Librarian Joanna Boast contemplates the task of moving the library to the new space this week.

The big shift has started at Gippsland Regional Clinical School’s Traralgon campus.  In a major redevelopment, the upstairs area that was formerly accommodation is being transformed into a simulation lab, offices and other facilities for the clinical school and Latrobe Regional Hospital, which are co-located, and later Monash Nursing.

In one of the first significant moves, the LRH library is shifting from its current location on the ground floor opposite the Roger Strasser Auditorium, to its new home upstairs. The move is taking place now (from Monday 30 July) and the library has, of necessity, been closed for the week.

The upstairs area will soon house simulation labs for both the Monash students and the Hospital training programs, as well as office space for Monash and Latrobe Regional Hospital staff. The master’s program for the Monash University School of Nursing will also move from the Churchill campus in the months to come.

The next stage of the redevelopment is refurbishment of the Roger Strasser Auditorium, with planning for that now in progress.

Associate Professor Elmer Villanueva

Associate Professor Elmer Villanueva has been appointed to the position of Acting Director of the Gippsland Regional Clinical School.

Associate Professor Villanueva is no stranger to Gippsland or the Clinical School as he works in the Gippsland Medical School at Monash’s Gippsland Campus.

He had broad experience before coming to Gippsland some years ago. Associate Professor Villanueva has held senior research posts at the Monash Institute of Health Services Research, including the Deputy Directorship of Health Technology Assessment Unit, and research positions at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and the Baltimore Cochrane Centre in the United States.

He holds an ScM (Epidemiology) from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and an MD and BS (Biology) from the De La Salle University in the United States. He was also elected Fellow of the Royal Institute of Public Health (UK) for contributions to health services research and technology assessment and is a member of the American College of Epidemiology.

He has primary qualifications in general medicine but his research focus is in the organisation of health services using statistical process control methodology, epidemiologic methodology, biostatistics, and evidence-based medicine.

Associate Professor Villanueva starts his acting role at GRCS this month.

Senior lecturer and pharmacist Anne Leversha, contributed to a paper recently published in Practical Diabetes that examined the self reported impact on hospital insulin management policies of an insulin alert and accompaying audit tool that were distributed to Victorian hopsitals in 2009.

Less than a third of hospitals to responded. While those who did respond reported that that insulin alert triggered them to review management policies, it was clear that the form in which the audit tool was presented discouraged its use.

The exercise highlighted that passive implementation processes, self-reporting and long, written audit tools were unlikely to result in change in the management of high-risk medicine. Instead, the authors recommend that processes need to be tailored to suit individual organisations and should engage key local clinical leaders.

‘Insulin: a commonly used high-risk medicine’ is available online.

Gippsland Regional Clinical School Deputy Director, Dr Cathy Haigh, travelled to New Zealand in June to present at the ANZAHPE (Australia and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators) annual conference in Rotorua.

This year is the 40th conference of the organisation which aims to promote, support and advance education in the health professions while also facilitating communication between educators.

Cathy presented on the topic ‘Learning in the Clinical Workplace: A Qualitative Analysis of Reflections of Final Year Medical Students’ as part of the Learning in the Workplace session and also presented an e-poster, which described the simulated disaster multi-agency training opportunity afforded to Year 4C students in Gippsland recently.

Associate Professor William Hart from Gippsland Medical School was another School of Rural Health representative at the conference, presenting on two topics. One was titled: ‘Final Year Medical Students’ Perceptions of Feedback to Support Learning: A Qualitative Study’ and the other: ‘Is Good Medical Practice Predictable From Student Selection Measures?’

Rural GPs made use of East Gippsland RCS's simulation facilities in Sale to learn emergency skills at the Rural Emergency Skills Training program.

Gippsland GPs enhanced their rural emergency skills when they took part in a training program conducted at the Sale campus of East Gippsland Regional Clinical School in June.

Twenty participants, six instructors and three observers attended the  Rural Emergency Skills Training program held over two days.

Conducted by Southern GP Training in conjunction with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), the program offers participants a hands-on, flexible and interactive approach to training.

Ten skills stations were set up and a number of scenarios were conducted with participants rotating through all stations.

Among the skills included were surgical airways, needle thoracentesis and chest drain insertion, vascular access, cervical spine immobilisation and emergency psychology.

Written and practical assessments are included and each participant received a REST certificate from ACRRM.

MUDRIH has teamed up with three Victorian Integrated Cancer Services to examine  innovative models of implementing cancer supportive care screening, referral and follow-up for patients in rural and metropolitan areas.

Eli Ristevski and Melanie Regan will work with Gippsland Integrated Cancer Service, Loddon Mallee Integrated Cancer Services and North Eastern Metropolitan Integrated Cancer Services. Much like the School of Rural Health, the study stretches from Bairnsdale across central Gippsland through to Bendigo, Echuca and Mildura. Clinicians from 10 health services will be interviewed as part of the study.

The study builds on previous work by Eli and Melanie in the area of cancer supportive care screening and workforce training and education. The study also aligns with Victoria’s Cancer Action Plan (VCAP) which aims to introduce supportive care screening into routine patient care and workforce training and education.

The research project will document a wide variety of screening practices and produce recommendations for clinicians and health services on how to implement supportive care screening and follow-up.

Vocal Fremitus, Bendigo RCS's student/staff choir, perform at the opening of the St John of God annual art show

Vocal Fremitus had its inaugural performance at the opening of the annual St John of God art shop in mid-May.

With the rural health program’s emphasis on developing close relationships with local health services and embedding students in the local community, the opening seemed the perfect occasion for a performance.

The brain child of Associate Professor Pam Snow and Professor Geoff Solarsh, Director of the Bendigo Regional Clinical School, the choir provides an opportunity to extend that tradition into the realm of fun and music. The choir is made up of both students and staff. Read the rest of this entry »

Eleanor Mitchell

East Gippsland lecturer and researcher Dr Eleanor Mitchell was one of 34 successful recipients of the Victorian Women’s Governance Scholarship program, announced by Women’s Affairs Minister Mary Wooldridge.

Eleanor received her scholarship as part of her role on the Board of Directors for SNAP Gippsland Inc., a psychiatric disability rehabilitation support service which is part of the Victorian mental health service system.

The scholarship program allows the recipients to undertake the highly respected Company Directors Course through the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  For more information, see the official media release.

Medical student, Tracey and Michael, talked to primary school students about the workings of the human body with the help of an anatomy model.

A room full of eager 11 and 12 years olds firing questions about the human body turned out to be a great learning experience for Gippsland Regional Clinical School Year 4C students Tracey Zakazakaarcher and Michael Batt.

The pair volunteered to undertake the first of a series of local primary school visits planned for Gippsland this year, facing up to more than 100 students over two sessions from Grey Street Primary School in Traralgon. Read the rest of this entry »

As part of the Gippsland Medical School’s Disability Module for Health and Society, Guide Dogs Victoria recently visited and provided a suite of activities for students give them a deeper understanding of what it is like to live with a disability.

The session enabled students to get a sense of how the Gippsland campus particularly, and our environment in general, caters for people with a vision impairment or other disability and also the kinds of services that Guide Dogs Victoria offers, which are not only for the vision impaired.

Importantly, the students got to meet Benson the guide dog, and learn how to interact with a working guide dog and to see what he is like when out of his harness. His owner Joan described him as “a real hoon!”

The students really enjoyed this activity again, as they did last year. Guide Dogs Victoria is always keen to promote its work, so was pleased to return this year to help with Gippsland Medical School’s educational activities.