Deakin School of Medicine enters world's best after less than a decade

Deakin’s entry to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) by Broad Subject Field was in the Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy subject area. The School of Medicine, one of the youngest in the country, was established in 2006 and enrolled its first medical students in 2008.

Today’s rankings news means Deakin is now among eight of the 20 Australian universities which offer a degree in Medicine to be included in the top 150, with nine in total in the top 200.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander said Deakin’s entry meant Victoria’s three universities offering Medicine were now ranked among the best in the world.

“This is particularly momentous for Deakin, as we are the youngest university of the three, at just 42 years old as an institution, and it’s even more exciting when you consider we have only been teaching Medicine since 2008,” Professor den Hollander said.

“We have had five cohorts of new doctors graduate since the first Deakin School of Medicine graduates completed their degrees with us in 2011.

“I am incredibly proud of the teaching and research staff that make up our School of Medicine, led by their Dean, Professor Jon Watson, under the stewardship of our Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health, Professor Brendan Crotty.

"I would like to thank all of our staff within the School of Medicine and the Faculty of Health, our researchers and teachers, our students and partners for their contribution and I look forward to the journey ahead.

“We are a young School which has achieved so much in such a short time, but I can’t wait to see the results we deliver into the future in the important field of medical teaching and research.”

The ARWU subject field rankings assess key areas, including the number of times research work is cited by others globally, the total number of papers published, and how many highly ranked papers the School publishes, with a score awarded for the number published in the top 20 per cent of academic journals in the world.

Deakin’s School of Medicine includes two Strategic Research Centres, the Centre for Molecular and Medical Research (MMR), and the Centre for Innovation in Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Treatment (IMPACT).  The School works closely with other Faculty of Health researchers. 

The IMPACT centre is led by Alfred Deakin Professor Michael Berk, one of five Deakin Faculty of Health researchers to be included in the 2016 Thomson Reuters annual listing of researchers most cited in academic journals, ranked in the top one per cent of researchers in their field. 

Four highly cited researchers in Deakin’s Institute of Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN) also made a significant contribution to the subject ranking.

Dean of Medicine Professor Jon Watson said he was also proud of the School of Medicine’s achievement.

“We are delighted and honoured to receive this news. It is a great recognition of the world class teaching and research carried out in Medicine at Deakin University,” he said.

“We are committed to achieving the best results possible for our students, who go on to play important roles in their community as doctors.

“We look forward to continuing our work into the future and are delighted with the success of our first five graduating groups of outstanding Deakin doctors.”

The ARWU, formerly known as the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking, is based on independently sourced data and focuses on significant indicators of research excellence. Deakin University is in the top three per cent of the world's universities in each of the three major international rankings including the ARWU, Times Higher Education and QS World University Rankings.

The full listing of universities is at http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldMED2016.html

Today’s rankings results come after last month’s release of the ARWU ranking for the top 400 universities globally, in which Deakin jumped 183 places in just one year to come in at 214 in the world.

Deakin University is in the top three per cent of the world's universities in each of the three major international rankings including the ARWU, Times Higher Education and QS World University Rankings.