The 2015 Ignite calendar kicked off with a moonlight cinema.

Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs is well known for being the man-on-a-mission to end extreme poverty. He often points out that if every American donated the equivalent of one cup of coffee ($2.50), that the proceeds would fully fund the global prevention of malaria.

Based on the colossal amount of coffee i’ve seen medical students consume, I think we’re an excellent group to get that ball rolling. Or for those who are fine with their HECS debt rivalling the amount of money they owe their barista… ”

Ignite is Monash University’s non-profit global health group. The organisation was established by medical students in 2004 and now consists of multiple sub-committees including a passionate Gippsland division. With the aim of fostering passions in global health and providing avenues for practical involvement, the Gippsland committee is planning its biggest year yet.

It was kicked off with a picturesque outdoor cinema that more than 40 students from 5 sites attended. The event was a huge success which allowed students to meet like-minded individuals from various year groups while also raising funds for future initiatives. The committee is already well underway with the planning of a global clinician lecture series, book club and online article writing competition.

Committee positions are still available for Ignite Gippsland and the group would always love to hear any ideas or suggestions you have.

Zach O’Brien
Committee Chair
zpobr1@student.monash.edu

Website: ignitehealth.org.au
Facebook page: facebook.com/igniteglobalhealthgroup

Staff and students from the School of Rural Health Latrobe Valley & West Gippsland enjoyed an end of year celebration recently.

Everyone enjoyed dinner and entertainment in the form of several rounds of trivia including a round in which all those who attended received a prize. Director, Associate Professor Dr Joseph Tam, was especially chuffed with his colourful, long striped socks; while GP Dr Paul Brougham was delighted with his plunger.

At the end of the evening, scores were tallied and in a nail-biting finish, Team Tam was declared the winner with each member receiving a movie pack prize that included popcorn, lollies, soft drink, chips and movie tickets.

Students are now back into the books, studying hard for their end of year exams. SRH staff wished them well.

Year 2 students started their day with a visit to a dairy farm.

Year 2 students were immersed in everything rural over two weeks including a jam-packed program of activities on Thursday 11 September.

Alda Dunlop put together a full program for the recent Year 2 student rural placement with the School of Rural Health East & South Gippsland.

With a focus on health and safety for all sessions, Alda scheduled a range of activities with the assistance of Maria Rose, the Dairy Extension Officer with the local Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI).

A 6am start (yes 6am on a cool Gippsland morning) saw the students arrive at a Tinamba dairy farm to view the milking and discuss dairy farm related health issues. The farmer, Hans van Wees, is an active dairy industry representative who took the students through the milking process while Mark Jago, from Murray Goulburn Maffra, facilitated discussion around services provided to the farmers on a daily basis.

Followed by a visit to the Maffra Motor Museum

Then it was off to the Maffra Motor Museum. A tour of the current vehicle display was something the students found fascinating, many of the vehicles being somewhat older than the students themselves! With students armed with material safety data sheets, Jane Rhodes, the leading Chemical Standards Officer with DEPI Maffra, spoke to the students on the hazards (many often not recognised) relating to a rural enterprise.

A delicious morning tea gave the students a short break and refreshed to move on to the next activity – still only 10am.

A visit to the Gippsland Water Treatment Plant included discussion about public health issues and the updated processes used to minimise these. Facilitated by Chris Wood from Gippsland Water, students found this session most informative giving many of them a new perspective on the importance of good quality and reliable supply of water for rural communities.

They talked to vegetable farmers.

Vegetable farming in Gippsland is a major primary industry and employer of local and visiting workers. During a visit to the booming Boisdale vegetable farm operation, Farms Manager Steve Hibberson discussed potential health and related injury issues in the industry.

And finished the day with a trip to Glenmaggie Weir and a privileged look inside the wall.

The next stop was Glenmaggie Weir. This body of water is well known for its recreational activities: water skiing, fishing and a general holiday spot for many visitors throughout the year. However, the weir plays a vital role in the water supply for Gippsland and surrounding areas. Students were fortunate to tour the weir wall, something restricted to those directly involved in the running of the weir operations by Southern Rural Water.

Following the tour and talk by guest speaker Rick Ziarkowski, the students relaxed in the area surrounding the weir for lunch and reflected on what was a busy, informative and interactive day.

Thanks to Maria for her invaluable assistance in organising a rural experience with such variety for the visiting medical students while at the same time, maintaining relevance to their curriculum.

All Monash nursing students who are currently completing their final year of study at Bairnsdale have received graduate nurse placements.

Students have secured positions at Bairnsdale Regional Health Service and Latrobe Regional Health Service.

The School of Rural Health East & South Gippsland congratulates all these students.

Forty Year A medical students from the School of Rural Health Churchill took part in a recent workshop to learn surgical skills such as basic suturing and hand tying of knots.

The workshop was run by the Monash University Surgical Interest Group (MUSIG).

Two general surgeons, Mr Neil Jayasuriya and Mr Gordon Arthur, assisted with the workshop while a surgical registrar, Mr Dane Holden, helped at the information session on surgery.

MUSIG committee members, Michael and Matt, coordinated the night with the help of Hemma Valluvan and five Year 5D students.

The workshop was a huge success and a great chance for students to network and build new skills. It was also a good opportunity to find out more about surgery and the journey into this career.

The event was made possible by the School of Rural Health with a special mention to Kelsey Giardina for her invaluable support.

By Apoorva Rao

Dr Deb Russell at her graduation.

Deb Russell from the Centre for Research Excellence  at SRH Bendigo has passed her PhD without amendment. Deb’s thesis, “The patterns, determinants and measurement of rural and remote primary health care workforce turnover and retention” was supported by the Centre of Research Excellence in Rural and Remote Primary Health Care (CRERRPHC) and was supervised by Emeritus Professor John Humphreys and Dr Matthew McGrail.

This work has provided important new empirical evidence to guide rural health workforce retention policies. Links to the publications related to her PhD are available on the CRERRPHC website.

Deb is the first of the CRE’s four PhD students to graduate and will receive her testamur at a graduation ceremony in December at the Clayton campus.

Everyone at Bendigo congratulated Deb on a brilliant effort at a morning tea in late October.

By gum: students constructed three red gum tables for Bendigo's deck

Medical students took time out from their weekend studies to build three outdoor tables for the cafe at SRH Bendigo.

Past TAFE teacher, John Harvey, collected the redgum from his rural property. He oversaw the work which culminated in an all-day effort one Sunday in August. The finished tables are so heavy they had to be constructed on-site.

A few coats of marine varnish applied by the students between lessons over the ensuing days brought out the classic deep red colour of the timber.

The tables now host patrons of the cafe which shares the ground floot of SRH Bendigo.

Informative: medical students George Tsihlis and harmee Kavr (left) with Associate Professor Joseph Tam and consultant physicianm Dr Megan Brown at the recent careers night.

A team of experienced physicians and specialists gave Gippsland-based medical students an insight into studying, training and working in regional areas at an engaging and informative evening recently.

In a first for the region, 11 clinicians covering a diverse range of fields spoke to a packed auditorium at Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH) in Traralgon last week. The third, fourth and fifth year medical students are studying medicine with the School of Rural Health Latrobe Valley & West Gippsland

The event was organised by the director of the local clinical teaching site, Associate Professor Joseph Tam, also a well-known local paediatrician.

Associate Professor Tam said the careers night was in keeping with the School of Rural Health’s philosophy of vertical education and training for students. He praised senior medical staff who “overwhelmingly” agreed to help with advice on training requirements, pathways and working in the Gippsland region.

“All speakers have a passion for their profession and acknowledge the importance of having these services available to regional and rural areas,” he said. “Our major regional hospitals and general practices are doing outstanding work.”

Associate Professor Tam hopes the information imparted by the doctors will “help and inspire” students in selecting their field of practice. (more…)

Four medical students  – two from East Gippsland and two from New Zealand – exchanged places recently, experiencing each other’s courses and cultures.

New Zealand exchange student, Gracie Soutar, was based in Bairnsdale.

New Zealand exchange student, Natalie Ron, who was based in Sale.

Year 4 students from the Monash School of Rural Health East & South Gippsland have spent two weeks in New Zealand. Mayuri Raviskanthan from the SRH Bairnsdale and Jo Borgelt from the Sale site were part of an exchange program initiated by Otago University. At the same time, New Zealand year 5 students, Gracie Souter and Natalie Ron, were in Bairnsdale and Sale respectively.

The exchange program was set up some years ago between the two schools, emanating from the friendship between SRH East Gippsland director Dr David Campbell and his close friend and colleague, the late Dr Pat Farry. Both men are highly respected for their contribution to rural medicine and GP education. Both have also been honoured by the Queen in their respective countries’ honours list.

Otago University offers its medical students the opportunity for rural practice experience through its Rural Medical Immersion Program while Monash University allows students to study medicine in a rural setting through its School of Rural Health.

According to Gracie, New Zealand’s fifth year is the equivalent of Monash’s Year 4.

A “city girl” from Auckland, Gracie jumped at the chance to study medicine in a rural setting. “That’s why I applied for the exchange program,” she added. “I chose to do it (the course). It is exciting, interesting and a great opportunity to do more medicine while seeing the country.”

Medicine runs in her family; she has a sister studying medicine at Flinders University in Adelaide.

Gracie was keen to compare the health of rural people in New Zealand and Australia which she said was “slightly different”.

“It was a fantastic opportunity to see what happens here (Bairnsdale),” she said. “It was also great to work so closely with the local General Practitioners in both a hospital and clinical setting.”

Gracie said Maori health was a significant part of the training in New Zealand. “We not only learn the language but we tailor consultations in a culturally appropriate way. The health problems for Australia’s Indigenous people are very different.”

According to Gracie, it is “too early” to think about her field of specialising yet. “I’m still enjoying everything but I really enjoy GP work and the continuity of care. I also enjoy surgery. It’s important to get a mix of these things.”

Natalie, from the rural area of Masterton in New Zealand, has spent her exchange in Sale.

She embraced the chance to see many more patients on her exchange. “It’s much more hands-on for students here and that is the major appeal of the course,” she said. “I also found people here much more stoic.”

However she said health issues were similar between Sale and Masterton. “The teachers and doctors here are especially helpful – it seems like everyone loves teaching,” she added.

Natalie appreciated her time spent in surgery at Sale hospital however she too is undecided about the area of medicine in which to specialise although it will be surgery of some kind.

Meanwhile another highlight of the connection between the two medical schools is an annual knowledge competition between East Gippsland medical students and their New Zealand counterparts. They compete for the Pat Farry Memorial Trophy (see additional story).

Wedding bells have been ringing throughout the School of Rural Health in Warragul.

Year 4C student from last year, Eleanor Lazarus, married recently and a number of students from her 2013 cohort of year 4C students attended the celebrations.

Eleanor has accepted an intern position with Monash Health so she may return to West Gippsland Hospital in Warragul as a qualified intern in 2015 for a rotation. Some of her fellow students also secured job offers recently so there was cause for celebration throughout the school.

Meanwhile Natalie Smith, another 4C student from 2013, who also completed year 3B at Warragul in 2012, is engaged. Natalie has accepted a position with Ballarat Health where her fiancé is currently an intern.

School staff follow the progress of their students with keen interest.