TODAY will be the beginning of a whole new stream of study and learning for 16 students in the University of Sydney School of Rural Health campus in Dubbo.
The third-year medicine students spent yesterday orientating themselves to Dubbo and the base hospital before beginning “work “ in one of four streams of medicine, the school’s associate dean, Associate Professor Tony Brown said.
The students will spend most of the year here, working in four, eight-week learning blocks after spending two years learning clinical skills at university in Sydney.
“They get a rural experience when they come here, they get the same basic curriculum including rotations in medicine, paediatrics and surgical,” Professor Brown said.
“(But) when they come here it feels different.”
He said the evidence showed if a student gained their education in a regional or rural centre they were more likely to consider settling there.
He said this year’s intake of students hailed from diverse backgrounds and locations.
He said the students would be joined by 16 fourth-year students in March, who were currently scattered, far and wide, undertaking elective subjects.
“They’re around the country and around the world,” Professor Brown said.
He said four of the new interns at the base hospital were also
graduates of the rural school and their experiences would also assist the current lot of third-year students.
He said the presence of the students in a regional hospital like Dubbo was also invigorating for the resident doctors and specialists.
“They like the idea of teaching students,” he said.
“There is nothing that makes you question and train your own practices by teaching others.”
For Caroline Djajadikarta, this is her second stint in Dubbo.
Two years ago she was undertaking a personal research project, studying the impact of teenage pregnancy in rural mothers.
Her mother also lived in Dubbo when she first arrived in Australia as a 17-year-old and was hosted by rotary clubs. So her impressions are coloured by many positive experiences.
She said her aim was to open a medical practice “between Dubbo and Broken Hill”.
“It feels good to be able to walk down the streets and know where you are going,” she said.
Daniel Broderick originally hails from Perth and has come to Dubbo via Melbourne and Sydney.
He had visited Dubbo and Orange as part of an orientation tour and decided to apply for the Dubbo school as”the setup was pretty good here”.
“It just seemed a great opportunity to get some experience in rural practice,” he said.
This is the 10th year the school has been operating in Dubbo and Professor Brown said it would continue to contribute to the stocks of medical practitioners and specialists in Australia.
He said the school planned to celebrate its decade of training by planning a small function later in the year.
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