Tracey Zakazakaarcher year 4C medical student has won 3 gold and 1 silver in the Australian Masters Championships 2013. This competition only runs every two years and involves athletes from 13 different countries in 50 different sports. Tracey was successful in the athletics competition taking first place in the pentathlon, shot-put and the hammer throw, as well as second place in the discus throw.

Tracey is a mother of eight children, is studying medicine, as well as coaching other children in both soccer and athletics.

Tracey was also chosen to represent the Masters Games competitors on the “Weekend Today Show”, Channel 9 national TV, as well as local radio stations in Geelong Victoria.

Tracey’s TV interview can be found online.

Tracey admits, “I enjoy my athletics – it keeps me fit, however, the most important thing right now is passing the exams!”

A fantastic day was had by all, we'd like to thank Liddiard Road for coming along with 40 lovely smiles and teddies.

One fine day, the year 3B medical students invited 40 prep students from Liddiard Road Primary School to come and visit the clinical school for a very special morning. Our aim was to introduce the kids to the concept of good health, good eating and emergencies.

Being kids ourselves (sort of), we wanted to make the day as fun as possible – so naturally, the kids were invited to bring their Teddies along to help. The kids learned about exercise, healthy eating, x-rays, what to do in an emergency, and got a real plaster cast on their thumb – very exciting stuff.

Peter Nightingale, Year 3B Student, GRCS

Left to right – At the Docklands Channel 9 Studios – Jeremy Siow, William Bay (contestant), Matthew Howard, Darius Tan and Shayne Camilleri

It was with great excitement that the Warragul site of GRCS learned that William Bay (3B student at Warragul) had been selected to appear on the quiz show ‘Millionaire Hot Seat’ with Eddie McGuire as compere.

William, ably supported by Matthew Howard (3B student), and with a delegation of 3B students in the audience, went down to Channel 9 studios at Docklands in mid- October to appear in his ‘million dollar’ session.

To see how William and the team did, keep an eye out for the show which is scheduled to show at 5:30pm weekdays on Chanel 9 in the next couple of weeks.   The experience at the studios is one that the students will not forget in a long time!

Anne Leversha recently volunteered to assist with a Clinical Pharmacy Workshop, which was held in the Pacific Region nation of Vanuatu. Anne is a Senior Lecturer with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, based in Traralgon.

Anne’s friend, Amanda Sanburg, is the Chief Pharmacist for Vanuatu, a position which is funded through the Australian Government Overseas Aid Program, AusAID.

Amanda organised a four-day workshop, which was supported by the World Health Organisation. The event was opened by the Acting Director of Health for Vanuatu and pharmacists from Vanuatu and another Pacific Region nation, Solomon Islands, attended.

The success of the event was partly due to its broad program in which lectures, case presentations by each participant and team building activities were included.

Anne’s direct contribution was presentations on analgesia and pain management, medication chart review and team building. In addition, she used  her broad knowledge of pharmacy and pharmacy education to comment on the other topics covered.

John May achieved a high distinction in the John Desmond Occupational Medicine exam

Each year there is an opportunity for Year 3B students to sit the John Desmond Occupational Medicine exam. The John Desmond Prize is donated by Drs Robyn Horsley and Peter Desmond in honour of their son who died in infancy. Dr Horsley practices occupational medicine as a speciality and finds it to be a diverse area of medicine.

The objectives of the John Desmond Prize in Occupational Medicine are to:

• encourage some students to contemplate occupational medicine as a career;
• encourage most students to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitude needed to effectively practise occupational medicine as part of any general or specialist medical practice

The results this year were very pleasing with special mention made of Sale students as achieving overall ‘superior performance” in the exam. Special mention should be made of John May from Sale who achieved a high distinction.

Our congratulations go to the students and our thanks to Dr Lloyd Waters from the Clocktower Medical Centre in Sale for tutoring the students and for coordinating their on-site visit to the Esso Gas plant at Longford.

Drs Elizabeth Farrell and Deirdre Bentley, guest speakers at the Women’s Health Conference held in Foster recently

Early in October a full day Women’s Health Conference was held at the South Gippsland Community Health Centre in Foster.  Year 4C students were fortunate enough to hear from a number of speakers including  Drs Elizabeth Farrell and Deirdre Bentley who presented case studies on breast cancer support, endometriosis and menopause. The day was particularly beneficial to the students  given their exams are fast approaching and it is hoped that such conferences become a regular event of the academic year for them.

Dr Elizabeth Farrell, gynaecologist, pictured with a gynaecologist she is mentoring whilst in Australia for continued training.

A series of three inspirational dinners have been held at the South Gippsland campus of the East Gippsland Regional Clinical School. The dinners, the brainchild of Dr David Iser, are held for the Year 4C students to show them the myriad opportunities that doing medicine opens up to them.

The first dinner was held in August this year with Dr Andrew Steer speaking about infectious diseases and rashes. Dr Steer is an Infectious diseases physician with the Department of General Medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital and a senior research fellow at the Centre for International Child Health, Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne.

Following Dr Steers talk, retired Paediatric specialist, Dr Robert Birell, spoke of his journey as a doctor at the Royal Children’s Hospital and his work to introduce mandatory reporting of child abuse, for which he is recognised.

The second dinner was held in October with Dr Elizabeth Farrell as the guest speaker.  Dr Farrell talked to students about her involvement over the past 20 years in the management, education and research of the menopausal woman. Dr Farrell has her own private gynaecology practice and is head of the Menopausal Unit at Monash Medical Centre, a senior lecturer in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology with Monash University and a Director and consultant gynaecologist at the Jean Hailes Foundation.

Dr Farrell established the first Early Menopausal Clinic in 2002, the first Adult Turner’s Syndrome Long Term clinic  and in 2009 established the first Women and Cancer Clinic in Victoria at Monash Medical Centre.

The third dinner is scheduled for November and by all accounts the dinners have been extremely successful events, rewarding and informative experiences for the students fortunate enough to be involved.

Professor Christina Mitchell and Professor Judi Walker unveil the painting and plaque marking the opening of the new clinical skills centre.

Bendigo’s new Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre was officially opened by the Dean, Professor Christina Mitchell, in late September.

The $1.2 million centre incorporates a simulated two-bed ward, a “sim gym” for learning and practising specific clinical skills, and a high fidelity suite which includes a sophisticated Sim Man which can be programmed to simulate a range of complex health conditions. The centre also includes control rooms, briefing rooms and the ability to stream a simulation into the auditorium.

In the spirit of collaborative training, the new centre will be used by medical students from Monash University and the University of Melbourne; nursing, paramedic and allied health students from La Trobe University; and nursing students from Bendigo TAFE, as well as practising health professionals.

For students and Bendigo health professionals it’s ideally placed on the health education and research precinct near the new hospital development, but will also include an outreach program to health services outside Bendigo.

The new Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre is funded jointly by Health Workforce Australia, as an Australian Government initiative, and the Victorian Department of Health.

Cathy Driver runs a simulation from the control room of the hi-fidelity suite.

A network television ‘infomercial’ raising awareness of domestic violence and its implications has been filmed at Monash University’s regional clinical school in Mildura.

Commissioned by Mallee District Aboriginal Services (MDAS), the production features three Monash students as actors playing the part of surgeons in filming at the Mildura Regional Clinical School’s simulation laboratories, which doubled as an emergency ward in the storyline.

Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and Mildura Base Hospital also participated in the production, shot at locations around Mildura.

MDAS, north west Victoria’s major service provider for Indigenous people, worked through a rigorous community consultation process in the development of this confronting campaign publicising an important regional issue.

The infomercial will screen on WIN TV Mildura and Bendigo during the Christmas period.

The Year 2 placement in Bairnsdale travelled to the village of Bruthen, a small town (population 624) located alongside the Tambo River, approximately 25kms from Bairnsdale on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland. Nestled in the hills, the small town boasts the last coffee before the snow fields which gives it a daily buzz more akin to a larger town.

Sixteen Year 2 medical students visited the Bruthen Primary School, which has 44 students in all, so it was a manageable ratio to help with first aid training. The primary students were engaged from the beginning with our medical students giving them hands-on activities in small groups of mixed grade levels. Practicing CPR on our simulated equipment was a great hit as was helping locate body parts and learning how lungs work.

It was then time to feed the medical students. The Year 2 students had worked hard and earned a fabulous BBQ in the park.

We were very fortunate to have a paramedic from Omeo, Scott Fyfe, come to Bruthen to conduct hands on Basic Life Support sessions, complete with Jimmy, the simulated model who had fallen from his bike and later had cut his leg with an axe. The inclement weather meant we lay claim to the town’s rotunda. Wet weather failed to dampen the spirits of those involved and even engage travellers in the town who were intrigued with the activity.

The Year 2 students at Bairnsdale campus finished off the week with more community activities and in their spare time were able to explore the area and even  go kayaking in the canals at Paynesville. We are sure they will take back to Melbourne stories of a great placements which combined lots of fun with a valuable learning experience.