Second year medicine students from Sydney are enjoying country life in Lithgow for three days to attend a ‘Rural Trauma Medicine’ conference hosted by Notre Dame University staff and local doctors.
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Over the three days, the 118 Notre Dame students will be put through their paces in mock scenarios responding to patients have been injured in emergency events such as drownings, bush fires and car crashes.
“Junior medical students all come here for three days to learn about situations where patients have injuries or sustained some sort of trauma. Just then they were learning about blocked airways,” Ballarat head of school Andrew Dean said.
On the last day of the conference the students will compete to resuscitate a patient.
“We are testing their learning but it’s also a bit of fun,” associate dean of rural medicine Joe McGirr said.
Coming out to Lithgow is also an opportunity for students to start thinking about continuing their study or careers in rural areas.
“It is a taste life in Lithgow. It’s good to get the students out of the city, because a lot of them never go to the country,” Mr McGirr said.
“We also do the conference here because we want to run it as a workshop and practically speaking you need the space and a good environment.”
Five or six students from the cohort will be placed to study for a year at the rural clinical school on the Lithgow Hospital campus, others will be sent to Ballarat, Wagga Wagga or Mebourne.
Student Kir Deng said he was thinking about taking a rural placement.
“I’d be keen. I think it would be something different. It seems a bit more relaxed and hands-on than city hospitals where everyone is competing for spots. There seems to be a bit more community.”
Kir was excited about attending a bush dance at the Lithgow Workies on Thursday night.
Nikita Naidu said she found the conference’s content stimulating.
“I like hearing the exact structure doctors go through when patients present with injuries, as well as the modern developments in treating them.”
The students are staying in local accommodation, Black Gold Motel in Wallerawang and the Zig Zag Motel.