The NRHSN Medical Portfolio consists of 2 Senior and 2 Junior Medical Liaison Officers, and despite our fancy titles, we are simply everyday medical students with a keen interest in rural health! We are here to represent the views and concerns of medical students to the NRHSN, and work with the NRHSN exec to ensure issues important to the future rural and remote medical workforce are raised and heard. We take part discussions with key stakeholders including the:
Australian Medical Students Association (AMSA)
Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM)
Bonded Support Program (BSP)
John Flynn Placement Program (JFPP)
Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand (MDANZ)
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)
Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA)
Medical Portfolio 2010 Goals
Our portfolio team has set ourselves the following goals which we are busy working on this year. Get in touch to get involved or if you would like to find out more!
Organise and run the medical discipline lunch at this year's NURHC - we will post a summary of the outcomes from the lunch here soon
Update and release NRHSN position statements on the MRBS and BMP programs
Release NRHSN position statements on rural internship and vocational training positions
Begin preliminary work on developing a rural vocational training guide for medical students interested in the possibilities of a rural career
Medical Portfolio Position Statements
One way we advocate for the student perspective is by developing NRHSN position statements. We will post updated versions of these here during the year. Feel free to email us your thoughts or if there is an issue you would like us to look into further.
Calling for John Flynn Students!
We want to hear from John Flynn students about what you think about the program, any issues you have had, what you think is missing, and any suggestions you would like to make as to how the program could be improved!
The NRHSN Medical Portfolio is organising a teleconference in August or September for NRHSN members who are John Flynn students to jump onto to hear your thoughts, and will represent these in our next discussions with the JFPP team.
So get involved and be represented. Email your interest in contributing to the teleconference to medical@nrhsn.org.au.
Thinking rural medicine but don’t know where to start?
In 2010, in response to NRHSN medical student member feedback at the 2009 National University Rural Health Conference, we are embarking on a project to develop a rural vocational training guide as a go-to resource for medical students interested in the possibilities of a rural career. We are currently looking for medical students from each Rural Health Club to work with us on this exciting new venture – so get in touch and be part of it! Email us at medical@nrhsn.org.au. If you are a stakeholder and can assist, get in touch with us – we’d love to hear from you.
Go rural with a scholarship or placement experience!
Interested in getting more rural experience? Our portfolio has put together a summary of rural and Indigenous scholarship and placement opportunities available to medical students across the country. Check it out here! The following scholarships are now open:
The Australian Government introduced a new scaling initiative in the 2009-10 Federal Budget affecting a range of programs that have a return of service obligation, including the BMP, MRBS and HECS Reimbursement Schemes. The Department of Health and Ageing is managing the transition process for over 3,000 BMP and MRBS participants. Deeds of Variation are being offered firstly to doctors who are about to begin their return of service. So far variations have been offered to the most of the 2001 and 2002 cohorts, and will continue to be sent out to all participants who are affected by the changes. For the latest details, please refer to www.health.gov.au/bmpscheme. We are following the progress of these changes and will keep you informed when we have more information.
Look out for new networking events as part of the Bonded Support Program (BSP)
There are a few changes this year to the Bonded Support Program administered by ACRRM for BMP and MRBS students. Conferences are now only available to final year students (includes 3rd and 4th year students of a 4 year degree and 5th and 6th year students of a 6 year degree etc.) and junior doctors. A new addition to the BSP are annual networking events which will be hosted by ACRRM in conjunction with Rural Health Clubs where there is a medical school. These are aimed at BMP and MRBS students and will provide participants with the opportunity to hear from guest speakers, meet other BSP participants, Rural Health Club members, and receive assistance with future study and training decisions. Email us what you think about these changes.
Got a great rural experience to share?
Join us as we continue to spread the word that rural is the place to be! Send us anything from photos to an article you’ve written about your experiences taking medicine rural and remote. Email medical@nrhsn.org.au and you could see yourself published in the next RACGP National Rural Faculty Bush Alert magazine, COOEE! or another impressive rural health mag!
