This database is compiled from student submissions and in no way represents the views of the JCU COMD. This is produced by JCUMSA based entirely on student submissions.
Please choose from the towns below for reviews from JCU students about their experiences during Year 4 rural placement:
Contents:
Queensland
Atherton
Babinda
Barcaldine
Charters Towers
Innisfail
Mossman
Thursday Island
Weipa
Queensland
Atherton
Atherton Hospital
Specialties? Emergency, Medicine, Surgery, Anaesthetics, Obstetrics
Clinical opportunities? Attending theatre ++ anaesthetics experience, emergency + resus room, ward work + intern responsibilities, obstetrics – natural deliveries and theatre
Accommodation & facilities? Accomodation is JCU owned and fantastic. Really roomy. Big apartment and share with 4 other people. 2x bathrooms, big kitchen, large lounge room. BBQ facilities and outdoor setting.
Busiest time of the day? 8am-4pm
Safety or ethical issues? Cultural challenges? Nil
How available and/or approachable were the staff? The staff were fantastic! If you are committed to a rural experience and lifestyle they will embrace you and mentor you. It was lovely to come to work everyday and be greeted by everyone and have people value you as a part of their team.
Other activities you would recommend? The tablelands has so much to do and experience! Food- chocolate, cheese and a distillery. Outdoors- heaps of walking tracks, lake Echam is great for a swim, Davies creek is really nice for an offroad trip and camping. Socially- lots of pubs, a few good takeaway joints, BBQs on weekend, cycling (both mountain bike + road bike).
Cost? Very little. Accomodation was paid for. Petrol subsidised. You just need to pay for everyday living costs.
Best bits of your placement? The clinical experience was fantastic! I had my rural in 1st term and I felt confident with my practical skills for the rest of the year. The lifestyle is also great! If your wondering what it is like to live and work rurally then Atherton is a must.
Rate the experience overall? 5/5
Rate the teaching? 5/5
What would you do differently? Wish I could have stayed longer!
Other tips? Like any placement, what you get out of it is largely what you put into it! If you’re keen, motivated and prepared to work hard then you will be rewarded 100x over. Embrace the hospital, the people and the community and you will have a fantastic time.
Babinda
Babinda Hospital
Specialties? GP, rural generalist
Clinical opportunities? Emergency Medicine, cannulation, venesection, suturing, excisions
Accommodation & facilities? Large house, good sized bedrooms
Busiest time of the day? 8am-6pm
Safety or ethical issues? Cultural challenges? Nil
How available and/or approachable were the staff? Fantastic staff! The doctor was a JCU graduate – very friendly, great for teaching.
Other activities you would recommend? Lots of local swimming holes – close to Cairns/Tablelands/Innisfail
Cost? $0
Best bits of your placement? Fantastic clinical experience, friendly hospital staff, great community, great learning environment
Rate the experience overall? 4/5
Rate the teaching? 4/5
What would you do differently? Organise internet – there is no internet provided in the house in Babinda!
Barcaldine
Barcaldine Hospital
Specialties? GP, ED
Clinical opportunities? Cannulation, phone referral and consult, suturing, casting
Accommodation & facilities? Accommodation was comfortable, shared kitchen facilities, private room, usually shared bathrooms with 2 people
Busiest time of the day? 8am-4pm
Safety or ethical issues? Cultural challenges? Nil.
How available and/or approachable were the staff? Staffs were always friendly and willing to involve you with community experiences.
Other activities you would recommend? Sight-seeing, travelling to nearby towns, outreach clinics.
Cost? Approx $700
Best bits of your placement? Involving with the community and getting to know people.
Rate the experience overall? 4/5
Rate the teaching? 4/5
What would you do differently? Do more hospital work!
Other tips? Small hospital, spending more time at the medical centre but there were many teaching sessions.
Charters Towers
Charters Towers Hospital
Specialties? ED, Gen Med
Clinical opportunities? Cannulation, suturing, venepuncture, attending theatre, history taking, physical examination
Accommodation & facilities? New accommodaiton – townhouse, 2 bedrooms, very comfortable.
Cooking utensil and equipments are complete.
Busiest time of the day? 8am-5pm
Safety or ethical issues? Cultural challenges? Nil.
How available and/or approachable were the staff? All the doctors are very skillful and keen in teaching.
Other activities you would recommend? Sight-seeing, social activities – join community for special events happen in town
Cost? $0
Best bits of your placement? Get to learn a lot of hands-on stuff. Trained to be an intern.
Rate the experience overall? 4/5
Rate the teaching? 4/5
What would you do differently? Try to be more proactive
Other tips? Involve actively in the team and you will get the most out of it.
Specialties? General, Emergency and Psychiatry, visiting outreach of general surgery, paediatrics and O&G
Clinical opportunities? Theatre, suturing, cast, cannulation, teaching, emergency, history, exam, assessment, diagnosis
Accommodation & facilities? Perculiar accomodation. Rooms door were not functional. House is very ‘ancient’ like almost can be a historical spot. No facilities.
Safety or ethical issues? Cultural challenges? Nil.
How available and/or approachable were the staff? Very approachable to most of them
Other activities you would recommend? Yes. Social activities and community teaching.
Cost? $600
Best bits of your placement? Learning new skills and working with locals from the community.
Rate the experience overall? 4/5
Rate the teaching? 5/5
Innisfail
Innisfail Hospital
Specialities available: Rural Generalist, O&G, ED, Anaesthetics + visiting paediatrics, general surgery
Clinical opportunities: Innisfail Hospital has no interns only SMOs and acting PHO’s from Cairns and Brisbane, 6th year students are expected to behave as interns. Students divide their time between the ward and ED with opportunities to attend theatre as appropriate for caesarian sections and the visiting general surgical lists. The wards provide an opportunity to hone your skills in documentation and clinical reasoning and ED provides an excellent opportunity to hone your procedural skills.
Accommodation and facilities: JCU has a 5-bedroom house with access to Eduroam.
Busiest time of day: All the time! Very rarely did I find myself lacking in something to do. I would recommend organising some evening/weekend shifts during your placement as there are fewer doctors around thus more procedural and clinical opportunities
Safety/ethical issues or cultural challenges: No safety or ethical issues encountered. Innisfail has a small population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals that frequently present to the health service with complicated medical issues. These patients provide an excellent opportunity to hone your skills in treating patients in a culturally safe manner.
Approachable/availability of staff: Staff were very approachable and welcoming. SMOs are supportive and willing to teach and will happily involve you in any procedure or clinical opportunity if you express interest.
Other activities in the town: Staff were very approachable and welcoming. SMOs are supportive and willing to teach and will happily involve you in any procedure or clinical opportunity if you express interest.
Best part of placement: Staff were very approachable and welcoming. SMOs are supportive and willing to teach and will happily involve you in any procedure or clinical opportunity if you express interest.
Overall experience rating: 5/5
Teaching rating: 5/5
What would you do differently: Take ALL the opportunities to assist in procedures and surgical scenarios – you don’t know what you like until you try it.
Other tips: Come to Innisfail prepared to work hard and learn a lot whilst having a bit of fun along the way, if you put in the effort you will be rewarded.
Mossman
Mossman Multi Purpose Health Service
Specialities available: General medicine + ED
Clinical opportunities: Ward – rounds, intern duties. ED – large clinical exposure, opportunities to hone history and examination skills with a diverse range of patients. Hands on experience including suturing/dressing, bloods and cannulas, plastering etc.
Accommodation and facilities: Comfortable 4 bedroom house in the neighborhood just adjacent to the hospital. Walking distance.
Busiest time of day: 9-11am. 1-3pm
Safety/ethical issues or cultural challenges: Very small community – often see patients at Woollies
Approachable/availability of staff: The staff are the friendliest I have ever encountered
Other activities in the town: Mossman Gorge, Port Douglas, Four Mile Beach, Daintree (including jungle surfing!), Cape Tribulation, Atherton Tablelands, Cow Bay
Best part of placement: Working with a friendly, close-knit unit who became more like friends that supervisors. Exploring FNQ region
Overall experience rating: 5/5
Teaching rating: 4/5
What would you do differently: Explore more!
Other tips: Get your hands dirty and don’t hold back from seeking new clinical experiences
Thursday Island
TI Hospital
Specialties? Rural generalist, GP. Occasionally there were visiting specialities including medicine, paediatrics, ENT, opthalmology and respiratory/TB clinic.
Clinical opportunities? There are no interns so as a 6th year you are expected to work as the intern. You will spend most of your time doing ward work and ED.
Accommodation & facilities? Great accommodation with BBQ area, surprisingly very good internet.
Busiest time of the day? 8am-5pm
Safety or ethical issues? Cultural challenges? I felt very welcome. You do need to be aware of Torres Strait Islander culture and I learnt a few words in their language.
How available and/or approachable were the staff? Very approachable and helpful.
Other activities you would recommend? Fishing and the pub is great on a Friday night. I just got involved in whatever was happing and met lots of people.
Cost? Estimated $400
Best bits of your placement? Outreach to the outer Islands, Island living and there was only 3 medical students so I was given a lot of clinical opportunities.
Rate the experience overall? 5/5
Rate the teaching? 5/5
Other tips? There is fishing rods and gear in the house for students to use.
Weipa
Weipa Integrated Health Service
Specialties? Rural Generalist, Gastrointestinal Medicine
Clinical opportunities? Cannulation, suturing, attending theatre, incision and drainage, immunisation. We were allowed to perform all skills that we felt comfortable with performing.
Accommodation & facilities? Accommodation was really modern and close to the hospital and shops with wifi facilities, own bedroom and bathroom.
Busiest time of the day? 8am-5pm and on call for emergencies requiring extra help.
Safety or ethical issues? Cultural challenges? Nil.
How available and/or approachable were the staff? Staff were very enthusiastic to teach and encouraged us to perform as many procedures as possible.
Other activities you would recommend? Four wheeled driving, fishing, yoga, other social activities
Cost? Flights $400, food available was expensive and not very fresh
Best bits of your placement? Working in the hospital as part of a team. We were given as much autonomy in our practice assist an intern.
Rate the experience overall? 5/5
Rate the teaching? 5/5
Specialties? Rural Generalist, Obstetrics
Clinical opportunities? Cannulation, suturing, IDC insertion, seeing patients on own, managing serious ED cases eg MI, anaphylaxis, outreach to remote indigenous communities, ward work and aged care
Accommodation & facilities? Nice, new, close to hospital and shops
Busiest time of the day? 8am-5.30pm
Safety or ethical issues? Cultural challenges? Nil.
How available and/or approachable were the staff? Very very friendly team.
Other activities you would recommend? Squash, touch, fishing, BBQ, parties
Cost? $0
Best bits of your placement? The people were ridiculously friendly
Rate the experience overall? 5/5
Rate the teaching? 4/5
What would you do differently? More fishing!
Other tips? Wet season from November to April – best to go later in the year
Specialties? Emergency medicine, general medicine and rural generalist
Clinical opportunities? Year 6 medical students work equivalent to an intern and perform all of the roles that would be suitable for a person at the level of an intern.
Accommodation & facilities? We were put in a house that was approx 600m from the Hospital. It was just a 10-15 min walk and there was one bike available. The house had 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms and each bedroom and living area had aircon.
Busiest time of the day? 8am-5.30pm
Safety or ethical issues? Cultural challenges? Nil.
How available and/or approachable were the staff? Extremely available and very approachable. The staff were fantastic.
Other activities you would recommend? Camping, swimming, sight-seeing.
Cost? $1000
Best bits of your placement? The range of clinical experience.
Rate the experience overall? 5/5
Rate the teaching? 4/5