Medical and healthcare students tour north coast NSW to encourage careers in rural health

20 medical, nursing and allied health students from around NSW and ACT set off on a four-day tour of the north coast of NSW recently for a road trip designed to encourage future doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to consider the benefits and rewards of a rural health career.

Go Rural students visit Port Macquarie, NSW

20 medical, nursing and allied health students from around NSW and ACT set off on a four-day Go Rural tour of the north coast of NSW recently for a road trip designed to encourage future doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to consider the benefits and rewards of a rural health career.

The tour was the final of three ‘Go Rural’ road trips for the year run by RDN, with funding from the Australian Government, to enable students to experience GP practice and hospital tours, community events, cultural tours, farm visits and social functions in towns including Forster, Woolgoolga, Cudgen, Byron Bay, Ballina, Lismore and Port Macquarie.

RDN Future Workforce Project Lead, Sam Zelinski, said Go Rural provides students with educational and lifestyle experiences - often unique to the towns they visit – and provides valuable and rewarding insights into a rural health career.

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"These trips provide students with the opportunity to see what a variety of career opportunities rural communities have to offer in healthcare,” Sam said. “Students have a chance to hear from those living and working in these regions, see some of the healthcare facilities, and gain a greater understanding of the needs, complexities and benefits of these communities,” he said.

The students were welcomed to the Tobwabba Aboriginal Medical Service, Beach Street Family Practice in Woolgoolga, Tweed Valley Hospital and Lismore Base Hospital and were able to ask questions and network with local healthcare providers.

Along the road, the travellers indulged in delicious food hosted by local rural businesses including Spice Monkey in Forster, Bluebottles Brassiere in Woolgoolga, Earth Brewing Company in Cudgen, the Artisan Farmer in Nabiac. In Grafton, they enjoyed a home-cooked lunch beneath the trees on a property visit hosted by local GP, Dr Beth Allin of Healthy North Coast, and had the chance to meet locals, medical students from the University of Wollongong, and RDN Rural Resident Medical Officer Cadets.

Cultural experiences were also a highlight. In Byron Bay, students participated in a guided Aboriginal tour on Bundjalung Country, led by Arakwal Bundjalung woman Delta Kay, who shared local Aboriginal knowledge, including of native bush tucker and medicines.

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“The highlight of my trip was the cultural tour in Byron Bay,” said Dimity Morrison, a Nursing student from the University of Technology Sydney. “She shared insight on what it is like to be an Aboriginal woman seeking healthcare and what we, as future health practitioners, can do to better care for Aboriginal people.”

Over the past four years ‘Go Rural’ has borne out various research findings that show rural exposure during medical training is strongly associated with an increased likelihood of students entering rural practice after graduating.

“The trip gave me heaps of useful information about what it would be like working in regional health settings, the organisational structure of healthcare in NSW and the lifestyles regional healthcare can support,” said Jude Egerton-Warburton, a Bachelor of Nursing student from the University of Technology Sydney.

“I would highly recommend the Go Rural road trip to any future health professional who is considering working rurally in the future,” said Mannya Jain, an international Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) student at Macquarie University. “Not only will you share the journey with other like-minded future health professionals, but you will have your eyes opened to the endless possibilities and opportunities that rural healthcare has to offer.”

Go Rural is one of several programs and initiatives run by RDN to provide exposure to rural communities and encourage students to develop a passion for rural health, including: