The Gippsland Medical School has now donated 44 laptops to various community agencies throughout Gippsland, including specialist schools Cooinda Hill, Headway, Baringa School and Moe Life Skills.

The laptops were on loan to the 2008 and 2009 cohort of Year A medical students who have since graduated as junior doctors. When the laptops were returned to the school, a decision was made to donate the restored laptops to interested community agencies.

These agencies form an integral part of the Community Based Practice Program where students spend time working with clients and learn about many of the social issues, policies and health interventions occurring in the rural area.

Students work interprofessionally with agency staff, who work hard to ensure that the placements are a beneficial learning experience for them. The school was therefore delighted to be able to assist them with these donations.

The laptops have been greatly appreciated by the agencies and by the clients themselves. Alyson Walsh from Cooinda Hill said: “We are really thrilled with the laptops, they just open up so many doors for the people we support to access information.  We also get a lot out of having the medical students here.”

A personal thank you note was also received from a client at Headway who received a laptop. These laptops have had an interesting journey!

Dr. Marg Simmons presents a laptop to Alyson Walsh of Cooinda Hill

Sixty-four teddy bears were successfully cured of their ailments at Mildura’s first ever Teddy Bear Hospital!

Wednesday morning, the concerned young-lings of Mildura West Primary School chaperoned their “sick” teddy bears to a makeshift Hospital set up in their classrooms. Teddy bear illnesses ranged from broken bones to asthma to school-itis.

The “Hospital Clinics” were set up and run by a group of gregarious medical students from Mildura Regional Clinical School.

Teddy Bear Hospital is about helping children engage with doctors and the hospital process. The aim is to take the fear out of seeing the doctor, and to replace it with positive associations.

This year, it was all about the “Patch-Adams” approach. Above all else, we wanted the kids to laugh, giggle and snort water out their noses. Therefore, the stations were funny, interactive, and slightly quirky – the goal was to subconsciously have the kids associate “Doctors” and “Hospital” with “… really fun and silly.”

The children had the chance to plaster their thumbs, bandage teddy, use real stethoscopes, drive cardboard ambulances, and perform “surgery” on “big Ted” whilst looking ultra-cute in their funny-faced mask, decorated gloves and over-sized gowns. The day involved a lot of glitter, model skeletons, x-ray machines and flashing over-sized noses. And a lot more!

The children had a blast and were sad to see the doctors leave the school. The opportunity to build the rapport and establish trust early in a child’s life is so important. This positive relationship is what we can rely on as future doctors to offer these children the best possible care.

As up-and-coming doctors the opportunity to engage with children in a structured, health care-type environment, similar to what they may experience at the hospital, is very valuable. The doctor-patient relationship is important, and children are not an exception to that. Although when it comes to building rapport and gaining trust, they add a dimension of complexity and Teddy Bear Hospital is all about learning to overcome that.

By Danielle Strong, Year 4 Mildura

Teddy specialist Fleur with her fellow 'doctors' at the Teddy Bear Hospital

The East Gippsland Education Trust has announced it will increase the amount and number of scholarships from next year.

Established in 2011 in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Sale, the Wellington and East Gippsland Shires and the community, the trust offers a bursary to local students who gain a place to study MBBS with Monash.

There have been four recipients so far, including Emily Mogridge this year, with the $1,000 used to assist with relocation, text books and the accommodation expenses experienced by rural students.

Now it has been decided to increase the amount of the Scholarship in 2014 from $1,000 to $5,000, with three scholarships available to qualifying students.

East Gippsland Regional Clinical School is justifiably proud of the work that has been done so far to assist local students in their endeavours to pursue a medical career.

As part of the commitment to the local community and secondary school students, the Year 3B group will attend Sale secondary college and speak with students from four secondary colleges about the UMAT and pathways to tertiary health education.

Emily Mogridge, the 2013 recipient of the East Gippsland Education Trust Scholarship, which will be increased next year.

Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) team members recently attended meetings in Canberra over three days, which raised the profile of the CRE within the Department of Health and Ageing and other organisations such as Health Workforce Australia (HWA).

At the CRE National Advisory Committee in mid-May there were several presentations from postdoctoral fellows and PhD students, including two from Bendigo, Dr Deb Russell (retention) and Dr Bernadette Ward (access).

The National Advisory Committee includes members of leading rural health organisations and community members from across the country.

The consensus from the Committee is that the CRE is on track and providing some valuable evidence about rural and remote primary health care.

On the second day, a whole of CRE team meeting discussed progress and future possibilities post 2014.

On the final day, there were several meetings with the Department of Health and Ageing.  A presentation by Emeritus Professor John Humphreys and Professor John Wakerman highlighted how research evidence can translate into policy and was very well received.

There was particular interest in the work of John and Dr Matthew McGrail on the review of the ASGC classifications, and Dr Deb Russell’s work on retention of health workers.

A seminar was also held and was open to all staff at the Department of Health and Ageing.  Seventy people attended and were highly engaged.  Meetings were also held with the Performance and Quality Branch and several other key personnel of DoHA.  All in all, it was a very successful day of meetings and presentations with positive feedback.

The next big conference is the Primary Health Care Research Conference in Sydney in July.

Four CRE staff members will be presenting, Dr Matthew McGrail, Dr Bernadette Ward, Dr Deb Russell and Lisa Lavey. Dr Penny Buykx is also named on a poster presentation by Professor Mike Jones, a CRE Associate Investigator.

Congratulations are extended to Penny Buykx who was recently awarded ‘The Advancing Women’s Research Success Grant.’

The Monash award identifies the need to significantly increase the representation of women in senior academic roles and has been designed to support women’s career progression. It also assists the University in meeting its targets in relation to senior academic women.

The program acknowledges that women may experience significant tension between academic success and family duties.  It is intended to support women to enhance, maintain or re-invigorate their research profile at a critical time in their careers.

By providing funding that can be used flexibly, the grants can reduce the impact of career breaks and/or intense caring responsibilities on women’s research productivity and career progression.

Penny plans to make good use of the grant by undertaking career development coaching sessions as well as in other areas yet to be decided.

Penny Buykx

Professor Debra Nestel has signed a contract with Wiley Blackwell to edit a book on simulated patient methodology.

The book is co-edited with Associate Professor Margaret Bearman, HealthPEER and has a publication date of 2014.

School of Rural Health lecturer and a long term Pharmacist at Latrobe Regional Hospital, Anne Leversha, has recorded her thoughts on pharmacy and changes to the industry as part of Pharmacy History Week.

The interview was one of four recorded by the Society of Hospital Pharmacies of Australia (SHPA), which spoke to a number of its members about how things are different these days.

Anne is a senior lecturer at Monash University and was an obvious choice to take part, as she is one of the first clinical pharmacists to hold an academic position in an Australian medical faculty. She also brings a non-metropolitan perspective as the SHPA’s Rural Advisor.

Anne’s half hour discussion can be heard by going to the following link: https://soundcloud.com/shpa-1/anne-leversha

As part of the School of Rural Health 20^th Anniversary celebrations, a $10,000 scholarship was made available to the honours degree of Bachelor of Medical Science students (BMedSc (Hons)). We are very pleased to announce that the winner of the scholarship is Kyla Garft.

Kyla is studying the BMedSci (Hons) program through the School of Rural Health. She is based at the Bendigo Eye Clinic under the clinical supervision of Mr. Peter Burt, consultant Ophthalmologist and Dr Pam Snow from the Bendigo Regional Clinical School, who is the academic supervisor.

The title of Kyla’s study is ‘Effectiveness of Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty in Open Angle Glaucoma Patients’. Kyla is from rural NSW and completed Years 3 and 4 of the MBBS course in the NVRMEN program before successfully applying for a BMedSc (Hons) year. Kyla is the fourth NVRMEN student to undertake a BMedSc (Hons) at the Bendigo Eye Clinic. The first such student, Dr Michael Jamieson is now in the ophthalmology training program and is working at the Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne.

Checking the movements to ensure they are being performed correctly

A real-time, remote system using avatars to help people undertake rehabilitation in their own home is being developed by Monash University’s School of Rural Health for a Gippsland municipality.

Bill Haigh, who works on E-learning, research and innovations at the School of Rural Health’s Gippsland Regional Clinical School, along with Associate Professor Helen McBurney, is undertaking the project commissioned by Baw Baw Shire in West Gippsland as part of the Victorian Government’s Transport Connections Program.

Baw Baw Transport Connections Facilitator, Stephen Pykett, has worked with Mr Haig in bringing the concept to reality for residents of Baw Baw Shire who will be able to access rehabilitation services and overcome transport disadvantage.

It is a kinetic program delivered on computer in the home. The client undergoing rehabilitation watches a series of exercises delivered by the avatar that mimic movement. The client then follows the avatar movement to perform relevant exercises. (more…)

Matthew Campbell's family, Noel Campbell (third from left) and Christine Campbell (third from right) are pictured with (from left) Alba Anderson, Kyle Vander Kuyp, John May, Liz Wearne and Sam Alexander

Every year Monash University’s rural health club, WILDFIRE, holds a lecture dedicated to Indigenous health.

The first organised in 1994 by Matthew Campbell, then a second year Monash medical student and was attended by hundreds of medical and allied health students from Monash and other universities.

Tragically, just after the event, Matthew was killed in a car accident.  Each year, WILDFIRE holds the lecture in memory of Matthew and his passion for Indigenous health.

The seminar provides medical and allied health students at Monash University with an opportunity to hear about possible solutions to difficulties faced by Indigenous Australians that affect their mental and physical wellbeing.

This year’s 19^th Annual Matthew Campbell Memorial Evening was opened by Professor Geoff Solarsh, Director of the NVRMEN program. Guests participated in a Welcome to Country given by Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Bill Nicholson followed by a traditional smoking ceremony before enjoying the One Fire Tribal Dancers and Didgeridoo.

Speakers this year included:

• Sam Alexander, a Monash graduate entry student who intermitted his studies in 2012 to ride more than 5000 km on horseback from Victoria to far north Queensland to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  Read about Sam’s adventures on his website.
• Dr Elizabeth Wearne, a Monash graduate who is now a GP in East Gippsland.
• Alba Anderson, a Monash John Flynn Scholar undertaking her John Flynn Placement Program in the Northern Territory and working in remote Indigenous communities.
• Kyle Vander Kuyp, an Indigenous Australian and Olympic athlete who competed in the 1996 and 2000 games and broke the 110 metre hurdles Australian record in the 1995 World Championships.  Kyle has since been involved with AIME Indigenous mentoring.  Kyle is from the Worimi and Yuin tribe of North and South Coast NSW.

John May, Year 3 Monash student and active WILDFIRE member did a great job as MC on the night and was congratulated on his great effort in organising the event.

It was great to see the Campbell family enjoying this annual event which commemorates the work of their son Matthew and what he believed in most – to extend other students’ knowledge and experiences with Aboriginal health.

By Laura Major

Manager, Rural Education Program