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Year 4: Rural Selectives

Streaky Bay Wudinna Wallaroo Mt Gambier

In Year 4 of the Graduate Entry Medical Program, all students are required to undertake one Rural Selective as one of their 8 six week terms.

General Rural Selective Information

Students have the opportunity to undertake numerous rural placements throughout their 4th year. The selectives are varied and range from General Medicine, Surgery or Anaesthetics terms at rural based hospitals to Aboriginal Health Care or Rural General Practice. Further examples of Rural Selectives are shown in the list below.

Informal teaching is provided through participation at clinical meetings, visits to relevant agencies and observation of experienced practitioners. There is some structured teaching provided by senior residents, consultant staff and other health professionals. Telemedicine and information technology are utilised to support the teaching program in the rural setting wherever possible.

Full details are available in the 2007 Yr 4 Selectives and Electives Booklet (124 pages, PDF). Rural Selectives are listed on Page 12.

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Rural Selective Educational Aims

Domain 1: The Doctor and Patient
  • To refine clinical skills in history taking and physical examination.
  • To refine skills in preparing a comprehensive patient management plan that is appropriate for a rural context.
  • To be able to perform basic clinical procedures appropriate to practising medicine in a rural or remote area.
Domain 2: The Doctor and Knowledge of Health and Illness
  • To consolidate skills in integrating the basic biomedical and clinical sciences, particularly as they apply to dealing with relevant clinical problems that arise in the ambulatory care setting.
  • To gain an understanding of medical issues associated with the evacuation or retrieval of patients from rural or remote settings.
Domain 3: The Doctor, Community and Society
  • To develop an understanding of the importance of the impact of a social and community determinants which influence health and illness of clients within a rural community.
  • To become adept at care coordination requirements and arrangements for relevant hospital and ambulatory care services and for demonstrating ability to liaise and communicate with relevant health care professionals.
  • To further develop an understanding of the delivery of health services to indigenous populations.
Domain 4: The Doctor and Personal/Professional Development
  • To demonstrate an ability to be able to work in an environment with limited rapid access to a full range of referral services.
  • To demonstrate a commitment to on-going self-directed learning and continuing medical education.
  • To demonstrate an ability to tolerate uncertainty.
  • To gain insight into the issue of recruitment and retention of doctors in rural areas.

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Travel, Accommodation and Feedback

Travel

Rural Travel Scholarships are available for ALL students undertaking rural selectives. Every student is entitled to apply for ONE Rural Travel Scholarship which will be up to the equivalent of the return bus fare to the location but only payable on the presentation of claim forms, receipts (petrol, airfare, bus fare etc) and feedback forms. It should be noted that students do NOT have to take bus transport to claim travel costs, this is simply the easiest and most equitable way to set a base rate for each location.

Claim forms will be distributed with student emails periodically throughout the year. All claims MUST be submitted by the first Monday in December (at the end of Term 8). All students are also asked to complete a Feedback Form at the time of submitting their travel claims. The evaluations are invaluable to us in determining the success or otherwise of our placements and we ask students to submit them promptly.

Please refer to Rural Travel Scholarships for further information on the normal Rural Travel Scholarships or see Melissa Watters in the Flinders University Rural Clinical School.

Additional Rural Travel Scholarships are also available upon application. These offer assistance to students who may be doing more than one selective (not elective) in a rural location. Please refer to the Additional Rural Travel Scholarships for further details on these.

Accommodation

Basic accommodation is provided for students at all rural locations. Please refer to the Rural Travel Scholarships and Rural Accommodation Subsidies Policy and also Yr 4 Course Booklet for further details at each rural site outside SA and Hamilton, VIC.

 

The Rural Hospitals and General Practitioners are reimbursed for accommodation expenses by the Flinders University Rural Clinical School and the School of Medicine (administered by the Rural Placements Coordinator). Students with specific accommodation requirements (eg family needs) may need to find their own alternative accommodation in their selective location and may negotiate to be reimbursed for a portion of their expenses via the Additional Rural Accommodation Subsidies Scheme.

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Updated June 3, 2008

All Contents Copyright Flinders University ©2002 | Contact: Melissa.Watters@flinders.edu.au