Accommodation and improved training facilities for medical students and visiting medical professionals at Bega hospital could result in greater numbers of students wanting to take up a regional appointment after completing their studies, universities have said.
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The new South East Regional Hospital at Bega will be one of three regional hospitals to have new clinical training facilities and student accommodation on-site or close by.
A University of Canberra-led project, in collaboration with the Australian National University (ANU), will receive $17 million of government money to build new facilities and student accommodation across three sites Bega, Cooma and Moruya. The project will establish medium-scale training facilities on existing hospital sites, as well as student accommodation in the regional towns of Bega, Cooma and Moruya.
Professor Diane Gibson, Dean of Faculty of Health at the University of Canberra said that Bega would see $6 million spent on the training facilities and 12-unit accommodation.
Prof Gibson said that one of the key drivers in providing the facilities was increasing the number of students experiencing regional clinical practice and ultimately the number working in regional hospitals.
“It’s a terrific opportunity to see what it is like to work in regional health department. There are no large teams and students learn to work closer with colleagues. We feel that the opportunity in a regional centre is that of multi-disciplinary training and understanding the way in which regional hospitals work,” Prof Gibson said.
She added: “The project will also support regional workforce development in the longer term as university-trained students who undergo a rural clinical placement are more likely to seek work in rural and regional areas after graduating.”
Professor Amanda Barnard, head of the ANU Medical School’s Rural Clinical School, said: “The project will enhance the successful Rural Clinical School program at ANU, which has provided medical student training in southeast NSW for 10 years, with a number of graduates returning to work as rural GPs and specialists.”
Medical students from ANU and nursing and allied health students from the University of Canberra currently undertake clinical placements in the area but the new facilities will overcome accommodation issues and provide better training spaces.
Prof Gibson explained that while ANU students tended to have year-long work experience blocks, nursing and allied health students may undertake blocks of several weeks at a time making it very difficult to find accommodation particularly during the peak summer period.
“Meanwhile they are often still paying for rented accommodation back in Canberra, making it very expensive,” she said.
Work is expected to start next year on the facilities and be finished either late 2016 or early 2017.
The funding, originally awarded through the Australian Government’s Health and Hospitals Fund Regional Priority round, will support integrated and collaborative professional training opportunities for a range of health students, including those from a new course, Bachelor of Medical radiation science (medical imaging) due to start next year at the University of Canberra.
