Just seven weeks into studying for a future career in medicine, a group of inspired students are learning all about rural health.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
First year medical students from the Australian National University in Canberra have been touring the region, with visits to the South East Regional Hospital, Hillgrove House aged care centre on Thursday, and blood pressure checks in Sapphire Marketplace on Friday.
Pharmacy graduate Michael Impelido said the trip had shown him rural-based medical professionals must be adaptable.
“The main thing I learnt was in regards to the hospital, where they don’t have everything you might need for a patient,” Mr Impelido said.
“So you have to be adaptable, and they may even have to take patients to Canberra for their treatment.
Mr Impelido said this meant professionals would have the added pressure of communicating to patients they may have to wait up to a week for treatment in the nation’s capital.
Science graduate Marcus Liu said the trip had also taught him rural professionals must be more “resource efficient” than their metropolitan counterparts.
“The tyranny of distance is what they call it,” he said.
The main thing I learnt was in regards to the hospital, where they don’t have everything you might need for a patient.
- ANU medical student Michael Impelido
Arts graduate Catherine Hall feels rural doctors can have an impact on people’s lives and on the wider community as a whole.
“The health care professionals have a special relationship in rural areas, and the community is better off for that,” she said.
Mr Liu said this community closeness makes privacy important in a place where patients can openly talk about ailments with their doctors in public.
“Patient confidentiality and privacy can be a bigger issue in a smaller community,” he said.
The trio said there has been a shift over recent years, with rural placements now receiving more applications from graduates than there are spaces available.