Gippsland Medical School staff took time out for a celebratory lunch with the students after their final PBL session and Ann Dettrick kindly invited GMS staff to lunch at her place in the beautiful Jeeralangs.

AND THEN……the OSCEs!

Monday 19^th, Tuesday 20^th and Thursday 22^nd saw staff from EGRCS, GRCS, MUDRIH and GMS combine to run the Year 4C and Year A OSCEs at the GMS.  It was a massive job well done – not only on the actual days but in the lead up with contacting examiners and simulated patients and setting up the stations.

SRH 20th Anniversary Community Conversation Dinner in Bendigo

To celebrate the School of Rural Health’s 20^th Anniversary, Bendigo Regional Clinical School held its Community Conversation over dinner late in November.

The evening had been anticipated with great excitement by many of the staff, particularly amongst some of the female staff who were happy to have any excuse to buy a new outfit to celebrate the 20 year anniversary!

Invitees included Chief Executive Officers and their service staff from 10 partner organisations around the greater Bendigo area.  CEOs were invited to submit a local health related issue that affects their organisation and participants were then able to discuss the issue over dinner. The results of the many and varied conversations are to be collated and distributed early in 2013.

Robust discussions were held around topics including how behaviour could be influenced to reduce obesity in Bendigo, pressure on community placements for health trainees in regional and rural general practice, working toward a community prevention model to reduce the rate of risky alcohol consumption among Greater Bendigo residents and other interesting issues that the group embraced with enthusiasm.

While we are not convinced we managed to solve all the problems that face our community, hopefully this group of respected people has come up with some amazing suggestions for how to address some of these topics.

The evening was held in the Conservatory at the All Seasons Resort in Bendigo.  This venue, more familiar with holding weddings on the weekend, was decorated beautifully with amazing attention to detail by our Regional Manager Kerrie Thomsen.  Her organisation and flair for style ensured that the environment was perfect and Donna Cohen managed to keep our large group to time and moving around the tables seamlessly.

The evening was well received by all that attended and we hope that this may be the first of many community conversations we will hold.

Lyndsey Brown, Educational Site Manager, Bendigo

The opportunity to access funding from the School of Rural Health Conference Fund is now open and it is suggested all those interested have a look at the guidelines and application forms. Good use was made of the fund in 2012, with a number of staff enjoying the learning and travel opportunities presented.

A few examples of the funding provided included Melinda Goodyear from MUDRIH presenting papers at the Child and Youth Mental Health Matters conference in Canada, while Pam Snow from Bendigo completed a National Communications Skills Training course in the United Kingdom.

As part of the University’s Professionalising Research Management Plan, Lisa Lavey and Michelle Moon attended the Australasian Research Management Society’s annual conference in Queensland.

Margaret Stebbing from MUDRIH facilitated workshops at the 2012 Mount Isa Remote Health conference.

The funding is provided in conjunction with units within the School, and supports staff members attending national and international conferences.

Guidelines and application forms for the Conference Fund can be found on the School of Rural Health Intranet.

An update on the ASPREE Study will be held in Bendigo on Thursday 6 December, conducted by ASPREE representative Sharyn Fitzgerald. The workshop is at Mercy St, Bendigo at 12 noon.

This is Australia’s largest ever clinical trial, with participants 70 years and older being recruited from large cities and regional areas such as Ballarat, Bendigo, Launceston, Shepparton, Latrobe Valley, Wodonga and Warrnambool. Read the rest of this entry »

Those who haven’t registered for the 2013 Research Retreat, to be held on 22 and 23 January, should contact Cathy Ward (03 5440 9082) soon as RSVPs close on 14 December this year.  See program and further detail.

The aim of the research retreat is to plan for the School of Rural Health’s research future using the information currently being gathered as part of a research stock-take.  Recommendations arising from the retreat will underpin future school research approaches, so your individual input, views and ideas are crucial to the success of this retreat.

As they say, “If we don’t choose a direction, we’ll end up where we’re going.”

The last Journal Club for the year is scheduled for Wednesday 12 December, with all education, clinical, research staff and students invited to take part. A confirmation email will be forthcoming with final details.

There are a variety of methods by which people can participate in person or by tele/videoconference link.

It is in Meeting Room 3 (Level 2), School of Rural Health, 26 Mercy St Bendigo or by videoconference (IP 130.194.213.113) or teleconference (9903 5988) from other sites. Time is 12 noon to 1pm.

Dr Mandy Li at the Monash Regional Clinical School, which works alongside Latrobe Regional Hospital.

A warm and welcoming experience when undertaking rural rotations as a Monash University medical student has led to Dr Mandy Li returning to the Latrobe Valley as a consultant paediatrician. Dr Li started work in her paediatrics role with Latrobe Regional Hospital recently and it was like “coming home” to the place where she also worked after graduating from Monash University in 2004.

“I did a paediatric rotation as a fourth year medical student here, then came back as an intern and again later as a registrar, so I have come to know the hospital and the area very well over the years,” Dr Li said.

“It’s a lovely place and I enjoyed working here, so that helped make my decision to come back again as a consultant paediatrician.” Read the rest of this entry »

The monthly School of Rural Health Educational Technology Inservice Program is now online. Videos, Power Point presentations and other resources are available for each past in-service.

Alongside each presentation, there is a feedback link and your thoughts and ideas on the presentation are welcomed. Read the rest of this entry »

Laurea Atkinson brings a background in the post-anaesthetic /anaesthetic field and adult pain management to her role in the recently upgraded simulation suite in Bairnsdale.

Along with its new simulation training facilities established during this year, East Gippsland Regional Clinical School has recently welcomed a new Simulation Learning Project Officer, Laurea Atkinson.

The School this year secured a simulation grant from Health Workforce Australia to support clinical training in East Gippsland using simulation learning modalities.

The grant funded the purchase of a variety of mannequins that can be borrowed for clinical training. Some of the mannequins such as SimMan 3G, SimMom and SimNewb are utilised for high fidelity simulation and not easily transported, and are therefore housed in the Simulation Suite at East Gippsland Regional Clinical School. Read the rest of this entry »

The Monash University Centre for Chronic Disease Management, coordinated through MUDRIH, has received a major international award.

Dr Hanan Khalil accepted the award, the Evidence Transfer International Award for Development of the Node, on behalf of the Centre of Chronic Disease Management at the Joanna Briggs Institute Colloquium in Thailand.

It was presented for 39 new evidence summaries contributed in November 2012, and was one of only four awards at the ceremony.

The Centre for Chronic Disease Management is a collaboration between Monash Gippsland’s School of Nursing and Midwifery and the School of Rural Health through MUDRIH, partnering with Latrobe Regional Hospital and Latrobe Community Health Service. As well as evidence summaries, the centre’s work included establishing the executive members committee, the expert reference group and the corresponding reference group.

Representatives from more than 70 international centres were present at the colloquium for presentation of the awards.

The Joanna Briggs Institute is based at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Adelaide and works with more than 70 entities across the world. The institute supports the synthesis, transfer and use of evidence through identifying feasible, appropriate, meaningful and effective healthcare practices to assist in improving global healthcare.

It maintains a free database of evidence-based resources, JBI COnNECT+, to help practitioners with clinical decision-making.