Pictured in East Gippsland during the recent visit are, from left and seated, Kristy Allen, Debra Johnston, Fiona Wright and David Campbell, with Jenny Timmis standing

As a follow on from the Gippsland Education Forum held in the Latrobe Valley recently, Fiona Wright, Jenny Timmis and Kristy Allen from Mildura followed the Princes Highway north-east to visit the East Gippsland Regional Clinical School’s Bairnsdale and Sale sites.

While at opposite end of the state, the Mildura and East Gippsland sites have a lot in common and it was great to discuss how each overcomes obstacles such as distance, staffing, tutors, course delivery and IT.

It was a fantastic visit with the sharing of ideas and experience across simulation, academia and administration that will be very useful for all staff and may well be something that the School of Rural Health sites do more regularly.

The visit was so successful that all agreed it should be undertaken twice a year with a reciprocal visit to be scheduled.

The Mildura Clinical School played host to the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Provincial Fellows of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG).

The first day of the two day meeting in mid-April included four workshops using the school’s facilities.

The first was a training supervisors meeting, where those people who have volunteered to train both GP and specialist obstetricians are tutored in the mentoring and assessment of trainees.

The second was a workshop for Obstetric ultrasound, while the third was a workshop on the Fetal Electronic Surveillance Program.

The fourth was for GPs and HMOs who want to do the Certificate of Women’s Health.

Some 80 people were involved, including specialists, GPs, trainees and medical students.

The second day Friday 19 April comprised three workshops using the Sim Lab: resuscitation of the neo-nate, resuscitation of the pregnant female, and breech delivery.

The workshops were for 50 GP obstetricians and some Year 4 medical students from both the Mildura regional hub and several rural hubs.  Local paediatrician Dr Suri Hariprakash ran the simulation sessions throughout Friday morning with the assistance of Howard Cook and Jenny Timmis.

The general feeling was that the school facility was great, particularly the SIM lab. There was a small logistical problem as there were additional workshops held in another site which required some transport, however this was a minor inconvenience.

The meeting was covered by WIN TV with scenes from the SIM lab.

Professor Robyn Wood addressed the audience at the Mildura ASPREE launch, held at Mildura Regional Clinical School

In a coup for Mildura Regional Clinical School, the launch of the ASPREE program in the region was held at the School.

The event received excellent media coverage from television, radio and print media and the large audience consisted of GPs, local participants, and representatives from the Mildura Rural City Council.

Guest speakers included Mayor of Mildura Cr Glenn Milne, participant and past local politician Mrs Elizabeth Maffei, Professor John McNeil, head of the ASPREE trial at Monash, and Associate Professor Robyn Wood.

The Mayor and Cr Sharyon Peart performed the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The chief message that each speaker reinforced was the importance of involvement in this international and national trial to which Australia is contributing data from 11,000+ participants.  The trial is considering the potential benefits and any damaging side effects of regular Aspirin use in people aged over 70. Professor Wood outlined the benefits and the risks of participation, reiterating that greater numbers of participants will serve to increase the study’s power.

Once again the Amazing Race (Mildura version) has proved a perfect way to introduce medical students to all that Mildura has to offer while they are living in the area.

Students were encouraged to form teams with one student from each of the three year levels. Two of the teams were bolstered by the inclusion of Head of School Professor Judi Walker and Mildura Director Fiona Wright.

Armed with a booklet of tasks, the teams set off to complete their duties safely. Some of the fun activities included picking grapes, finding a lost Monash teddy bear at the swimming beach, discovering parts of Mildura’s history and identifying sporting arenas.

A reward at the end was laid out at the ‘Pitstop’ in the clinical school. It was dinner, consisting of roast meats, potato bakes and salads, followed by ice-cream cones dipped in sprinkles.

But to earn their meal the teams had to complete a final task, one they took to with gusto!

The original plan called for each team to perform 15 seconds of the Chooky Dancers’ version of Zorba the Greek.  But before long all students were mass dancing along with the video on the big screen.

Judi and Fiona opted at this point to adjudicate a number of awards, and also to judge the dancing. 

They were asked to determine one dance winner; however, decided the fairest outcome would to award the best dancer from each of Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5.  

When it came to the award for innovation, the judges were tempted by the team which recorded a NEGATIVE total mileage for the race (???!!); however they decided Year 5 student Cameron Sharp’s leadership and motivation of the other students was more deserving of recognition!

The Chooky Dancers version of Zorba the Greek has everyone on their feet.

 

Local Elder, Uncle Willy, shows how his bowl has many uses, including as part of his musical repertoire.

A number of bush-tucker based items provided suitable fare for a morning tea hosted by Mildura Regional Clinical School in support of the Oxfam Australia ‘Close the Gap’ campaign, which raises awareness of Aboriginal Health issues.

Attendees came from the Aboriginal community, local health organisations and other community groups, together with medical students and Mildura staff to learn about the Close the Gap campaign and the appalling statistics involved in aboriginal health.  The Mildura Regional Clinical School collected 32 signatures for the pledge as part of the event.

It proved an entertaining as well as educational event.

Following the Welcome To Country the audience was enthralled by the guest speaker, a local elder known as Uncle Willy.  Uncle Willy is a storyteller of the highest order who kept everyone well and truly entertained and fascinated by the tension between traditional and westernised upbringing for Aboriginal children. 

He outlined the multiple uses of such various implements. For example, the boomerang is as much a map as it is a weapon!

Then there is what Uncle Willy dubbed the Aboriginal version of a Swiss Army Knife – his wooden bowl. It can be used as a bowl, a baby carrier, a shelter from the rain, a paddle, and to aid the sound production in his didgeridoo playing. 

Uncle Willy is an accomplished didgeridoo player and makes his own instruments; sadly there was only a brief opportunity for his music.  To conclude the presentations, an Aboriginal children’s dance troupe from a local primary school performed a traditional welcome dance.

Another highlight was provided by local Aboriginal health workers, who contributed bush tucker-based items for the morning tea table. The menu included lemon myrtle cheesecake with quandong jam, wattle seed madeleines, kangaroo pizza and crocodile with wild herbs and rice – although the last items were snapped up so quickly (pun intended) that not everyone had a chance to taste them!

Local dancers and officials gathered with a strong overarching message

All registrars, HMOs and interns were invited to have lunch at Mildura Regional Clinical School in mid-February, which was also the first day for Year 4 students in Mildura.

The gathering allowed the hospital staff to put names to faces, and feel more comfortable about the roles they are asked to do for the school.

The Registrars in particular have previously been given packs of information about their involvement with students, what students need to gain from their clinical experiences, and any assessment processes that the Registrars need to be involved in.

Staff and media representatives enjoyed morning tea together in what has become an annual event in Mildura.

Local media representatives were invited to visit the Mildura Regional Clinical School recently, to meet academics and students, and to familiarise themselves with the programs and forthcoming special events.

This now annual event is a valuable networking tool which helps to foster the awareness of Mildura Regional Clinical School in the community.

The audience was attentive to every word delivered by Associate Professor Darryl Maybery.

Associate Professor Darryl Maybery,  Director of MUDRIH, has delivered the first of Mildura’s 2013 lecture series to a wide audience of medical and local community members.

Darryl’s topic was ’Breaking the generational cycle of mental illness’, and coincided with the launch and promotion of a new DVD titled Family Focus.

One in five children has a parent with a mental illness; the aim of the Family Focus program is to empower families to start a conversation about the problems, with the intended outcome to reduce the risk of children getting the same illness as their parent.  The chance to talk about these illnesses helps children realise that the depression and anxiety they see in their parents is not their fault.

Information about the event was circulated through flyers to health organisations and individuals, radio announcements, and advertisements in local newspapers.  Consequently 70 registrations were received from a mixture of health clinicians and public, which packed the lecture room to capacity. (more…)

Coomealla High School Students, from left, Matthew Mathieson, Bailey Catterton, Lauren Fraser, Sophie Stephens, Rhianna Duncan, Holly Lush, Abbey Henderson, Beth Darby, Shanae Tilley, Mikaela Fraser, Emily Smith, Dylan Watson and Shae McDonnell. They all had great fun working with mannequin SimMan3G.

Coomealla High School Students, keen on nursing, from left Megan Clothier, Beth Darby, Shae McDonnell and Nikita Dalzell. All enjoyed working with one of the school's mannequins, SimNewB.

In collaboration with Broken Hill University’s Department of Rural Health, Mildura Regional Clinical School facilitated two Academy Days late last year for 30 students enthusiastic about pursuing a career in Medicine or Nursing.

The clinically-practical and action-packed days were a huge success as the students, from Coomealla High School in Dareton NSW,  enjoyed demonstrations of current medical skills and thrived on the multitude of hands-on experiences. (more…)

The availability of the hi-fidelity simulation models for clinical skills scenarios, including the newcomer Sim Newbie as well as SimMan, has taken off in Mildura.

Howard Cook and Kristy Allen have facilitated a number of training sessions for nursing staff from both Mildura Base Hospital and Mildura Private Hospital.

Sim Newbie has a weekly date with local midwifery staff while Howard and Kristy also transported SimMan to a training day ‘Immunisation Updates for Practice Nurses’, working on scenarios involving Anaphylaxis.

Regular bookings are being established for Sea Lake, Manangatang, Ouyen and Robinvale health professionals, particularly following the end of academic semesters.