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.

It's our first edition for the new year, and already the team are busy preparing for rural placements. Some placements have already begun, and our new Extended Rural Immersion Cohort (ERiC) students for Physiotherapy begin this week.

The team are putting together a number of new initiatives for early career education this year - see our Education section for more details on one of these. We also welcome our Pharmacy network for the first time, who will be receiving the newsletter on a quarterly basis.

So here's to a great 2021 for rural health - we're here as usual to provide support to nursing and allied health students and the rural health workforce.

Going Rural Health student support - including changes for 2021

Going Rural Health Innovative Placement Showcase Webinar - recording available

Going Rural Intern Pharmacist (GRIP) Network

Goulburn Valley Regional Training Hub

The Going Rural Health Blog

Going Rural Health education (includes NEW graduate education series)

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, together with the Monash University Department of Rural Health, are facilitating a Rural Intern Pharmacist Network - GRIP Network. See the flyer below for more details.

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.

The GV Regional Training Hub was delighted to welcome our new Medical interns to the Goulburn Valley region with barefoot bowls events in both Shepparton and Wangaratta (above). A touch of competition was in the air, and some potential new bowlers scouted! A huge thanks to GV Health Shepparton and Northeast Health Wangaratta who assisted with these events.

We are looking for Mentors! We have a large group of mentees signed up to our Dr JuMP mentoring program and we need some leaders to share their knowledge and experience. Can you donate 1 hour per month?  Dr JuMP is a coordinated medical mentoring program that has now expanded Victoria wide. Jump on to www.mentorloop.com.au/drjumpportal to learn more about the program, and to sign up.

GV Regional Training Hub is excited to announce two upcoming training sessions designed specifically for medical professionals.

• Introduction to Supervision, is designed to increase your confidence in supervising colleagues and other staff. Perfect for those who are new to supervising.
• Developing a Culture of Resilience, is a short interactive workshop for medical professionals that provides skills for developing a strong culture of resilience in yourself, team and workplace.

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 - February/March 2021

STUDENT WORKSHOPS

Receiving Feedback 

• Tuesday 9th February
• Friday 12th March

Self-Care for Students

• Thursday 4th February
• Tuesday 16th February
• Monday 1st March
• Thursday 18th March
• Tuesday 30th March

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

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

STAFF WORKSHOPS

Introduction to Supervision Workshop

• Tuesday 9th February

Resilience

• Thursday 4th March

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

Advanced Clinical Supervision in Regional Centres: A Short Course for Health Professionals

Run by EXCITE trained Going Rural Health educators, this course will be presented in two parts, virtually via zoom:

• Session Part #1: Tuesday 16th March, 9am-12pm
• Session Part #2: Tuesday 23rd March, 9am-12pm

Cost: $50 (valued at $395)

To register for any of the paid workshops above for STAFF, visit the Eventbrite booking system HERE.

Mentoring Community of Practice Workshop

• Tuesday 2nd February, 2.30-3.30pm via zoom.

To register for this free STAFF workshop, 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 Interdisciplinary Graduate Education & Learning (NiGEL) Series

Going Rural Health have introduced a new FREE education series for graduates and early career health professionals in 2021 (see flyer below). This series will support new graduates and early career professionals develop their transferable skills and non-discipline-specific knowledge in health care. Sessions will be held monthly via Zoom.

For a printable PDF copy of the flyer below, click HERE.

Registration for sessions essential. Bookings are via the link on the flyer. Zoom connection details will be emailed to participants prior to the session. For more information contact:

Mitch Dunn mitchell.dunn@unimelb.edu.au or

Trish Thorpe trish.thorpe@unimelb.edu.au

Allied Health Paediatric Videoconference Series 2021

FEBRUARY:

Topic: Congenital Muscular Torticollis - assessment, differential diagnoses, management & beyond. Presented by Angela Serong - Senior Physiotherapist

When: Tuesday 9th February, 2021, 1-2pm

Book via the link HERE.

MARCH:

Topic: Introduction to Key Word Sign (Key word sign uses manual signs and natural gestures to support communication). Presented by Trudy van Meggelen, Speech Pathologist and Accredited Key Word Sign Presenter.

When: Tuesday 23rd March, 2021, 1-2pm

Book via the link HERE.

**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.

Department of Rural Health Article

The Department of Rural Health, University of Melbourne, are pleased to present their report titled: 'Interaction matters! The experiences of diverse residents of Shepparton using health services'. It presents the experiences of a range of people in their use of health services. It is hoped these findings can contribute to how Shepparton services can continue to be responsive, accessible and respectful to the many culturally and socially diverse members of our community. To read the article, use the link HERE.

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.

In 2021, Going Rural Health will be continuing to develop rural placements which may be delivered virtually, face to face, or a combination of the two modes, to allow for any changes to conditions that may occur due to COVID-19. This should mean that these placements will continue regardless of any lockdown measures that may need to be implemented by the Department of Health.

If you or your organisation have any ideas for these type of placements, and would like the assistance of Going Rural Health to develop them, please contact the team via email to discuss at going-ruralhealth@unimelb.edu.au

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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/

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