Department of Community Medicine, 1973-96

Component identifier:

Series 4

Content Summary:

This large series traces the formation and work of the Department of Community Medicine and its relationship with the University and outside organisations. The correspondence, memoranda, committee minutes, reports, reviews and other material contained here refer largely to the construction of individual courses and teaching facilities, the advancement of research sponsored by the Department, and on the progress of the Department of Medicine within the Faculty and the University. The series complements the one following on the substance of Murrell's teaching, and to some extent traces the development of the teaching and community health centres contained in later series.

The present series includes material pertaining to hospitals and other institutions, the role of professional bodies, including the Professors of Community Practice group, Family Medical Practice of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the South Australian Health Commission, politicians and others in the development of community-based health care delivery systems, and in undergraduate training programs in community medicine and general practice. The Family Medical Practice correspondence is of particular relevance in describing Murrell's community health relationships, and the development of community medicine in Australia during the 1970s. A significant quantity of Departmental correspondence with medical foundations, institutions and universities is included. This pertains in large measure to Murrell's St Agnes Health Centre and other proposed centres, and papers sketching a framework for teaching community medicine. Later material charts the development of research protocols and general practice education within and outside the Department, including the impact of the Kerr White Review in the mid-1980s. Also evident are ongoing communications with the South Australian Health Commission, South Australian Health Department, and state and federal politicians. Files concerning Murrell's proposed publication 'More cutting the tripe', and correspondence, notes, readings and other material concerning Murrell's 1992 sabbatical at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, are included.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Timothy Murrell donated the papers to the Library in five instalments between 1996 and 2000.

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