Caring with our heads, hands and hearts

14 Apr 2023

School of Nursing, circa 1940s

Schools of General Nursing and Midwifery

Subiaco became a nurse training hospital in 1911 when the Sisters of St John of God established a School of Nursing. Post graduate training in the care of mothers and babies commenced in 1948 with the opening of the School of Midwifery.

Initially only catering for Sisters of St John of God and other religious women, both schools welcomed lay students from 1962. With the move to university based education, the School of Nursing closed in 1984 followed by the School of Midwifery in 1992.

Surgical and Medical Teaching Units

St John of God Subiaco Hospital has been a teaching hospital for medical students for many years. In partnership with doctors and the University of Western Australia, a Surgical Teaching Unit opened in 1975 and a Medical Teaching Unit in 1980.

Both units provide medical students with exposure to a broad spectrum of medical and surgical conditions.

We also work in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame Australia’s School of Medicine, Fremantle.

Clinical research

The emergence of scientific medicine from the 1950s saw increasing interest in medical research at the hospital.

From the 1960s, several areas of the hospital’s Pathology Department were dedicated to ongoing research, education and improved treatment options. This included a bone tumour registry and nuclear medicine facilities.

Over the past two decades, there has been a rapid increase in the hospital’s involvement in medical research. Subiaco now has the busiest clinical trial unit of any private hospital in Australia.

The quality of research conducted in our hospital in truly world class, resulting in improved health care outcomes for our own patients, as well as the broader national and international community.

We have a reputation as a world leader in cancer research, with active clinical trials across a number of cancer types. Vital research is also conducted across a wide variety of other speciality areas, including gynaecology, orthopaedics, inflammatory bowel disease, intensive care, respiratory medicine, palliative care and nursing.