It was the marriage of universities and hospitals that brought more than 200 academics, medical clinicians and researchers together to hear world-renowned advocate for academic health centres Dr Steven Wartman speak at UQ’s Customs House.
The event was hosted by The University of Queensland and Brisbane Diamantina Health Partners (BDHP), Queensland’s city-wide academic health science system.
Dr Wartman has spent more than 25 years in leading academic health roles, including chairing a department of medicine at two leading institutions and being the founding director of a division of general internal medicine.
Event MC, UQ Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Executive Dean Professor Nicholas Fisk, said the event, titled Marrying universities and hospitals to harness the power of discovery: what the academic health science system means for you, highlighted the importance of collaboration.
“With BDHP, we have a comprehensive alliance between eight of the state’s leading health-oriented organisations,” he said.
“Partnering in this academic health science system is about our long-term commitment to improving patient care and health outcomes.”
Dr Wartman, president of the US-based Association of Academic Health Centers, is a passionate advocate of the tripartite mission, advancing the leadership of institutions educating the next generation of health professionals, doing cutting-edge biomedical and clinical research, and offering comprehensive patient care.
He said that each institution that made up an academic health centre, such as Queensland’s BDHP, needed to acknowledge that medicine and research were undergoing a “huge revolution”.
“Each partner must believe in their heart-of-hearts that they are better – lead better, teach better and practise better – because of their clinical or academic partners,” Dr Wartman said.
“Competing – you’re losing. Collaborating – you’re winning.”
Other speakers included UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Vice-President (Research) Professor Robyn Ward, and Prince Charles Hospital Critical Care Group Director UQ Professor John Fraser – both of whom offered a Queensland perspective on the alliance between hospitals and universities.
BDHP chair Professor David Siddle introduced Dr Wartman and a copy of Dr Wartman's presentation can be found here.
BDHP is an alliance between:
