School of Rural Medicine welcomes 'pioneer' students

February 12, 2008

Sixty-two students at the University of New England set out yesterday as "pioneers" on a new rural road to the medical profession.

As part of this week's Orientation program at UNE, they were welcomed to the University's School of Rural Medicine by the transitional Head of the School, Professor John Fraser (as pictured here).

The School is the UNE component of the Joint Medical Program, run in collaboration with the University of Newcastle (UN) and Hunter New England Health. This is the program's first year of teaching, with 100 students enrolled at UN as well as the 62 at UNE. "Establishing the program has been a long-term project – and very much a team effort," Professor Fraser said. "And it's now bearing fruit."

"Our emphasis is on giving a high-quality medical education in a rural setting," he explained. "The local health professionals are very supportive of the program. They will be mentors and role models for the students, who will do most of their training in this region. The involvement of Hunter New England Health will facilitate clinical placements in hospitals and health centres throughout the region.

"This experience of NSW country practice will be part of a program that – overall – will train doctors to work anywhere in Australia or the world."

Among the students are three from New Zealand and nine from inter-State – including Emily Lewis from Adelaide who, at 17, is the youngest of the group. Emily said she chose UNE as the place to fulfil her long-term ambition of becoming a doctor. As for the future, "working as a GP in a rural practice would be good," she said.

Matt Ingram, from Sydney, said he would like to gain experience in an urban centre and then "take the skills into rural areas", while Harriet Ambrose – also from Sydney – aims at doing volunteer work overseas with the humanitarian medical agency Medecins Sans Frontieres. Careers in medical research are among the aims of others.

Many of the students are school-leavers, but there are some mature-age students as well. "This mixture of ages and experience will contribute to the richness of their educational experience," Professor Fraser said.

The students at UNE will follow the curriculum developed with outstanding success by the University of Newcastle and based on a process of "problem-based learning". "The students, working in teams of eight, analyse and solve problems presented to them by a tutor," Professor Fraser said. "This means that from day one they start 'working as doctors'."

He said the training in teamwork would prepare the students for the modern environment of medical practice, in which there was an increasing emphasis on working as part of a team.

On the morning of Monday 18 February the Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, the Dean of Medicine - Joint Medical Program, Professor Michael Hensley from the University of Newcastle, and the Chief Executive of Hunter New England Health, Dr Nigel Lyons, will welcome the students to the Joint Medical Program's Bachelor of Medicine degree in the School of Rural Medicine at UNE. Teaching for the five-year course will start later that day.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at February 12, 2008 06:15 PM