FOUR first-year Deakin University trainee doctors from the first intake of Deakin’s Rural Training Stream spent three days in Hamilton this week under a program designed to address the shortage of doctors living and working in rural and regional areas.

The Rural Immersion Program provides the opportunity for around 100 first year Deakin University medical students to head out to rural and regional clinical training sites over the next few weeks to learn more about life as a country doctor, while also building community connections in Victoria’s south-west.

The program is designed to be a completely immersive experience so that students get to know local communities, because graduate doctors are more likely to work in country areas when they feel a sense of community and belonging.

Deakin’s Rural Community Clinical School (RCCS) deputy director, Dr Mark Johnson, spent time on Wednesday with the first-year students and the two third year students who are on placement for 12 months at the Hamilton site of Deakin’s RCCS, which incorporates the Hamilton Base Hospital, the Coleraine Casterton Medical Clinic and the Hamilton Medical Group.

Dr Johnson said the RCCS placements enable students to assess patients and discuss cases through a range of healthcare settings to gain an understanding of the patient’s story and symptoms in a rural setting.

“Today we will be discussing cardiovascular disease and will be looking at actual cases of patients who have had a heart attack or have cardiovascular issues,” he said.

“The students are great,” he said.

“They’re really enthusiastic and most come as post-graduates having worked in a field or studied in other areas before studying medicine.

“Most students these days have done a three-year undergraduate course and have lived life already.

“One was a secondary school teacher for years before going into medicine.

“The pathways are very varied.”

First year student Daniel Przibilla said the three-day Rural Immersion Program presented a great opportunity to experience rural medicine, an area in which she hopes to pursue upon graduation.

“It’s a chance to practise medicine in a rural setting and experience it firsthand.

“It presents opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be presented practising in the city,” she said.

“A doctor in a rural setting can really make a great contribution in the community.

“(On Tuesday) we spent some time at Winda Mara and (on Wednesday we immersed) in some patient cases.”

Ms Przibilla is a registered nurse and still works in Mount Gambier while pursuing her studies.

“I’m in a blessed position to be able to still do some shifts to earn an income while studying medicine,” she said.

Third year student Tori Dopheide gave the students a tour around the Hamilton Base Hospital on Wednesday.

Tori and Josh Eaton, also a third-year student, are both completing a 12-month stint at Hamilton’s RCCS site learning alongside rural generalists and specialists.

As postgraduates, they have one more year to complete before graduating.

Third year medical students from Deakin’s RCCS are distributed across nine towns in Victoria’s south-west and Grampians regions, providing an opportunity for them to engage in hands-on clinical learning in a smaller rural community for 12 months, learning alongside rural generalists and specialists.

The Rural Immersion Program students spent three days this week in Ballarat, Warrnambool or at a RCCS in Ararat, Colac, Daylesford, Portland, Hamilton, Camperdown, Horsham or Stawell.

Deakin’s RCCS director and associate professor, Lara Fuller, said the Rural Training Stream would run throughout July to give medical students an opportunity to visit clinical training sites across south-west Victoria and the Grampians region.

“Rural and regional areas continue to face a critical shortage of doctors and medical workforce generally,” Ms Fuller said.

“Evidence tells us that students from a rural background who complete extended training in a rural clinical school are far more likely to work in rural areas after graduation. 

“These students will spend time in hospitals, general practices and healthcare clinics and see first-hand how medical care is delivered to Victorian rural communities.

“And there is emerging evidence that the best outcomes occur when students from rural communities are able to complete their training within their own geographic region.

“These visits will also help them build relationships within those communities by connecting them with country and significant sites, community groups and organisations.

“Deakin’s Rural Training Stream dedicates 30 places in the medical course to rural students and supports them on the pathway to becoming a rural doctor. 

“The first-year rural immersion is the first step in that journey of developing a connection with one of our partner rural communities.”