Gary Hart (left) and Annie Tweedle (right) with Monash University medical students from left, Grace Vittor, Dorcas Lim, Bonnie Morison, Liying Chen, Rachel Elliott, Margaret Young, Ben Bentzen and Daman Tjibaenyana.

With more than a little help from local people with limited sight or Muscular Sclerosis, Monash University medical students based in Warragul learned a lot from the first of their community patient visits recently.

The students, who are undertaking their studies with the Gippsland Regional Clinical School this year, met up with patients at Vision Australia in Warragul.

The visit was organised by Gippsland Regional Clinical School community representative Mavis Gallienne and gave the students the chance to talk with patients in a relaxed atmosphere. Two local people, Gary Hart and Annie Tweedle, gave of their time to speak with the students on a wide range of topics beyond the physical condition.

The aim of the visit is to help medical students consider and understand some of the social, economic and psychological issues which face patients and also how to discuss with a patient, in a sensitive way, personal feelings about the diagnosis of a chronic disabling illness.

They were also exposed to the impact on a patient’s social, emotional and physical well being, while also discussing treatments available for MS, the cost of treatment and the economic impact on individuals with MS.

As well as taking a focused history on the patient, the students were encouraged to display empathy and, as a follow up activity, completed a written reflection on three skills that worked well in communicating with patient and three ways to improve their communication with patients. On the day after the visit, the group took part in a follow up session based on a clinical presentation of a patient with MS.

It was an extremely useful session for all involved and the students were very grateful for the time they spent with Gary and Annie, the organisation by Mavis Gallienne and the chance to meet and discuss issues with MS Society Nurse for Gippsland, Robert Slade.

Eighteen hour flights each way for a ten day stay in Rwanda presented a daunting schedule for Gippsland student Hemmavathy Valluvan, known as Hemma – but as she reports, the experience was priceless.

Hemma with one of the Rwandan doctors taking part in the program.

In early August, I was selected as one of seven Australian Medical Students to accompany 20 specialists from all over Australia to assist and take part in the Specialists Without Borders Training Program in Rwanda.

Just the mere thought of having being selected to attend left me in disbelief, much less the realisation that I will be going on an 18 hour flight to Rwanda.

Rwanda is a beautiful country, very mountainous with an agriculture-based economy. The Rwandan government has playing a key role in ensuring the development of Rwanda by making numerous infrastructural changes such as the construction of roads and a proper traffic system.

The country also understands the importance of health awareness and service and has thus come up with many health programs and policies to ensure that its people are supported. In fact, over the past four years, there has been a steep increase in development of available resources and affordable and accessible health services.

A local child in hospital can still manage a smile.

The 10 day stay in Rwanda included two days of medical conference and six days of hospital visits in the city and villages. Unlike the majority of global health projects that primarily revolve around health education and health service, this program focused on training the local medical students and doctors to be capable of handling medical situations themselves by providing them with resources, basic skills and knowledge, including fundamental medical skills such as intubation and neonatal and adult resuscitation.

There was even a psychiatrist registrar who was able to educate the doctors on the importance of the holistic management of suicidal patients and those who are diagnosed with chronic illnesses.

The most eye opening experience I had was when I was on an orthopaedic rotation at the Kigabagaba Hospital. Since I had already seen numerous orthopaedic surgeries in Australia, I walked into their surgical theatre expecting the usual pattern of procedure.

However, what welcomed me was reggae music in the background, a femur exposed thigh and an orthopaedic surgeon who was actually a General Practitioner trained to conduct orthopaedic, gynaecological and general surgeries.

As much as I was worried that the patient would die from an increased loss of blood or an infection, everyone else in the surgical room were grooving to the music.

I have worked in Latrobe Regional Hospital this year and there were moments where the hospital might lack certain equipment or specialists for the patient and require the patient to be flown via a helicopter to hospitals like the Alfred. However, after going to Rwanda and having this experience, I could see the big difference in the level of health system in a developed country versus a developing country.

On my last day in Rwanda, a Rwandan doctor came up to me and pointed at the cover page of the information guide for the program and said: “See that girl standing at the back? It’s me when I was a medical student. I have been coming for this conference for the past four years because it is very good. I have gained so much knowledge, skills and most importantly confidence. Thank you so much for doing this.”

I could not help but give her hug and feel so proud of her. There is nothing more you can ask for from any global health program than improvement, creation of awareness and gratitude from the target population. This trip was definitely worth its 36 hour travel itinerary.

–        By Gippsland student Hemma Valluvan

Tebogo Jabane (left) and Paul Odgers (right) had their hands full with a barrage of questions from Moe primary school students.

The questions and the oohs, aahs and yuks flew fast and furious last week when Gippsland medical students visited local primary schools for a learning session on how the body works.

At Morwell’s Crinigan Road Primary School, Mitchell Knapp had students trying to suck honey through straws to illustrate how difficult it is for blood to travel through diseased veins, while at Moe’s Albert Street Primary School the questions varied from ‘how do you get a cough (or cold, or asthma, or a stoke)’ through to ‘what causes cancer?’

It was a learning experience for both the primary school students and Gippsland Regional Clinical School students, Mitchell Knapp at Morwell and Tebogo Jabane and Paul Odgers at Moe. The idea behind the visits is to encourage the medical students to consider how to communicate with a young age group, while also encouraging the primary school students to think about how their body works and how to keep it running smoothly. (more…)

Librarian Joanna Boast contemplates the task of moving the library to the new space this week.

The big shift has started at Gippsland Regional Clinical School’s Traralgon campus.  In a major redevelopment, the upstairs area that was formerly accommodation is being transformed into a simulation lab, offices and other facilities for the clinical school and Latrobe Regional Hospital, which are co-located, and later Monash Nursing.

In one of the first significant moves, the LRH library is shifting from its current location on the ground floor opposite the Roger Strasser Auditorium, to its new home upstairs. The move is taking place now (from Monday 30 July) and the library has, of necessity, been closed for the week.

The upstairs area will soon house simulation labs for both the Monash students and the Hospital training programs, as well as office space for Monash and Latrobe Regional Hospital staff. The master’s program for the Monash University School of Nursing will also move from the Churchill campus in the months to come.

The next stage of the redevelopment is refurbishment of the Roger Strasser Auditorium, with planning for that now in progress.

Associate Professor Elmer Villanueva

Associate Professor Elmer Villanueva has been appointed to the position of Acting Director of the Gippsland Regional Clinical School.

Associate Professor Villanueva is no stranger to Gippsland or the Clinical School as he works in the Gippsland Medical School at Monash’s Gippsland Campus.

He had broad experience before coming to Gippsland some years ago. Associate Professor Villanueva has held senior research posts at the Monash Institute of Health Services Research, including the Deputy Directorship of Health Technology Assessment Unit, and research positions at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and the Baltimore Cochrane Centre in the United States.

He holds an ScM (Epidemiology) from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and an MD and BS (Biology) from the De La Salle University in the United States. He was also elected Fellow of the Royal Institute of Public Health (UK) for contributions to health services research and technology assessment and is a member of the American College of Epidemiology.

He has primary qualifications in general medicine but his research focus is in the organisation of health services using statistical process control methodology, epidemiologic methodology, biostatistics, and evidence-based medicine.

Associate Professor Villanueva starts his acting role at GRCS this month.

Gippsland Regional Clinical School Deputy Director, Dr Cathy Haigh, travelled to New Zealand in June to present at the ANZAHPE (Australia and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators) annual conference in Rotorua.

This year is the 40th conference of the organisation which aims to promote, support and advance education in the health professions while also facilitating communication between educators.

Cathy presented on the topic ‘Learning in the Clinical Workplace: A Qualitative Analysis of Reflections of Final Year Medical Students’ as part of the Learning in the Workplace session and also presented an e-poster, which described the simulated disaster multi-agency training opportunity afforded to Year 4C students in Gippsland recently.

Associate Professor William Hart from Gippsland Medical School was another School of Rural Health representative at the conference, presenting on two topics. One was titled: ‘Final Year Medical Students’ Perceptions of Feedback to Support Learning: A Qualitative Study’ and the other: ‘Is Good Medical Practice Predictable From Student Selection Measures?’

Medical student, Tracey and Michael, talked to primary school students about the workings of the human body with the help of an anatomy model.

A room full of eager 11 and 12 years olds firing questions about the human body turned out to be a great learning experience for Gippsland Regional Clinical School Year 4C students Tracey Zakazakaarcher and Michael Batt.

The pair volunteered to undertake the first of a series of local primary school visits planned for Gippsland this year, facing up to more than 100 students over two sessions from Grey Street Primary School in Traralgon. (more…)

Gippsland-based medical students played a key role in a major, multi-agency emergency planning day.

A bushfire, a school camp evacuation and a school bus rollover … all the ingredients for a nasty little emergency and, for Gippsland Regional Clinical students, a case of being thrown in the deep end!

Luckily, this scenario was only simulated although there were some very real moments of anxiety for nine participating Year 4C students as well as representatives from major emergency service agencies from around Gippsland.

It was the first full-on emergency simulation exercise in the Latrobe Valley for some years and involved police, CFA, SES, ambulance, Latrobe City Emergency Management team, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and, of course, the School of Rural Health. (more…)

Local knowledge gained through her experiences while a student with the School of Rural Health proved invaluable for Dr Dora Alexiou during her first intern rotation with the West Gippsland Healthcare Group.

Dora did her full Year 3B with the Gippsland Regional Clinical School as well as returning in Year 5D for Medical and Emergency Department rotations. It was a natural progression to come back again as an intern, although she was thrown in the deep end on day one!

Former student, Dr Dora Alexiou has returned to Warragul hospital as an intern.

A local Registrar was sick, so Dora found herself quickly in the front line but thanks to the fact that she knew the hospital and many of the Emergency Department staff from her student years, was able to readily seek advice and assistance. (more…)

Daryl Pedler leaves after nearly 10 years as director of Gippsland Regional Clinical School to take up the position of inaugural Professor of Rural General Practice for Deakin University, based in Warrnambool.

Thanks and farewell from Daryl Pedler Gippsland Director, Associate Professor Daryl Pedler, effectively completes his stint with the Gippsland Regional Clinical School this week (April 5) after taking up an opportunity to move back to south west Victoria. Daryl officially finishes in June but will take leave from Easter before starting his new role as the inaugural Professor of Rural General Practice for Deakin University, based in Warrnambool.

The launch of the School of Rural Health’s 20th anniversary celebrations gave Daryl the opportunity to reflect on his time with the School, which he joined in 2003. He told the group that when he joined the Gippsland Regional Clinical School he had a strong interest in population health and an equally strong conviction about the suitability of rural training for the MBBS. The program was in its infancy when Daryl started in Gippsland. (more…)