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(07) 3105 7800
Turrbal and Jagera Country
Level 4, 348 Edward Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
The Future Workforce team has developed a suite of interconnecting programs (Going Rural North and Go Rural Virtually) designed to complement and strengthen our flagship workforce solution program, GROW Rural. The programs have the capacity to be delivered independently , or in partnership with GROW Rural, to strengthen the health student pipeline.
Going Rural North
”For the 10 weeks of my placement I was not able to work at my job in Brisbane as a support worker. This means I lost $5,000 in wages. My flights cost over $900. Being a student, $6,000 is a lot of money to me, and I was forced to use my savings to buy food and support myself while on placement.” Ethan Rostedt, fourth year Nutrition and Dietetics student.
Placement poverty is experienced by many students placed in regional, rural and remote health services. Required to cover the cost of travel, accommodation and food while still paying rent on their primary accommodation, student financial hardship is exacerbated by loss of income from paid employment and not receiving payment for their placements.
Going Rural North supports health students to meet these challenges by providing bursaries for nursing, midwifery, allied health, and dentistry students. Funded by North Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN), and delivered by HWQ, Going Rural North assists with student travel and accommodation expenses for primary health care, Aboriginal Medical Services and community placements within the NQPHN region.
Taking a localised approach to supporting rural placements has the additional benefit of financially assisting GROW Rural North Queensland (NQ) students to return to the Tableland communities where they’ve developed strong connections to undertake their clinical placements.
Heidi Kruger, a fourth year Occupational Therapy student at the Australian Catholic University who did her final clinical placement at the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service in Weipa reflected: “Flying to a remote location like Weipa is expensive and initially deterred me from undertaking this placement. However, Health Workforce Queensland provided a solution to this barrier, and I am forever grateful for their support in facilitating this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Since my time in Weipa, I have decided to work rurally as a new graduate. Australia is full of beauty, and I cannot wait to explore it while building the career of my dreams". Watch Benjamin Thraentana-McCausland's recap of his placement, funded by Going Rural North below.
Of the 45 applications received from the February to June 2024 application round, 21 Going Rural North bursaries were granted. Applications that sat outside the NQPHN region or were located in Queensland Health facilities (where primary health care settings were available, or placements were unable to be combined) were not approved. The program has supported 156 placement weeks in the following disciplines and locations.
GROWing Health
As part of supporting a ‘grow your own’ health workforce strategy within SWQ and NQ GROW Rural communities, HWQ delivers a streamlined series of activities through the GROWing Health program into the local high schools.
GROWing Health funds Queensland’s four university Rural Health Clubs to facilitate health career information and skill sessions to year 7-9 students. The year 10-12 students from the same high schools are also invited to be part of the GROW Rural clinical skill sessions when the GROW Rural students visit their communities.
Advancing continuous engagement between university health students and rural high schools into health careers recognises the importance of attracting and supporting rural youth at the front-end of the rural workforce pipeline.
GROWing Health has ongoing connections with the following schools:
Central Queensland | South West Queensland | North Queensland |
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Go Rural Virtually
Go Rural Virtually (GRV) provides Queensland-based health students with a virtual rural experience to explore the benefits and challenges of rural health practice, as well as the many pathways into a rural career, by showcasing rural topics, locations and community-based health services through interactive discussions. Additionally, GRV also sheds light on social issues not necessarily addressed by health students’ academic course work.
The Sound of Silence - Giving Voice to Workplace Sexual Misconduct explored the challenging topic of intercollegiate workplace sexual misconduct. Areas discussed included the lack of visibility of sexual misconduct, alongside the silence surrounding occurrences of sexual harassment in health settings and accompanying uncertainty regarding reporting options.
Under the Influence: Dealing with Dependency highlighted the complexity of dependency issues, the importance of personalised treatment, and the need for health professionals to have awareness of the ‘back story’ and consideration of the way dependency and mental health issues are intertwined. Alongside the professional presenters, other speakers shared their personal experiences, detailing the obstacles encountered in dealing with substance dependency and their transformative paths toward recovery.
To watch these sessions, or any of the sessions delivered over the years visit the GRV webpage.
