Mildura Clinical Skills Workshop
On Tuesday 17 September 2013, the Monash University Surgical Interest Group (MUSIG) held its inaugural clinical skills workshop at the Mildura Regional Clinical School. MUSIG has held similar workshops in metropolitan hospitals for clinical school students at Monash Medical Centre and The Alfred Hospital as well as workshops for pre-clinical students at Monash University. Last year, MUSIG held its first event in the Bendigo Regional Clinical School.
The aims of this event were to educate and inspire medical students about the exciting area of surgery and specifically, about trauma and its application to rural medicine. Thirty-seven students attended the night from years 2 to 5 which included the Year 2 pre-clinical students who were up for their 2 weeks rural placements. Students had the opportunity to rotate through three different stations throughout the night. There were three tutors who volunteered their time including Kristy Allen, Dr Marli Williams and Ms Cathryn Wakefield.
The stations included a surgical skills station with the surgical registrar Dr Marli Williams, a plastering station where students learnt how to put a forearm cast on and a SimNewB station where students learned how to tackle tricky situations and learn about neonatal resuscitation.
The support from the Mildura Regional Clinical School contributed to the success of the night. Furthermore, a big thanks to year 3 student and Mildura Clinical Site Liaison, Hui Ling Yeoh, for helping out with the organisation of the evening. There has been excellent feedback from the students who attended the night and MUSIG hopes that these workshops will continue in Mildura into the future. Furthermore, MUSIG hopes to expand these workshops into other rural sites in the years to come.
Jennifer Tang
MUSIG Mildura Representative 2013