cooee!october 2011

th

e f

ut

ure

of

ru

ra

l h

ea

lth

I n t h i s I s s u e :• Rural Health Workforce ceo Kim Webber says goodbye

• NRHSN executive round up 2011

• Placement experience – Wet season in Weipa

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

NRHSN Rural Health clubs

1 ARMS Australian National University, AcT

2 AURHA Adelaide University, SA

3 AWAIRH La Trobe University, VIc

4 BREAATHHE University of Newcastle, NSW

5 BUSHFIRE Bond University, QLD

6 CARAH charles Darwin University (in conjunction with Flinders University), NT

7 CRANC University of canberra, AcT

8 FURHS Flinders University, SA

9 HOPE4HEALTH Griffith University, QLD

10 KRASH University of Notre Dame, WA

11 LARHC La Trobe University (Bendigo), VIc

12 MARHS charles Sturt University, NSW

13 MIRAGE University of Sydney, NSW

14 NERCHA University of New england, NSW

15 NOMAD Deakin University, VIc

16 OUTLOOK University of Melbourne, VIc

17 RAHMS University of New South Wales, NSW

18 RHINO James cook University, QLD

19 RHUUWS University of Western Sydney, NSW

20 ROUNDS Notre Dame University, NSW

21 ROUSTAH University of South Australia, SA

22 RUSTICA University of Tasmania, TAS

23 SHARP University of Wollongong, NSW

24 SPINRPHEX University of Western Australia, WA

25 StARRH charles Darwin University, NT

26 TROHPIQ University of Queensland, QLD

27 WAALHIIBE curtin University of Technology & edith cowan University, WA

28 WARRIAHS charles Sturt University, NSW

29 WILDFIRE Monash University, VIc

25

10

6

2724

28

213

2915

22

1

2820 17

13

414

9

18

1611

12

19

237

5

26

Inside Cooee!NRHSN Executive round up 3 NRHSN policy takes shape 4RHWA CEO says goodbye 5Member resources 6Rural High School Visits 7Indigenous Festivals 12–13Portfolio reports 13–15Club reports 18–39

Visit the websitehttps://alumni.nrhsn.org.au

and click on ‘Join Now!’

RHWA staff photo Lauren castillo and Helen Murray (front), Amanda Fisher

and Kerryn eccleston.

Cooee! is bursting with action. The action starts with a snapshot of the NRHSN executive year and continues with news of NRHSN policy and advocacy work.

Rural Health Workforce ceo Dr Kim Webber inspires NRHSN members to pursue their dreams in rural health, before she leaves RHW .

Be swept away in Jerry Abraham’s enthusiasm for rural health after completing a placement during the wet season in Weipa.

We have a section on NRHSN resources at your fingertips. Take advantage of the resources available for you and your club from rural placements to tips for keeping mentally fit.

our regular features include Rural High School Visits, Indigenous Festivals, conferences and profiles of ‘our Member, Alumni and Administrator’.

Take note of the diverse activities and achievements of the portfolios in their reports, and of course enjoy looking through the photos and reports from each of the Rural Health clubs.

At the end of this, make sure you spread the word within your Rural Health club about the NRHSN Alumni program, and encourage all final year students to join up (check out the back page).

Keep in touchFrom your Rural Health Workforce Future Workforce Programs teamDirector: Helen MurrayManager Project Team: Kerryn Eccleston Project Officers: Lauren Castillo , Linda Nink and Amanda Fisher (Cooee Editor)T: 03 9860 4700E: info@nrhsn.org.au

2

3

What a year. It feels so long ago that we were throwing around the NRHSN footies asking if the NRHSN wanted a new Exec – like a farmer wants a wife.

So much has happened since then all over the country: Perth for the National Rural Health conference (NRHc), Murramarang National Park for cRANc’s RAW Surf, Donnybrook for WAALHIBe RAW, Albury for the MARHS close the Gap ceremony and Bush Bash Ball and Victor Harbor for NRLDS (National Rural Leadership Development Seminar)

This is just a fraction of what’s gone on in the NRHSN. The huge variety and high quality of interclub events has been the absolute highlight of this year.

The increase in use of the NRHSN events calendar has been phenomenal, and has allowed everyone to find out what else is happening across the country.

The real sense of NRHSN community at these events has been fantastic and we’re sure that the friendships made at all the events will stand us all in good stead for when we’re working in the bush in the future.

There are still lots of events to come, so make sure you come along.

The presence of the Network in the wider picture of rural health has also grown this year. The portfolios have been very active, linking the NRHSN into the professional bodies that shape our health system. You’ll hear more about the specifics of what each portfolio has been up to further along in COOEE!, but we’d really like to thank the portfolios for the hard work they have been doing, both internally and with external stakeholders.

Having strong connections with the broader health system, means that the people making decisions about our future work will take the rural and student views into account. As part of this aim, the exec visited canberra in June, where we met with representatives from various stakeholders, the Department of Health and Ageing and government ministers. The interest that was shown in the Network and the views

rather than learning how a role works. As part of this, the RHSV and Indigenous Festivals factsheets have been created to make the most important points clearer to clubs. clubs will also receive kits to make prepartion for these activities more straightforward.

In terms of reviewing the ‘How to Run a Rural Health club Guide’, we’ve had some fantastic resources sent in by clubs and the new guide is in the works to be completed before we hand over to the new exec, so keep your eyes peeled.

on the note of handover, we were so excited to see the four amazing teams applying for exec for 2012. It demonstrates that there are some pretty stunning leaders in the NRHSN and rural health. congratulations to the 2012 executive of Simon Reid (MIRAGe) and James Roth (NoMAD) as co-chairs and Ben crough (NeRcHA) as secretary.

And finally, a few thanks. Thanks to the portfolios, you have done/are doing a fantastic job in representing the NRHSN and making sure that the NRHSN is being the best it can be. Thanks to Helen, Kerryn, Lauren, Amanda, Tony and all the other Rural Health Workforce (RHW) staff, we could not do this without you. And thanks to all of you – yes you reading this – the NRHSN would not be anything without its members and it is you guys who have the capacity to make change and who make rural health such a fantastic place to be.

Yours in rural health,Jacinta, Cat and Frankie

executive review 2011

of rural health students showed just how powerful our voices can be.

on the note of shaping the health system of the future, following the success of last year, we along with the Australian Medical Student Association, AMSA, have been happy to have had the NRLDS as a big part of our year. Having a part in building the leaders of the future was incredibly exciting. A big thanks to everyone who came along, the level of discussion and thought that you guys displayed was impressive. The future of rural health is certainly in safe hands.

one of the focuses of this year was to increase support and numbers of allied health and nursing students in the Network. While we are still populating the NRHSN database to find out exact numbers, the hard work of the nursing and allied health portfolios has resulted in an increase in the visibility of these two groups. The dedicated facebook pages from each portfolio are getting lots of interest and generating some good discussions. We have also been working on increasing the links of the NRHSN with allied health and nursing stakeholders. As part of this, we are working with Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH) to launch an o-week kit for clubs by the end of the year, so that it is ready for membership drives at the start of 2012.

our third main focus this year was on providing support structures to clubs and portfolios so that members can put their enthusiasm into their jobs,

NRHSN 2011 executive Francesca Garnett, (l–r) Jacinta o’Neill and catherine Ryan.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

4

The NRHSN has a unique mantle—the single national student voice encompassing a vast array of allied health disciplines, medicine and nursing under the one network. The feedback that such a diverse group of students can provide about their experiences and ambitions, are valuable for policy makers and others, particularly with regard to training and future workforce matters.

During 2011the NRHSN enthusiastically grasped the challenge of refining the current set of numerous position papers, under five portfolio areas, into a single National Priorities Paper. The task of funneling NRSHN feedback into the right ears will become more effective with this focus on a smaller set of priorities.

The mid-year canberra trip by the executive saw the 2011 Priorities Paper well received on its first outing and student ideas were discussed with both government and opposition, peak councils and health department officials.

Your leaders succeeded in representing student views in many health reform oriented forums in 2011.

it is due to a dedicated core group of portfolio people supporting the executive team. Among the issues able to be put forward were: the 33% target of students from rural backgrounds is desirable to provide more rural health workforce, more diversified high quality rural based medical, allied and nursing training pathways; more substantial support mechanisms for nursing and allied health students to undertake rural career placements; the commitment to play an active part in national closing the gap priorities with specific student initiatives; and the recognition that health students will benefit from mental health training to build resilience to combat the challenges for being a health care professional.

Along with striving to consolidate key policy priorities the NRHSN is assessing the breadth of student executive and portfolio commitments. Portfolios have a range of standing commitments on various committees and, as the NRHSN has become better known, invitations for involvement frequently come in from other stakeholders.

These commitments are presently being mapped by the portfolios and executive, with a view to some reprioritising to enhance effectiveness.

The aim is to be more targeted so that the student voice hits the mark with a high level of effectiveness.

Rural Health Workforce provides support and guidance to the NRHSN student executive, through the provision of expert skills and experience in areas such as advocacy.

The health policy arena is a crowded space, with a plethora of stakeholders and multiple levels of government involved. As successive governments seek to implement major health system reforms across the Federation, stakeholders are called upon to be more nimble footed to keep pace with endless rounds of ‘consultations’, ‘forums’ and ‘think tanks’, let alone to lead and be on the front foot. Keeping up with the plethora of health reform forums has been a challenge even to a relatively well resourced student group as NRHSN.

Helen Murray, Rural Health Workforce Future Workforce Programs Director

Renewed Focus for Policy and Advocacy

(l–r) Jacinta o’Neill, Helen Murray, Francesca Garnett and catherine Ryan at Parliament House, canberra, June 2011.

5

What kind of a future do you want to create for rural health?

There is no single answer to this question because each person will have their own vision of how they can best contribute.

What we do know is that Australia needs more health leaders with the passion and commitment to work with the communities that most need them.

This is where you come in.I’d like you to imagine how you could

one day make a life-changing difference to a small town or an Indigenous community.

Picture the personal and professional rewards that would flow to you from making that commitment: the friendships you could make, the places you could go and the adventures you could have.

Better still, imagine doing all that in partnership with a team of like-minded colleagues who are dedicated to delivering great primary health care.

Having goals like that will enable you to become the person you really could be. The National Rural Health Students Network can help you get there.

The Network offers many professional development opportunities including conferences, seminars, high school visits and volunteering at Indigenous festivals.

Get involved, connect with rural Australia and find out how you can put yourself in the picture.

Pursue your dreams

at beyondblue and more recently here at Rural Health Workforce.

Now, after six years as ceo at RHW, I am leaving to pursue my own dreams of making a difference to rural health both locally and overseas.

Above all, I remain determined to use my talents to make healthcare more accessible to people in need.

I hope to see you doing likewise once you graduate … good luck for the future!

Dr Kim Webber, CEO

Now, after six years as CEO at RHW, I am leaving to pursue my own dreams of making a difference to rural health both locally

and overseas.And remember this quote: “every day

you are surrounded by people who can help you make your dreams come true.”

It comes from Dr Sam Prince, the young Australian philanthropist who has dedicated himself to eradicating diseases in remote Indigenous communities.

And on that note, I’d like to share something of my own journey with you. It all started many years ago as a pharmacology student, took a left turn into the public service, involved a stint

National Rural Leadership Development Seminar

More than 100 health students took part in the National Rural Leadership Development Seminar (NRLDS) in Victor Harbor, South Australia from4–6 August.

The National Rural Health Students Network joined with the Australian Medical Students Association to

organise the three-day seminar for allied health, nursing and medical students. Sponsors of NRLDS included Flinders University and its Rural clinical School, Spencer Gulf Rural Health School, Adelaide University, SA Health, Adelaide to outback GP Training Program and the Rural Workforce

Agencies from South Australia (Rural Doctors Workforce Agency), the Northern Territory (General Practice Network NT), Queensland (Health Workforce Queensland), Western Australia (Rural Health West) and Tasmania (Health Recruitment Plus).

rural health workforce

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

6

There are some great resources available to you as a Rural Health Club member, so why not check them out.

Rural High School Visit (RHSV) Information SheetFind out how to run a successful Rural High School Visit.www.nrhsn.org.au/rhsvkit

Indigenous Festivals Information SheetFind out how to get the most out of an Indigenous Festival.www.nrhsn.org.au/indigenousfestivalkit

RHSV and Indigenous Festival Activity BookletYour ‘one stop shop’ for great ideas for fun filled activities to engage with primary and high school students.www.nrhsn.org.au/activitybooklet

Rural Placements GuideTo help you have a great rural or remote placement experience!www.nrhsn.org.au/ruralplacementsguide

When the Cowpat Hits the WindmillA guide for you and your fellow Rural Health club members on how to stay mentally healthy in the bush.www.nrhsn.org.au/mhg

Wide Horizons: Health Students Get Out of Town (DVD)Three health students share their experiences of rural and remote placements.www.nrhsn.org.au/widehorizons

Go Rural (DVD)Need something to help entice potential members?

The NRHSN on FacebookLink in with members from all across Australia from all health disciplines. Share photos, videos and links.www.facebook.com/nrhsn

National Events CalendarSee what all 29 Rural Health clubs are up to and show what great events your club has planned.www.nrhsn.org.au/upcomingevents

Scholarships Find out what scholarships are on offer that you or fellow Rural Health club members.It can be a great way to attract members to your club.www.nrhsn.org.au/scholarships

NRHSN Induction KitWondering how your club fits in to the Network? The answers are here.www.nrhsn.org.au/inductionkit

How to Run a Thriving Rural Health Club Find templates and samples of other club constitutions, executive and committee role descriptions, event plans, sponsorship proposals and many more tips and tricks on how to run a THRIVING Rural Health club.www.nrhsn.org.au/rhcguide

If you would like any copies of the above resources sent to you or your Club please contact info@nrhsn.org.au or call 03 9860 4700.

NRHSN resources at your fingertips

7

Rural High School Visitswww.nrhsn-rhsv.org.au

The Rural High School Visits program has grown and thrived in 2011. Clubs covered areas far north, west, south and east, from Kununurra to Lorne. Inter-club connections were formed and added to the University students’ experiences as well as providing the High School students a greater exposure to the variety of health disciplines available.

The Rural High School Visit program aims to inspire rural and remote high school students to consider a career in rural health, as research indicates that students of a rural origin are more likely to return to a rural setting to practice after graduating. Some highlights for 2011 include:

General Practice Network Northern Territory (GPNNT) organised a brilliant experience for Rural Health club members from across Australia. Two lucky groups of students participated in the two trips during May, The Top end trip and The central Australia trip. Students also featured in the local newspapers and channel 9 news.

candice Lamb, who is originally from Katherine, is now studying physiotherapy at James cook University in Townsville. She participated in this years’ GPNNT RHSV Trip, back to her home town. “When I was in Year 10 at Katherine High, we had a Rural High School Visit. That was a big turn-around day for me. It made me realise a lot of those kids came from the bush as well and I saw that they could go to university”.

WA clubs collaborated to connect with Kununurra, Wyndham and Halls creek District High Schools.

Two WAALHIIBe, one SPINRPHeX, two KRASH students and the WAALHIIBe administrator, Heidi Greve, attended three schools over two days on a dynamic Rural High School Visit trip across the east Kimberley. over 140 students were involved, ranging from year 1 to year 12.

Kate Thomson, a 3rd year Physiotherapy student at curtin

Keep these connections strong and continue to inspire our future health professionals. You never know- they may become your colleagues in the future.

The Rural High School Visit website (www.nrhsn-rhsv.org.au) has some great resources for RHcs to use on your trips including health career information flyers, letter templates for schools and photo consent forms. If you have any other material you have found works well for your club, please send them through to rhsv@nrhsn.org.au and we will upload them to share with the network.

To promote the national strength of this program, it is important we update the ‘National RHSV Map’, which can be found on the RHSV website under ‘Upcoming Visits’.

Please submit your upcoming visits to rhsv@nrhsn.org.au and show the coverage we have acheived as a national network.

Also a huge congratulations to clare Sutcliffe who was this years’ Rural High School Visit Internal officer and has helped provide Rural Health Workforce staff with insight and experience in how to improve this program for all NRHSN students on a national level.

Lauren Castillo – Future Health Workforce Project Officer

University recommends the experience; “For anyone that is considering getting involved with rural visits, don’t hold back! It is these experiences that give you insight on what is out there in the rest of WA, how differently people view their health, and will shape your future as a health care professional.”

Reports from the high schools visited were also extremely positive, highlighting the importance and impact this program has on rural students across Australia. casey Mulder, Senior School coordinator at Halls creek District High School praised Rural Health club members for their efforts. “The students were highly engaged in your presentation. each of the presenters did an excellent job of communicating with the students. The presentation itself was very well-designed and the interactive activities were great. Thank you for taking the time to come to our school.”

The Physical education Teacher at Wyndham District High School had only positive feedback; “Thank you so much, the students got a lot out of this. I love how interactive it was and the students were all talking about it. I think you all did a fantastic job and your interaction with the students was great. If you head up this way again next year we would be more than happy to have you visit us again. The numbers of students that day was greater than usual.”

RHc students jump for joy while on their trip in the Northern Territory.

cour

tesy

: Gen

eral

Pra

ctice

Net

wor

k N

T

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

8

National Rural Health Conference, Perth 13–16 March 2011Rural and remote Australia: The heart of a healthy nationSteph Frazer – MARHS

“Another example of arts and health that I really enjoyed was the plenary session by christine Jeffries-Stokes and Annette Stokes entitled ‘Seriously creative: managing chronic conditions in the heart of Western Australia.’ christine and Annette shared their work with the Western Desert Kidney Health Project, and let their videos convey their message that it is important to work with local young people and artists to create health promotion material for the community. Their sand animation videos were very clever and used a simple, fun story to send a strong message about the importance of healthy eating and exercise in preventing and managing diabetes. I was really impressed with the videos and am going to share the Youtube link with all MARHS members”

RANZCOG Indigenous Women’s Health Meeting 3–5 June 2011, Cairns Qld Madeleine Finney-Brown – WILDFIRE

“Whilst there was something to be gained from all sessions, the ones which have left a particularly strong impression were those discussing the programs and services run by different Aboriginal community controlled Health organisation’s (AccHos) and Aboriginal Medical Services’ (AMS’). These sessions stood out for me, as they provided insight into specific programs and elements of programs which are being successfully run at the grass-roots level by different communities.

during which I was able to ask him all the questions on my mind about the training programme and the variety of work which he does. We were able to speak freely and I was very grateful to James for sharing his story so honestly and helpfully with me.

I was also able to catch up with Jim Thurley, a paediatrician based in Alice Springs, and I asked him questions about the internship opportunities there. The effect of meeting face to face with mentoring figures such as James and Jim cannot be underestimated, and is one of the great benefits of attending a conference such as the NRHc.”

Apply to attend a conference to prepare you for your rural health career.Log onto the website www.nrhsn.org.au/cons.The CoNS program is managed by Kerryn Eccleston, Manager Future Workforce Project team, with administrative support from Vikki Cummings, Rural Health Workforce Office Manager.

I found it interesting to consider why these programs work so well, inspiring to meet some of the people working on these programs (often the reason these programs work), and encouraging to see the opportunities provided for idea and resource sharing across the country.”

National Rural Health Conference, Perth 13–16 March 2011 Rural and remote Australia: The heart of a healthy nationTom Gleeson – ARMS

“I cannot fail to mention the personal impression which the conference Mc, James Fitzpatrick, left upon me. My own career interests have been around rural generalist practice for some years now, but particularly over the past year this has begun to narrow itself down to rural general paediatrics. I mentioned this to James, and we found an opportunity to have a chat for about half an hour

Sam Johnson and (l–r) Stephanie Frazer at NRHA conference in March presenting ‘Investing in the future: promoting mental wellbeing for students’.

conferences of National SignificanceThe conferences of National Significance (coNS) Program is a great opportunity for Rural Health club members to access funding to attend conferences with a rural, remote or indigenous health focus. Be inspired by the personal accounts of students attending events in 2011 and grab the opportunity to join in. Watch out for details of eligible conferences on the website www.nrhsn.org.au/cons.

Alb

edo

Phot

ogra

phy

9

What began as a mandatory placement in a very remote location during the wet season became an inspiration. It awakened a desire within me to strive towards becoming a rural GP with a passion for serving a community that needs it.

This placement presented me with the rare privilege of acquainting myself with two local elders—Aunty Thankupi, who is an Indigenous artist of national prominence and Aunty Suzy, who is the most senior elder in the region and a determined woman who tirelessly works to protect the ownership of the land around Mapoon, Queensland.

My acquaintance with numerous doctors and allied health staff at Weipa highlighted to me the significance of catching sight of the bigger ‘community’ picture. I witnessed skills and the vast extent of knowledge that GPs have developed through their practice.

I was able to practice suturing, cannulation and venepuncture on numerous patients and also carry out history taking and measurement of vital signs. The ambulance crew took me out on several of their call outs, and I volunteered to do a night shift every week. Needless to say, it helped me gain insight into the impact of informal community networks and local knowledge on the efficiency of the work of the health workers at the front-line of medical response.

Various locum doctors with specialty training flew in to Weipa. Specialities included emergency, Surgery, orthopaedics, Anesthetics and General Practice, which presented me with the opportunity to learn from each of their areas of expertise. I was able to lance lesions, drain and clean wounds, do some plastering, perform biopsies, carry out general inspections, and gain an appreciation for teamwork in a rural setting with limited resources.

It wasn’t just the opportunity to learn clinical skills that inspired, it was also the environment and welcoming community.

Torrential downpours may restrict travel due to flooded roads but watching

Life on Placement in

Jerry with Aunty Suzy.

spectacular displays of lightning, hearing the rumble of thunder and jumping in puddles is magical.

Time felt irrelevant in Weipa. The atmosphere seemed languid but I was ready for adventure. With friendly people around, it didn’t take too long to acquire new friends and partake in fishing, road trips and bike rides. I felt like Peter Pan on an adventure.

An experienced remote area nurse and 4WD enthusiast, Guy, led a mission, which had us exploring the coast along the cape, not usually seen by tourists. Although the tranquil waters looked inviting, they contained salt water

crocodiles, tiger sharks, box jellyfish, irudkanji, stone fish and bull sharks.

Although I have returned from my placement, I still reminisce about my time in Weipa. It was awesome— an experience that I will value for years to come. I am now making plans to pursue my rural dream.

Special thanks to rural GPs Dr Donna o’Kane, Dr David Hopcroft, Dr Leo Gunaseelan, Dr Adam Michael and RNs Justine, Lisa and esther for their encouragement and support.

Jerry Abraham, Third year MBBS, School of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, RHINO

Weipa, Queensland

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

Favourite WAALHIIBE memory? My Favourite WAALHIIBe memory would have to be during the east Kimberley Rural High School Visit, when we went to see emma Gorge in Kununurra. The waterfall was magic and swimming at the waterhole felt like swimming in the fountain of youth. I have never seen such beautiful scenery and felt so alive.

What do you do as Workforce Development Project Officer at Rural Health West?My role consists of promoting Rural Health West to students who are considering a rural career. I act as the first port of call for students with any questions relating to a rural career pathway, I can direct students to training and recruitment organisations such as WA General Practice education and Training (WAGPeT) and WA country Health Services (WAcHS). I also administer the WAALHIIBe student Rural Health club in their many events and workshops.

How long have you been involved with WAALHIIBE? I have worked for Rural Health West in a recruitment role since 2009 however I have only recently been appointed the

WAALHIIBe Administrator in February of this year.

Best rural experience? I grew up in Albany and my sister and I used to ride horses, many of my favourite rural experiences revolve around riding our horses on bush trails and along the beaches of Albany. I love the freedom of rural Australia and the feeling of space.

Why are WAALHIIBE the best? I think all the Rural Health clubs are the best, as I support all the clubs who encourage students to be rural champions. The executive committee of WAALHIIBe are a great bunch. They are so focused and enthusiastic in promoting the club and encouraging students to think ‘rural’. They are the ones who make the WAALHIIBe club great.

What keeps you occupied in your spare time? Family, friends, the local community, my two dogs and two cats, the housework and the garden, my boyfriend, my sporting and fitness activities, reading books and going to the movies, craft work… (the list would have been shorter if you asked what doesn’t keep me occupied).

Which Club were you a member of and when did you garduate?AURHA – University of Adelaide, 2010

Where are you from originally?Willunga, Fleurieu Peninsula, SA

Where are you now?Royal Darwin Hospital, NT

What do you do there?Intern, currently in the emergency Department. My spare time is variable, but is usually spent playing with the Darwin Symphony orchestra, learning to Salsa, at the pub, socialising at the many open air markets and escaping town to camp when I can.

What is the best thing about your town/job?Amazing weather and lots of markets.

What’s the one thing you want the world to know about you? I am a positive person. Whatever I do in life, at home or at work, I hope that my actions have a positive impact in the world. I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

The thing you don’t want the world know?Well, that may have to stay a secret…

Words of wisdom for others thinking about a rural career or wanting to get involved in their RHC? Don’t be afraid to approach people who work in the rural health sector and ask questions, the more you open up about what you want from your career the more opportunities will come your way. Rural Health clubs are waiting for you, and you will be welcomed.

If you weren’t doing what you’re doing what would you be doing?Trying to earn a living as a mediocre violinist.

Best rural placement experience?Six months in Broken Hill. It confirmed my love of rural placements and gave me the courage to move to Darwin.

Best NRHSN experience?Any of the NURHcs (National University Rural Health conferences) that I was lucky enough to attend. They were inspirational and motivating.

Best RHC experience?Taking a leadership role within the club, and helping to run campfire, a combined SA RHc forum to attempt to pass on my passion and enthusiasm for rural health.

Heidi Greve WAALHIIBE Rural Health Club Administrator

Workforce Development Project officer, Rural Health West

Jasmine Banner Alumni

10

11

What are you studying?Speech Pathology, 3rd Year

Where? Flinders University

Where are you from originally?I am from Victor Harbor a country town south of Adelaide in SA and I commute to university four days a week which takes me 50 minutes.

Have you studied/had other careers in the past?I was a sales and personal trainer in the fitness industry, then a dental assistant.

If you weren’t studying your current course, what would you be doing?Hard question.

What attracted you to join your RHC?I was sent an email talking about FURHS and that if you wanted to make a difference in rural Australia—then join. So I did and have not looked back, I have learnt so much since becoming a member and have met such a fantastic group of students as well as amazing and inspiring health professionals.

Best rural placement experience? Victor Harbor my hometown, it was so laid back and you get to experience patients from all areas —children right through to adults, very different to the city. The best thing was that the local

health professionals go out of their way for you to succeed and achieve your best. The second best thing was on my last day they took me out for lunch. It’s like having a second family.

Best NRHSN experience?Tough question. There are too many. It would be a toss-up between going to the 2009 National Rural Health Alliance councilfest and the 2010 NURHc (National University Rural Health conference) in Alice Springs. Both were amazing— at councilfest I met the most inspiring group of health professionals. Speaking to members of parliament, I had the opportunity to tell them about rural and remote health and the students view on certain points. It is an experience that I will not forget. NURHc was just NURHc. It is just packed with so much interesting information and fun.

Best RHC experience?2009 Rural High School Visit at Kangaroo Island, apart from the rough ferry trip over it was my first RHSV and it was just fantastic. Seeing the three high schools over there was just great, the students were friendly and there was one school that I will never forget. They were so proud of their school and the small farm which made money by selling produce

to the restaurant on the island. It was also nice seeing the seals up close.

What is your 5 year plan?once I complete my course and do a graduate year I would like to open a Speech Pathology clinic in my home town and see clients from pre school right up to the elderly assisting them to be able to communicate effectively as well as providing them with a good quality of life.

What’s the one thing you want the world to know about you?I love life and I am very passionate about helping people and making a difference to a person’s quality of life.

The thing you don’t want the world know? It’s a secret.

Words of wisdom for others thinking about a rural career?Just do it. Rural life is amazing. I can’t describe what rural communities are like. You need to experience it for yourself. I can guarantee that you will not regret it. And when you go rural, don’t be afraid to throw yourself into the community. Small communities will always look after you if they know you exist. Have fun and enjoy.

An NRHSN/RHC experience that didn’t go quite right? I think there is always ups and downs with whatever you do, but everyone needs to remember there is always a solution. When an experience does not quite go to plan there is always a solution and it’s nice to have a challenge here and there otherwise life’s boring.

Anything else at all?consider rural health as a career and make a difference not just to your life but to the lives of the many Australians that live in rural and remote communities.

clare Sutcliffe Member

co-President, FURHS

What’s the one thing you want the world to know about you?I played with the Australian Doctor’s orchestra, in the Sydney Town Hall, on September 18th for charity.

The thing you don’t want the world to know?I started learning the ukulele earlier this year from captain Starlight.

An NRHSN/RHC experience that didn’t go quite right?I still shudder slightly when remembering a RHc event we tried to run, requested by one of our sponsors at the time. A total of two people turned up, myself and my co-organiser.

Lesson – only put effort into running events your members will benefit from, and take something away from.

Words of wisdom for others thinking about a rural career?Keep an open mind. Take every opportunity that presents, you never know where it will lead you or who you will meet along the way. Have fun.

Anything else?I am very thankful to my Rural Health club for inspiring me to try rural health in the first place and get involved, and to the NRHSN for some amazing opportunities as a student. Get amongst it.

Jasmine Banner is a member of the NRHSN Alumni steering committee and Rural Health Champion http://ruralchampions.govspace.gov.au/

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

12

Armed with the popular ‘Gutsy Gus’, plaster supplies and a range of health and careers activities, students from Rural Health clubs around Australia have immersed themselves in nine Indigenous Festivals between May and September.

Festivals were run under the banner of Vibe Alive, Wakakirri and Deadly Days as listed below:20 May – Wakakirri Broken Hill, NSW 25–26 May – Vibe Alive Bendigo, Vic1–2 June – Vibe Alive Townsville, Qld17 August – Vibe Alive Kalgoolie, WA19 August – Wakakirri Barunga, NT24 August – Vibe Alive Port Augusta, SA31 August to 1 September – Vibe Alive Moree, NSW16 September – Wakakirri Ceduna, SA20–22 September – Deadly Days Coffs Harbour, NSW

clubs worked together for a six-week planning cycle prior to each event with RHW Future Team Project

officer Amanda Fisher and NRHSN Indigenous Festivals Internal officers Sarah McPherson and Sophie Alpen. This process involved clubs working together to organise travel, accommodation and educational activities – with the intent to inspire school-aged children.

It wasn’t only the school-aged children that have been inspired by the experience and had the opportunity to learn.

Here is a snapshot of participant experiences from the festivals:August - Wakakirri Barunga, NT“I personally found the Barunga Festival an enriching experience, as I have not previously had an experience of such. The Indigenous youth were highly inspiring to interact with as we exchanged health information on careers and healthy habits, whilst learning about their culture and lifestyle

in the community.”Amanda Riley, Nursing – StARRH

“I really enjoyed the Barunga festival. It was a great experience and eye opening for me. I‘m hoping in the future, I could make a difference in the rural communities as a professional health care provider.”Rose Husseinipour, Pharmacy – StARRH

“It was really good to see how much the kids actually knew about the human anatomy. even though they had a remote education they still had the same knowledge of those with non-remote education. It was also good to see the kids interacting with each other, university students and their teachers and teachers assistants. These kids are the future of the NT remote community, so it was good to teach them to give them inspiration to achieve high expectations.”Sasha Bailey, Nursing – KRASH

May – Vibe Alive Bendigo, Vic“When the children started to arrive they went past our tent first and were intrigued by our paramedic training kit, exciting by the surgery dress-ups we had and the show bags of goodies we had to give away to them. They were so excited by the show bags that we ran out of them during the morning. At morning tea, some groups of kids came to see who could dress-up the fastest – to win an awesome surprise. At lunch time we had a line about 20 meters long to get a half plaster cast on the arm. even though the plastering was really cold, the children enjoyed watching us putting it on and had lots of questions to ask. After the plaster ran out, the rest of the day’s activities were coming to an end too. We left the festival with a smile on our faces from the memory of some of the kid’s questions and the satisfaction of doing a good days work.”Sophie Bird, AWAIRH

1–2 June – Vibe Townsville, Qld“Plastering is always popular at these festivals. The kids are eager to tell stories of when they have had plaster themselves or alternatively they are eager to learn what it is like to have plaster. The kids were also eager to add to the mural. We had written “I am healthy because…” and asked the kids to write what they do to make

NRHSN club members attend Wakakirri Barunga Indigenous festival, Northern Territory, in August 2011.

Indigenous Festivals

13

Annalyse is spreading the words of Indigenous health to other disciplines outside of health, running Indigenous health and education workshops to trainee teachers with assistance from Indigenous RHUUWS member Dana. The portfolio also supported the Sydney University/MIRAGe Indigenous Health Forum organised by Indigenous medical student Annabelle celloe. Together these Indigenous medical students will be apart of the AIDA (Australian Indigenous Doctors Association) symposium in Broome in october along with NRHSN and AIDA members from across Australia.

Indigenous HealthPortfolioAnnalyse Crane and Justin Cain Bloxsome

Since you last heard from us, the Indigenous portfolio has celebrated many fine events.

In July, NAIDoc Week was celebrated while most students were on semester break, but it was positive to see clubs acknowledge this important week. RoUNDS tackled the holiday period by including a good summary of the history of NAIDoc week in their weekly electronic Grand Rounds update and Justin attended numerous local NAIDoc events. close the Gap events were held in Albury and Wagga and were closely followed by an eventful Bush Bash Ball, where the portfolio was represented.

Justin presented at an Indigenous youth leadership conference in Uluru to 130 Indigenous Year 10 students from across Australia in August. He was also involved with the congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses (cATSIN) conference in September.

Justin with nine other Indigenous tertiary student leaders at the

year 10 Indigenous youth leadership gathering in Yulara, NT.

themselves healthy. There were some very good answers and some great pictures put on the material. We found that the level of information the kids knew about their own bodies was varied but the interaction was always fun. We were serenaded by a couple of the groups when we asked about the guitars they were carrying.

Bright future: NRHSN club activities brought a smile at Wakakirri, NSW.

Working at these festivals is a great opportunity to meet other health students from across the country. The group at Townsville worked well together and all enjoyed the experience. The best thing is that we were in the same accommodation and also socialised together. This helps to foster friendships that continue after the festival is finished.Amanda Felmingham, Medicine, RUSTICA

Gutsy Gus is a festival favourite.

We were surprised by the popularity of the free fruit at the festival. Quite a few of our school groups had come from Palm Island - we later found out that there is only one shipment of fresh fruit and vegetables to Palm Island per week.We would recommend that other groups consider providing fruit at festivals.

I personally found the Barunga Festival

an enriching experience, as I have not previously

had an experience of such.

RHW Future Team Project officer Amanda Fisher works on the Indigenous Festival Program

We wish you all the best with your end of year exams and clinical placements and we welcome your emails.

email: Indigenous_health@nrhsn.org.au

Justin and Uncle Bob Randall, a respected Anangu Aboriginal elder

from Mutitjulu a small community on the other side of Uluru. This was

at the year 10 Indigenous youth leadership gathering in Yulara, NT.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

14

Allied HealthPortfolioDave Tarrant, Beth Viner Smith, Ilana Jorgensen, Ben Crough, Lindsay Dundon and Kristy McGregor

This year the Allied Health Portfolio has hit the ground running with a number of goals and initiatives. Beth, Ilana and Dave have been great role models ensuring that Allied Health students get the support they need from government agencies and our major stakeholders. Allied Health students make up 27 per cent of NRHSN members.

This year Lindsay, Kristy and Ben joined the Allied Health Portfolio as junior representatives. They worked closely with their senior mentors towards meeting the portfolio’s goals for 2011. This included working closely with the major stakeholder SARRAH. We have also welcomed new links with organisations including, Australian Dental Students Association, Health Workforce Development, Vic Health, and Rural Dentist Network.

our major goals for this year included; a rural placement guide, as seen through the eyes of an allied health student

and from the eyes of the supervising professional. This document will inform both the student and supervisor what to pack or take, what to expect on the placement and what responsibilities each has to the other. This year we also put out the Allied Health Student Survey with the help of SARRAH (Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health). The results will tell us more about students’ expectations, knowledge and willingness to be involved in rural and remote placements.Finally this year we have started to seek feedback about implementing a scholarship scheme that would see

community and AdvocacyPortfolioAmy Stephenson, Chris Timms, Teena Downton and Al Dyason

our portfolio is working hard for you to ensure that the NRHSN student voice is being heard.

In collaboration with the NRHSN executive, Indigenous Health Portfolio and other portfolios, we developed the NRHSN’s 2011 National Priorities Paper.This will be available on the NRHSN website.

Another interesting project has been the development of a series of articles for Rural High School Visits. chris has worked with clare Sutcliffe on these articles, to help raise awareness of health careers in schools. The articles will be published on the website on completion of the project.

In May, we provided a written NRHSN submission to Health Workforce Australia (HWA) for the Draft “National Health Workforce Innovation and

Reform Strategic Framework for Action” while in July, Teena represented us at the Medical and Nursing HWA National Training Plan workshops in Melbourne. Teena has also been busy representing the National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) on a “Thriving in Transition Reference Group”. In August, Amy represented us in canberra on the expert Reference Group for the “Rural and Remote Health Workforce Innovation and Reform Strategy.” chris headed to NRLDS to listen to our members to find out the most important issues that students want advocated by the portfolio.

our stakeholder relations remain strong with chris and Al checking in with Rural education Forum Australia and Rural Health education Foundation while Amy and Teena were back in canberra

Al, chris and Teena at Face2face during March.

meeting with politicians and the big wigs of rural health for the annual NRHA councilfest.

chris and Teena will be presenting a workshop at GP11 in october. This is an ideal opportunity to let us know what you think cAP could do to get the student voice heard on rural issues, or register interest in getting involved.

email advocacy@nrhsn.org.au

(l–r) Benjamin crough , Laura curran (Australian Dental Students Association), Ilana Jorgensen, Alice Springs dentist Bruce Simmons and elizabeth Viner Smith at NRLDS.

Rural Health clubs’ give incentives or support to people that have been on a rural or remote placement, which the Portfolio will continue to develop over the next few months.

The portfolio has caught up with the social media realm, although some of the not-so-tech-savvy representatives have found this a bit challenging. We can now be followed on Facebook at NRHSN-Allied Health. This is just one of the ways to ensure students get the best results in rural and remote Australia.

email: alliedhealth@nrhsn.or.au

15

NursingPortfolioEmily Dalton and Kim Izod

earlier this year Kim attended the RcNA National conference and was inspired by many people, including Dr Rosemary Bryant. There was much discussion throughout the conference about workforce retention in rural and remote areas and of working harder to accommodate ‘Gen Y’ nurses and midwives. Many of the issues that are important to the NRHSN are also in the minds of the current workforce and the RcNA.

one of the major goals for the Nursing Portfolio this year was to increase communication between the portfolio and our members and we are pleased to announce that we have made good progress towards achieving this goal. The ‘NRHSN – Nursing’ Facebook site has over 100 members and is growing every day. We have also collated a list of contacts from each RHc and have so

far utilized this list to encourage clubs to celebrate the RcNA International Nurses Day breakfast in May.

As for strengthening stakeholder relationships, I have been working on establishing an improved connection with cRANA+. I have assisted Leeanne Thompson from the Rural Health club cRANc in organizing the cRANA+ Rec course in canberra. I am currently working with Leeanne again on the pilot Undergraduate cRANA+ Mec course. The future health workforce can only benefit from more students completing these invaluable courses, and we hope that the relationship between the NRHSN and cRANA+ will continue to grow. I have also had an abstract accepted for presentation at the cRANA+ annual conference in october and I’m organising a student volunteer committee for the conference. Also, preliminary contact has been made with congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and I’m hoping to attend their conference with Justin (Indigneous Health Portfolio) in September with

a view to improve and strengthen the relationship between the NRHSN and cATSIN.

The remainder of the year will be spent increasing Facebook members and contacting the heads of schools, to ask how we might better engage with their nursing students. The cRANA+ courses could not have happened without the assistance of Leeanne Thompson from cRANc. Thank-you. Also a big thanks to Teena Downton for her assistance with stakeholders.

We are keen to hear from you in 2012.email: nursing@nrhsn.or.au

Department of Health and Ageing that all bonded students (both BMP and MRBS) can choose to train in any specialty of their choosing. The DoHA representative assured us that the department would then work out the Return of Service obligations for doctors on a case-by-case basis, if the particular individual’s circumstance was out of the ordinary. These assurances came via our involvement on the National Advisory committee of the Bonded Medical Places Support Scheme, where we have been able to communicate the views and concerns of NRHSN members at various meetings throughout the year. our involvement with various stakeholders has continued and we have also been able to represent members at the meetings of national committees for the John Flynn Placement Program and the RAMUS Scholarship Appeals Panel.

In light of the mixed response from the specialty colleges, we have decided to publish our guide online, rather than in hardcopy. We aim to have our Rural careers Guide Website up and running by the end of the year, with many of the

profiles and college responses that we have received this year. We feel that an online version will encourage both the colleges and NRHSN members to continue to make contributions to the guide and ensure that the information remains current. Thank you to everyone who has made contributions this year and please keep them coming.

Should you have any contributions, questions or suggestions for the medical portfolio, please email medical@nrhsn.org.au

MedicalPortfolioTim Hasted, Nicole Delaat, Matthew Irwin and Melinda Swan

The medical portfolio officers have been working hard this year compiling the Rural careers Guide. We have been thrilled by the response of NRHSN members, with students from all around the country submitting profiles on rural doctors and rural towns. These articles give a great insight into medical practice outside metropolitan areas. Unfortunately, the response that we have received from the specialty colleges has been less encouraging. While some of the colleges have given quite detailed responses to our inquiries about where their members can train and practice, other colleges have not been able to provide such quality information. We have learnt that this task is much bigger than once thought, but we will continue to chip away and work towards a complete and detailed guide.

We were, however, able to get a commitment from the federal

(l–r) Tim Hasted, Melinda Swan, Nicole Delaat and Matt Irwin.

catherine Ryan, Geri Malone from cRANA+ and emily Dalton at RHWA.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

16

2011 has seen the launch of the NRHSN National Membership database. Well done to all clubs who have jumped on board to promote it, sign up members and contribute to the powerful tool of having a central national membership database.

out of our 9,000 members, 4,500 have signed up and the number continues to rise—we still need clubs to get more members signed up to show our true numbers.

Remember if anyone in your club executive needs database training,

to contact Lauren atlauren.castillo@rhwa.org.au.

Take the opportunity to learn how to add and approve members, and create web pages for your club portals.

congratulations to all signed up winners of the 130, $20 coles Myer Vouchers.

erika Bright sums up the appreciation; “Wow! thanks for the $20 gift card! That was sure a nice treat…”

Many NRHSN clubs have done a superb job of making their portals look inviting.

National Membership Database

  

 

The NRHSN Alumni Database offers the opportunity for members to stay connected through events and activities after completing study, on entry into the workforce. Sign up athttps://alumni.nrhsn.org.au.

In the future, we hope to use this national database as a tool to collect data on why students decide to go rural, how the Network influences student experiences and use this feedback to add value to the network as a whole. We know anecdotally, the Network does all of these things and more—statistics to

check out other RHc portals for ideas about how to make yours look great.

Links to all club portals can be found at www.nrhsn.org.au/rhc.

StARRH’s portal (featured) is a fantastic example of a creative and vibrant approach.

Sign up through your Rural Health club Portal to join the cause and be the future of rural health.

Lauren Castillo, Future Workforce Project Officer

NRHSN Alumni Programsupport this knowledge give us influence and reason to continue this fantastic national initiative. Announcement of NRHSN Alumni Steering CommitteeDan Mahony and Jasmine Banner have joined the inaugural NRHSN Alumni Steering committee to develop the program. The former NRHSN members have a range of skills to offer the program and experience within the network.

Jasmine is well known to many as a former member of AURHA and secretary

of the NRHSN in 2010. She is completing her intern year in Darwin, where she is also participating in the Rural champions program to promote rural practice.

Daniel held executive positions in the club WAALHIIBe and represented the Allied Health Portfolio during his time in the NRHSN. He is now on the board for Service for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH) and working as a physiotherapist in Katanning, WA.

Amanda Fisher, Future Workforce Project officer

StARRH’s portal is a fantastic example of a creative approach.

17

1 Gutsy Gus enthralls the next generation at Wakakirri Indigenous festival, Broken Hill.2 Family bond: Francesca Garnett and her mother Jan Schlunke, clinical Psychologist

from Ballarat, at NRLDS in August. 3 NeRcHA: Sammy Young, Ben crough and Kate Teinney.4 Passion for rural health: National Rural Health conference in Perth during March.5 Team effort: NRLDS executive catherine Ryan, Jacinta o’Neill, Francesca Garnett with

Trent Little (AMSA).6 celebrate: Leaders and future leaders gathered in Victor Harbor, SA, for NRLDS.

1

3

2

4

65

out and about with NRHSN members

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

18

ARMSAustralian National University, AcT

(l–r) David Phillips, Tom McGuire, Alan Peirce, Damon o’Leary counahan.

Brendan cantwell (l–r), Jana Gerlach, Amber Ruane, Sarah Simpson.

ARMS bushdancing, Yarralumla Woolshed, 5 March 2011.

Brendan cantwell, (l–r) Sarah Simpson, Jana Gerlach, Amber Ruane.

Close the Gap and Bush Dance 2011ARMS, with the support of the National Rural Health Students Network (NRHSN), held our inaugural close the Gap ceremony over the 5th and 6th of March, 2011. The day kicked off early Saturday morning with members from ARMS and NRHSN congregating in Garema Place, canberra city, aiming to educate members of the canberra community on the dismal status of Indigenous health and the issues contributing to this. This was followed by a BBQ lunch at the Australia National University campus in Acton.

The ceremony opened with an official welcome to country from Judy Harris and talk on Indigenous health from Julie Tongs, chairperson and ceo of the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service (canberra) respectively. other speakers included: Louise Lawler

Four of us from ARMS, accompanied by other students from cRANc, BReAATHHe and MARHS, travelled to the Broken Hill to attend the third outback Festival.

Wakakirri, the largest Australian arts festival, runs an outback program which grants Indigenous and Non-Indigenous students from regional areas the opportunity to participate in performance and visual arts. Filmmakers and artists visit each region and assist students in scripting, filming, acting and editing their own short films.

A festival is held on the last day of the program, where all schools and many community members in the region congregate to view the films and enjoy other workshops.

We ran health promotional activities, such as naming parts of Gutsy Gus’ body, playing with the sphygmos, making ‘slinky apples’ to advertise healthy eating and playing games in scrubs. other staff

(a remote area nurse), Dr Alyssa Vass (Aboriginal Resource and Development Services Inc.), Dr Tom calma (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice commissioner), connie chong (ANU Medical Student).

A round table discussion followed, then a cultural performance from the talented performers from Dance Beyond Barriers and an afternoon tea.

on Saturday evening, ARMS held our Annual Bush Dance at the historic Yarralumla Woolshed, canberra. over 80 students attended the event in flannelettes, overalls and cowboy boots. Students loaded their plates with delicious spit-roasted meats and salads prepared by Ron Quarmby Spit Roast Specialists; and later mastered their bush-dancing to the PolkaPigs band. on the proceeding Sunday, a BBQ breakfast was held, accompanied by Indigenous story telling from members of the Tjabal center, to mark the end of the close the Gap program.

facilitated hand and dot painting onto large canvases and educated students about various career paths, while the group from ‘Beyond Blue’ ran Hip Hop dance sessions.

Following the BBQ lunch provided by the Wakakirri organisers, we all sat to view the insightful, yet humerous films created by the local students. The day concluded with most students jumping to the stage to show-off their newly acquired Hip Hop dance moves.

This trip granted us the opportunity to meet with many locals, and get to know the other health students that we travelled with. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Jana Gerlach, ARMS(Yr 2 Medicine)

ARMS heads outback; Road trip Canberra to Broken Hill

19

AURHAAdelaide University, SA

This was a year of many firsts for AURHA and what a wonderful year it was.

We held the biggest Dinner Under the Stars to date which sold out in under two days. This is the first time we’ve had such variety of professions happy to call AURHA their rural club. This is also reflected in the committee being the most diverse since AURHA’s conception. our very first dental project “common Ground” was also run this year in conjunction with the Adelaide University Dental Students Society (AUDSS).

We also visited the rural high schools of Kangaroo Island, Kapunda and Nurioopta where we again had students from a variety of professions including dentistry, medicine, nursing and psychology.

Well another 12 months has past and AWAIRH is really moving. After the success of our March ‘close the Gap’ event, where students and members participated in making a collaborative artwork, it was decided that we would do an official handover event to raise even more awareness of the health gap.

With the help of Wodonga Student Association, and Wodonga TAFe, handover celebrations were launched with a morning tea with Indigenous educators and students at the eddie “Kookaburra” Kneebone gallery. This was a great networking opportunity, and it was also where AWAIRH’s incoming executive got to meet with key individuals and organisations that have become part of our growing network

The Annual Rural SA Undergraduate Rural Health conference campfire was held jointly by the three South Australian clubs in Victor Harbour, with many speakers being long time members of the club. The name evokes sitting by a bonfire in the peaceful beach town of Victor Harbour sharing stories with future dentists, nurses, psychologists and doctors. The experience was even better.

over the last 12 months. Media coverage of the handover was organised (and thankfully we looked rather photogenic in The Border Mail), in which Senior rep and outgoing co-president Jade Fitzgerald spoke on behalf of the club, with comments added by campus director, Professor Lin crase.

The day concluded with the presentation of student artwork to Prof Lin crase, and with the artwork being permanently housed in the Hangar at La Trobe University for all students and staff to see.

New executive members, Michelle Wayenberg, Jesse Brooks, and Ivy Growden are very keen to pick up where Mel and Jade left off with AWAIRH’s awesome upcoming events in 2012.

Kathy Grocke, Jo Li, Joshua calleja and Lan Vo enjoyDinner Under the Stars.

Jesse Brooks (l–r), Ivy Growden, Michelle Wayenberg and Jade

Fitzgerald hand over ‘close the Gap’ artwork at La Trobe University.

AWAIRHLa Trobe University, Wodonga, VIcby Jade Fitzgerald

This was made possible by our amazingly dedicated committee. We started off this year walking in the very large shoes of rural champion Jasmine Banner and Timothy Bromley with a vision of AURHA becoming

a club that would support students from all health disciplines interested in rural health. Something very daunting since we actually had 0 members due to a new online database… we have now expanded to more than 400.

It’s been the most amazing journey for us and we hope that this will inspire many more health practitioners to join us in goin’ outback.

It’s been the most amazing journey.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

20

BReAATHHeUniversity of Newcastle, NSW

As we break free of winter and head into the warmer months things are beginning to heat up for BReAATHHe and its nominated activities for this second half of the year.

Already the semester has started with a bang. on the 10th August, BReAATHHe held a “Welcome Back Bush Dance” for all of our members at the old Texas Ranch, Raymond Terrace. It was a wonderful night filled with giant steaks, mechanical bulls, many amazing costumes and good times. It was the perfect way to explode into our second semester but also celebrate a very successful first.

In May, two students from BReAATHHe joined forces with MARHS, RoUNDS, cRANc and ARMS to promote rural health education and healthy lifestyles to 100 primary and high school children at the Wakakirri Indigenous Festival, Broken Hill. The festival included workshops where students participated in surgical scrub relay races, healthy lifestyle education with apple slinkies, Gutsy Gus, creating a Wakakirri mural, and skills training in BP measurement, stethoscopes, tendon hammers and tuning forks. These creative and lively sessions were then followed by further workshops focusing on late-primary and high school students.

In a similar venture BReAATHHe also sent five students to a career expo held at Wingham High School. on the 29th of July students from the Greater Taree and Great Lakes High Schools were able to attend this information day where BReAATHHe spread the message of rural health and discussed health career opportunities. In May, BReAATHHe was again able to run its annual Skills Night. The night allowed students to experience various skills across a number of disciplines to further understand how health practitioners can work in a multidisciplinary team. We had a variety of students and academics lending their knowledge and experience to our stations on the night and we count it as a huge success for the club. In first semester BReAATHHe was also proud to be able to offer a number of members the opportunity to refresh or obtain their senior first aid course over a relaxed weekend.

We started the year with a brand new look and are very pleased to be the new owners of some awesome merchandise

Impressions of Welcome Back Bush Dance. James Pearlman and ellisha Willoughby (top right) at Welcome Back Bush Dance.

and signage – we hope to be able to proudly show this off at some NRHSN joint events.

To round out the year BReAATHHe is finalising the plans for our Inter-professional Development Night which we ran with success last year and hope to again this year. We are also hosting a joint laser tag event with our GPSN club where we hope to challenge our allied health and medical students against each other for the ultimate battle. We have a number of rural high school visits in the works and will round out the year with our AGM.

We are looking forward to how the remainder of 2011 is shaping up for BReAATHHe and rural health.

The night allowed students to experience various skills across a number

of disciplines

21

cARAH has been determined to increase the awareness of our Rural Health club amongst our members who live in Alice Springs while bringing together the many students from other clubs who undertake placements in central Australia. There are quite a few students who venture out to the red centre and we’d like to meet them. So if you or anybody from your Rural Health club is heading our way, please make sure you let us know so that we can invite you along to one of our events.

our first event this year saw a large group get together over dinner, giving a chance to mix with members from other disciplines, and giving students an opportunity to be welcomed to Alice and an opportunity to learn more about other courses and disciplines.

The Bond University Society of Health for Indigenous and Rural experience (BUSHFIRe) is a student run club founded by Bond University medical students. The club has opened up the door to Physiotherapy, Biomedicine and Psychology students and doubled in numbers this year.

The year kicked off with our members attending the Tri-uni Midnight Muster which allowed students from southeast Queensland to come together for some boot scooting, country style dancing and frolicking.

Recently we were able to subsidise members attending a rural doctors conference in sunny cairns as part of the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland. This provided the opportunity for our members to meet and forge friendships with other students from Queensland universities, as well as having the opportunity to attend discussions and talks about

The big news for 2011 is the opportunities in central Australia weekend being held from the 3-6 November. We have invited all NRHSN members to participate and really hope to have a diverse group of 10–15 interstate members learning about the career opportunities here, while experiencing some of the amazing local attractions and getting to know some of the local people. Some of the tours are likely to include the MacDonnell Ranges and the Desert Park at night, and guest speakers will include a variety of local health professionals. Details were being finalised as this newsletter was going to print, but please email linda.nink@rhwa.org.au if you are interested in finding out more about this weekend. If you’re interested in attending our

issues facing both rural practice and the retention of medical practitioners.

High school visits have continued with several members attending schools to talk with students about health careers and university life. Students visited Dalby and taught some basic clinical techniques such as plastering and basic vital signs.

The commencement of the incoming MBBS cohort saw the undertaking of a clinical skills night to get to know and meet other students from higher cohorts and also to introduce several skills that will be taught during the first phase of the program. This night was followed up several weeks later by a suturing skills night, which saw our surgical professor teach first year members some of the finer points of suturing and enabling them to practice these skills on pig trotters.

The Rural Appreciation Dinner (RAD) saw members taken up to Toowoomba

in conjunction with students from Griffith and UQ, to meet with local doctors in the area and discuss a range of elements of rural practice. It was a fabulous meal with great company so thanks to those who organised the event.

It has been a big year for BUSHFIRe and it is sure to continue with more events, skills nights, and dinners planned for our members and members of other Rural Health clubs so stay tuned.

cARAH member carla Greig (brown T-shirt) with students from other Rural

Health clubs at Wakakirri Barunga.

BUSHFIReBond University, QLD

cARAHcharles Darwin Uni, NT in assoc with Flinders Uni, SA

Sophie Sturroc participatedin BUSHFIRe‘s suturing skills night.

opportunities Weekend check out our cARAH – opportunities in Alice Springs facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groups/184470154952273/

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

22

cRANcUniversity of canberra, AcTby Leeanne Thompson, Kimberly Laverty and Ely Taylor

It has been an exciting past few months for cRANc as our entire executive has changed and we are all now super enthused to get to know our members and run some great events.

In April this year, cRANc ran the very successful RAW Surf. It brought 130 people from 6 different clubs to the beautiful ecopoint Resort in Murramarang National Park, South Durras. Students from different disciplines came to appreciate their surroundings and learn more about mental illness in rural areas. It was a great, insightful weekend.

In May, four keen cRANc students set out from canberra in convoy with our newfound ARMS friends, to the Wakikirri Indigenous Festival in Broken Hill. Watching the landscape become flatter and the towns become further apart, the anticipation rose as we got closer and converted to “local time”. Gutsy Gus was in attendance and we named organs and their function. The blood pressure cuff was also a hit, everyone wanted to have theirs taken. While the students rotated we met more health club members and watched short films the students had made about their lives and what is important to them. There was a massive sense of pride about where they came from that was beautiful to see. everyone that attended had a great time and we all came away with some new friends.

In June of this year, the Remote emergency care course was run by cRANAplus and was held as a joint venture between cRANc and Deakin University’s Rural Health club, NoMAD. It was held over a very brisk canberra weekend with 10 delegates from each club. The course was developed with both theoretical and practical skills used in emergency situations whether you were in a remote, rural or metropolitan setting. From the delegates’ point of view, not only were the practical skills stations invaluable, the repetition of ideas assisted the

cRANc Mid Semester o WeeK Stall.

Budding surfers: Pam Burridge leads RAW Surf delegates through their pacesbefore hitting the water.

consolidation of both the practical skills and theory taught throughout the weekend. It was a great opportunity for our members and we now hope to run this event annually.

Planning was in full swing, at the time of writing, for a Maternity emergency care (Mec) course during September.

cRANc is happy and excited to get more of our members involved in some great events in the second half of the year. We want to thank our great treasurer Laura Turner and the invaluable Leeanne Thompson who are graduating at the end of the year. They have helped cRANc in so many ways.

23

FURHSFlinders University, SA

This year has been a fantastic one for FURHS so far. We began the year on a high note, recruiting record numbers of members during o-week. our annual general meeting was a great success – with us electing a full committee including representatives in nursing and all of the allied health disciplines. In April and May we conducted visits to high schools in Lameroo, Murray Bridge, and Mt Gambier. FURHS has always had a strong relationship with RoUSTAH and it was great to have their members participate in our high school trips. The Indigenous festival which we participated in this year was a little further from home than usual – in Barunga, NT. Thanks to the NRHSN approving our application for an Additional Pool of Funding, we were able to send three of our members up to participate in the festival promoting healthy lifestyles and careers to Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth. The mental health first aid course organised by our co-chair emma Hazelton increased members’ awareness of mental health issues,

which is invaluable for practicing in rural communities. FURHS also sent members to the Why Warriors Lay Down and Die conference in Adelaide in July this year. Members were able to learn about Indigenous culture, communication barriers, and the issues plaguing Indigenous health today.

Monthly Tri-club meetings organised by the Rural Doctors Workforce Agency have ensured that FURHS has maintained strong communication with both AURHA and RoUSTAH, the other two Rural Health clubs in Adelaide. A tri-club pub crawl is currently being organised and will be held in october this year. campfire, the event of the year for all three Rural Health clubs in the state was held at Victor Harbor in September. It included a variety of fun activities including talks from various healthcare professionals, surfing, a snake show, and the annual tri-club dinner. The annual Allied Health trip is also rapidly approaching. In summary it has been a busy and eventful year for FURHS, with many events to look forward to in the next few months.

Royal Flying Doctor Service flight with Rural Doctors Workforce Agency, SA.

FURHS students, joined by members from other Rural Health clubs, take a Duck boat tour in Victor Harbour,

as part of campfire.

FURHS members (wearing white T-shirts with colourful attachments) and KRASH members at Wakakirri

Festival in Barunga, NT.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

24

HoPe4HeALTHGriffith University, QLDby Brodie Quinn, President

This year really has flown by. It feels like only yesterday that I was writing my intro to 2011 for cooee. As they say, time flies when you’re having fun, and what fun it has been leading HoPe4HeALTH into what has been another truly successful year.

First and foremost we are proud to announce that our brilliant Dentistry and oral Health representatives have managed to bump our ‘Dentistry and oral Health’ membership numbers from 40 to just over 150 in only 6 months. Through increased financial support we have been able to expand our dental portfolio to include rural skills weekend out to Goondiwindi with “Uncle Warren” a fantastic local dentist who has embraced HoPe4HeALTH and our lucky dental members. We have also revolutionized and expanded our cherbourg emergency Dental clinic that now runs 5 times per year and consistently provides free health care to the local indigenous people.

our rural portfolio this year continues to boom. With capt’n Dan at the helm

we’ve successfully raised over $5000 for the RFDS through our biggest ever Midnight Muster B&S in Beaudesert in March. Dan has also coordinated two Goondiwindi rural skills weekends, exposing our members to the positive aspects of the rural health lifestyle, completed our first rural high school visit for the year, visiting central Queensland and enthralling the youngsters with the myriad of health careers available to them.

HoPe4HeALTH also held our 2nd (now annual) Rural Awareness Dinner, with 50 health students meeting, networking and befriending 20 doctors from all over rural Queensland. All the while, our members were enthralled by the thoroughly entertaining exposé of Dr Luke Dwyer a recent graduate of the Rural Generalist Pathway.

HoPe4HeALTH continues to be a leader in joint rural health club events, again working with RHINo, TRoHPIQ and BUSHFIRe to bring together another successful Joint Rural Health club Weekend, this year in Atherton, North Queensland.

HoPe4HeALTH also continues to support our students in professional development, through subsidization of conferences throughout Australia. This year HoPe4HeALTH members have attended the National Rural Health conference in Perth, the Rural Doctors Association Queensland conference in cairns, the Australian Dental Association conference in Brisbane and the National Rural Leadership Development Seminar in Victor Harbour.

2011 really has been a stellar year for the HoPe4HeALTH crew. We thank the NRHSN for all their support and guidance. I personally am really looking forward to the rest of 2011 which includes Jazz Dinner Dance, Red Party, 2nd Rural High School Visit, a trip to the Stanthorpe Races, our first Kingaroy Rural Skills weekend and the continuation of our cherbourg Specialist clinics. on my part it has been an honour to lead such a successful club and I can’t wait to see what the future holds not just for H4H, but for all the NRHSN clubs as we grow bigger, stronger and more unstoppable then ever before.

Jump for joy: HoPe4HeALTH and NRHSN executive at NRLDS – catherine Ryan (L–R), Dave Molhoek, Lizzie Dove, Dan Faux, Laura curran, Brodie Quinn and Jacinta o’Neill.

25

KRASHUniversity of Notre Dame, Broome, WAby Naomi Henderson, President

KRASH has turned four, and it has been an exciting year for all. With our membership numbers growing to over 30 with nursing and medical students from all over the Kimberley and some strong alliances formed with other Rural Health clubs, KRASH can only grow in 2012.

We hit off events this year with a fantastic viewing of “our Generation” as our close the Gap event and a sundowner for International Nursing Day in May, which recruited lots of new members.

KRASH also formed an alliance with WAALHIIBe that allowed us the opportunity to join them on their east Kimberly trip. This was an amazing experience for myself and member Sasha Bailey. With WAALHIIBe we conducted an information session at Kununurra High School and a RHSV at

Halls creek High School. This was the highlight so far for this year.

KRASH also has an ongoing program with the School of Medicine in mentoring of high school students. A male mentoring program was run with two of our male members and clontarf Academy last semester and the Girls Academy is about to kick off the mentoring program with two of our female nursing students this semester.

Three members attended the Indigenous Festival Wakakirri in Barunga N.T. along with StARRH and other Rural Health clubs.

KRASH has been very proud of our members this year with many of them experiencing exciting remote placements. Second year nursing student Jules Galliers spent four weeks in Kalumburu and our Vice President Donald Main spent two weeks in Looma.

LARHc has participated in and run a range of events throughout 2011 including a Rural High School Visit to Rochester in June and participating in Vibe Alive Indigenous Festival in May but the main event has been Rural Health Awareness Week (RHAW) during August.

Activities included speakers, tradeshows, clubs and societies days and a Professional Networking Dinner —all aimed at enticing and encouraging students to pursue career opportunities in rural areas.

The week started with a bang on Monday 15th August, where about 100 university and high school students listened to our keynote speakers, then merged out into the foyer for a baked potato and a drink at lunch, whist browsing the stalls at our tradeshow with some chilled acoustic music provided by cover band “Xerox”.

So chilled, that the guitarists’ fingers were freezing.

The students were able to hear from Paramedics Professor Peter o’Meara, Mental Health First Aid instructor Annie Hepner and an oxfam representative. A question answer session was held with our panel consisting of LARHc president Dave Tarrant, and Public Health campaigner Glenda Verrinder as well as our previous speakers.

The trade show had great support from local clubs including the Bendigo oral Health and Dentistry Society (BoHDS) and the Bendigo Association of Pharmacy Students (BAPS), as well as Loddon Mallee Womens Health and oxfam. LARHc was able to provide showbags to everyone, with a variety of information about rural placement opportunities, careers and scholarships included.

LARHcLa Trobe University, Bendigo, VIc

The rest of the week was very multidisciplinary with a different speaker each day covering a different rural health pathway including emeritus Professor colin chapman and others.

Thursday night was the Professional Networking Dinner where we were lucky enough to hear from the NRHSN’s very own Frankie Garnett and the Pro-Vice chancellor (Regional) of La Trobe, Hal Swerisson. Students were able to ‘network’ with rural health professionals during the dinner event.

KRASH members (l–r) Rachel, Fern, Matilda and Naomi, at the close the

Gap event in March.

our other students were dispersed in Broome, Derby, Fitzroy crossing, Halls creek and Kununurra for placements in the month of July.

We are going to be sad to say goodbye to our graduating nursing students this year Heidi Ripley, Matilda Forward, Fern Pearse, Rhianon Hutcheson, Maddison Hall and Mathew Williams (and myself) but I’m sure we will see them in rural areas in years to come.

We are all looking forward to an exciting 2012.

LARHc Rural High School Visit to Rochester in June 2011.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

26

MARHScharles Sturt University, Albury, NSWby Jess Hill

Just like every year the MARHS club started off 2011 with a bang. We began the year strong by assisting with several activities held within o-week, including the club market day as well as the chill out session on the final night. In doing this we were able to give not only first year students but also returning students a little taste of what MARHS was going to be all about in 2011.

continuing on from this, we held our annual welcome night early in the year. This was aimed at welcoming new and returning students to MARHS, telling them more about what we do, as well as getting them excited for the year ahead.

Following on with this positive note, MARHS was very proud to have Steph Frazer and Sam Johnson represent our club at NRHc, presenting on mental health issues among health students as well as the importance of promoting mental health awareness. MARHS is also

extremely proud of Steph’s continuing efforts in the promotion of mental health, as she successfully advocated for compulsory Mental Health First Aid training for all students in cSU’s School of community Health from 2012.

Going strong MARHS again hosted Mental Health First Aid courses, helping to subsidise the cost for its members and welcoming attendance from other clubs. Like previous years this course was extremely successful. Later in the year MARHS hopes to run ASIST, educating students on suicide and the best ways to intervene.

MARHS decided to stay local for our first Rural High School Visit, visiting Trinity college about five minutes from our university. Here we met with some extremely enthusiastic senior students and let them know the benefits of not only a career in the health professions, but also the importance of rural health.

Branching out MARHS also had 16 students attend RAW Surf—with only positive feedback being heard.

Last but certainly not least, MARHS held its second close the Gap ceremony and stall, followed by our famous bush bash ball. This year MARHS was accompanied by Rural Health clubs from all over the country, and we were encouraged to see so many students keen to learn more about Indigenous culture and health.

An engaging workshop and communication, was followed by everyone kicking up their heels at the bush bash ball. All involved had a truly educational and exciting time.

every year that goes by MARHS continues to grow and strengthen and this year was no exception. I for one am extremely excited to see what MARHS holds for the future.

MARHS at Raw Surf: Sian Draffin, Steph Frazer, Sam Johnson and Tegan French enjoy sunset on the beach at RAW Surf, 15th April 2011.

27

As 2011 draws to a close, it is exciting to reflect back at what NeRcHA has achieved. The committee has worked well together, and we have all enjoyed our NeRcHA experience so far.

We have held a number of events for our local members. A few particularly noteworthy events include the welcome BBQ’, a movie night and the election of a junior executive which was held late in first semester.

NeRcHA attended Ag Quip, which is the largest rural agricultural market place in Australia, staged over three days in Gunnedah. NeRcHA held a stand promoting rural and Indigenous health with arm plastering, free handouts and letting students play with medical equipment.

We held high school visits this year including Ben crough visiting the Northern Territory through the General

MIRAGe had a relatively slow start to the 2011 but once we got started we have not stopped. our first events included our Annual Welcome Drinks and Annual Golf Day.

our Indigenous Representative Belle celloé hosted a fabulous Messagesticks event where a range of great speakers provided insights into what it is like working and doing placement in Indigenous Australian communities during June.

Towards the end of June four intrepid, young undergraduates from MIRAGe headed out to do a Rural High School Visit in the remote western outreaches of New South Wales. The all female group was lead by courtney challinor and Siobhan edwards, both third year pharmacists, and rounded out by Fiona Hanks and Leah Sparke, a fourth year physiotherapist and another third year

Practice Network NT. our club also visited Glen Innes Public School, which was a great day. The kids really enjoyed themselves and we will probably make this an annual event. We will also have another RHSV in term 4 for our new members after the AGM.

our best event was our “Leadership Appreciation of Rural Skills – LARS” in August. This leadership day was free for all health students with a focus on developing the leadership skills required for health practitioners in rural and remote Australia. The program included a number of speakers, as well as panel discussions, workshops, and of course a social event to wrap things up at the end of the day.

NeRcHA is also in the process of organising our annual general meeting coming up later this year. We hope it to be a good night electing next year’s

pharmacy student respectively. Their private chauffeur, courtney’s father Wayne, shuttled the girls between five schools ranging in location between Lightning Ridge and Gilgandra, including visits to high schools in the towns of Walgett and coonamble.

All girls deemed the trip to be a huge success and all have offered their services as mentors for any students that they presented to on the trip and who may consider studying at the University of Sydney in the future. Students, counsellors and heads of schools alike were extremely grateful for the visit and insisted that it had been hugely beneficial. It is rewarding and humbling to think of the benefit and impact of the Rural High School Visits run not only by MIRAGe but also by all the other Rural Health clubs throughout Australia.

executive committee, and it should be very exciting to see who NeRcHA’s new up and coming leaders will be.

So that sums up NeRcHA’s 2011 experience. With such a great year, we can only imagine what 2012 will have in store.

We wish all our graduating members the best success and give a special thank you to Abigail Fenner our President who is planning a great adventure travelling next year.

MIRAGe is excited to be hosting a couple of sets of Mental Health Workshops throughout September and october. It will be great for our members to have this experience after seeing how insightful and popular they had been for other clubs.

We shall endeavour to let all NRHSN members know how they turn out because it is great to be able to get ideas from other Rural Health clubs. about popular events.

erin Pither doing some last minute touches to the LARS banner.

RHSV, June 2011, participants from L–R: Fiona Hanks, courtney challinor,

Siobhan edwards, Leah Sparke.

NeRcHAUniversity of New england, NSWby Harriet Pickering, Publicity Officer

MIRAGeUniversity of Sydney, NSW

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

28

NoMADDeakin University, VIcby James Roth, Co-President

The focus of NoMAD this year has been to provide high quality events that engage students and present rural and remote health in a positive way. Throughout the year we have been fortunate to have a fantastic committee to organise these events.

NAIDOC LunchNAIDoc week this year was celebrated with a BBQ lunch held at the School of Medicine. With close to 200 students in attendance this was one of the largest events held by NoMAD. Tara did an amazing job organising this and must be congratulated.

Local Indigenous dancers from the Warathrung Nation provided a great display of story through dance.

Dinner Discussion NightThe dinner discussion night was held again this year. We were fortunate to have three speakers, each discussing a different aspect of rural life and health

issues. Students from a number of disciplines were present and all enjoyed a fine three course dinner courtesy of NoMAD.

Annette Allison spoke about the work of the Rural Flying Doctor Service and the vital work it does throughout Australia. I think the photos alone motivated many of the students in the audience to want to sign-up on the spot.

Helen Murray, of Rural Health Workforce, spoke on the cultural issues facing rural Australia and how these relate to the future health workforce. This is a very pertinent issue to members of the audience from both metropolitan and rural backgrounds.

Louise Lawler travelled down from Wollongong and provided the story of her amazing journey across the world and tropics of Australia. I think that most people felt that if they were to have only half of those experiences they would have lived a fulfilled life.

Special thanks must go to emily Dalton who was instrumental in organising such a great night.

Bools RoolsThe most recent event has been a trip to Warnanmbool to promote the rural clincal school for 3rd and 4th year medical students. A bus load of students travelled down to spend a night socialising with students currently placed there and hear about there experiences. The following day there was a visit to the hospital and a look around the town to see what it has to offer.

To complete the trip, lunch was had at the world famous 12 apostles on the Great ocean Road.

PFA for the cFA was a huge success. More than 50 people from different year levels of Medicine attended a fantastic night under the stars at our then-President’s farm (catherine Ryan) in Baynton. one of the attendees compared it to some of the other PFA’s (Pleasant Friday Afternoon), a regular occurrence hosted by different clinical school of the University of Melbourne.

‘It was such a different experience to the other PFA’s we’d attended in the city, no long queues to get to a packed bar, instead just a bright warm campfire and an opportunity to actually hold a conversation with people across different year levels and clinical schools, without battling the loud music of a nightclub’. Which, I think, perfectly

describes one of the best things about the night—a real opportunity to learn or just talk about what it means to be a student in the rural clinical school in a relaxed setting, while giving back to the community through the cFA. overall the response was very enthusiastic and positive. A highlight was the ride in the back of a ute to get from the road to the campfire.

In May we had our AGM and a very enthusiastic new committee is currently working very hard to put on a great Annual Discussion Dinner on the 21st of october, as well as enticing new students to join outlook at the University open day this coming Sunday. We are hosting an open meeting in September for all our members, so that we can listen to

their concerns, ideas and tell them about all the important events open to them.

Furthermore, we are attending the Deadly Days festival in coffs Harbour, with preparations well under way and the enthusiasm skyrocketing. overall outlook is on a roll to provide great rural events for our members in the second half of the year.

oUTLooKUniversity of Melbourne, VIc

A ute full of fun; outlook students have a Pleasant Friday Afternoon

at Bayton, Vic.

NoMAD Dinner discussion night.

29

What a year it’s been so far. RAHMS continues to grow, drive home the rural health message and do it for the country.

RAW 2011 is coming up soon, sure to be the biggest RAW yet, we’ll be pulling out all the stops, with a few surprises lined up and some fantastic speakers. We’ve booked bestselling author Sam Bailey, physiotherapist Daniel Mahony and Aboriginal elder Tom calma. The RAW program for this year will include snake bite treatment, mental health first aid, cultural awareness training, shearing and all new media training for those budding TV stars. Get keen, get excited and get ready to RAW.

RAHMS has been working to round out our club with more allied health membership this year. We’re now proud to have allied health representatives singing our praises and distributing our NRHSN/RAHMS merchandise in lecture

It’s hard to believe another RHINo year is almost at a close. Is it really october already? Time flies when you’re having fun.

club RHINo (Rural Health in The Northern outback) celebrated it’s 11th birthday this year with over 350 members of our 600 odd membership base signing over to the new NRHSN database. The rest, we continue to entice with the promise of cash, various bribes and food. If you are reading this and haven’t signed up yet – there’s no time like the present – go torhino.nrhsn.org.au.

It’s been a jam packed year of RHINo shenanigans beginning with o-week celebrations and the inaugural Members Launch Party and Meet and Greet BBQ’s. How could they not have been ragingly successful with slogans like “save a

theatres everywhere. We’re also happy to be working with the allied health groups on campus on some collaborative new projects.

RAHMS has been working hard on grass roots programs to foster the next generation of rural health professionals. We’ll be heading off to the Deadly Days Indigenous festival in September. We’re also proud to have two RAHMS serving as the NRHSN’s Indigenous Festival Internal officers. our team has been fostering young high school students’ interest in rural health by heading out to Kempsey, Forbes, Parkes and condobolin, raising awareness of issues specific to rural health and rural students.

RAHMS continues to run excellent workshops to up-skill our members. our clinical skills night was a huge success with John Flynn scholars playing a key

horse, ride a rhino”. our first MD Skills night was also a night to remember, selling out in less than 10 minutes and with more than 50 per cent allied health students in attendance.

We sadly sent Fran Riley from Health Workforce Queensland on her way to new adventures in April (with her very own little rhino) and welcomed Deb Kay in her place – who has been an absolute godsend in helping us organise our RHSV’s, RDAQ conference attendance and so much more. Thanks Deb.

The Joint Rural Health club Weekend in Atheron was a fantastic opportunity to show the southerners our neck of the woods and students participating in the Laura Dance and Vibe Alive Festivals got a first hand taste of the vibrance and culture tropical north Queensland has to offer.

role in teaching. We collaborated with oxfam and MSAP to deliver an excellent full day close the Gap event and got hundreds of students to sign letters to the government supporting the goal of closing the gap. our upcoming scholarship session will also provide information to keep our members coffers well filled, so that we can break down barriers to rural health placements.

Finally RAHMS gives a special mention to our graduating member Shannon Nott who continues to coordinate RAW despite 6th year exams. Until next time, remember that “RAHMS wants ewe”.

RAHMSUniversity of New South Wales, NSWby Chris Timms, President

RHINoJames cook University, QLDby Ebonney Jackson, President

RAHMS students at University of New South Wales.

The annual RHINo Gala evening events was a great success and other events on the horizon for RHINo members to watch out for include the cairns MD Skills night, Allied Health Rural careers evening and the Annual General Meeting and Handover. There will be plenty of opportunities to get involved. If you are interested drop club RHINo a line at ebonney.jackson@my.jcu.edu.au

Ankur Verma (Top left), Bottom Row: Alex Hanson, kate Laffey, Jerry

Abraham-Alex, (others are the people we met on JRHcW) – JRHcW

April–May 2011.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

30

RHUUWSUniversity of Western Sydney, NSW

our catch cry is ‘Ride with RHUUWS’ and ‘Yes, we can.’

The year started with a bang for RHUUWS with more than half of the first year medical students signing up. We did that through promoting RHUUWS and NRHSN at the very first social event of the year. This has translated into a higher degree of participation in events from first year ‘meddies’ than in previous years, so it’s an idea that works. We followed this up with a signup BBQ, which was well attended. At this event we promoted ‘RHUUWS clues”, our trivia night. This was so well attended we are running the event again in Semester 2.

close the Gap was a fun and successful event, bringing together elders from the local community with students for a ‘Sea of Hands’, some interesting anecdotes, and a yummy BBQ of kangaroo fillets, kanga bangas, and , yes…crocodile marinated with wild lime and bush pepper.

We joined in with MARHS at cSU in Albury for an informative close the Gap event where Louise Lawler facilitated an insightful workshop on cultural dominance. This was followed up by the legendary Bush Bash Ball This was a good ol’ bush dance in a timber slab pub which gave us the opportunity to mingle with UNSW students studying at the Rural clinical School in Albury as well as students from Bendigo, Melbourne, Geelong and canberra.

Two allied health students attended the Indigenous festival in Townsville and came home to spread the rural health message and two more went to Barunga, NT for Wakakirri.

We also have students going to ceduna, SA in Semester 2.

Students that attended NRLDS said it was a standout event, and we are looking forward to this conference becoming a regular event on the rural health calendar.

our aims for 2011 are to increase communication and interest between medicine and allied health students. This isn’t easy, given that we are separated geographically and with hugely varying timetables. But, like progress in rural health initiatives, it’s one step at a time. our motto is ‘Yes, we can.’

Marika Johns (left) and Alice Fraser (right), with Amanda Riley from StARRH at Wakakirri Barunga.

RHUUWS members Pat egan and Kyle James (light blue T-shirts) participated in Vibe Alive Townsville during June with members from RUSTIcA and RHINo and Future Workforce Project officer Amanda Fisher.

31

RoUNDS has had a massive year with club members making the most of conference and seminar opportunities, especially those students that attended the NRHA conference in Perth earlier this year, and just recently the NRLDS seminar. We are also lucky enough to have members attending the AcRRM (Australian college of Rural and Remote Medicine) and RDAA (Rural Doctors Association of Australia) Rural Medicine Australia conference in Alice Springs later this year. A keen group of students also flew to Broken Hill for the Wakakirri Festival, while others took a road-trip to Dubbo to visit the Macquarie Anglican Grammar School and the Dubbo christian School as part of our RHSV program.

It was a big year for our RHSV officer with not only the two schools in Dubbo being visited but also three schools coming together at the PcYc in Bourke as well as La Salle Academy in Lithgow. each of these visits was a hit with the kids and gave some of our members an opportunity to visit a rural community and gain an insight into rural life. As well as our members travelling out to rural high schools, we also invited students from rural high schools to visit our University during our annual Medical Festival which once again was a huge success with rural students given the opportunity to participate in workshops similar to those offered on our Rural High School Visits including first aid, anatomy and surgery as well as being treated to small talks given by our members about uni life and study and some of their background. Students were given a chance to see what the University looks and feels like during semester, to meet and greet current students, and to realise some of the possible opportunities that are available to them. RoUNDS members worked hard to give them a positive experience, and to help them discover the possibilities of a health-related career.

During 2011 RoUNDS also started the inaugural Rural Health Lecture Series at

Darlinghurst campus with three lecture nights focusing on different aspects of rural health, including careers in rural health, rural placements and disease prevention in rural areas. This proved to be a great success with many students of both nursing and medical faculties attending and finding the evenings informative and relevant to their own area of study.

RoUNDS went one step better this year in our planning of the cowra Picnic races, combining the fun-filled day in the members area of the annual cowra Picnic Races with a fully accredited Mental Health First Aid course. This was a three-day event with a two-day Mental Health First Aid workshop followed by a day at the picnic races. Included in the trip was not only accommodation and lunches but a spectacular dinner at a local Winery with visiting psychiatrists and health professionals on hand giving informative presentations to the students. This was RoUNDS first multi-club event with members from SHARP and RAHMS also joining RoUNDS members for this spectacular event.

With this year coming to an end there are still many action-packed events left on the RoUNDS calendar including the Bushranger’s Ball social event for Rural Trauma Week, being held in Lithgow

for 2nd year medical students. There is also the spring tour of the Aboriginal heritage Botanical gardens walk yet to come, which has proven in the past to be a huge success with tickets selling out each time!

RoUNDS will continue to grow as our club presence on campus increases, specifically within the nursing cohort. our club will also become more widespread with more of our members being set free to rural hospitals in Wagga Wagga, Lithgow and Ballarat for their clinical years and also having our first medical alumni next year providing new opportunities for our club. With such a variety of clinical schools, and nursing placement opportunities, RoUNDS is always looking to get involved in new events and locations, and encourage more students to jump into the great unknown of rural and remote Australia.

RoUNDSUniversity of Notre Dame, Sydney, NSW

RoUNDS and SHARP members received certificates for completing the Mental Health First Aid course.

RoUNDS members headed to Broken Hill in May with other Rural Health clubsfor Wakakirri where making a mural was just one of the activities in an

action-packed day.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

32

RoUSTAHUniversity of South Australia, SA

With the AGM fast approaching, the 2011 committee have locked in an exciting calendar of events for the est of the year which include a Meet & Greet night, eyre Peninsula Rural High School Visit, Wakakirri Indigenous Festival and of course cAMPFIRe 11.

RoUSTAH has been busy spreading the word about rural health to psychology and social work students enticing them with delightfully delicious donuts. Just this year we have expanded our membership base to include students from psychology and social work (based at Magill campus) highly valued professions in any allied health team, particularly in regards to mental health in rural and remote Australia.

earlier this year the RHSV team had a quick but successful day trip to Jamestown and Gladstone High Schools in the Mid North of SA. Preparations are now well underway for a group of RoUSTAH members to fly to Port Lincoln

and travel up the Peninsula visiting Port Lincoln, cummins, Wudinna, Streaky Bay and ceduna Area Schools, the same group will then attend the Wakakirri Festival in ceduna along with students from AURHA, LARHc and RHUUWS. A four-day road trip—sounds better than a week at uni to me.

RoUSTAH has worked closely with AURHA and FURHS (combined to form Triclub) to ensure cAMPFIRe 2011, our annual SA Undergraduate Rural Health Forum is a raging success. We were particularly excited to host students from interstate clubs in the picturesque town of Victor Harbor. The weekend program included presentations from regional health professionals, IPL workshops, Triclub dinner, snake handling, wilderness first aid, a Big Duck Boat Tour, a scenic hike along the Heysen Trail, Granite Island penguin feeding and of course a campfire.

Just around the corner is our Meet & Greet Night, an opportunity for new members, university staff and students to find out what this NRHSN business is all about, what RoUSTAH has been up to the last year and it’s grand plans for the future! Although our final years aren’t ready to leave RoUSTAH behind (hello ALUMNI!), the whole committee enjoys the chance to reflect on the achievements this year, share the RoUSTAH spirit and inspire nominations for team 2012.

Rustica has hosted a range of events this year that have all been well attended. After the success of Society’s days and welcome dinners/BBQs in the first few weeks of the semester, Rustica has been delighted to hold a range of other great events throughout the year.

Two Skills Nights have been held at the Hobart campus this year. For the first time, Rustica included some paramedic-orientated skills sessions including managing an airway, intraosseous injections and chest decompression. These sessions increased the number of paramedic members of Rustica and the sessions were also been enjoyed by students from other health disciplines. other skills offered at these Skills Nights included venepuncture, suturing,

cannulation and urinary catheterisation. It was great to see a large number of nursing students attending the skills nights.

Rustica recently held their second annual Indigenous Health Photo competition. This event included a talk by a member of the local Aboriginal community. A number of excellent entries were received and choosing a winner was a challenge. The quality of the entries was so high that three students were awarded prizes. The lunch time event included food and was enjoyed by all who attended. The continuing success of this event ensures that it will be included in the Rustica annual program in future years.

With only a few months until the end of the academic year, Rustica has a few

events planned including Skills Nights at the Hobart and Launceston campuses, dinners/BBQs and a Mental Health First Aid course. There are plenty of events for Rustica members to look forward to over the next few months.

RUSTIcA members Amanda Felmingham, Douglas copson and Ted

Stoklosa joined with students from other rural health clubs to participate in Vibe Alive Townsville during June.

Alysha, Sarah, Martin and Josephine at o-Week, during February.

RUSTIcAUniversity of Tasmania, TAS

33

It has been an awesome year for SHARP so far, packed with so many great events made possible by a group of wonderful SHARPies that have stepped up to help spread the word about rural health.

SHARP started off the year by welcoming a brand new bunch of medical students to the University of Wollongong with a med student BBQ and hosted the annual Med camp which showed the students what SHARP was all about.

SHARP also had a stall at o-Week festival, where we managed to sign up lots of keen new SHARP members.

In March, we held our AGM where we announced our new executive for 2011, we also hosted one of our best events this year. The University of Wollongong’s close the Gap Day was an outstanding day with over 100 people attending, including staff, students and people from the local community. The national close the Gap Day campaign DVD was shown, our Indigenous representative gave a presentation, and there were performances from Nathan Foley (Indigenous singer and former member of Hi-5) and the local elders group, which got everyone dancing. SHARPies encouraged attendees to sign the petition, and helped out with flyers, and a BBQ. The event was a massive success and was featured in local television, radio and university news.

SHARP was very excited to get on board for RAW Surf in April. 50 SHARPies got the opportunity to meet like minded students from other clubs, and learn about some mental health issues facing rural populations. We also sent a bunch

SHARPUniversity of Wollongong, NSW

Nathan Foley (formerly Hi-5) gained some SHARP fans when he took part

in close the Gap day.

Fifty SHARP members hit RAW Surfin April.

SHARP members supported the boys and girls in blue at the Police Ball.

SHARP visited Nowra for a Rural High School Visit.

of students to Nowra for a Rural High School Visit, where we took blood pressure cuffs, plaster and Gutsy Gus to encourage a group of year 10 students to consider a career in health. It was a great day, with some SHARPies ending up in the Nowra local paper.

SHARP also introduced ‘Member of the Year’ awards this year which were presented at the Dean’s merit list awards evening. They were awarded to individuals who have made

valued contributions to SHARP and shown outstanding commitment and enthusiasm to rural and remote health last year. SHARP’s leadership award recipient was Teesha Downton, and SHARP’s rookie of the year award went to Nicholas corr.

These were only a few of the great events SHARP has been a part of this year. The rest of 2011 looks to be just as exciting for SHARP, with two indigenous festivals, another Rural High School Visit, a mental health first aid workshop and RAW just to name a few.

We sent a bunch of students to Nowra for aRural High School Visit, where we took blood pressure

cuffs, plaster and Gusty Gus to encourage a group of year 10 students to consider a career in health.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

34

SPINRPHeXUniversity of Western Australia, WAby Donna Thomas

What a crazy year we have had. In true SPINRPHeX style we have worked tireless throughout the year to raise awareness for rural health to our fledging medical, nursing and dentistry students and had a ball in the process. As most know we turned 21 earlier this year and we were prepared to make the party last. Since our party we all braved the cold at Nanga Bush camp for the weekend and had a great time learning to suture, prepare dental molds, use an IV drip properly and barn dance of course (necessary skills for any medical professional) as well as just generally networking with peers.

and vital contacts for them so they can start their own journey.

We have had our VIBe Festival for our Indigenous population in Kalgoorlie promoting healthy eating and diabetes prevention. We joined in the Bruce Rock children’s Festival in September and our Rural High School Visits in the South West.

‘We hope that the few hours we spend with

these teenagers informs them that there is always

someone that they can talk to if they need help.’

Viktor Ko with three students at SPINRPHeX’s stall“Heart of the Health Sciences” April 2011.

More than 100 SPINRPHeX students gathered together at Nanga Bush campfrom 20–22nd May 2011.

Another popular events was the Scitech Festival in Geraldton in April which saw us send three really organised medical students from Notre Dame to create an interactive station on the benefits of exercise and healthy eating. The Adolescent Mental Health night and cunderdin college visit was a success as usual and the school now are starting to regard us as regulars and we hope that the few hours we spend with these teenagers informs them that there is always someone they can talk to if they need help. If we have accomplished that we are happy.

We have also been lucky enough to have a sister Rural Health club (WAALHIIBe) support us and join hands to present RFDS/Multi Disciplinary night and the Joint conference which was titled ‘Wizards of oz: Journey down the red dirt road’ in the hopes of presenting our students with the pathway that some of our professionals have taken that got them into their rural practice

Applications have opened to replace our beloved executive committee which will be announced at our AGM in october.

Thanks to the executive committee for having me as Senior Representative and good luck to those graduating this year and good luck for those still studying.

35

StARRHcharles Darwin University, NT

Sally Grainger (l–r) and Debbie Gillon tour Kakadu on the interclub eventKakadu Konnect.

StARRH has attracted 103 members from five disciplines, plus two postgraduate members in 2011. This year is the 5th year StARRH has been part of the National Rural Health Students’ Network. We have recruited members as part of o’ Week activities at charles Darwin University (cDU) and have also recruited members through campus advertising and our “Guest Speaker Series”. We have enticed members into joining this year through bookshop vouchers and social events. We also welcomed our first Northern Territory medical students at a welcome lunch with over 50 per cent joining on the spot.

our best attended event this year was the Tiwi Island NTFL football grand final, which incorporated a community artwork sale and open weekend in March.

StARRH joined with members from FURHS, RHUUWS, KRASH and cARAH to attend the Wakakirri Youth Festival in Barunga Northern Territory in August. Fifteen students represented the disciplines of nursing, pharmacy, medicine, public health and education/science, imparting their knowledge and enthusiasm for health careers while doing a variety of health activities with the Indigenous students aged from 5 to 18 from Barunga and surrounding communities.

This was followed by a weekend in Kakadu with member from KRASH and cARAH, for the interclub event Kakadu Konnect.

StARRH attend Marrara christian college for a Rural High School Visit ion April.

“ For the first 30 minutes, we introduced ourselves and ask the students what they wanted to pursue later in the future. Most of them stated nursing. We explored barriers which could affect further education, such as scholarships, leaving home, and scores for uni entry. We spoke about how each of us got into

university, emphasising the point that finishing year 12 and receiving a TER was not the only way to enter university. During this time, students were tested on different health scenarios and asked about health professionals that were involved in each scenario.”

Marie-claire De Zylva – Nursing(co-Junior NRHSN Rep.)

We have members from various disciplines graduating this year and

RAHc Guest Speaker/BBQ Lunch,Sally Grainger(L) and Fiona Wake

on 20th July, 2011.

Tiwi Trip: A to Z – clare Boerma, Shanan Buitendag,Warren Bray, Suzanne condon, Brooke Davies,

Debbie Gillon, Sally Grainger, Sophia Koefler and Matthew Turner

on 27th March 2011.

want to make a special mention to: Suzie conden – Medicine (Medical Rep. 2011), Donna Grossule – Pharmacy (Senior NRHSN Rep. 2011), chloe Kay – Pharmacy (President 2011), Trihn Nguyen – Pharmacy (co-Pharmacy Rep. 2011), Brooke Davies – Medicine and Sarah Laws – Nursing.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

36

TRoHPIQUniversity of Queensland, QLD

TRoHPIQ has had an amazing year. Second semester kicked off literally with Barefoot Bowls, but prior to that, we’ve been busy.

TRoHPIQ and TIMe (Towards International Medical equality) jointly ran the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Seminar during NAIDoc week. The collaboration continued with a stall at ‘Family Fun days’ in Brisbane. The annual TRoHPIQ cherbourg trip incorporated insightful new elements. Ten students helped with the monthly diabetes clinic, as well as taking the Teddy Bear Hospital to cherbourg Primary School for an interactive health education session with the kids. They also spent the evening with a camp-side dinner and bonfire. This provided the opportunity to learn more about the history and culture surrounding the town of cherbourg, taught by locals who are passionate about their community.

The Rockhampton and Toowoomba trips were convened by a combination of students in Brisbane and those already enjoying the benefits of the rural clinical schools. Fun was had by all with yet more skills development, enjoying the nightlife and bushwalking in the beautiful surrounds. Thanks to all the conveners for the excellent adventures.The third Skills Day and TRoHPIQ TRIVIA event were again successful, and a big thank-you to those that helped to make it happen.

The Allied Health students held their annual boat cruise in June and then enjoyed a night on the town for their annual social in early August. They proved once again that health students do have more fun. TRoHPIQ members also made their presence known at several conferences across the country such as RDAQ in cairns, The Joint Rural Health club weekend in cairns, the NRLDS in Victor Harbour, SA, and on Rural High School Visits in July. TRoHPIQ sent representatives to the Moree Indigenous Festival in NSW.

coming up, we have Allied Health Discussion Night, which will feature speakers that have experience and enthusiasm for rural, including our own Vice President, Rebecca Andrews. SARRAH representatives will also be on hand to talk about placements and scholarships. cocktails in the TRoHPIQs will be our annual formal.

Lastly, TRoHPIQ will be assisting 400 UQ first year MBBS students prepare for their elective as part of the UNMDG training weekend. executive elections and handover are happening, with a planning weekend, ready for 2012.

Thanks to the executive, the management committee, Gayle Stallard and the good folks at Health Workforce Queensland, the RcS and NRHSN.

Joint Rural Health club event in cairns during May.

Andrew evans, Brad Fitzwater, (l–r) Rohani oorloff and Haley Wilson attended the David Horne Memorial dinner at RDAQ conference during June.

37

WAALHIIBecombined WA Universities, WABy Joanna Fry, Vice-President

Just jotting down the list of all the delightful things WAALHIIBe has been up to has exhausted me, and I haven’t even got to discussing them yet.

Like most of the rocking RHcs out there, to say we have been “busy” is the understatement of the century. Since the dawn of that first day in 2011 we have been packing in many awesome events for WA students. Whether it be a rural placement workshop, enabling students to attend fabulous conferences and seminars where they are encouraged to become pioneers in rural health, or trekking across the goldfields for the Kalgoorlie VIBe Alive festival to inspire the even more youthful youth of today; WAALHIIBe has got you covered.

We are also pleased to mention that our ongoing relationship with ‘curtin’ volunteers continues to strengthen; and working in partnership we are together facilitating students to experience the reality of life in the remote locations of Laverton and Leonora. The response to these health-based weekends has been incredible, with students who had never considered “going rural” now keen to head to the bush.

WAALHIIBe strives for excellence and to act as a leader in rural health promotion. In June this year the club invited our two sister clubs in WA, SPINRPHeX and KRASH, to join us on an epic adventure to the east Kimberley for the ultimate Rural High School Visit. With combined forces, the club covered a serious amount of kilometres including three townships, +140 students from years 1–12, and as one student put it simply: “This was way better than normal class.” Big congratulations goes out to Johanna eppler, our brilliant RHSV Representative, for her fantastic innovation and organisation, and also thank you to Rural Health West for giving us that extra push that ultimately enabled the trip to go ahead.

In continuing to collaborate with our peers, WAALHIIBe most recently combined efforts with SPINRPHeX

to take Perth students on a journey along the red dirt road in the “Wizard of Aus” conference. From lessons in backseat first aid, competing in splint sprints, having a peek into dentistry for beginners, and hearing from inspiring health professionals; the annual conference continues to pull a crowd and motivate students to consider living the rural life.

With plenty more in store for the remainder of the year, our “pumped up” club Ambassador Wallace the wallaby and his executives are working overtime to bring the allied health students of WA more experiences of a lifetime. Stay tuned.

Wallace the wallaby was a popular member of the team.

SPINRPHeX/WAALHIIBe Joint conference: Nice to Be Kneaded

workshop with Andrew (WAALHIIBe) demonstrating massage techniques

to Phoebe Thornton (SPIN)14th August 2011.

WAALHIIBe and SPINRPHeX students joined forces to provide a health

and careers stand at Vibe Kalgoorlie in August.

WAALHIIBE strives for excellence and to act as a leader in rural health promotion. In June this

year the club invited our two sister clubs in WA, SPINRPHEX and KRASH,

to join us on an epic adventure to the East

Kimberley for the ultimate Rural High School Visit.

c o o e e ! o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

38

WARRIAHScharles Sturt University, NSWby Louise Luong

More than 170 health students joined WARRIAHS during clubs Day which gave the club a strong start to the year. This continued with more members attracted to the club by a range of activities. We have ended the year with around 200 members. WARRIAHS have enticed members by advertising the benefits of becoming a member. WARRIAHS participated in the Vibe Alive Indigenous festival in Bendigo during May. WARRIAHS members gave school students the opportunity to listen to their heart beats, and monitor their blood pressures as well as using models and diagrams to show the factors which contribute to high and low blood pressure as part of their activities.

We worked in conjunction with other Rural Health clubs from Bendigo and Tasmania and around Australia. Some of the best memories formed at Vibe Alive came from meeting and interacting with other health students from the other university health clubs.

WARRIAHS has offered courses and events to assist members in their studies as well as encouraging and supporting them to undertake placements and apply for jobs in rural areas. We have had many amazing events this year. If forced to choose the best event, it would have to be the annual WARRIAHS winter ball which attracted around 100 people. The evening included a wonderful guest speaker who spoke about the hardships which she overcame in her path to her current career as a dietician in Wagga Wagga. This was complemented by excellent food and amazing dancing that created a night to remember.

WARRIAHS have planned numerous Rural High School Visits around the time that students are making their subject choices for the year 2012, following a trip earlier in the year. our first high school visit was to Mount Austin High School in Wagga where we spoke and conducted activities with year 10 students. We gave the students a snapshot of a range of allied health professions.

WARRIAHS first aid course, held in May.

WARRIAHS have conducted numerous first aid courses and various other events during the year with strong member participation.

WARRIAHS has had a fantastic year in 2011 and we would like to make a special mention to all of our graduating members, especially to those who have been involved in the club either by actively helping out at WARRIAHS events or by serving on the committee. We will say goodbye to two committee members at the end of this year, which will be sad but we are looking forward to a bigger and better WARRIAFUL year in 2012.

WARRIAHS Winter Ball: Karly everingham,(l–r) Phobe Lovett, Jeremy

Dreverman and Kirstin Shaw.

A ‘Little Vibe’ performance was a highlight of the Bendigo Vibe Alive.

Photo: Optic Logic Photographics

Amanda Harvey, (l–r) Phoebe Lovett, Louise Luong, Laura Tomarchio and Phedra chow at Vibe Alive, Bendigo.

39

WILDFIReMonash University, VIcby Cameron Sharp, Co-Chair

2011 has been a big year for WILDFIRe so far (I know what you’re thinking, what a clichéd opening sentence but hey it’s true). I am very proud of all the work that everyone on both the WILDFIRe council and the varying Sub-committees has put in. This year has seen WILDFIRe make the shift from a RUSc affiliated club to coming under full accountability to Rural Health Workforce (NRHSN program) and boy was that fun. Through it all however WILDFIRe has continued to represent and raise awareness for rural and Aboriginal health issues amongst all Monash University students.

The crew began work in January when we prepared for Monash University’s o-Week. enthusiastic and fresh faced students from Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health took their first step into university life. We were naturally there to entice all students with a burning passion for rural health. Members in black and orange T-shirts attempted to ignite the rural health passion in the new students. The new students were enlisted to help bring rural and Aboriginal health issues to the forefront of people’s minds. our o-week was a great success with the WILDFIRe’s sub-committee in clayton holding events like Get Plastered and MedFest. elsewhere across Victoria, the dedicated committee at the Monash’s Peninsular campus represented WILDFIRe with stalls at their clubs and Societies Lawn Day— to develop a stronger membership on the Peninsular.

We have had an increase in the number of nursing and allied health students joining WILDFIRe this year, and held events such as Allied Health nights. I would like to thank those involved with the Peninsular Sub-committee especially for their work in this area.

WILDFIRe held its 17th Annual Matthew campbell Memorial evening, an event which was finely organised by Frances crotty and I would like to thank her once again for the countless hours emailing, following up speakers

and teleconferencing she put in. The night was terrific with a brilliant theme and some thought-provoking speakers. The audience heard people of all backgrounds speaking about their encounters with Aboriginal culture and health.

WILDFIRe has also been busy not just promoting rural and aboriginal health to university students, but also to high school students. Rural High School Visits were held in Mildura and Bendigo, with even more on their way, the crew at WILDFIRe are inspiring high school students to do health

courses at university. I really like the idea of showing the students that it can be done.

overall I have really enjoyed my year with WILDFIRe so far, and I cannot see why that should change. over the next few months as we begin to make the transition and handover to the council of 2012, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff and students involved with WILDFIRe this year for their dedication and time. I hope that next year WILDFIRe continues to thrive and promote Rural and Aboriginal health issues.

clayton Sub-committe enjoying WILDFIRe Annual Dinner.

WILDFIRe 2011 council.

LEAP into RURAL HEALTH

The National Rural Health Students’ Network is supported by financial assistance from the Australian Government.The National Rural Health Students’ Network is proudly managed and supported by Rural Health Workforce.

Rural Health WorkforceNational Rural Health Students’ NetworkLevel 5, 10 Queens RoadMelbourne Vic 3004 Australia

www.nrhsn.org.auTelephone 03 9860 4700email: info@nrhsn.org.au

rural health workforce

If youhave not yet regIstered joIn nrhsn alumnI

today!

JOIN NRHSN ALUMNINetwork with medical, nursing and allied health members from across AustraliaShare your experiences with other rural health professionalsReceive and contribute to biannual newsletter Grab the opportunity to speak at eventsHost and mentor current NRHSN members on placements AND MORE …

Alumni Members register online:https://alumni.nrhsn.org.auEmail: alumni@nrhsn.org.au

Photo courtesy: General Practice Network NT

www.rhwa.org.au