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Introducing the clinical school
Mildura Regional Clinical School was purpose built in 2002 and is co-located with the Mildura Base Hospital -- a 146-bed (level 1) tertiary teaching hospital. The centre of a large rural and remote area, Mildura Base Hospital handles serious accident or emergency cases first-hand before sending cases on to metropolitan hospitals if required. It provides provides a range of acute services including emergency, maternity, intensive care, general medicine and surgery, medical imaging, pathology, dialysis, mental health (inpatient and community services) and a range of ambulatory services. The hospital is also affiliated with La Trobe Universities and proves undergraduate and postgraduate medical, nursing and allied health education.
Mildura
Mildura is a vibrant and growing regional centre of 30,000 people on the banks of the Murray River, 550km or 60 minutes flight time from Melbourne. Key industries include dryland farming, irrigated horticulture (table grapes, wine grapes, dried grapes, citrus and vegetables), tourism, food and beverage manufacturing, transport and logistics. Renewable energy generation, aquaculture, mineral sands mining and recycling are emerging as new industries.
Our programs
Year 2
Mildura's Year 2 program emphasises rurality and the consequences of semi-isolation. Students may spend time on the edge of the outback, at a local sheep property where shearing is on the agenda, as well as having exposure to rural ambulance and emergency services or even the extended multidisciplinary health care environment. Additional scheduled activities include clinical skills and related activities, integrated with Year 3 students
Year 3
Year 3 in Mildura provides many opportunities to develop clinical and decision-making skills under the watchful eye of dedicated clinical teachers, and within the wards and specialty areas of Mildura Base Hospital. A cohort of 12 students deals face-to-face with patients under the direction of their mentors. They also gain from bedside teaching, weekly scenarios with the Sim-Man 3G simulation equipment in the modern skills lab, and extra opportunities in pharmacotherapy, radiology, cardiologist-mentored stress testing, echocardiography and ECG interpretation, Aboriginal health, ambulance and ED placments, and the methadone clinic, as well as attending theatre sessions.
Year 4
Year 4 of the Extended Rural Cohort program is an integrated program during which students spend one semester in a rural hub and one in a regional hub - Bendigo or Mildura. A typical week in Mildura would be:
- one day in a GP clinic
- discipline-specific tutorial 4-6pm Monday to Thursday
- 3.5 days undertaking six-week clerkships in women's health, children's health and medicine of the mind
- the opportunity to assess acutely unwell patients through the hospital's emergency department.
The regional rotation focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of primary health care, thus is centered around general practice. With contact with both consultants and GPs students gain a good understanding of the relationships between specialists and generalists who work together to provide collaborative care for both local and referred patients.
Year 5D/final
Mildura offers rotations for two students each six weeks in the core subjects of aged care, surgery, medicine and emergency medicine, with in 2013 the choice of Indigenous Health, Anaesthetics or Cardiology selectives. As sub-intern to medical and surgical interns and registrars, students are encouraged to undertake all the duties of an intern.The aged care rotation is largely based at Mildura Base Hospital with two weeks at Jacaranda Village. The aged care experiences include a memory clinic, time with a psychogeriatrician and at least one day with the Aged Care Assessment Service.
