Bairnsdale welcomes 2014 cohort
Special guests: left to right - Professor Ben Canny; Dr Doris Paton; Cr Mark Reeves, Mayor East Gippsland Shire Council; Associate Professor Sue Berry, NOSM; Dr David Campbell, Dr Brad Martin
A sit-down dinner for 40 people kicked off the year for students based in Bairnsdale on Tuesday 18 February.
Guest speaker, Professor Ben Canny gave an overview of the current MBBS program, plans to introduce an MD (Doctor of Medicine) program and the impact that will have in the long-term on students studying medicine at Monash.
Dr Brad Martin, who spent his Year 4 at Bairnsdale in 2006, reflected on his pathway from student to doctor. We sincerely hope that Brad and his wife, Simone, also a Monash alumna, continue to return to the East Gippsland area to visit if not to settle and become a permanent part of the medical scene in the area.
Special guests included Associate Professor Sue Berry Integrated Clinical Learning – Division of Clinical Sciences at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine; Head of School, Professor Judi Walker; and the newly elected Mayor of the East Gippsland Shire, Cr Mark Reeves. Among the guests were local medical clinicians and staff of the Bairnsdale site.
Students gave a short bio of themselves through which we learned we should be able to form a choir and/or band such are the varied talents of the Bairnsdale students.
Student welcomes are a tradition set to continue given the response from students and guests from Sale, Bairnsdale and Leongatha to the catering, the friendly faces and the anticipation of what the year will involve.