The GMS graduating group from 2012

The 75 students who began their studies in 2009 have graduated as the second cohort from Gippsland Medical School after completing their course in 2012.

Among the graduating students, six are from overseas, 13 are from interstate and seven have either lived or worked in the Gippsland area prior to becoming medical students.

The School is especially pleased that the graduating class includes three students from a secondary school situated less than five minutes’ walk from the Gippsland Medical School itself. They are Dr Danielle Winkelman, Dr Andrew Thomas and Dr Carly Jennings.

Everyone at the School of Rural Health wish the graduates all the best for their internships in 2013.

Graduation 2012 at Gippsland Medical School

The 75 students who began their studies in 2009, graduated as the second cohort from Gippsland Medical School.

Among the 75 graduating students, six are from overseas, 13 are from interstate and seven have either lived or worked in the Gippsland area prior to becoming medical students. We are especially pleased that this year’s graduating class includes three students from a secondary school situated less than five minutes’ walk from the Gippsland Medical School itself.

We wish the graduates all the best for their internship in 2013.

Gippsland Medical School staff took time out for a celebratory lunch with the students after their final PBL session and Ann Dettrick kindly invited GMS staff to lunch at her place in the beautiful Jeeralangs.

AND THEN……the OSCEs!

Monday 19^th, Tuesday 20^th and Thursday 22^nd saw staff from EGRCS, GRCS, MUDRIH and GMS combine to run the Year 4C and Year A OSCEs at the GMS.  It was a massive job well done – not only on the actual days but in the lead up with contacting examiners and simulated patients and setting up the stations.

Gippsland Medical School academic, Dr Marg Simmons, presented at a major conference in October.

Her paper ‘Medicine and the Arts: Ways of envisioning a social perspective on health’ was presented at the School of Applied Media and Social Sciences Research Forum in early October.

Marg’s presentation highlighted innovative ways of teaching first-year graduate medical students a social perspective on health, using art to foster understanding and curiosity about the social world and the world of medicine.

Gippsland Medical School Administrative and Clinical Skills Support officer Kelsey Giardina has proved her skills in the sporting arena, taking out the Gippsland Football and Netball League Best and Fairest for C Grade.

Kelsey plays goal keeper for Morwell Football Netball club and also captained this year’s team.

Kelsey stormed through with 27 votes, three better than the runner up.  It topped another excellent year for Kelsey who has played at Morwell for a number of years, including three years in C Grade, with her team in the grand final each year.

This year the Morwell girls came up against Traralgon in the final; unfortunately Morwell was runner up but it was another great achievement for Kelsey and her team.

Medical student and well-known and successful showing rider, Prue Chamberlain, took fourth place in the strong class for Owner/Rider Hack (photo by Julie Wilson)

Prue Chamberlain, a current Year A student at Gippsland Medical School, has demonstrated her skills in another arena, competing recently in the Adelaide Royal Equestrian Show.

Prue, who owns horses herself and in conjunction with her mother, finished fourth in the Owner/Rider class, a good result in a tough class of about 25 horses.  Her horse, Ritchie, was very good and worked very well.

The pair received positive comments from some well regarded people.

Prue also finished sixth in the Open class and sixth in the Rider class (21-30 years) as well as reaching the finals for 2 other classes.

Prue was understandably very satisfied with her performance at the Show after being out of the Royal circuit for three years. She said that can be quite tough to get back into the finals, let alone placing, after time away.

Prue’s sporting endeavours are being supported by the University’s Elite Student Athlete Support program.

One of the MMI interviews last year.

While some areas are looking forward to a quieter time during mid-semester break, staff at Gippsland Medical School are gearing up for two of the busiest days of the year, the Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) for applicants hoping for a place in the 2013 cohort.

Over two days, 130 applicants will be interviewed. There will be 56 interviewers including staff from SRH, Gippsland and Clayton campuses, current students and community volunteers.

A team of Year A students will be on hand to assist with coordination and to chat to applicants and calm their nerves. Staff will be assisting either as interviewers or with coordination on the days.

The MMIs are the culmination of a year of hard work for the GMS Admissions team, Judy and Lauren, led by Dr Marg Hay, Director of Admissions. The intention is to select the best possible students within the pool of applicants, while increasing the numbers of rural, particularly Gippsland-based, students offered places.

The year-long process for applicants begins in January when they register for the GAMSAT. After sitting in March, applicants apply through GEMSAS (Graduate Entry Medical Schools Admissions System) preferencing the Medical Schools they wish to attend. Judy and Lauren then work with QTAC (Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre) to manage the simulations and rank and select those lucky few who make it to interview. After interviews comes the nail-biting waiting period for applicants prior offers being released in October.

International interviews this year have already taken place in Singapore, Canada, Malaysia and Gippsland, with 78 international applicants interviewed before last week.

The MMI originated from McMaster University in 2001 and now plays a heavy role in the selection of medical students in Australia.

Gippsland Medical School would like to thank staff from School of Health sites for their assistance as interviewers.

Gippsland Medical School has welcomed two new appointments, Ms Michelle Machado and Dr Nicole Wallis.

Both have qualifications in the biomedical sciences and will make significant contributions to theme III teaching. They will also play important roles in the implementation of MBBS assessment in the Gippsland region.

Nicole’s areas of expertise are neuroscience and pharmacology. She has recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Howard Florey Research Institute. Nicole will support assessment implementation across Years A, 3B and 4C.

Michelle has been associated with the school since 2009 and impressed with the quality of her teaching. She will be responsible for the coordination of Year A assessment and will provide support to assessment in the other years of the program when required. She will continue to be involved in the Year A anatomy program and teach some aspects of physiology.

Michelle and Nicole officially started their new appointments in mid September.

Michelle Machado

Nicole Wallis

Marg Simmons

Dr Marg Simmons has addressed lecturers in the Monash Sustainability Institute on a new module used for Year A graduate medical students at Gippsland Medical School.

Marg gave a presentation called Teaching Health and Sustainability to lecturers at Clayton on the module which introduces the students to the topic of Sustainability and Health.

The presentation was part of the Education for Sustainability (EfS) Module for academic staff undertaking the Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice and was based on her work on introducing a module on sustainability. The module explores issues such as sustainability in the healthcare profession; the impacts a changing environment might have on society and the health care system; and the notion of healthy and sustainable communities.

Monash University is very committed to sustainability in all of its practices – as reflected by its inclusion in the university’s mission statement – and is therefore keen that its staff embed sustainability across the board as well incorporating innovative teaching approaches to fulfil this endeavour.

Professor Geoff Rose, who led the EfS module, commented that such teaching “exemplifies the tactical approach to education renewal which Marg sees as critically important to embedding sustainability in all education programs at Monash.”

He added: “Participants at the presentation found your presentation to be very valuable and I believe it will be very influential in motivating them to embark on a similar journey.”

Kathy Brothchie

Kathy Brotchie’s abstract for the 10^th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC) being held in Singapore next January, has been shortlisted for the ‘Best Abstract for Poster Presentation’.  Good luck to Kathy, who is Clinical Skills Coordinator at Gippsland Medical School.