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Welcome to the RuralUP E-Newsletter. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform, inspire and connect students studying Medicine at Western Sydney University with opportunities to explore careers in rural or remote areas.
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Our subscribers are students, medical practitioners, individuals in rural communities and organisations related to rural health. We encourage you to share the newsletter with others who would like to get involved!
We welcome your contributions - tell us what you have learned, what you have been doing and where you have been.
If you're not already a RuralUP Member don't forget to join - scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the link and further information.
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 With the easing of COVID restrictions we are hoping to be in a position to run a couple of events before the end of the year. So keep an eye on the Facebook page, CareerHub and notifications from RHUWS about expressions of interest (EOI) for any up coming events.
In the mean time remember you can still access the Virtually Rural content on the RuralUP website.
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WATCH THIS SPACE!!
Dependant on Covid-19 restrictions, we are hoping to hold a face-to-face Community event to be run in Bathurst. With Expressions of Interest to be called via Career Hub for any students interested in attending the 6 day motor racing event to be held from Tuesday 30 November to Sunday 5 December 2021 at Mount Panorama to carry out free Community Health Checks and COVID Management Duties.
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Bathurst COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic
At the beginning of September a week long walk in vaccination hub was set up in Bathurst to allow as many locals as possible to receive a COVID-19 jab and help to reach the 70% vaccination target.
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A number of our medical students in Bathurst joined Dr Ross Wilson, NSW Health and ADF personnel to create an opportunity for the locals to get vaccinated. There was a massive 3781 jabs given during this week long clinic which went a long way to lift the vaccination rates in the area.
A great job to all involved!!
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In addition to the students in Bathurst assisting with the local Covid-19 Jab Clinic, there was an ABC news report on students from Western Sydney University also assisting with COVID Clinics run by the Western Sydney Local Health District, South Western Sydney Local Health District and Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District.
As part of the story Professor Deborah Hatcher, Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, is interviewed about the initiative. There are also interviews with a couple of student vaccinators, including our own Laura Beaumont (Doctor of Medicine).
Click on the ABC 1 Sydney link to check out the interviews
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Lismore Students COVID Vaccination Assistance
A number of the Lismore students assisted with the COVID-19 jabs as part of their GP and Aboriginal Health Attachment. This was a wonderful experience for the students involved and assisted the community in lifting the vaccination rates.
This is a personal experience from one of the students, Abigael Baker.
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For the last 4 weeks I have been assisting in the Northern NSW COVID-19 vaccination effort. Throughout this experience I have had the amazing opportunity to assist in many roles including administration, post immunisation observation, gaining informed consent, submitting vaccination evidence, drawing up vaccines and vaccinating. I have spent days attending Bulgarr Ngaru Aboriginal medical service vaccination hub and the pop-up vaccine clinics at Yamba and Coraki.
The opportunity to work within Bulgarr Ngaru has been an enriching experience that has taught me a huge amount about the local indigenous and non-indigenous community of the Richmond valley.
I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to work beside highly skilled nurse vaccinators to deliver up to and beyond 100 vaccines daily. These beautiful nurses have taught me a huge amount and help me vaccinate with confidence. I have been independently consenting, vaccinating and documenting for up to 50 patients daily, which has given myself a feeling of accomplishment I have previously felt on only a few occasions throughout my medical school career.
My days working at the pop-up clinics have been an excellent learning experience, allowing myself to experience the truly amazing efforts that go into producing these clinics in the community. I have met many amazing people from many walks of life who have taught me many medical skills and greatly increased my understanding of these beautiful towns. Having the chance to both draw up and vaccinate at these clinics has been stressful and crazy at times but has given me a massive sense of confidence and achievement. These clinics have been a truly integral part to vaccinating our most vulnerable populations with thousands of vaccinations being administered. I am so proud of this amazing community and feel honoured to be a part of it.
I wish to say congratulations to the community of northern NSW for coming forward for vaccination. But mostly I would like to say thank you to all the people I have had the pleasure of working alonside, you have made an incredible impact on this community’s safety and health.
Abigael Baker – October 2021
Lismore Rural- Western Sydney University medical student
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Lismore Student Research Project
This group of five medical students currently in their fourth year of study, are in Lismore for a year on placement.
Whilst in Lismore they are completing their research project in the field of mental health, titled "Covid-19 and its Impact on Wellbeing and Service Delivery" and local arts creators and participants are to be the focus.
Rory Sinclair, Sanju Sonnadara, Ruban Sivakumar, Tushar Vashisht and Jeyvin Nandakumaran arrived in town about 6 weeks ago and went straight into isolation so they have had some extra focussed time to prepare to launch their study on the good folk of Lismore.
Click on the link below to read the article in full.
https://lismoreapp.com.au/news-sport/news/med-students-seek-local-input-for-arts-survey?id=61222ef32e6913002b0cb1a6
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Virtual Trivia Night - Friday 1st October
What better way to kick off the October Long Weekend than with Pub Trivia, well almost - it was actually Friday Night Zoom Trivia and with $500 worth of prizes on offer, it was pretty popular!
There was approximately 20 medicine and 30 paramedicine students joining the fun on the night.
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Many thanks to Buck Reed and his co-host Krista Reed for being the Trivia Masters and hosting this event.
With some fun and interesting team names and a mixed bag of topics including geography, pop culture, medical and general knowledge, a great night was had by all.
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Regional Areas and the Expectations for Services are Growing
An interesting article has been published in a magazine called 'The Farm Magazine'.
It reports on big corporations and small towns working together with growing populations and notes the presence of Western Sydney
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University in Orange as part of the Joint Program in Medicine (JPM) at the Academic and Research Hub.
Read the full article by clicking the The Farmer Magazine link
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Drugs and Overdoses
The Penington Institute connects lived experience and research to improve community safety in relation to drugs, including alcohol and pharmaceuticals. Please visit their site to find more information about this institution and the work they do. Here's the link to their web page: https://www.penington.org.au/about-us/
They have now released Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2021 which you may find interesting. The report contains a large amount of valuable information and reveals that more than 2,000 Australians have lost their lives to overdose for the sixth year in a row. This report is now available from their website, or you can access it here: www.penington.org.au/overdose.
You will also find some other materials including infographics and comedian Jimeoin gives a dose of reality when reading this year’s special Report to start a much-needed national conversation about overdose. Watch and listen to Jimeoin here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvBuTuik4GI&t=8s
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IN THE WORKPLACE AND BEYOND
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On Tuesday 26th October 2021, you're all invited to a webinar titled "To Thrive or Not to Thrive, That is the Question!"
The Western NSW Primary Health Network (WNSW PHN) is pleased to invite you to attend this webinar, which will address normal growth and feeding in infants. Dr Laura Stephens, Staff Specialist Paediatrician at Bathurst Health Service, will be the keynote presenter:
Title: To Thrive or Not to Thrive, That is the Question!
Date: Tuesday, 26 October 2021
Time: 7.00pm - 8.00pm (AEST)
Venue: GoToWebinar
Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1544985778369792527
All medical students are encouraged to attend.
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R U Ok Day was held this year on the 9th of September, so whilst that date has been and gone, it's important to remember that this isn't the only day we should be asking "R U Ok?"
This date is simply a reminder to us all to ask the question and we should be asking more often.
Some people are better at hiding their struggles than others and they are the ones we need to keep an eye on. With all the unknown in the world right now, people are craving kindness & real connections.
Your three words could make the the world of difference, and remember it's not a sign of weakness to ask for help if you need it.
R U OK?🌻💛
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Wellbeing Cafés on Western Sydney Campus Campbelltown
October is Mental Health Month, a great time to focus on mental health and wellbeing. This month, the University is hosting a series of free Wellbeing Cafés you can attend to engage in positive mental health and wellbeing activities.
Over the next couple of weeks, you can join any of the following events:
- Pets and Pals Cafés – bring along a pet or pal, join in a game of Kahoot and meet some new people
- Wellness Cafés – each Wellness Café will have a different focus, including meditation, hip-hop appreciation and yoga
- Art Cafés – practise art therapy and sculpt with clay, draw or use found objects.
Each event is an opportunity to connect, create, have a laugh and learn new ways to promote positive mental health and wellbeing in a safe, creative, non-judgmental and inclusive space. Members of Western’s Counselling and Mental Health and Wellbeing Teams will be on hand for support. |
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Meet 5th year student Annabelle Stephenson
This year I have had the great experience of being a WSU medical student, a ‘PiM’ (pre-internship Med student) and now an Assistant in Medicine (AiM).
Progressing through the different role names has bought about a lot of surprising changes while on the wards. Both new roles have led to an increasing responsibility and independence. This has led to some quick and beneficial learning, and also building my own confidence in my skills.
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I have found the team also seem more engaged and invested and they include us in tasks that would otherwise be deemed ‘boring’ for medical students to participate in. Activities like discharge summaries and planning, or organising patient transfer are skills that I didn’t often get to practice as a Med student. As a PiM or AiM I was walked through these tasked and taught specifically how to complete them. It is a great feeling to improve and become faster at these skills, whilst also having a tangible effect on the teams’ workload.
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As an AiM we have been given the responsibility to assess patients individually, work them up and order tests in the emergency department. It is like being a mini-intern but with lots of support and slightly less pressure if you are unsure. Our communication skills, assessment skills and decision-making skills have all improved exponentially due to this.
If any other student is considering taking on additional responsibility I say go for it! You learn and develop so much more than you think and I personally believe I will be a much better intern and doctor for it.
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Meet Kevin Chan - Academic Director, Western Sydney Medical Society
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲?
It’s arguably the best thing you can do as a medical student to help your colleagues. You have the immense privilege to teach junior medical students and to guide them along a very challenging path on which you’ve treaded on before, with the aim of making things a bit easier for them.
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In medicine (and in other university courses), mental health and wellbeing is inextricably tied to the academic workload.
The biggest stressors in medical students’ lives are often the intense study load, the multiple exams and the very real fear of failing. As a peer mentor, you have the ability to directly improve wellbeing in a way that addresses some of these issues at its core. You can help people so much. By holding a mentoring session or by simply uploading your notes, you can alleviate literally hours of work for your juniors, or clarify something they never got their head around.
You improve their work-life balance by increasing their amount of free time, and you stop people from failing - ultimately these can have a huge positive impact on mental health and wellbeing. I think the impact to effort ratio is very high - for relatively little effort, you can have such a big impact on your juniors’ lives. If you’ve walked on the treaded path before, it is easy for you to give guidance - and this can mean everything to whoever receives it.
About the Academic Director role, if I wasn’t doing it, I’d always be aiming to do it. If I didn’t take up this role, I would feel as if there was something left to accomplish before I left medical school. So undertaking this role over the past year has felt and been a huge privilege - it’s allowed me to actualise something that I’ve felt I’d needed to do before I finished - and that it is to contribute to others the best I possibly could. By and large, it’s been a tremendously positive experience where my subcommittee and I have had the opportunity to help more than 600 students academically. I have no regrets whatsoever in taking up the role. If I could do it again, I would do it in a heartbeat!
So if you’re thinking of doing something education-related, in medicine or otherwise, do it! ay that addresses some of these issues at its core.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲?
I like cooking, playing the piano, playing touch football, learning languages and travelling!
𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂:
1. I do a lot of accents and impersonations, but I have to be careful who’s in the room
2. I used to sprint at regional level
3. I like making memes
4. I’m right handed
** This interview was borrowed from the Western Sydney Medical Society web page **
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Welcome to Lismore. Like Bathurst, Lismore is home to one of Western Sydney University's Rural Clinical Schools which is located in the Lismore Hospital building (pictured below).
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Eighteen Year 4 students undertake a 12 month immersive placement based at Lismore Hospital, as well as General Practices, Community Health Services and Aboriginal Medical Services throughout the Northern Rivers region.
These students immerse themselves in rural practice and rural life, with a number having also taken the opportunity to learn to surf at nearby Byron Bay.
Lismore hosts many different events each year catering to many interests, with something for nature lovers to culture vultures and foodies. For information about these other events, see https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/north-coast/lismore-area.
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RURAL UNDERGRADUATE PATHWAY
[RuralUP]
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The Rural Undergraduate Pathway (RuralUP) is designed to allow students in the School of Medicine to explore opportunities in rural areas as an undergraduate and learn about rural health. Through RuralUP, students gain an understanding of what it's like to work in rural and remote communities and develop their peer and professional networks. If you would like to know more, see the RuralUP website.
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RuralUP Membership is a quick and easy way to access information and activities designed to support your rural health aspirations.
It’s as easy as 1,2,3.
1. Complete the RuralUP Membership Application
2. Participate in a RuralUP Interview
3. Receive a RuralUP Experience Record (RER) – and start participating in RuralUP and other activities
Register NOW, using the link below:
https://careerhub.westernsydney.edu.au/students/workflows/detail/34
When your 'one off' membership application is completed, you will then be able to start accessing RuralUP content and activities, and start building your RuralUP Experience Record (RER).
The RuralUP Experience Record (RER) is students' way to record their involvement in activities related to rural health.
You can access content in the 'Virtually Rural' library on the RuralUP website (www.ruralup.com.au), and find face-to-face activities in the calendar, which is filled with events that students can get involved in (when Covid-19 restrictions are removed), including:
- conducting free Health Checks at rural events
- taking part in inter-disciplinary practical experiences
- assisting at presentations and more...
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