KEEP IN TOUCH
(07) 3105 7800
Turrbal and Jagera Country
Level 4, 348 Edward Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
Health Workforce Queensland’s 2023 GROW Rural South West Queensland cohort have just returned from their second visit to Roma and St George as part of rural immersion element of the program.
The weekend started with a feeling of excitement as the health students and HWQ representatives reconnected at Brisbane Airport before flying to Roma for an action-packed three days together. Friday’s program provided the GROW Rural multidisciplinary health students, now in their second year, with the opportunity to shadow local health professionals and gain a firsthand experience and appreciation of delivering healthcare in Roma.
On arrival at Roma Hospital, the medical, nursing, and midwifery students went straight into action in the Emergency Department, witnessing real-life examinations and procedures. Our podiatry student spent time with Roma Hospital’s podiatry team, while the remaining medical and nursing students observed appointments at Maranoa Medical Centre, gaining insights into the nuances of patient care. Vital Health hosted the allied health students who participated in patient consultations, attended community appointments , and received valuable mentorship. Our dental student went to Roma Family Dental and left with a deeper appreciation of the crucial role dental care plays in rural communities. Meanwhile, the paramedicine students gained awareness of the ways Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) collaborates with stakeholders like LifeFlight, firefighters, and police, highlighting the importance of teamwork in rural emergencies.
Back at Roma Hospital, we shared lunch with health professionals and were welcomed to Roma by Mayor Wendy Taylor, whose genuine passion for the community included encouraging the GROW Rural students to return to Roma as early career graduates!
It was then time for a change of pace as we transitioned from a healthcare setting to the Roma Showgrounds for our own episode of Muster Dogs. Led by Rohan Ballon, the Rural Interprofessional Clinical Educator from South West Hospital and Health Service, who skilfully threaded his experience of training sheep dogs as a ‘hobby’ into his journey as a health professional and educator. Using his dogs and sheep as teaching tools Rohan drew parallels between dog training and rural health to highlight the importance of trust, communication and teamwork. Clearly some students were inspired enough to jump ship on their health career and become farmers while others left knowing rural life can offer incredible opportunities outside of their chosen professional pathway.
After checking the bus for any kidnapped puppies, we were on our way to St George. This too provided us plenty of photo opportunities from the cattle roaming the highway (check out our video footage!) to water bombing planes extinguishing bushfires (we got video footage of this too!). As we approached St George, we were greeted by beautiful jacaranda trees in full bloom just before sunset. We wrapped up the day with dinner together and were joined by Karen Low, the Workforce Development Officer from the Balonne Shire Council.
The second day of GROW Rural began with an energetic Parkrun session followed by a nice stroll along the river which quickly turned into an emergency situation! A person was found partially submerged on the bank, prompting a swift response from the GROW Rural students. A medical student and two paramedic students were first on the scene to assess the incident. It turned out to be our fearless GROW Rural leader Meredith testing the students and setting the scene for the day’s skills sessions. This unanticipated scenario was designed to simulate a real-life emergency, leading the students through the many stages of a patient journey.
After a tour of the St George Hospital with Dr Adam Coltzau, it was time for an ED skills session which provided the students with a hands-on opportunity to practice their skills within a safe training environment facilitated by Dr Ashleigh Walker and nurses Philippa Gorman and Polly Lyons. When Meredith unexpectedly lost consciousness in ED, it was a real test of the students readiness. It was inspiring to see occupational therapy student Sarah take charge, who later reflected, ‘somehow I found the confidence to just jump in and take the lead, of the situation’ but admitted it ‘was quite nerve-wracking to begin with.’ The facilitators added to the weekend’s theme of teamwork by explaining how all staff within the hospital are trained to assist in an emergency which encouraged the GROW Rural students to explore their own responses.
The final rotations focused on patient follow-up care and rehabilitation planning with Dr Karen Benn and Dr Ben Brimblecombe at St George Medical Centre, where students role-played patient consultations and discussed rehabilitation referrals. This was followed by an allied health session with Southern Queensland Rural Health (SQRH) Clinical Educator, Steve Woodruffe, at the Community Wellbeing Centre, where students applied the “evaluate, assess, and deliver” method while performing health checks on each other, monitoring vital signs, and practiced rehabilitation exercises.
Thankfully, the high level of care enabled Meredith to recover in time for an evening with community under the stars at Riversands Wines. The students were joined by local Councillor Andrew Dries, health professionals, billet families, and community members for dinner and engaging conversation.
The final day of GROW Rural South West Queensland rural immersion event began with breakfast shared with billet families before the group rejoined to tour the Anchorage Homestead, a significant historic location in the Balonne Shire, owned by Robyn Cross. After being treated to homemade scones the students took part in activities focusing on interprofessional collaborative practice using interactive team-building activities led by Steve Woodruffe. Steve finished the session by inviting the students to compete as teams to crack the puzzle boxes codes, it was the grand finale to Steve’s outstanding participation in GROW Rural across the weekend.
Our final stop was at the Country Universities Centre in town, where the students were impressed by the exceptional study facilities available for students on placement. Not surprisingly the bus trip back to Roma for our flight home was much quieter than usual.
It was hard to say goodbye but with the final rural immersion event in Charleville next year and Health Workforce Queensland’s assistance for the students to return to Roma, St George and Charleville for their university clinical placements there’s a lot to look forward to.
In addition to the deep appreciation we have for the community organisations, Councils, healthcare professionals and community members who helped shape this event and bring it to life we wish to thank Western Queensland PHN for their ongoing funding.
View our album on Facebook to view more photos and videos of the event.
For information on GROW Rural go to our website via the button below
