New Territory medical school could open a year early

Due to open in 2026, there are hopes the NT’s new medical school could open early. Read what was said.

The head of the Territory’s new medical school believes advanced planning around the facility could see it operating from early 2025, a year earlier than scheduled.

Speaking during a question-and-answer session at Future Northern Territory with NT News editor Melanie Plane, inaugural dean, CDU Menzies School of Medicine, Professor Dianne Stephens hinted at the potentially earlier opening.

“We currently have the Australian Medical Council team on site and they’re assessing our capacity to commence the program potentially in 2025,” Professor Stephens said.

Dr Dianne Stephens Foundation Dean CDU Menzies School of Medicine at the NT News Futures Northern Territory forum 2024. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“I won’t anticipate what they’re going to suggest and that will happen tomorrow but we’ve prepared everything that they require where they’ve seen potential gaps we’ve been able to fill them and where they’ve had concerns we’ve had not only support and alleviation of those concerns.

“I think the team has been overwhelmed by the positive feedback they’ve had from every person that they’ve spoken to, and that’s not just within our organisation but at the public and private hospitals, our partners in the NT government, our partners in the Aboriginal community controlled sector to a person has been 100 per cent behind this endeavour.

“It’s so important to get out that the Territory is small, but we are all in this together, we have a passion to make this place better and we back each other and it speaks of the importance of the facility itself.”

CDU formed the medical school in January 2022 and after initial missing funding last year was rewarded ahead of May’s federal budget with an allocation of $24.6m for the allocation of 40 Commonwealth supported places at the medical school.