Rural health students converge on Creswick
Date:
Fri, 10/08/2012
Spokesperson:
National Rural Health Students Network & Rural Health Workforce Australia More than 160 medical, nursing and allied health students from universities around Australia are coming to Creswick, Victoria, this week to learn more about rural health.
They will be attending the National University Rural Health Conference, from 10-11 August at the picturesque Novotel Forest Resort.
The event will be opened by Ballarat MP Catherine King, the Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing. It will feature a range of expert speakers and sessions designed to engage and inspire delegates.
The conference is being hosted by Rural Health Workforce in partnership with the National Rural Health Students Network, which represents more than 9,000 medical, nursing and allied health students who belong to 29 university rural health clubs.
“We have some great speakers who want to encourage the next generation of rural health professionals,” says Rural Health Workforce CEO, Greg Sam. “They know how important these students are to the future and the wellbeing of country people.
“It shows what a strong, professional community we have working and teaching in rural health. Their collective stories prove that rural health is a life opportunity.”
Speakers include Victorian GPs, Dr Claire Hepper (Creswick) and Dr Ashraf Takla (Boort); Faye McMillan, President of Indigneous Allied Health Australia; Associate Professor David Pierce, Director of Rural Health at the University of Melbourne; remote health specialist Christopher Cliffe, President of CRANAplus; and Professor Jennene Greenhill, Director of the Flinders University Rural Clinical School.
Mr Sam thanked the Department of Health and Ageing and other major conference sponsors for investing in such an important national student event. Key sponsors include the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, the national rural faculty of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the University of Notre Dame and Rural Workforce Agencies (RWAs).
Rural Health Workforce is the peak body for the not-for-profit RWAs which attract, recruit and support health professionals to live and work in rural and remote Australia. Career advice will be provided at the conference by Rural Workforce Agency Victoria, Health Workforce Queensland, South Australia’s RDWA, Tasmania’s Health Recruitment Plus, and NT Health Workforce.
A number of awards will also be presented to students who have shown outstanding leadership and dedication to rural health.
Media inquiries: Tony Wells, RHW Communications Manager, 0417 627 916.
