general and specialist medicine and surgery with an emphasis on minimally invasive surgery.
Greenwich Hospital is a public hospital providing rehabilitation, supportive and palliative care, older persons’ mental health, pain management, community care and pastoral care services. Greenwich Hospital currently has 90 inpatient beds, 25 palliative care beds and 45 rehabilitation beds.
The Mater Hospital was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1906. Among the various speciality units in the 233-bed hospital are intensive care, orthopaedic and rehabilitation wards and a large maternity unit. Core specialities include obstetrics; orthopaedics including hip and knee joint replacements, bone and sports injuries; heart, lung and vascular medicine; cancer care and surgery; ear, nose and throat surgery; urology; endocrine surgery and neurosurgery.
Study options
We offer a selection of postgraduate courses in collaboration with the Pain Management Research Institute (PMRI) (a division of the Kolling Institute of Medical Research), and the Discipline of Surgery.
These courses include:
We offer research degrees across our seven key disciplines, namely: general practice, medicine, obstetrics, gynaecology and neonatology, physiology, psychiatry and surgery.
For more information on higher degree research opportunities at the Northern Clinical School, please contact our Research Education Support Officer.
Learn more about applying for research degrees or find a research supervisor.
We offer a range of short courses for those interested in continuing medical education and professional development.
Northern Clinical School student experience
Discover student life at the Northern Clinical School
Leadership
- Associate Professor Margaret Schnitzler, Head of Clinical School
- Professor Jim Elliot, Executive Director of the Kolling Institute
- Karyn Mossman, Manager, Education Support (Clinical)
- Associate Professor Thomas Buckley, Research Education Academic Director (READ)
- Burcu Karlsson, Research Education Support Officer