The University of Melbourne has the oldest medical school in the English-speaking southern hemisphere, and its history spans the modern history of biomedicine, from chloroform to molecular medicine. Therefore the history of medicine at the University of Melbourne is itself a resource for teaching and research. The Johnstone-Need Medical History Unit and the Medical History Museum have created a series of online medical history resources to support students and researchers, both within and beyond the university community.

Dr Ann Westmore, an historian of medicine, was engaged in 2002 to build a composite story of the faculty's history from its beginnings in 1862 up to its present incarnation as the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. She used unique software devised by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre (Austehc) to incorporate narratives of the faculty's schools, departments and affiliated institutions, biographies of prominent staff and students, photographs, illustrations and maps. Each entry was linked to relevant archival materials, and to published and online resources. Assistance provided by Austehc staff, particularly Helen Morgan and Alan van den Bosch, was invaluable.

Funds to build the compendium were provided by the University of Melbourne 150th Small Projects Fund, the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and a number of generous benefactors. It was launched on 8 September 2003 at the University of Melbourne.

It will grow for many years with the addition of new biographies, narratives, illustrations and digitally archived documents, providing a powerful tool for teachers of medical history and for historians and interested members of the public more generally.

If you have additional information about the faculty, its staff or students, which you believe warrants inclusion in the compendium, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Westmore or the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre at the University of Melbourne.

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