Go Rural health student road trip tours the central north

Go Rural students visit Coonabarabran Hospital

Last Thursday, 20 healthcare students took part in the first Go Rural road trip for 2025 hosted by RDN! Departing from Sydney by bus, the students took a four-day tour of the beautiful central northern region of NSW with stops at Mudgee, Coonabarabran, Moree, Warialda and Tamworth.

Organised by RDN with funding from the Department of Health and Aged Care, these trips are open to all disciplines and focus particularly on selecting students with metropolitan backgrounds. There were eight students of medicine, five of physiotherapy, four of nursing, two of paramedicine, and one of psychology on the tour.

“I grew up in Sydney and I haven't really had much exposure to rural and regional New South Wales and it’s really re-affirmed that I want to work in rural health,” said University of Notre Dame first year med student Olivia Falcomata.

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“I really don’t want to go back to Sydney today – this has shown me that rural health values the same things as I do in a career,” Olivia told RDN on day four.

With a packed itinerary, students visited Mudgee Hospital and a the Coonabarabran Tourist Information Centre on Day 1, before rising early to tour Coonabarabran Hospital on Friday morning and then heading off on a three-hour journey which saw them arrive at Moree! In Moree, the students visited Pius X Aboriginal Medical Service and toured Moree Hospital in the afternoon.

“I've never been to an Aboriginal Medical Service before, so was really cool to see the integration of all the different services in one place. I think that's such an innovative way to solve some of the issues or problems that have been in the past,” Olivia told RDN.

“We were told that, back in history, Aboriginal people weren't able to come to hospital, they weren't allowed and there were restrictions, and from that there’s a lot of inter-generational trauma. So, I think that was really important to learn the history of how they started,” she said.

On Saturday morning several students practised what they preached with a healthy lifestyle, joining Moree’s Parkrun, in which Ruby Atkin pipped local favourites to take out first place! The social aspect of the tour was a major highlight for the students, meeting locals and getting to know each other.

“I think we're entering a new generation of interdisciplinary working and collaboration and I think it's really important that RDN have included not just medical students, but nurses and physios and psychologists and parameds because that's the workforce, which I'm really excited to be a part of,” 2nd year Australian National University med student Ruby Atkin told RDN.

Next on the itinerary was a visit to beautiful Warialda, and a meet-and-greet with local GP husband-and-wife team Dr Diana Coote and Dr Clem Gordon, who were only recently honoured with RDN’s Rural Medical Service Award for 35 years serving the district.

“They were incredible people,” said Ruby. “They are the only [medical] point of call in that town and they run everything... and you can see the passion in what they do... just so passionate about patients and providing the best level of care – they were amazing!”

Back onto the bus for another two hours and the next stop was Tamworth Ambulance Station then the University of Newcastle’s Department of Rural Health before a fine country meal at the Longyard Hotel and rising on Sunday morning for a tour of Tamworth Base Hospital, where an NBN News television crew awaited to capture their visit and report on the need to support young people starting out on rural health careers.

“It’s really important that students get an opportunity to see what working in a rural setting looks like as an undergraduate, so when they graduate they can make a better informed decision about where they might want to work,” RDN’s Go Rural Program Lead Sam Zelinski told NBN News. “It’s been really successful. We’ve had plenty of students who have been on the trips before who have gone on to take positions in regional hospitals and are still working in rural health.”

Stay tuned to Monday Message for news of the next Go Rural tour or view NBN Tamworth’s coverage of the Go Rural Trip here.

Go Rural is funded by the Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) and administered by Rural Doctors Network (RDN).