Rural Clinical School Inception

The Federal Budget of 2001 provided funding to nine Universities with Medical Schools to set up Clinical Schools in rural Australia, aiming to attract medical graduates back to rural areas to practice.

Monash University School of Rural Health received $4.5M from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing for capital works and separate recurrent funding for operating costs. The Victorian Government Department of Human Services matched the capital works funding, providing a further $4.5M, for a total of $9M for capital works. The Rural Clinical School funding provides resources for students to study in rural areas for substantial periods of time during the clinical years of their medical undergraduate course.

Sensitive to the problem of placing pressure on rural health services and patients, and thus potentially diminishing the learning experience for students, the Monash Rural Clinical School model embraced greater numbers of students by developing new teaching sites in regions previously not used for undergraduate medical training. The resulting Regional Clinical Schools in Mildura, Bendigo, Gippsland and East Gippsland have added value to the health services in their regions while also providing students with a learning experience that takes advantage of the different opportunities provided by each region.

Monash University School of Rural Health aims to offer students a broad range of clinical setting options with emphasis on individual preferences. All students sit the same examinations, however, the routes taken in acquiring the knowledge required may be vastly different. The School is confident that those choosing a rural option will benefit both academically and by life experience.

Mildura Regional Clinical School (MRCS)

New facilities were constructed within the grounds of the Mildura Base Hospital. Facilities consist of tutorial and meeting rooms, academic and administrative offices and clinical teaching consulting rooms. A separate building provides residential accommodation for 10 students. MRCS also leases residential properties within Mildura for student accommodation.

The academic program centres on clinical experiences in the Mildura Base Hospital, general practices in the region and local indigenous communities. A particular focus of MRCS is to establish educational and research programs for health disciplines other than medicine.

Bendigo Regional Clinical School (BRCS)

The School purchased Lister House from the Department of Human Services (DHS), Regional Office. The buildings that comprise Lister House were the Northern District School of Nursing in a former life and include residential accommodation for 57 students, a lounge/kitchen building and substantial office, meeting and tutorial spaces. Lister House is located approximately 1 kilometre from the major health service in the town, the Bendigo Health Care Group (BHCG).

Facilities constructed on the BHCG campus include an education centre containing a 100 seat auditorium, 3 tutorial/function rooms that can open out to a single room, a clinical skills laboratory, a library and a student/staff lounge. Another new building houses a University Primary Care Clinic, filling a health service niche for the community and providing unique clinical skills opportunities for students.

The academic program in the BRCS mirrors the structure of health services in the region, ranging from general practice to a large regional hospital offering a broad range of clinical specialities.

Gippsland Regional Clinical School (GRCS)

GRCS is built on the foundations set by its predecessor, the Centre for Rural Health. The Centre for Rural Health had a significant presence in Gippsland prior to becoming the School of Rural Health and taking on the Rural Clinical School project. The excellent School facilities at the Latrobe Regional Hospital, in the Latrobe Valley between Traralgon and Morwell, have been augmented by accommodation for students, teaching rooms and offices in Moe. The facilities in Moe also contain the Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Studies. Further residential accommodation for students and School facilities are provided at the West Gippsland Health Service in Warragul.

The Academic program in Gippsland uses the clinical skill opportunities provided by the Latrobe Regional Hospital and the West Gippsland Health Service and takes advantage of the strong history of teaching from general practices in the region.

East Gippsland Regional Clinical School (EGRCS)

The EGRCS offers significant diversity of clinical emphasis. The academic program provided from the Sale region takes advantage of the Specialist based services provided from the Central Gippsland Health Service, while the services provided from Bairnsdale and further east have a strong community based flavour that benefits clinical teaching.

The EGRCS provides new school facilities at the Central Gippsland Hospital and residential accommodation for students in Sale. New school facilities are also provided at the Bairnsdale Regional Health Service hospital in Bairnsdale, with a 6-bed residence constructed close by.

Teaching General Practices

A number of general practices have been assisted to accommodate students and is expected that this number will grow over time. Of the 12 initial, 5 were in East Gippsland, 2 in Gippsland, 3 in Bendigo and 2 in Mildura regions. Residential accommodation has also been provided for students.

Up to 2 students will be attached to each practice, some for the entire academic year. During their time in the practice, students will have academic tasks assigned but will also have the opportunity to experience interesting cases that pass through the practice, take part in supervised clinical consulting sessions and get involved in practice continuing education activities. Along with activities within the practice, students can follow cases through allied health and other related services. Students will come together for regular organised education activities arranged by the Regional Clinical Schools.