MEDIA RELEASE
Wagga Wagga, Friday 2 October - About 140 university medical and allied health students from across Australia will descend on Wagga Wagga this weekend to learn about rural health, get a taste of life on the farm and the rewards of country living.
The visit, part of the annual Rural Appreciation Weekend (RAW) run by UNSW’s Rural Allied Health and Medical Society (RAHMS) kicks off this Friday night in Tarcutta and will continue over the weekend.
RAW will feature several speakers, such as rural GP Dr Sue Anderson and CSU academic Professor Lexin Wang, as well as other healthcare experts. The weekend includes workshops on mental health, emergency medicine, and Indigenous health, as well as other key health areas, all from a unique rural health perspective.
Sunday will see the students involved in a practical emergency scenario involving local emergency ambulance, fire and rescue services.
The member for Wagga Wagga Darryl Maguire will also talk about his vision for rural health at lunch on Sunday, and Federal member for the Riverina Michael McCormark will attend.
"RAW is a great way to promote the benefits of rural health and a country lifestyle to students who would otherwise never have the opportunity to experience this,” said RAW crew member and medical student at UNSW’s Rural Clinical School, Jean Littlewood.
“Also coming from a rural background myself, and having experienced first-hand the shortage of health professionals in rural areas, I think this is a great initiative to raise awareness and try to alleviate this problem."
Local sheep and cattle farmer Bruce Angel is opening up his farm to the students who will try their hand at shearing, swap stories around the campfire and see sheep dogs in action.
The event brings together members of rural health clubs that fall under the umbrella of the National Rural Health Students’ Network (NRHSN). The NRHSN is the only university student organisation in Australia that collectively represents medical, nursing and allied health disciplines.
RAW 2015 attracts students from the areas of medicine, medical science, nursing, dentistry, paramedicine, social work, optometry and occupational therapy. Allied health and medical students from the following universities will be attending:
- Australian National University
- Charles Sturt University
- Deakin University
- Macquarie University
- University of Adelaide
- University of Melbourne
- University of Newcastle
- University of New South Wales
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Sydney
- University of Western Sydney
- University of Wollongong
RAW has attracted sponsorship this year from Rural Health Workforce Australia, Coast City Country General Practice Training, NERCHA (New England Rural Health Club for Health Alliance), SHARP Rural Health Club (University of Wollongong), RHUUWS (Rural Health Union of University of Western Sydney), and RAHMS (UNSW).