Higher Education Reforms and how they have shaped Nuclear Medicine Science Education for the Future
David Lyall (University of Newcastle), Yolanda Surjan (University of Newcastle), Tracey Smith (University of Sydney), Edwina Adams (University of Sydney)
Higher education is a very complex multi billion dollar industry in Australia. As with most industries, higher education is continually undergoing review, redesign and development to create the most efficient return for investment.
There are many factors that influence the nature and speed of change in the higher education sector. A major factor to influence change in the higher education in Australia is the political persuasion of the government of the day. The longevity of the recent Federal Howard government had facilitated significant reform for the funding of the higher education sector, the flow on effect of this has altered University management at institutional level right down to individual programs.
The increasing dominance of financial management as a major factor in decision making is changing the way Universities’ conduct business. Increasingly, universities are describing themselves as commercial organisations, by default students become clients and education becomes a marketable product.
In this paradigm financial management potentially threatens small professional based programs like Nuclear Medicine Science degrees who fail to reach a critical mass, it creates an environment where greater commonality is desired to achieve greater efficiency.
Nuclear Medicine Science education in Australia is already dividing into a number of different models, undergraduate, postgraduate, commonwealth funded or full fee students. The dominate model in the future will be decided primarily by financial management principles with professional and educational outcomes as secondary considerations.