Outreach Student Placement Program

Open to medicine, nursing, midwifery and allied health students in any year of their studies at a NSW university, the Outreach Student Placement Program provides the opportunity to complete a placement in a rural area. In 2019, students completed their placements in May and June.

In 2019, 39 medical students and 17 allied health students applied, with all 56 receiving placements. 

Students were placed for one, two or three days in areas such as Dubbo, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Forbes, Broken Hill and Bathurst.

Feedback from the students shows the program is inspiring a new generation of rural health workers and helping them understand the breadth of career opportunities available to them in rural settings.

Outreach Student Placement Program testimonial

Christina Goodman I Medical student, University of Sydney 

“I completed my Outreach student placement with a multidisciplinary team consisting of a dietitian, diabetes educator and endocrinologist within Marathon Health in Bathurst.

“The best part of my Outreach student placement was spending up to an hour with each client, shadowing the diabetes educator, which allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the patients views on their disease management.

“A part of the placement that surprised me was being involved in cooking classes as a service to patients with diabetes. It was great to see how these classes flowed through to consultations and provided practical advice on disease management in a positive and social way.

“The placement opened my eyes to the way a multidisciplinary team can come together to deliver services, particularly by utilising telehealth as a delivery tool to link patients in a rural community with specialist medical advice.

“I learnt a great deal from this opportunity and I would definitely recommend the Outreach placement program to my fellow students.”

Pictured L-R: Anna Blackie - Marathon Health, Christina Goodman, Anne Winter - Marathon Health.