Exchange program for NZ students
Each year there is an opportunity for two Year 4C students from the East Gippsland Regional Clinical School, to undertake an exchange with two students from the University of Otago Rural Medical Immersion Program (RMIP).
Students spend the two weeks alongside the RMIP students and are involved in all aspects of the program, also managing to fit in some sightseeing.
Mary McWatters and Rebecca Craw were the two students from the RMIP program to spend time in East Gippsland as part of the exchange. Their reports are included below.
Medical training in Bairnsdale
Having not been out of New Zealand since I was 12, I was excited about the adventure as one of four lucky RMIP students selected to travel to rural Australia for a two-week exchange.
My first day there was a bit of an intro. The Bairnsdale hospital has four main wards (medical, surgical, rehabilitation and paeds/midwifery) and a bustling ED. The hospital is a GP-run hospital where every patient is under the care of their GP. The GP’s visit the patients daily to organise the plan with the other medical staff.
Junior doctors and senior physicians/surgeons on the wards then carry out the agreed plan and manage anything else that may arise during the day. There is a lot of multidisciplinary support including numerous community-based organisations. Ambulance and air transfers are made for any cases that require ICU-level care to Sale, Traralgon or Melbourne.
There were similarities and differences between their (Australian) course and ours. The main focus of their teaching is clinically based, with whole group tutorials with specialists via video conference once or twice a week.
There are nine medical students in and around Bairnsdale, and they each have a GP practice where they are based for the year. They then rotate around the different services such as obstetrics, psychiatry and theatre depending on the visiting specialists.
While I was in Bairnsdale I was able to spend time in a couple of GP practices, on the medical ward and in theatre.
The first thing I noticed on the wards was that I knew none of the drug names the staff were using! The majority of drugs prescribed in Australia appear to be specific brands, unlike NZ where we mainly prescribe drugs under their generic name.
Other than that I slotted into ward-life relatively smoothly, admitting patients and helping where I could. I was fortunate to spend some time at the Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Co-operative (GEGAC). GEGAC is a community-based organisation that provides healthcare and cultural support to Aborigines in the area for discounted rates or for free. The main aim of GEGAC is to help improve the health of Aborigines. This is just a small part of the Australian-wide “Closing the Gap” initiative.
Indigenous people have a much shorter expected lifespan than European Australians and poorer outcomes in nearly all aspects of health. This is a very similar situation to New Zealand and our Maori population. It was great to spend some time with the passionate people who run this organisation. They are doing some wonderful work to help lessen the health disparities.
The week I was here was NAIDOC week (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee). NAIDOC is aimed at increasing awareness of indigenous culture and highlighting the successes of various aborigines.
Obviously things were buzzing at GEGAC! One morning there was a big get-together at GEGAC before a march through the main street of town. There was a fantastic turn out with well over 300 people participating in the march. I spent the morning helping hand out t-shirts to the participants and chatting with the locals. There was so much enthusiasm from the volunteers and the whole event was humming with positivity.
After the march a big barbeque was put on with carnival rides for the kids. It was such a fantastic event to be a part of. Everyone was so welcoming and more than willing to share their stories. Despite being a Kiwi I did not feel out of place. They would go out of their way to ask about my background and thank me for helping to support their cause. I felt privileged to mingle with such positive and inspirational people.
I had the opportunity to talk to several indigenous people in the clinic at GEGAC too. This was a very moving experience for me as some of their stories were traumatic and devastating.
I met several people who were a part of the stolen generation where Aboriginal-European mixed children were uplifted from their families and given to European families to bring up. I met people who had been subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse as children and adults.
I was very grateful to have the opportunity to sit and listen to these narratives and gain an understanding about the darker times in Australia’s history. As in all places in the world, including New Zealand, domestic violence is still an issue in Australia and is also overrepresented in the indigenous population.
GEGAC provides a place for people to go where it is ok to talk about these issues and meet other people with similar experiences. It also provides referrals to counselling services for those who want someone to talk to. GEGAC is doing some really wonderful work to improve the situation in Gippsland.
I also spent some time in theatre. As Bairnsdale is a GP-run hospital all the anaesthetists are GP’s who have done extra study (usually a diploma) through the college of anaesthetists. They were wonderful at getting me involved and had me doing all the airway management including putting down LMA’s and intubating. The surgeons were happy for me to scrub-in and assist. I felt quite at home as the theatre-banter was still largely rugby orientated with the usual trans-Tasman rivalry!
Not all my time was spent in the medical setting though! The Gippsland Medical School masquerade ball was on while I was there so Mary (McWatters, the other NZ exchange student) and I made sure to pack our dresses, shoes and masks! It was a great night and I met lots of lovely Aussie med students. Thanks to an open bar everyone was able to really let their hair down for the night. It was great for everyone to forget about med, study and exams and kick our heels up!
I also got out to Raymond Island in the Gippsland Lakes which is well known for its koala population. Koalas were first introduced to the island in the 1950′s in hope of creating a population to sustain the species if anything were to happen to the mainland population.
The koalas thrived in the environment and the numbers are now close to 300. They are breeding so well in fact that a sterilization programme has had to be implemented to control numbers. We wandered along the koala trail and saw numerous dosing furballs! Only a couple were awake and feeding but one of these had a baby koala clinging on. Even the Aussie girls were excited to see this so I felt quite lucky!!
I also went to a small town called Buchan which is well known for its limestone caves. We took a tour through one and it was quite spectacular. There were huge rooms with thousands of stalactites and stalagmites connected by narrow, low, winding pathways. Some of these structures were huge and were thousands of years old. A lot of the passageways sparkled with the tiny crystals and it really was spectacular!
The caves stay at a stable temperature of 17 degrees year round. This was quite balmy for us as it was a cold day outside. It is so hard to describe how beautiful a place it was, you really have to see it to understand. I definitely recommend it to anyone if you find yourself out this way at some stage.
I was quite amazed at the amount of things I was able to pack into my time in Bairnsdale. I saw many interesting medical cases and was allowed to practice numerous skills on the wards, in theatre and at GP’s. I got to trip around and see some of the local environment and got to party with the med students too! I learnt a lot about the health disparities between European and indigenous Australians which was interesting to compare and contrast between New Zealand’s situation.
I even got to have a quick look around Melbourne on my way back through, including the human body expo at Melbourne museum and an Aussie rules game! Without the Pat Farry Trust I never would have had this fantastic opportunity so I am very grateful to everyone for creating the exchange program and giving rural NZ students the chance to experience something new and exciting.
– By Rebecca Craw, New Zealand Medical Student
Outside the Royal Cave, one of the spectacular limestone caves at Buchan.
Exchange to Sale, Australia
As part of the rural immersion program (RMIP) in Blenheim New Zealand, I was given the opportunity to go on a two week exchange with Monash University to Sale, Gippsland in Australia.
As a 5th year I am at the same stage as the Year 4C medical students and I joined their program. The Central Gippsland Health Service (the hospital in Sale) is a similar size to Wairau in Blenheim, with paediatric, women’s, medical and surgical wards as well as an emergency department.
Monash University has a teaching facility next to the hospital including a skills lab with very up to date equipment. They also have tutorials for the medical students here. Year 4B has tutorials on Mondays and Fridays, with GP-led tutorials as well as those covering paediatrics, psychology, women’s health and a bit of emergency.
I spent both Tuesdays in the emergency department and was able to see some patients myself and then discuss them with an intern or consultant, who would then go and see them. I also observed the doctors assessments of patients.
While I was in ED there were several MET calls (medical emergency team) which I was able to watch … at lot happens all at once! At first I struggled with the medications used over here as some different medications or I just wasn’t familiar with the brand names. Most drugs in Australia were prescribed under brand names which meant Google was used a lot!
It happened that several young women came in with syncope (fainting) symptoms during the day in ED so I got quite used to the workup for this problem. Otherwise the presenting complaints were fairly representative of a normal ED day; constipation, chest pain, eye pain and falls for example.
I also spent Wednesday and Thursday each week at the Clock Tower Medical Centre, a clinic in Sale. This is a general practice with eight doctors, a mix of consultants, registrars and interns (PGY1’s). I sat in with a GP at first to get the feel of the software and then was able to see a few patients first in the afternoon.
Many of the appointments were follow-ups for patients on long term medications or with medical problems which required review. The first day finished with some minor surgical skills required to remove a large fragmented splinter from a young girl’s arm.
The rest of my time was great with patients booked into see me first. I would take a history and do an exam if necessary and then call the doctor in and present the patient. I saw a great range of things from menstrual problems to a potential appendicitis. I learnt a bit about the logistics of the Medicare system and how the Australian medical system functions.
The Gippsland Medical School ball in Traralgon on the weekend was a great evening and I met heaps of medical students. It was a masquerade and there were students that really made an effort and won well deserved prizes. I was also able to catch up with some of my family who live near Traralgon, a great opportunity to see them again and explore their farm in Toongabbie.
I was also able to attend the Tuesday “parma night” which the medical students and some of the doctors attend. They go to a local pub which has a special deal, a chicken parma and drink on Tuesdays. Chicken parmagiana is a big thing in Australia so I was told I had to have it at least once. It’s basically chicken with cheese and ham on top. It comes in many flavours but the students said the previous week’s vegemite one didn’t go down well.
On Friday morning Rebecca (the NZ student in Bairnsdale) went to Melbourne for a bit of sightseeing before we headed back to NZ. We went to the Melbourne museum first which was a great place to visit! It is a very well set out museum and we even got to see Phar Lap the horse.
We also went to an Aussie rules game which was great fun, North Melbourne vs. Carlton. It was a very close game so the crowd was on edge near the end! With each referee call half the stadium would be up yelling.
On Saturday we explored the Victoria markets which are huge, we picked up some great souvenirs and gifts to bring home. We spent the afternoon at some factory outlet shops getting some cheap clothes.
It was a great experience all round and a great way to experience medicine in a different country. It was also a fantastic way to meet medical students from Australia. Many thanks to Pat Farry Trust, RMIP and Monash University for adding to my medical student experience.
– By Mary McWatters, New Zealand Medical Student on exchange to East Gippsland.