Canadians students who want to become a part of the University of Melbourne new graduate-entry program format will soon have an opportunity to sit down and speak with a senior academic from the faculty.

Professor Hawthorne (PhD, MA, BA Hons, Dip Ed, Grad Dip Mig Stud) is Associate Dean International in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, and Foundation Director of the Faculty International Unit.

Her knowledge and background experience is a big draw for Canadians. Here are just some of her credentials:

• Prof. Hawthorne has extensive knowledge in foreign medical student research, including the current situation in Canada. She plays a central role in strategizing and implementing a range of Faculty internationalization initiatives, including management of the Faculty’s international relations portfolio, the development of international student flows, and provision of academic support services to international students enrolled on campus.

• In 2004-06 she was commissioned by the Canadian government to compare labour market outcomes for migrant professionals in Canada and Australia, followed by additional commissioned research on foreign credential recognition in Canada (2007-08). Additional current or recent skilled migration research has been conducted for UNESCO (2008), the OECD (2007-08), WHO (2008), the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (2007-08), and (in Australia) the Department of Education Science and Training (2007) and Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (2008).

• Last summer, Prof. Hawthorne was in Canada (including Ontario), with the former head of the Medical Council of Canada (Dr. Dale Dauphinee) to assess options open to Canadian medical students returning home, including the capacity to secure data on medical residency outcomes for all of them. According to Prof. Hawthorne, she says there are very good developments underway in Canada, and in her meetings in Canada, she has been advocating on the need for Canadian citizens to be recognized (and treated) as a special category of international medical graduates, on the context where her advice from the MCC is that Australian-trained doctors consistently out-perform other IMGs in the Canadian pre-recognition exams, and Australia now gives near automatic recognition to Canadian trained IMGs in the newly-established ‘competent authority pathway’ to practice.

• Most recently, Prof. Hawthorne was appointed Status Professor and Associate Member of the School of Graduate Studies by the University of Toronto to facilitate cross-national health workforce research (2007-2012).

Prof. Hawthorne will travel to Canada in April, 2010 to meet with Canadians interested in applying to a health sciences program offered by the University of Melbourne, including the Melbourne Doctor of Medicine, Melbourne Doctor of Dental Surgery and Melbourne Doctor of Physiotherapy.

Want to have a one-on-one meeting with Prof. Hawthorne? Find out how!

Would you like to learn more about the University of Melbourne and its health science programs? Find out the dates and locations when Prof. Hawthorne plans to host information seminars across Canada.