Gippsland Medical School has been a strong response to invitations to apply for graduate entry medicine.  So far 3,500 on-line applications  have been received via GEMSAS – and this number is expected to increase dramatically over the next few days.

The number of applications from rural and, more importantly Gippsland has also increased.  Gippsland Medical School is also receiving its first applications from the Gippsland Biomedical Science students who are now in their third and final year.

Gippsland-based medical students played a key role in a major, multi-agency emergency planning day.

A bushfire, a school camp evacuation and a school bus rollover … all the ingredients for a nasty little emergency and, for Gippsland Regional Clinical students, a case of being thrown in the deep end!

Luckily, this scenario was only simulated although there were some very real moments of anxiety for nine participating Year 4C students as well as representatives from major emergency service agencies from around Gippsland.

It was the first full-on emergency simulation exercise in the Latrobe Valley for some years and involved police, CFA, SES, ambulance, Latrobe City Emergency Management team, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and, of course, the School of Rural Health. Read the rest of this entry »

Year 3 Monash medical student, William Goss, with support from his peers, has taken up the challenge of establishing a program that encourages a better relationship between medical students and the health service in their home town or region. The idea is to create a relationship that encourages students to return to their home area once they have graduated.

William, who is from Sale in East Gippsland, explains in the following item how the Local Rural Medical Students (LRMS) concept works.

Year 3 student, William Goss, has set up a support network to link rural students with health services in their home regions.

The aim of the LRMS project is to develop a relationship between local medical students and their hometown health service and medical staff. We hope that by forging such relationships, there may be an increased incentive for the students to return at completion of their degree.

The LRMS program should give the students access to local medical library, postgraduate educational activities, and local clinical placements throughout their time at university. It fosters a collegiate relationship between local medical students at various year levels who may act as mentors and provide peer support. Read the rest of this entry »

The 18th Annual Matthew Campbell Memorial Evening (MCME) was held at Monash University Clayton Campus during April, with this year’s theme “Indigenous Health in the 21st Century: New challenges and new successes.”

Guests participated in an Aboriginal traditional smoking ceremony performed outside the Lecture Theatre by Bill Nicholson, a Wurundjeri Elder and educator. Bill also delivered the Welcome to Country on the night.

The evening is held annually in memory of Matthew Campbell, a medical student deeply interested in Indigenous health issues who was one of the prime movers in organising the first indigenous health forum for students. Matthew tragically died in a car accident after the first event and it now continues in his memory. Read the rest of this entry »

Medical students based in Mildura are taking part in a mentoring program for secondary school students. The program will launch in second semester, with preliminary contact and secondary student identification now taking place.

The Year 3 students currently in Mildura have committed to providing mentoring in various subjects to assist Year 10 to Year 12 secondary students, either one-on-one or for groups of no more than three at a time. The subjects offered are Maths Methods, Biology, Physics, English, Chemistry or History, but the medical students will consider other requests.

The 10 Monash students are primarily aiming this project at students who demonstrate an interest in  medicine or rural health, but who might not otherwise have the confidence or finances to access private tutoring.

Year 3 student Emma Sturm said: “It is a chance to foster good relationships [with] outreach into the community and to share some of our experience with the younger generation (of students.)”

A group of people with intellectual disabilities played a big role in educating Gippsland-based medical students at a special forum in April.

Students, education leaders and clinical educators travelled to Monash University’s Gippsland Campus for the group workshop. Medical students from East Gippsland Regional Clinical School sites in Sale and Bairnsdale, along with Gippsland Regional Clinical School students from the Latrobe Valley, South Gippsland and West Gippsland took part in the joint education session with eight people from Cooinda Hill Adult Training Support Service, a day service for adults with a disability.

The group of people from the Cooinda Hill Adult Training Support Service who helped out at a Gippsland-wide education day.

The Cooinda Hill participants became the ‘tutors’ for the day in an exercise that helped the medical students learn about communication.  Read the rest of this entry »

Mildura Regional Clinical School has jumped on the front foot with its local media, inviting all of the local news outlets to enjoy a cup of tea and a chat at the Mildura Regional clinical School. Representatives from WIN TV, Sunraysia Daily newspaper, Mildura Weekly newspaper, Radio 3MA / FM radio and ABC Radio were all included in the invitation to meet the staff and view the facilities.

Mildura RCS invited local media for a morning to see what the clinical school offers. They now have six stories to run over the next few weeks.

The purpose of the media morning activities was to showcase the facilities and learning opportunities at Mildura Regional Clinical School, to alert local reporters to the presence and activities of the medical school and to facilitate publication and broadcast of stories about medical students or the clinical school through the local media outlets. Read the rest of this entry »

Local knowledge gained through her experiences while a student with the School of Rural Health proved invaluable for Dr Dora Alexiou during her first intern rotation with the West Gippsland Healthcare Group.

Dora did her full Year 3B with the Gippsland Regional Clinical School as well as returning in Year 5D for Medical and Emergency Department rotations. It was a natural progression to come back again as an intern, although she was thrown in the deep end on day one!

Former student, Dr Dora Alexiou has returned to Warragul hospital as an intern.

A local Registrar was sick, so Dora found herself quickly in the front line but thanks to the fact that she knew the hospital and many of the Emergency Department staff from her student years, was able to readily seek advice and assistance. Read the rest of this entry »

Dr Cassandra Worme is now practising as a GP in Elmore where she did a placement as a student. (Photo courtesy: Bendigo Weekly, James Aldersey)

A lovely community and a great experience as a student have enticed Dr Cassandra Worme back to Elmore, near Bendigo.

Cassandra has recently started work at Elmore Primary Health Service, where she completed her fourth-year university placement as well as other rotations since.

Cassandra featured in a Bendigo Advertiser story about the Elmore Primary Health Service. She told the newspaper: “I studied at Monash and spent three months at Elmore and decided to come back. I really enjoyedmy time here; it is a lovely little community, and the staff are lovely. Read the rest of this entry »

Staff and students at the Bairnsdale campus of the East Gippsland Regional Clinical School have moved into new accommodation.

The $1.5 million extension was funded by the Victorian Department of Health and includes a student common room, two more tutorial rooms, eight new offices, reception area, hot desks and office space and reception room for the East Gippsland School for Aboriginal Health Professionals.

The building will be opened officially in August.

The entrance to Bairnsdale campus's new home.