Edinburgh and its role in the foundation of Sydney Medical School

Abstract

In 1882, Thomas Anderson Stuart (1856–1920) was appointed as Foundation Professor of Physiology and Anatomy at the University of Sydney. At the time he was Assistant-Professor of Physiology in the University of Edinburgh. He initiated the building of the Sydney Medical School in Scottish Tudor Gothic style. He attracted notable figures to Sydney Medical School, such as Dr Robert Scot Skirving.

The original medical school (now the Anderson Stuart Building) continues today as the pre-clinical medical school of the University of Sydney. Its stained glass windows and many busts of distinguished figures in the history of medicine are a constant reminder of the history of medicine. The building with its gothic architecture and echoes of northern Britain has given generations of Sydney medical students a powerful message, that they were part of an ancient and noble profession.

The recruitment of Edinburgh academics to Sydney ended with Professor CG Lambie who retired in 1956. The 1950s were a watershed between the Edinburgh heritage and the Australian future.