Twenty medical, nursing and allied health students from across NSW travelled across the state at the end of August on a road trip designed to encourage future doctors and health professionals to conside a rural career.
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The four-day 'Go Rural' road trip, funded by NSW Rural Doctors Network (RDN), incorporated practice visits, clinical activities, community events, themed dinners, cultural events and historical exhibitions in Parkes, Trundle, Bathurst, Orange, Cobar and Dubbo.
The students - representing areas such as medical, physiotherapy, dietitian, speech pathology, nursing and medical science - visited the Central West from August 29 to September 1, arriving first in Bathurst.
They stopped in at the Parkes Radio Telescope on August 30, before heading out to the Trundle Multipurpose Health Service that afternoon, and then onto Cobar.
The Go Rural trip finished up in Dubbo.
RDN CEO, Richard Colbran, said Go Rural was developed to demonstrate the professional and personal rewards of healthcare careers in remote and rural locations.
"Research published in the Medical Journal of Australia shows rural exposure during medical training has been associated with an increased likelihood of medical students entering rural practice after graduation," he said.
"Go Rural provides medical, nursing, midwifery and allied health students the opportunity to meet rural health professionals, visit health and medical facilities and get to know some rural communities.
"This is our second Go Rural trip for this year. Earlier this year we took 19 students out west through six towns including Bourke, and some of those students had never left a city. Every student returned motivated to pursue rural placements and told us just how eye-opening they found the experience.
"The health of our rural communities is dependent on the successful recruitment and retention of enthusiastic and dedicated health care professionals and Go Rural is one of many RDN strategies in place to develop more sustainable long-term health solutions for remote, rural and regional towns."
First-year medical student at the University of Sydney, Anna Milne, was thrilled to be selected for Go Rural.
"My identity is strongly founded in my family's history of sheep farming, however I have never lived in rural Australia," Anna said.
"I have always dreamed of being a doctor with generalist passions and specialist skills. I realise how crucial it is to bring specialist services to remote areas of Australia, and how privileged rural doctors are in their ability to shape the lives of generations of rural families through ongoing quality primary care."
A third Go Rural trip is planned for December.
RDN is a not-for-profit, non-government charitable organisation and is the Australian Government's designated Rural Workforce Agency for health in NSW. Its vision is for improved health service access for all Australians - no matter where they live.
RDN receives program funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and the NSW Ministry of Health.
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