THE state’s future doctors and allied health professionals came together on a Tamworth farm this weekend to get a handle on the sort of injuries they’re likely to treat in rural areas.
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More than 40 students from Tamworth’s University of Newcastle department of rural health campus and the Western Sydney University clinical schools in Lismore and Bathurst took part in the rural experience program.
The students went through a range of simulated scenarios which could arise on a farm.
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The department of rural health director, Jenny May, said “context based scenarios with simulated patients are proven to produce excellent learning outcomes for students studying for health careers.”
Bede and Narelle Burke offered their Winton property as the backdrop for the training day.
It is hoped the Tamworth Rural Experience (TREX) program will become an annual event.
Tamworth is seen as the ideal central location for students to travel from Bathurst, Armidale, Newcastle, Lismore and with the University of Newcastle campus in town.
“Given the proximity to Tamworth, scale and variety of the agricultural enterprises the farm gives excellent insight for the students into agricultural safety and production, while providing an ideal setting for the medical simulations,” Dr May said.
Following the on-farm simulations, students visited the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Base at Tamworth Airport. Steve McIlveen, director of the retrieval Service at Tamworth hospital, and the station officer from the Westpac paramedic team, Stu Harris, gave students an insight into operational aspects of the rescue service.