English Roots of Medical Education in Australasia: Kenneth F. Russell Memorial Lecture

Some individuals have a heightened perception of history. K. F. Russell was one of these gifted people, and he wrote many books and papers on historical subjects. Two are classics: his history of the Melbourne medical school and his catalogue of the historical books in the library of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Among the books catalogued by Russell is a small work by James Paget entitled Records of Harvey: In Extracts from the Journals of the Royal Hospital of St Bartholomew. This book recalls Paget’s career as a teacher and reformer in medical education during the second half of the 19th century, and also his role in drafting a model curriculum for Australia’s first university medical school, in Melbourne. Medical education in Melbourne and Adelaide was largely moulded by Paget and other leading London teachers. Cambridge was also influential in Adelaide. Scottish influences were stronger in Dunedin and Sydney. In the two decades before World War I, many graduates from these new medical schools went to Britain for postgraduate experience. They were assisted by British educational institutions inspired by the contemporary ideology of imperialism.