Welcome Bairnsdale students
Director of the East Gippsland Clinical School Dr David Campbell (right) with guest speaker at the Bairnsdale student welcome dinner, Geoff Wigney and his wife Lynice.
Representatives from Bairnsdale Regional Health Service, local medical general practitioners and specialists, members of the Indigenous community and representatives from Secondary Schools in the area were among those who took part in a welcome dinner for East Gippsland Regional Clinical School (Bairnsdale campus) Year 4C medical students.
Each of the nine students gave a short talk outlining their background and their expectations of the year spent in the Gippsland area and at their respective local medical practices.
The students and guests also heard a fascinating talk by guest speaker, Mr Geoff Wigney, who spoke of his work in many countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Africa, offering assistance for women affected by sexual, substance and alcohol abuse as well as trafficking of young girls. Many of these women are suffering from AIDS.
Geoff and his wife Lynice have built, with the help of volunteers, a factory in Thailand for women to manufacture products such as handbags, picture frames and trinkets.
In addition they are building a kitchen in Cambodia for the local women to run cooking classes for the many tourists who visit their area. Geoff and Lynice wife run a local business in Bairnsdale called Empower International, which buys and sells all the produce from these countries.
The successful evening was an opportunity for students to get to know each other and the staff from their practices. All students are now looking forward to immersing themselves in their respective communities.