Macquarie University and Johnson & Johnson Medical form partnership

Macquarie University and Johnson & Johnson Medical have signed a new collaborative agreement that will address emerging issues across the Australian healthcare landscape and provide a tangible response to calls for higher education and industry to work more closely together.

The agreement means the two organisations will work together on joint education and research programs while providing practical experience for Macquarie students and innovative training for clinicians.
The partnership will include four initial work streams:

• talent development and student engagement
• surgical training
• new R&D and innovation projects
• a comprehensive range of additional initiatives across healthcare, entrepreneurship and leadership activities

Both Johnson & Johnson and Macquarie have committed to investing in and developing innovative healthcare solutions to address future needs to benefit the wider community.
At a signing ceremony in Sydney last week, the Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson Medical Mr Gavin Fox-Smith said the company was very excited about the prospect of working closely with students and academic staff at Macquarie as part of the new program.
“Macquarie University is one of Australia’s most respected academic institutions and our ability to harness its unique talents, research capability and human capital is a fantastic opportunity to provide graduates with competencies that will enhance their future careers,” Mr Fox-Smith said.
“We see this as a leading example of collaboration in Australia and will see students and academic staff spend time with us as they apply their learning experience and knowledge to complement and support our strong research and product development capability. Our desire is to replicate this new program across the Asia-Pacific region, which will mean benefits for both organisations,” he said.
“What is particularly exciting for our company is the potential to harness the deep medical research skills and knowledge at Macquarie and apply them to innovative and practical solutions to ultimately benefit the community. And what better way to do that than by forming a relationship with a close neighbour in Macquarie and working as a true partner, particularly as we already have some graduates of the university working at Johnson & Johnson now,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University Professor S Bruce Dowton said the new partnership with Johnson & Johnson Medical was a “natural fit” for the university and an exciting addition to its PACE (professional and community engagement) program.
“This partnership gives students an extraordinary opportunity to gain a world-class education with the support of one of the world’s largest healthcare companies, working on real-world issues to produce long-lasting and impactful outcomes far beyond traditional academic research environments.
“Our recently launched Academic Health Sciences Centre will develop our ability to delivering real impact where it matters most. Our partnership with Johnson & Johnson Medical is a tangible example of Macquarie actively engaging with the business community to support that enterprise. The best clinicians, the most innovative researchers, and the most inspiring teachers will lead the development of health and medical education and practice; and partnerships such as this one will be integral to future success of this venture.”

Program details

Together Johnson & Johnson Medical and Macquarie will work in four work streams which will jointly harness the distinct resources and capabilities of each organisation.
These include talent development and student engagement; training for surgeons through a proposed centre of excellence; new joint R&D opportunities on major issues like obesity and programs in CSR, leadership and social entrepreneurship.
This will initially involve collaboration between Macquarie University and Johnson & Johnson in activities such as the following:

Spine Surgeons

This pilot program has been designed in partnership with Johnson and Johnson Medical and Macquarie University.  The course “Spine surgeons…navigating the early years” will be developed by DePuy Synthes Spine and the Macquarie Graduate School of Management. DePuy Synthes is a wholly owned subsidiary company of Johnson & Johnson Medical.
The course will connect delegates with experienced faculty to assess the practical aspects of a spine clinician’s first years following their specialty training. It is anticipated this course will be held in Quarter 4, 2014 at Macquarie University. Topics will cover clinical, regulatory, patient management, technological and financial business planning.

Women in MBA (WiMBA) initiative

Johnson & Johnson will participate in the Macquarie Graduate School of Management’s WiMBA research initiative, which will examine the underlying reasons for the global gender imbalance in MBA programs and develop strategies to address it. As part of the project, MGSM will survey women about the issues they face in enrolling and studying for an MBA, as well as their career pathways and experiences post-MBA.

Master classes for clinicians

Johnson & Johnson will support two new innovative master classes for clinicians in partnership with the Macquarie Graduate School of Management.
“Leadership Insights” will address an identified and key gap in clinician’s skills by focusing on leadership, team building, and developing a culture of cooperative excellence in a constantly changing healthcare environment. The goal of this will be to impart critical skills and competencies to develop more efficient teams in the clinical setting to benefit patient outcomes.

“Prescription for Growth” will address the constant changes to public health architecture and the need for hospital administrators and management to respond more strategically than ever.  This one day master class will present the latest thinking in strategy and financial management for senior clinical and non-clinical healthcare administrators with a focus on patient outcomes, revenue and healthcare efficiency.
Both Mr Fox-Smith and Professor Dowton said they both looked forward to progressing the new partnership to the benefit of both organisations, their stakeholders and the Australian community.
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Find out more about Macquarie University and the Macquarie Graduate School of Management. Contact OzTREKK’s Australian Business Schools Admissions Officer Rachel Brady at rachel@oztrekk.com or call 1-866-698-7355 for more information about studying business in Australia.