RURAL TRAINING: University of Sydney third-year medical students (back) George McClintock, Tarun Patel (obscured), Barry Renner, Charles Meares (middle) David Carr, Gregory Shein, and Emil Ereve and (front) Peter Xie, Dick Sonham and Kalhari Jayaweera will call Orange home for the next 12 months. Photo: STEVE GOSCH 0124sghealth5
ORANGE hospital is hosting a new wave of young medical students eager to enhance their medical experience during training for their degree.
This week the University of Sydney School of Rural Health welcomed 16 third-year medical students who will live in Orange and work at the hospital for the next year.
Adjunct associate professor Dr Gabriel Shannon said the students would be well supported during their year at the hospital and have already started working on the wards.
“They will work under supervision, however they have already been assigned patients as part of their training,” he said.
Dr Shannon said he was confident many of the students would return to work in rural areas.
“This year, for example, in Orange we have three registrars doing their advanced training in different areas,” he said.
“Particularly in dermatology and ear, nose and throat this year we have seen former students return and this is a great advantage as they are poorly represented in rural areas in this field.”
Dr Shannon said Orange had set up an excellent rural model for training.
“Orange is very lucky we have the level of commitment from specialists who give so freely of their time for training,” he said.
“In the long run we know that this very positive experience will see a significant number of our students make their way back to the area once they are fully qualified.”
During their 12-month stint in Orange the medical students will take in a mixed experience of lecture room theory balanced with practical experience during hospital rounds and as part of treatment teams.