NEW research into the needs of trainee doctors turns the often held perception that a rural placement negatively affects academic results, on its head.
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In fact going rural could be a great career move for the next generation of Australian doctors, according to the researchers from the University of Queensland.
UQ research team conducted in-depth interviews with 25 medical students and 41 junior doctors from Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne in a landmark study commissioned by the Rural Health Workforce Australia. The study found that the variety and opportunities presented by rural training may give medical students an important professional edge.
“The next generation is looking for quality experiences that will develop their skills and boost their career prospects. As a sector, we need to highlight the opportunities for hands-on learning, working in smaller teams and broader scope of practice. Going rural gives you all of that and more,” says Greg Mundy, CEO RHWA.
And the research is supported anecdotally and in the exam results of many trainee doctors, including Patryck Lloyd-Donald.
"I would definitely recommend it to other students if they are serious about performing well academically.”
- Patryck Lloyd-Donald
Originally from Albury in New South Wales, Lloyd-Donald believes the experience he gained in placements in the Victorian regional centres of Bendigo, Maryborough and Mildura, helped him perform strongly in his exams and has been instrumental in elevating academic scores of other rural placement students.
As a member of Monash University’s 2011 Extended Rural Cohort stream, he believes students in this group performed better academically as their rural experience provided superior formal academic teaching as well as better exposure to clinical skills.
”It’s been pervasive as statistically it has been shown our cohort did better than the mean in the 2014 examinations which is a really positive indictment of the whole program,” Lloyd-Donald says.
“I think is a really positive thing for rural health in general.”
The 2011 Extended Rural Cohort stream was designed for students interested in practising medicine in a rural or regional location. The members undertake the majority of their clinical education within hospitals and community-based practices in northern rural and regional Victoria.
Lloyd-Donald believes there are a number of reasons why studying in a regional centre is paying high dividends for those willing to take the plunge.
“In rural placements there are smaller ward round sizes and in Bendigo we had a maximum of two students per ward round which made us feel more part of the team,” he says.
Tutorial groups were also generally smaller with a maximum of eight students per group. This coupled with greater exposure to consultants and registrars who often conducted impromptu tutorials, a practice that is allegedly less common in the bigger centres.
The opportunity to parallel consult in the General Practice segment of a rural placement is also beneficial.
“You see a patient first and then the GP comes and you can present the patient and they will work through it with you. In that way you are not a bystander sitting in the corner of the room which a lot of my mates in the city were,” Lloyd-Donald says.
Opportunities and experiences abound in rural placements that generate greater confidence which he believes would never be afforded to students in large city hospitals.
An example of this would be when he was on placement in Maryborough and was called at 2am to assist with an emergency caesarean section where the patient wasn’t able to be transported to nearby larger town, Ballarat.
He says that medical students have previously been steered away from rural placements by a misconception that if they go rural they won’t perform as well on exams.
“I think it can be really positive to reframe rural health away from simply promoting the lifestyle aspect and of it being a more relaxed place to be, to promoting the academic and clinical exposure you get.”
With medical students more aware than ever of the importance of good grades as they must compete for a short supply of junior medical positions, Lloyd-Donald says a rural placement will give students the advantage they need.
“To me it is really positive as it was not only a really fun year, but we did better comparatively so I would definitely recommend it to other students if they are serious about performing well academically.”