Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences

I’m Elizabeth (Liz) Watt

I joined Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences, School of Nursing in 1985 as a Senior Tutor in Nursing. At the time, the school was located in Arthur Street (later named Slater St), Melbourne where all undergraduate and post gradate courses were conducted. As the student numbers were expanding, the school moved to the Abbotsford Convent site in 1987.

When I reflect on those early days, I feel extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to start my academic career in such an environment. There were many experienced innovative academics who were very willing to mentor less experienced colleagues, and my career took off, being promoted to a tenured lecturing position and completing post graduate studies. It was also an enriching experience to be able to mix with like-minded colleagues from other disciplines.

I was motivated to join the School of Nursing as I had been a graduate of the College of Nursing Australia in one of the first intakes of the first ‘college based’ nursing course, a pilot program of the now well-established Bachelor of Nursing courses. After graduation, I worked in a variety of clinical settings, completed a post graduate qualification in Midwiferyand then started sessional clinical teaching with Lincoln School of Nursing students. It was after this experience that I knew I wanted to pursue an academic career.

The School of Nursing, Lincoln Institute was an important part of the development of nursing in Australia, including the first Bachelor of Nursing, honours and master’s level courses in Nursing. It was a time of significant innovation in curriculum and in approaches to teaching and learning. I continued in the School of Nursing when Lincoln merged with La Trobe University and became part of the Faculty of Health Sciences.