Vacation school shows students Gippsland career opportunities
Students from four universities attended the Mental Health Vacation School
The Gippsland Mental Health Vacation School run by MUDRIH has again proved popular with 21 students from Monash University, Melbourne University, La Trobe University and Australian Catholic University taking part.
The program is offered to third and fourth year undergraduate, honours and postgraduate entry students in psychology, social work, occupational therapy, nursing and other allied health.
Students spent three days visiting clinical mental health, non-clinical mental health, alcohol and drug, generalist counselling and other mental health services across the region. On the first and final days of the program, students were provided with an overview of the mental health and alcohol and drug service system, an insight into current trends in treatment and support in the two fields and the opportunity to ask a panel of workers from the region about living and working in Gippsland.
The vacation school helps to orient potential mental health professionals to the region and make them aware of the mental health employment opportunities, employers and colleagues in the region.
It also inform participants about the extent of professional work being done and available in the field, while challenging negative perceptions and building positive attitudes towards working in mental health in Gippsland.
A key aim of the school is to develop relationships between the participants as potential employees and the organisations, as potential employers, who deliver services in the region. The ultimate aim is to encourage students to consider working in the region.
The initiative is the subject on a longitudinal research project which is following the career decisions that participants make as they enter the workforce.
For further information about the program email Keith Sutton.