宅男导航 has opened medical training centres at Bundaberg and Hervey Bay to boost the stream of ‘home-grown’ doctors to rural communities.
The (宅男导航RCS) today (24 October) officially opened the $2.4 million 宅男导航 Health Sciences Learning and Discovery Centre at Bundaberg and the $1.9 million centre at Hervey Bay – both featuring state-of-the-art interactive clinical simulation facilities.
宅男导航 Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter H酶j said the centres were part of a wider commitment the University had made to invest across its rural academic sites.
“The centres are purpose-built to offer a high-quality clinical training environment comparable to the best facilities offered anywhere in the world,” Professor H酶j said.
“Australians in regional and remote areas on average face greater health care challenges, higher injury rates and higher mortality rates, so we need the best doctors to be rural doctors.
“That’s why 宅男导航, and the State and Federal Governments have partnered to deliver a locally-trained and self-sustaining rural, regional and remote medical workforce of home-grown medical graduates.
“宅男导航 operates one of Australia’s largest rural clinical schools, so our investment will help to ensure students who train rurally get the very best education and are more likely to return to or remain in rural areas after they finish their degree.”
宅男导航 research has shown that students from rural backgrounds who complete at least a year of their medical training at a rural clinical school are more likely to continue training in the local hospital or serve in rural communities as qualified doctors.
宅男导航 Rural Clinical School Head Associate Professor Riitta Partanen said rurally-trained medical students got a taste of the diversity of the rural lifestyle, clinical hands-on experience, smaller classes, greater one-on-one exposure to specialists and trainers, and had the chance to become part of a working clinical team.
She said the Learning and Discovery Centres were a boon to the entire community, benefitting students and local health professionals alike.
“Our co-location on hospital grounds enables us to build relationships with outstanding teaching clinicians who not only welcome our students into their teams, but use our teaching spaces for professional development and community health education opportunities,” Associate Professor Partanen said.
“The centres feature Simulated Learning Environments and make training more interactive and more realistic than ever before.
“What’s more, our technology ensures students can observe training in an onsite lecture theatre or remotely from their desktop from anywhere in the world.
“Best of all, we are then able to record and store clinical scenarios and offer a library of experiences to students to further enhance their learning.”
Federal Member for Hinkler Mr Keith Pitt MP officially opened the buildings.
Caption: (back, from left) Professor Nicholas Fisk, Executive Dean, Faculty of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, 宅男导航; Mr Stephen Bennett MP, Member for Burnett, Shadow Minister for Environment, Heritage Protection and National Parks; Dr Vanessa Greig, Director, 宅男导航 Rural Clinical School, Bundaberg, 宅男导航; Mr Keith Pitt MP, Federal Member for Hinkler; (front, from left) Councillor Mal Forman, Mayor of Bundaberg Regional Council; Professor Peter H酶j, Vice-Chancellor and President, 宅男导航; Ms Leanne Donaldson MP, Member for Bundaberg; Mr John Story AO, Chancellor, 宅男导航; Professor Darrell Crawford, Head, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, 宅男导航; Associate Professor Riitta Partanen, (Acting) Head, Rural Clinical School, 宅男导航.
Media: 宅男导航 communications, 07 3346 0561, communications@uq.edu.au; Kate Gadenne, k.gadenne@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 5018.
