Heading home for medical placements

CREATING a strong local medical workforce starts with local training.

In Bendigo, Monash University’s School of Rural Health has been doing this for more than 20 years.

This year, over 140 Monash medical students will complete clinical placements in Bendigo and the surrounding regions.

Students are placed at Bendigo Health, where they complete a series of rotations including general medicine, general surgery, psychiatry, paediatrics, obstetrics, emergency medicine and aged care.

Fourth-year students are also placed within the wider Goldfields and Macedon Ranges shires at general practice clinics in Castlemaine, Maryborough, Kyneton, Woodend and Gisborne.

Among this year’s cohort is Bendigo local Eva Jan, who is completing her first year of placements at Bendigo Health.

Eva completed a Bachelor of Science at Monash University before being accepted into the university’s graduate entry medicine program.

“Growing up rural I was familiar with the needs and people of rural health, and it’s had a major influence on my passion to pursue medicine,” she said.

“I had heard great things about the opportunities to learn from excellent clinicians and be more involved in patients’ healthcare as a medical student rurally.”

As an End-to-End Rural Cohort student, Eva will complete most of her clinical placements in the Loddon Mallee region.

She said she’s enjoying being back in Bendigo for the year and her exposure to different departments within Bendigo Health.

“The level of healthcare provided is excellent, and I’ve had some great opportunities to be a part of the medical team,” she said.

“The hands-on experiences and chances to talk to patients and follow along on their healthcare journey has been a great learning opportunity.”

While she is keeping an open mind about her future career, Eva says her positive experiences in Bendigo have been encouraging.

“I really like regional Victoria, and there are some great hospitals and plenty of opportunities here,” she said.

“Whatever I end up pursuing, I think it would be really cool if it could help me give back to the Bendigo community in some way.”

Bendigo has become a popular training destination for Monash medical students. This year, half of Bendigo Health’s incoming interns were Monash University graduates, who completed most of their clinical training in the Loddon Mallee region through Monash Rural Health.

Monash University’s upcoming Information Evening will be held in Bendigo on Monday 27 May at The Capital, covering all of the university’s undergraduate study areas.

Head to monash.edu/discover for more information.