Dubbo will be a “key training site” for the Three Rivers Department of Rural Health (UDRH) as it works to improve recruitment and retention of of allied health, dental and nursing professionals in a region covering almost 140,000 square kilometres.
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The new UDRH will be launched in West Wyalong on Wednesday after being announced by Assistant Minister for Health Dr David Gillespie at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo four months ago.
The federal government is providing the UDRH with $4 million a year, with funding secured to the end of 2018. Three Rivers UDRH director and CSU Professor of Rural Health Megan Smith said at that time “we will seek a further funding period”.
“The UDRH will be running programs to increase the number of students from rural and Indigenous backgrounds studying health careers, organising placements for them in the region, developing training programs that support students to be ready for rural practice like telehealth and conducting research to improve rural health,” she said.
“The UDRH supports allied health along with nursing, midwifery and dentistry.”
Professor Smith said Dubbo was a key training site for placements and programs aimed at supporting students interested in health careers. “Through attracting and supporting more students from the Dubbo region we aim to increase the number and skills set of the health professionals in that region,” she said.
Through attracting and supporting more students from the Dubbo region we aim to increase the number and skills set of the health professionals in that region.
- Three Rivers UDRH director Professor Megan Smith
CSU will lead the UDRH involving the University of Notre Dame, University of NSW and Western Sydney University, local health districts, Aboriginal medical and health services and local government
The Three Rivers UDRH region is bounded by Gilgandra in the north, Albury in the south, Orange in the east and Carathool in the west. It has physical hubs at CSU in Orange and Wagga Wagga.
