Sale Year 3B student group

Sale welcomed Year 3B and 4C students with a lunch for 40 guests. Students introduced themselves to the gathering which included nurse educators, doctors and other staff from the Central Gippsland Health Service, medical practice staff, tutors and clinicians who all play an important role in delivery of two very successful programs at the Sale site.

Like the Bairnsdale students, a number of Sale students “admitted” to singing. One had even studied music at her VCE level; her instrument – the voice. East and South Gippsland staff are hoping for a mid-year performance.

Year 4C student group with Professor John Murtagh

A sumptuous dinner at the home of Dr David Iser and his wife, Narelle, with guests including Professor John Murtagh and his wife, Dr Jill Murtagh, capped the Year 4C orientation program at Leongatha. The two-week program consisted of clinical and hospital orientations along with information sessions and tutorials in the various intensives. Students had some of their tutorials in “The Bothy” where they stayed at Sandy Point.

Professor Murtagh wrote the general practice textbook that is used around the world. In a witty and entertaining speech, he related how the book came to be and how he and his wife learned from their experiences in medicine. Professor Murtagh has been nominated number one hero from a group of medical luminaries by a large percentage of the general practitioners surveyed for the Medical Observer. Students felt privileged to be able to spend time in a small group with Professor Murtagh.

David Campbell reports on the first education forum for the year which agreed that career decisions rather than graduate intentions will provide a better measure of the Rural Clinical School program’s success.

The first education forum for the 2014 year was held at the School of Rural Health – East Gippsland in Bairnsdale on 18 March. The topic of the forum was the Graduate Tracking Project conducted by the School of Rural Health. This is an important project that will demonstrate the effectiveness of the Rural Clinical School program in contributing to rural medical workforce.

Data gathered from both the Medical Schools Outcomes Database (MSOD) and the rural clinical school graduate intentions survey conducted by FRAME (Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators) will contribute to Monash’s Graduate Tracking project.

This education forum provided an opportunity for academic representatives of the school’s north-west and south-east education committees to examine the details of the Graduate Tracking project and discuss the next steps in the project.

Presentations from Natalie Radomski, Laura Major and Helen Chambers set the scene for the forum. Natalie presented a comprehensive overview of recent literature from other Rural Clinical Schools in Australia on factors related to their own data on graduate outcomes and intentions; and Laura and Helen provided an update of the FRAME and MSOD data projects.

Delegates then broke into three groups to discuss aspects of the Graduate Tracking project, with a view to recommendations for achievable future steps for the project.

It was generally acknowledged that the Rural Clinical School program has reached a point where we are only beginning to be able to measure data on long-term career decisions of graduates. It was agreed that career decisions are a far more powerful indicator of the success or otherwise of the Rural Clinical School program than career intentions of students or recent graduates.

It was therefore agreed by delegates to the forum that the current MSOD and FRAME databases will be examined from the perspective of their ability to demonstrate data on long-term career decisions; in addition, data sets such as the current AHPRA (Australian Health Professional Registration Agency) database and the Monash University alumni database will be examined and perhaps utilised if they are able to provide information on career choices of Rural Clinical School graduates.

It was agreed that this activity will be taken forward by the SRH Rural MBBS Graduate Tracking project working group.

Many thanks to all those who contributed to the success of this forum, including members of the planning group; special thanks to Deb Johnston and staff at Bairnsdale for hosting the forum, and the magnificent catering!

David Campbell, Director
School of Rural Health – East and South Gippsland

Year 4 student Daniel McDonald receives attention from his ‘carer’

Mildura-based Year 4 students now have new opportunities to experience rural paediatrics practice with Mallee Family Care.

The family services provider serves communities along the Murray River from Swan Hill to Mildura and into south-western New South Wales. Families who need support from family services generally have a range of needs which can affect a child’s development.

Year 4 students have been welcomed into various Mallee Family Care children-focused and mental health programs, giving them the students the chance to broaden their experience. Year 4 student, Daniel McDonald, was a willing patient for one budding health professional at the Total Learning Centre, which operates from the Mildura Primary School.

A film screening at the School of Rural Health – Bendigo to celebrate International Women’s Day raised enough to fund 120 new kits for the Zonta Club’s birthing kit project. The Zonta Club estimates that for every 11 kits distributed, a mother’s or baby’s life is save, so the Bendigo donation may save 11 lives.

The documentary film, I am a girl, follows the lives of 16-year-old girls from six countries and shows vividly what it means being born a girl. This is a confronting film giving a gender and cultural view of coming of age for girls in our world.

The DVD is now in the North West Rural Medical Education Unit library in Bendigo and can be borrowed by contacting Pam Harvey by email or phone (5440 9083). Posters, postcards and flyers are also available by contacting Cathy Wheel by email or phone (5440 9061). Recommended for ages 15 or older, I am a girl runs for 87 minutes.

Special guests: left to right - Professor Ben Canny; Dr Doris Paton; Cr Mark Reeves, Mayor East Gippsland Shire Council; Associate Professor Sue Berry, NOSM; Dr David Campbell, Dr Brad Martin

A sit-down dinner for 40 people kicked off the year for students based in Bairnsdale on Tuesday 18 February.

Guest speaker, Professor Ben Canny gave an overview of the current MBBS program, plans to introduce an MD (Doctor of Medicine) program and the impact that will have in the long-term on students studying medicine at Monash.

Dr Brad Martin, who spent his Year 4 at Bairnsdale in 2006, reflected on his pathway from student to doctor. We sincerely hope that Brad and his wife, Simone, also a Monash alumna, continue to return to the East Gippsland area to visit if not to settle and become a permanent part of the medical scene in the area.

Special guests included Associate Professor Sue Berry Integrated Clinical Learning – Division of Clinical Sciences at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine; Head of School, Professor Judi Walker; and the newly elected Mayor of the East Gippsland Shire, Cr Mark Reeves. Among the guests were local medical clinicians and staff of the Bairnsdale site.

Students gave a short bio of themselves through which we learned we should be able to form a choir and/or band such are the varied talents of the Bairnsdale students.

Student welcomes are a tradition set to continue given the response from students and guests from Sale, Bairnsdale and Leongatha to the catering, the friendly faces and the anticipation of what the year will involve.

Jimmy checks out resources in the library

Preparations are underway for Simulation Week (3-9 May) which is open to anyone who has a news story or video which highlights their work with simulation. The aim of Simulation week is to promote community and organisation simulation activities and to celebrate achievements of programs, both local and international.

Laurea Atkinson, the Project Officer for the Simulation Learning Environment at the Bairnsdale site of the School of Rural Health has been working hard on a project which highlights the work of the SLE locally including the outreach program. Her new ‘student’ Jimmy has been orientated to the Bairnsdale site, getting to know the staff and learning about opportunities for involvement in simulation and other health education activities. Jimmy is very excited by the prospect of being a “student” at the site. “There is a lot to take in,” he says, “but I am excited by what there is to offer here for students and I am looking forward very much to my time at Bairnsdale.”

There will be more news about Jimmy and Simulation Week in a future edition of Rural Health Matters.

In-house training for staff at Orbost Regional Health, and other regional health services, has been made possible through collaboration with the Simulated Learning Environment project. Nurse educators Jules Stone and Jo Marshall from Orbost borrowed equipment including the IV arm, Peter PICC and Little Anne. Bairnsdale-based project officer for the Simulation Learning Environment, Laurea Atkinson, has supported training with the staff of the health service with a visit taking an additional advanced life support mannequin.

Visits and equipment sharing are an important aspect of the outreach part of the project and makes training and updating of skills possible for those health professionals in rural and remote areas.

Cross section: participants in the workshop included from left to right - Kerryn (Omeo), Annette (Advance TAFE Bairnsdale), Marnie, Beth (Federation University), Jules (Orbost), Carmel (Advance TAFE), Jenny (MUDRIH social worker), Caroline(Bairnsdale Regional Health Service nurse educator).

A cross section of health professionals and teachers came together for a two-day simulation theory and practical workshop in Bairnsdale in February. A paramedic, social worker and nurse educators joined representatives from Advance TAFE, Federation University and Bairnsdale’s own clinical site academic coordinator, Marnie Connolly. The workshop was funded by Health Workforce Australia as part of the NHET-Sim (National Health Education and Training in Simulation) Program.

Checking progress: left to right - Tracie Andrews, Laurea Atkinson, Marnie Connolly, Mat Jenkins

Representatives of the Department of Health, Victoria visited the School of Rural Health’s Bairnsdale education centre in early March. The visit was a first for Simulation Learning Environment lead, Tracie Andrews, and Gippsland Project Officer, Mat Jenkins, who wanted to establish how the project was progressing with updates in the rural sector.

Marnie Connolly and Laurea Atkinson met with Tracie and Mat who toured the facility and held discussions around sustainability of simulation into the future. They were particularly impressed with the innovation of the Ambulance Community Officer training program instigated by Terry Houge and Scott Fyfe and supported by Laurea, where simulation training is done on site and reciprocated as a simulation outreach program to Mallacoota.