Year 4C East Gippsland student Kate Wilson has recently returned from an exchange to New Zealand, where she enjoyed a range of different experiences including a chance to join the Mobile Surgical Bus.

Here is Kate’s record of a chilly but diverse program.

The swap I was lucky enough to take part in was my placement in Lakes Entrance for two weeks in rural New Zealand. I was placed in Balclutha, a farming town with about 5000 inhabitants, located an hour south of Dunedin.

I stayed with two of the local University of Otago students, Neal and Sally, who did a wonderful job of looking after me and making sure that their rather soft Australian exchange student didn’t freeze! Coming from a rather mild Victorian winter, it was definitely a shock to suddenly find myself in sub-zero temperatures. I began the placement by being late to clinic my first morning due to uncertainty as to what to do when my car froze over!

The two weeks I spent on placement were very varied, and I was privileged to experience the wide range of health services available in Balclutha. It was interesting to see how a small rural hospital with an attached GP clinic functioned. I spent time consulting with several of the Balclutha GPs, and also fitted in a day at a GP clinic in the nearby town of Milton.

I found the role of a rural GP in Balclutha significantly different to that of a GP in rural Australia. With the major city Dunedin so close, it was much easier to refer patients to specialist services than it is in rural Australia, where much greater travel distances are often involved.

I was also surprised to learn that New Zealand does not have GP obstetricians, anaesthetists, or surgeons. Instead, all uncomplicated rural obstetrics is performed by midwives, with less straightforward cases being referred to obstetricians in larger centres.

A particularly interesting aspect of my visit was the chance to assist with surgery on the Mobile Surgical Bus. Due to the lack of GP anaesthetists, surgery is no longer performed in rural New Zealand hospitals.

The New Zealand Surgical bus.

The surgical bus is a fully equipped, mobile operating theatre that travels between rural hospitals, thereby providing rural communities with access to minor surgery. The bus itself was very spacious inside, and, at times I almost forgot that I was not in a normal operating theatre!

I also spent time in various other areas of Clutha Health First, including a few days on the inpatient ward, an afternoon with the physiotherapists, and an afternoon in an adolescent sexual health clinic.

But of course it wasn’t all work and no play! A highlight of my time in New Zealand was a weekend trip to beautiful Queenstown with the Balclutha medical students. We spent an eventful weekend night-skiing, trying the famous Queenstown burgers, and walking a section of the stunning Routeburn Track.

Overall, I gained a great deal from my experiences in New Zealand. It was excellent to experience a different health system and a different model of medical education, while having the opportunity to form friendships with medical students in another country. Thank you again to the staff in both New Zealand and Australia who made this possible, and to the New Zealand students who looked after me and made sure that I had such an enjoyable time.

–        Kate Wilson, Year 4C EGRCS student, Bairnsdale campus

The Mobile Surgical Services web site has more information about the service.

East Gippsland students warm up for their tilt at the Pat Farry Cup

One evening recently the students gathered, one group sitting in East Gippsland and the other a couple of thousand kilometres away in New Zealand, to lock horns in the annual Trans Tasman Challenge and the right to take home the Pat Farry Memorial Trophy Cup.

The videoconference link up with Otago University Medical School students provided teams the opportunity to observe, and to pick up any added advantages (aka study, also aka as cheating) during the 25 questions quiz.

The challenge opened with the New Zealand students, in a change from the traditional Haka, singing something resembling their National Anthem! East Gippsland students followed with a rendition of a clever variation of the Australian National Anthem written by David Campbell.

Scores ran evenly throughout the first two rounds with the third round of  “beat the buzzer” seeing some rather questionable tactics! In the end an amiable draw was agreed upon thus ensuring the Cup remains in Australia for another year.

The Trans Tasman Challenge is an important event on the East Gippsland Regional Clinical School calendar and has become a tradition which continues to foster the friendly rivalry between ANZAC nations.

Angelo d’Amore and Eleanor Mitchell are two of a number of scientists who are part of the CSIRO Scientists in Schools Program. It is a national program that creates and supports long-term partnerships between teachers and scientists and is run under the auspices of the CSIRO. It is hoped that through these partnerships students will gain exposure to science role models and learn heaps more about science.

This is a report from Eleanor on their involvement so far.

Angelo d’Amore and Eleanor Mitchell work their magic at the Tambo Upper Primary School.

Angelo and I have both been teamed with Tambo Upper Primary School since March 2012. The school has 81 kids spread across four classes. This primary is situated in East Gippsland 306 kms from Melbourne just off the Great Alpine Road, Bruthen.

To date we have been working with all the kids ranging from Prep to Grade 6. We attend the School every fortnight and engage the kids in fun, hands-on science experiments. The science is tailored to the age group and with the older classes we have looked at acids and bases. The students were taught the basics about pH and how to go about doing an experiment.

In each class the students create aims and hypothesise what will happen before conducting the experiments and writing up their results. In the acid and base class, the students were able to test the pH of different substances using litmus paper and red cabbage juice. The students tested the pH of lemon juice, detergent, river water and the soil from the school’s vegetable garden.

According to the Principal, Wes Vague, when the students were asked their thoughts about the Scientist in Schools program, their reply was unanimous: “It really stinks!” This response was most likely due to the fact that the red cabbage juice did not have a very nice smell and that the students had the opportunity to test the pH of many other substances such as cow and chicken manure!

Since then, we have also examined many different chemical reactions with the older classes, including exothermic and endothermic reactions, and of course some experiments, like adding mint-flavoured mentos to Diet Coke, just had to be done! The raucous reaction from the Grades 2, 3 and 4 students during the latter experiment brought the Principal from his office to investigate why the noise from the playground sounded like a football match!

With the younger classes we have looked at how plants absorb nutrients or pollutants. Each student added food dye to a carnation or celery stick. We had many different combinations of red, blue, purple, and split coloured plants on our return a week later. The younger classes have also been more recently looking at each of their five senses. So far we have looked at how our ears hear, how our sense of smell affects the taste of food, and why we have two eyes not one. In this class, we were fortunate to borrow many anatomical models to complement our experiments!

The photo attached was taken from our most recent visit to the Grade 2, 3 and 4 class. The photo is Angelo demonstrating how much carbon dioxide is produced when you mix small amounts of vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. The students were really engaged as they commonly use bicarbonate of soda in their cooking classes to “make their cakes rise.”

For more information or if you would like to join the ‘Scientists in Schools’ program visit: www.scientistsinschools.edu.au/index.htm

–                  By Eleanor Mitchell

Dr Maria Power has joined East Gippsland Regional Clinical School as lecturer with the East Gippsland School for Aboriginal Health Professionals.

She has provided the following snapshot of her professional journey that has taken her from Central Gippsland to the United States, the Northern Territory and back to Gippsland.

Maria Power has joined the East Gippsland School of Aboriginal Health Professionals.

Recently I have moved from being based in Darwin for over two years to East Gippsland. Though born in Melbourne, I grew up at Erica (on the way to Walhalla). My immediate family members moved further east and I welcome being able to now be so much closer to many of them.

Via a partnership between East Gippsland Regional Clinical School (EGRCS), School of Rural Health, Monash University and East Gippsland School of Aboriginal Health Professionals (EGSAHP), Centre of Excellence for Aboriginal Health in East Gippsland, I have just recently been appointed as a researcher based at Bairnsdale.

EGSAPH is the Steering Committee for the research with which I am involved and will provide cultural mentoring and support. My appointment has been made possible after the proposed research project received Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee approval earlier this year.

The data collection involved is designed to gauge the interest of local Indigenous youth in tertiary health qualifications, assist them in pursuing such aspirations and hopefully return to the East Gippsland region to work in either Aboriginal community controlled or mainstream health services.

I come to this project poised to contribute from a wealth of engagement including more than 20 years’ experience in Indigenous education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Previously I have participated in delivery of workplace as well as classroom training, development of training resources, training needs analyses and significantly contributed to industry training best practice models.

My work during the past 13 years has facilitated the achievement of success in Higher Education, Vocational Education and Training and Leadership Development by adults in remote Australian Indigenous communities. A team member and I, for example, trained 23 apprentices from the Tiwi Islands on-site until 21 graduated.

Further study has personally enriched me and I value the opportunity it gives for growth in skills and knowledge. Completing my doctorate involved an academic year in Chicago where I engaged with survivors of torture and human rights abuse and also did a placement among the Ojibwe Native American people.

Later I finished the International Trauma Studies Program at Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University in New York. In both locations, being part of a cohort of post-graduate international students proved most instructive. With my love of lifelong learning, I look forward to initiatives being developed that support EGSAHP’s and EGRCS’s aspirations.

The Bairnsdale campus of the East Gippsland RCS had some special helpers for the day.

Residents of Sale and Bairnsdale took the opportunity to find out what lies behind the school doors when both campuses held a Community Open Day on Saturday 28 July.

The emphasis was on community involvement with lots of fun things organised for children, teenagers, youth and adults. Staff and students from both medicine and nursing were on hand to talk to everyone and let them know we are here and what we offer and do. One of our main aims was to encourage young people to study for a career in rural health.

The stars of the show in Bairnsdale, without doubt, were the two baby wombats who came along with their nursing student carer who leads a not-so-secret double existence as a wildlife rescue officer. The older of the two ran all day (sometime literally up and down the hallways). While his two-month-old companion crawled into his pouch around midday and wasn’t seen again.

There were activities for kids ...

... and adults.

The first East Gippsland teddy bear hospital was a great success.

The first Teddy Bear Hospital run in East Gippsland proved a fantastic event. Coordinated by Year 3B student, Cassie Coetzee, and ably assisted by other students, the Teddy Bear Hospital was held mid July at Sale campus.

Some 50 students from the local Araluen Primary School attended, with teddies of all shapes and sizes. They even included a huge one-metre teddy, a well-loved shark, a couple of knitted dolls and a kangaroo.

Stations were set up for the emergency department, surgery, hygiene, plastering and ambulance among others. Groups of children went to each station and rotated through all areas. (more…)

What happens once our students graduate and go out into the big wide world?  One of them, Paul Marosszeky, tells us what it is like.

Dr Paul Marosszeky

As I write this it is half way through intern year and with the first foray into professional life have come new challenges. The learning curve has been intense, despite this being a year ostensibly offering a brief reprieve from exams on the roller coaster that is medical training.

I have often heard junior doctors exclaim how that in their intern year they learnt more than in all of their years at medical school combined.

I always thought there were epic mountains of hyperbole in this sentiment, but this year I can kind of see what they’re on about. One has to consolidate a great deal of knowledge compiled over the preceding years for practical day to day use, and this requires constant diligent attention – especially at the beginning – and with each new rotation as you try to absorb the wisdom of your seniors and hone your clinical acumen in a way that will be applicable to the job at hand.

You finally start to have to remember doses for drugs and you realise that the two-hour tute in back-to-base week at the end of final year probably wasn’t enough to convey the more subtle complexities of writing drug charts (but don’t worry, you learn this one quickly!) You loathe brand names and drug names some more. (more…)

Two students from East Gippsland Regional Clinical School had the opportunity to exchange with two Otago University Rural Medical Immersion Program students for two weeks in July. Jemelle Spriggs and Katherine Wilson, who are current Year 4C students studying in Sale and Bairnsdale have been placed in Blenheim and Balclutha respectively. This is Jemelle’s report on her experiences so far.

My first glimpse of New Zealand, as we flew into Christchurch, was the spectacular southern alpine ranges covered in snow. We landed but were airborne again quickly, this time a tiny 19 seater plane that flew low over kilometres of vineyards, landing in Blenheim.

This set the scene for an exciting two weeks in the beautiful south island, specifically the Marlborough region. Blenheim is the largest town in the Marlborough region, world renowned for its sauvignon blanc wine.

I spent my first day at Wairau hospital, an 86 bed rural hospital in Blenheim, seeing a variety of patients in ED. I quickly became familiar with a major part of New Zealand’s health system – the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) which provides all residents (and visitors) with a no-fault personal injury cover. My day in ED involved many ACC claims as the injuries rolled in. (more…)

Rural GPs made use of East Gippsland RCS's simulation facilities in Sale to learn emergency skills at the Rural Emergency Skills Training program.

Gippsland GPs enhanced their rural emergency skills when they took part in a training program conducted at the Sale campus of East Gippsland Regional Clinical School in June.

Twenty participants, six instructors and three observers attended the  Rural Emergency Skills Training program held over two days.

Conducted by Southern GP Training in conjunction with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), the program offers participants a hands-on, flexible and interactive approach to training.

Ten skills stations were set up and a number of scenarios were conducted with participants rotating through all stations.

Among the skills included were surgical airways, needle thoracentesis and chest drain insertion, vascular access, cervical spine immobilisation and emergency psychology.

Written and practical assessments are included and each participant received a REST certificate from ACRRM.

Eleanor Mitchell

East Gippsland lecturer and researcher Dr Eleanor Mitchell was one of 34 successful recipients of the Victorian Women’s Governance Scholarship program, announced by Women’s Affairs Minister Mary Wooldridge.

Eleanor received her scholarship as part of her role on the Board of Directors for SNAP Gippsland Inc., a psychiatric disability rehabilitation support service which is part of the Victorian mental health service system.

The scholarship program allows the recipients to undertake the highly respected Company Directors Course through the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  For more information, see the official media release.