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Outreach Student Placement Program
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About the program
The Outreach Student Placement Program (OSPP) provides selected medical, nursing and allied health students in NSW/ACT with the opportunity to shadow an Outreach provider in a rural or remote community. Available Outreach providers include Aboriginal Health Workers, GPs, Dermatologists, Dietitians, Physiotherapists, Nurses, Optometrists and many more across other disciplines. All travel, accommodation and subsistence costs will be covered for these placements.
Placement locations and durations may differ each year due to the nature of the clinics run by the Outreach providers.
Applicants must demonstrate:
- an interest in rural practice and lifestyle;
- an understanding of the realities of rural health; and
- the motivation to undertake a placement in a rural area as part of the scheme.
Students not honouring their commitment to undertake a rural placement or complete post-placement reporting requirements will be required to pay back all money granted for the placement.
For further information, please see our Program Guidelines.
Who is eligible?
Rural and urban students are encouraged to apply for the program.
Applicants must:
- be Australian or New Zealand citizens or permanent or temporary residents of Australia
- have completed all university study requirements at the time of application and demonstrate this by provision of proof of enrolment
- be a medical, nursing or allied health student studying in NSW/ACT or have completed Year 12 in a NSW/ACT high school
- be able to complete the placement before 30 June 2025
Applications
Applications for the 2025 Outreach Student Placement Program for placements to occur between March and 30 June 2025 are now closed.
There are some placement opportunities still available. Click here for a list of available placements and email students@nswrdn.com.au with the placement type, location and date that you are interested in and available for.
Testimonials
Riley Joyce, 2024 scholarship recipient, Bourke
Riley’s OSPP placement focused on rural ophthalmology services at the Outback Eye Clinic where he shadowed Outreach provider Dr Ashish Agar. 
“Dr. Agar served as an outstanding mentor. He was approachable, friendly, and consistently kept me engaged. I never felt like I was in the way; instead, he managed to explain concepts to both me and the patients, enhancing the consultation process while providing valuable teaching moments without overwhelming anyone.
“I learned of ways to provide specialist services to areas which cannot support full time specialists. I learned that simple barriers like transport can be the reason people fail to attend clinics,” Riley said.
Riley said the exposure to these specialist services to rural areas “presents an exciting opportunity in medicine to be both specialists and also work in a variety of rural locations.”
“It was all great, it felt like a holiday!”
Ben Smith and Maddy Tilyou, 2023 scholarship recipients
The following testimonial comes from Ben Smith and Maddy Tilyou who were scholarship recipients placed at Bourke and Brewarrina in 2023:
"This RDN Outreach program has been an absolute blast, but more importantly it has affirmed my desire to practice rurally one day. I left Bourke feeling not only inspired about outback health care, but about what it means to be a doctor.
"The variety of patients and the opportunity to really connect with them through our time was really special, you felt really valued and appreciated by the communities.
"Both Katrina and Kyriacos were the most incredible people and clinicians. We truly felt so welcome and they were so, so happy to have us.
"From the second we landed, the welcome from the community was incredible. It was obvious that Kyri and Katerina have developed long-term and meaningful relationships with a large portion of the community.”
More OSPP stories:
- Outreach supporting Obstetrics in the Bush (2024)
- A temporary ‘home among the gumtrees’: Riley Joyce on his Outreach Student Placement at Bourke (2024)
- Outreach Student Placement Program’s Jessica Clark grateful for Broken Hill experience (2024)
Find out more
Email students@nswrdn.com.au if you would like to learn more about the exciting opportunities of a rural health career.
Subscribe here to receive scholarship information, RDN updates and information about opportunities to experience rural health:
