Since the late 1990's, there has been a growing interest in developing centres devoted to simulation-based specialist skills training – mainly in anaesthesia and surgery. Following the successful establishment of a training centre at the Royal College of Surgeons, England, Mr Daniel Hill, a local philanthropist, offered preliminary sponsorship for the building of a similar centre in Perth. With the financial support of The University of Western Australia, the Western Australian Department of Health and members of the medical industry a working party, chaired by Professor Richard Vaughan AM, was instrumental in bringing the project to fruition.
In 2000 a custom-built skills centre, the Clinical Training and Evaluation Centre (CTEC), was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Since then, over 52,000 health professionals have participated in training at CTEC. CTEC was originally a Joint Venture Partnership but was incorporated into The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences in 2007. CTEC is now poised to play a major role in streamlining medical education with the opportunity to develop a suite of post-graduate degrees. It is hoped this unique combination of high fidelity equipment and state-of-the-art facilities with a professional and academic approach will lead to increased cooperation between The University of Western Australia and the Western Australian Department of Health. In turn, CTEC aims to provide high quality medical training to enhance risk management and clinical safety in Western Australian hospitals. CTEC is located at The University of Western Australia in Perth.