Hundreds of students studying to be doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals head to Coffs Harbour every year for part of their training, consequentially creating jobs, boosting local investment and increasing access to health professionals for local patients.
\nThrough the Australian Government\u2019s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) Program, students are exposed to many of the unique challenges facing rural patients, while experiencing the benefits of living and working on the mid-North Coast.
\nFederal Member for Cowper, Pat Conaghan and Regional Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie today visited the Coffs Harbour Rural Clinical School, operated by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), to meet with students and staff.
\nMr Conaghan said he was proud to be part of a government that recognised the benefits of rural medical training and the challenges associated with the health workforce maldistribution.
\n\u201cUNSW receives more than $28 million from the Commonwealth for its RHMT activities across a number of sites, including Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie, to give more students the opportunity to train in the regions and create local jobs,\u201d Mr Conaghan said.
\n\u201cThis funding has a double benefit; students undertake part of their medical training here and in turn it creates jobs for local medical and administrative staff,\u201d Mr Conaghan said.
\n\u201cThe clinical school in Coffs Harbour has 16 local staff, who supported more than 50 students to complete 12-month long medical placements last year.\u201d
\nDr Gillespie \u2013 who himself spent 10 years as Director of Physician Training at Port Macquarie Base Hospital \u2013 said the RHMT program encouraged more health professionals to practise in the bush.
\n\u201cRHMT is a win-win-win for the students, the patients who can access care, and for the host communities,\u201d Dr Gillespie said.
\n\u201cThere are valuable social and economic benefits, with support for local businesses through procurement of goods and services and job opportunities.
\n\u201cIt has been demonstrated that for every dollar spent under the RHMT program, another dollar is generated in the local economy.\u201d
\nMr Conaghan said in addition to the Rural Clinical School, UNSW\u2019s Mid North Coast Regional Training Hub is based in Coffs Harbour, and employs seven academic and administrative staff.
\n\u201cUNSW has partnered with local health organisations through the hub to assist and develop regional training pathways, support accreditation of training posts to meet community needs and improve the retention of medical trainees in the area,\u201d he said.
\nMr Conaghan said Federal Government investment also meant that around 100 medical placements were able to occur in Port Macquarie last year through UNSW\u2019s Rural Clinical School in Port Macquarie, which employs 39 local staff.
\nThe RHMT program also provides funding to the University of Newcastle (UoN) to operate a Department of Rural Health in Coffs Harbour. This campus enabled several medical students to undertake five-week placements during the previous academic year in Coffs Harbour.
\n\u201cLast year, 120 nursing, midwifery and allied health students took part in this program, equating to over 800 training weeks undertaken locally,\u201d Mr Conaghan said.
\nTwenty-one universities are currently participating in the RHMT program across Australia.
\nDr Gillespie said by investing in the RHMT program, the Federal Government is highlighting the professional and personal benefits of practising in regional, rural and remote communities.
\n\u201cAnd while the RHMT program provides short placements, there are many long-term gains, as more graduates head back to the bush to care for local communities,\u201d Dr Gillespie said.
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Hundreds of students studying to be doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals head to Coffs Harbour every year for part of their training, consequentially creating jobs, boosting local investment and increasing access to health professionals for local patients. Through the Australian Government\u2019s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) Program, students are exposed to many of … Continue reading “Rural health trainees get a taste of life on the mid-North Coast”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13787\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}