Welcome to Going Rural Health News! Going Rural Health News is the publication of new and relevant information about all things related to rural clinical placements, education and rural health, from the Going Rural Health team. Team members are located in Ballarat, Shepparton and Wangaratta.

This Christmas edition is going to be totally free of the health issue that has dominated our lives for the last almost 12 months - so free it will be 'that which is not named'. We all deserve a break from it, as well as a break from work. The Going Rural Health team will be taking a break from what has been an extremely busy year - team members will be off at various times during the holidays, and all offices will be totally closed between Christmas and New Year. Feel free to leave us messages though! Our next newsletter will be the February edition, sent out in late January.

To everyone we have worked with in 2020 - thanks for all your support in what has been a very challenging time. Many of our rural student placements would not have gone ahead without your flexibility and hard work, and those placements that did go ahead were very successful.

Have a safe, healthy and happy Christmas season, and we'll be back and raring to go for what promises to be another very busy year in 2021.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Going Rural Health team: Keryn, Bec, Kylie, Cathy J, Cathy O, Mitch, Claire, Charmaine, Murray & Trish.

Going Rural Health student support - including changes for 2021

Going Rural Health Innovative Placement Showcase Webinar - recording available

Farewell to Murray

Goulburn Valley Regional Training Hub

The Going Rural Health Blog

Going Rural Health education

External education & Resources

Going Rural Health and University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) Research

Going Rural Health Website

Going Rural Health Virtual Placements

Going Rural Health supports students to complete rural clinical placements. Support includes financial assistance, subsidised accommodation in selected areas, education, mentoring support, student activities, & cultural training.

2021 Changes

Financial Assistance: Eligible students may only receive EITHER subsidised accommodation at University of Melbourne owned housing (where available, subject to availability) or a financial payment for their placement (not both). Financial payment is calculated per day of attendance at placement.

Federation University students will no longer apply for their financial assistance from Going Rural Health via the Federation University Scholarships office, but via the Going Rural Health website. 

More information on the Going Rural Health Student Support Scheme, including how to apply, eligibility criteria and the full details of 2021 changes, is available HERE.

As always, we are trying to ensure that students get the best placement experience possible. Please help us to do this by directing students to complete our Student Placement Survey. It is a short online survey that should only take students 10-15 minutes to complete.

Looking after yourself while on a rural placement is more important than ever. See this Going Rural Health blog post for more information about what is available for students: Looking After Yourself on a Rural Placement. The post includes useful links, including to Going Rural Health's own online Resilience, Wellbeing and Self-Care education package. 

Going Rural Health hosted an Innovative Placements Showcase on Monday 30th of November. It was an extremely successful event, with the team receiving great feedback. A recording of the event is now on the Going Rural Health website HERE, under the drop down 'Going Rural Health Innovative Placement Showcase 2020', and has also been posted on the Going Rural Health Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Sadly, the Going Rural Health team has had to farewell Murray this month. Murray has decided to retire from his education role with Going Rural Health. All the best with your retirement Murray - you will be missed!

Going Rural Health works closely with the Goulburn Valley Regional Training Hub (GVRTH) in Shepparton. Please see the information below regarding their upcoming training:

After booked out sessions we have added a number of extra training sessions running early in 2021. If you missed out last time, please email admin@gvrth.org.au to register your interest in a particular course, and to be notified as soon as dates are secured.

• Advanced Supervision Training. Ideal for senior medical professionals looking to solidify supervision methods.
• Introduction to Supervision. Designed for junior doctors, interns and students who would like to feel confident when asked to formally or informally guide other staff and/or students.
• Developing a Culture of Resilience. Developed in response to Bushfire and COVID impacts, this short online course will introduce strategies to identify and improve responses to challenging circumstances in both yourself, your team and your patients.

Keep up to date with all training and events on the GV Training Hub website: https://www.gvrth.org.au/events

We are looking for experienced medical professionals willing to guide the next generation. Dr JuMP is a coordinated mentoring program that now stretches across all of Regional Victoria. If you feel you have experience to offer, and can dedicate 1 hour per month, please sign up as a mentor to Dr JuMP.

Let’s get social! The GV Regional Training Hub are now on social media. Keep up to date with our events, training programs, job listings from our partners, and highlights from talented medical professionals in the GV. Find us on Facebook (@goulburnvallyregionaltraininghub) or Instagram (@gvregionaltraininghub).

Warm wishes for the festive season from all of the team at the GV Regional Training Hub, and thank you for your ongoing support.

Did you know that Going Rural Health has a blog? The blog contains posts on relevant rural, rural health, student placement, and education topics. There are also posts about self-care, particularly relevant for students on rural placement, and while there are social isolation restrictions in place. Authors are Going Rural Health health professional staff, with the occasional guest blogger.

Our most recent blog posts can be accessed below. New blog posts are posted on our Facebook page and tweeted on Twitter.

Online Going Rural Health Education

With the current caution preventing face to face education occurring, Going Rural Health have continued to provide education to staff and students via online education packages. See our online education page HERE for details.

Going Rural Health Education 2021

To our valued partners and educators:

Unfortunately as a result of the pressures COVID has placed on our budgets in 2020, we need to make some unprecedented changes to how the Going Rural Health Program provides educational support to our regions.

In 2021 GRH will need to charge a fee to any staff who attend our training workshops:

• $30 for half day
• $50 for half to full day (unless otherwise indicated)
• Multiple days will incur the daily rate for each day of training (unless otherwise indicated) 

One hour sessions will continue to be free of charge. Fees will apply to staff participating in training, students will remain fully subsidised to attend training at no charge.

We appreciate this may make access to some training a challenge, please do not hesitate to contact the education team if you wish to discuss these changes further.

Virtual Education - January/February 2021

Receiving Feedback (for students) - Tuesday 9th February

Introduction to Supervision Workshop - Tuesday 9th February

Self-Care for Students - Thursday 4th February

All above sessions will be conducted 10.00am-1.00pm via zoom.

Mentoring Community of Practice Workshop - Tuesday 2nd February, 2.30-3.30pm via zoom.

To register for any of these events, visit the booking system HERE.

Please contact the education team via the Going Rural Health email address: going-ruralhealth@unimelb.edu.au  for details of all education running in the virtual space, or to book a virtual session from the education list at Education topics.

**NEW** Head to Help: A Free Mental Health Service For All Victorians

This is a service available through the Primary Health Network (PHN), for Victorians of any age experiencing mental ill-health - whether they have a GP mental health plan or not. The service is FREE, and no appointments are required.

Phone: 1800 595 212 8.30am - 5pm Monday to Friday (except public holidays).

For more details see the website HERE.

NOTE: This is NOT a crisis service.

For urgent support call Lifeline on 13 11 14

Out of hours and weekends call Beyond Blue on 1800 512 348.

**NEW** Yarning SafeNStrong - A New Counselling Service for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples

The Victorian Aboriginal Health Service has established Yarning SafeNStrong: a free and confidential counselling service for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The service is available 24 hours, 7 days a week to people and families who need to have a yarn with someone about their wellbeing.

Phone: 1800 959 563

For more information see the website HERE.

Three Rivers UDRH

Three Rivers UDRH supports health professionals, staff and students by offering free online courses. The following two courses are especially relevant:

Three Rivers UDRH Rural Clinical Placements – How to grow your own course .

Three Rivers UDRH Telehealth - Embracing Technology in Healthcare

Student telehealth placements resource

There is a great resource available from SARRAH about student telehealth placements. It is a copy of the presentation from a recent webinar. Access it via the link below:

SARRAH webinar student TH placements Robyn Gill

PHN resources

WestVic PHN and Murray PHN also have education available in regional and rural areas. See their websites for details of what is on in your region:

WestVic PHN: https://westvicphn.com.au/events-education/upcoming-events/

Murray PHN: https://www.murrayphn.org.au/events/

The Going Rural Health program sits within the University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) of The University of Melbourne. The UDRH undertakes a number of research projects, some of which relate to student placements - from both the student perspective, and of those who support students (supervisors and placement support staff).

Student Placement Survey

As previously mentioned, Going Rural Health are trying to ensure that students get the best placement experience possible. Please help us to do this by directing students to complete our Student Placement Survey. It is a short online survey that should only take students 10-15 minutes to complete.

Supervisor & Placement Support Staff Survey

Going Rural Health are undertaking a research project to gain a better understanding of rural clinical placements, from the perspective of those who support students (supervisors and placement support staff). Many of you will have already received an email from one of the Going Rural Health team members to invite you to participate, and to encourage you to share the invite with your colleagues. Visit the Going Rural Health webpage HERE for more details.

If you would like any further information on any of these projects, please contact the Going Rural Health team at going-ruralhealth@unimelb.edu.au .

www.goingruralhealth.com.au

All our resources for students and staff/supervisors can still be found in the student or staff menus. Please feel free to contact us at going-ruralhealth@unimelb.edu.au if you have any items to add or queries regarding content.

The website has a new videos page, that contains all videos relevant to student rural placements. Find the new page HERE.

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If you would like to contribute to Going Rural Health news please email your contribution to trish.thorpe@unimelb.edu.au

Phone: (03) 8344 6791

Email: going-ruralhealth@unimelb.edu.au

Website: www.goingruralhealth.com.au 

Blog: https://goingruralhealth.com.au/going-rural-health-blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoingRuralHealth/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoingRuralHlth