Your Placement Experience

Flinders University Rural and Remote Health SA is funded by the Federal Government’s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) program to support medical, nursing, midwifery and allied health students undertaking rural and remote health placements. The RHMT program is a health workforce initiative seeking to positively influence health students to choose to work in rural and remote Australia.

In 2022, we were successful in obtaining a grant to expand the RHMT program, specifically in allied health, into smaller communities. You may hear reference to the “Expansion Grant” which is the funding that has enabled us to work together with the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network and other universities to establish this new Aboriginal Health student-led clinic in Barmera.

The clinic will grow from a playgroup held at the Barmera Aboriginal Health Wellbeing Centre, with community members bringing children along to the playgroup. You will be part of a group of students from speech pathology, physiotherapy and occupational therapy disciplines to provide healthcare to patients across the spectrum. The interprofessional clinic will have an inter-generational focus and Indigenous cultural learning throughout.

You will be among the first students to participate in this clinic and we are relying on your assistance in consultation with the staff at the health service and development of the clinic. Initially you may do some sitting around or just sitting in on sessions while we build the relationships with the local Aboriginal community - this is ok. The community needs to be comfortable with a student presence in the clinic before we can expand the servicethis is your training on cultural safety coming to life! You will walk away from this placement with a lot of “soft” skills, which are often harder to learn than your therapeutic discipline specific skills.

Your week will be split between the Barmera Aboriginal Health Wellbeing Centre and the Community Health team based in Berri. Whilst your patient load will initially be low in Barmera, you will have exposure to a more broad range of patients during your time in Berri. Your supervisor, Jess Press, is an Occupational Therapist employed in Berri and she will work closely with you and the Speech Pathology, Physiotherapy and OT teams in the region. You will also be supported by cultural advisors.

Rural & remote areas offer you a diverse and unique learning experience!

Expect to work:

 With patients across the lifespan

 Across multiple health care areas

 Within a multidisciplinary health team

 With a variety of cultures

Have a go at:

 Volunteer at community events

 Joining local clubs

 Exploring with other students

Four laptops are available for your work in the Barmera clinic.

A mobile phone is also available for loan when visiting patients in their home or away from the clinic. Please note that the phone is only for emergency use and not for general day to day use.

To borrow a laptop and/or mobile phone please complete the Loan of Equipment form on page 30 and return to naomi.thomas@flinders.edu.au

If you are required to do any outreach visits in your own vehicle, please refer to page 14 for information on financial support.

During your placement you may be away from your family and friends for an extended period. This can be difficult so ensure you have a plan in place to stay in touch with them by phone calls, text messages, video calls and/or social media.

If you are struggling, don’t hesitate to reach out to your ‘support crew’ listed on page 6 for assistance and support.

Flinders University counselling services are still available even though you are not at the main campus - appointments can be conducted via phone or video call depending on your needs. See https://students.flinders.edu.au/support/hcd/counselling for more information.

If you’d like to talk to somebody face-to-face, a local psychologist is available in the Riverland: Elissa Corlett, phone 0447 858 323. You will need to identify yourself as a Flinders Univeristy student and Elissa will invoice the university (completely confidential - no student indentification is included and the invoice is paid centrally so no-one involved in the program will know you have accessed the service unless you advise us).

The Flinders University Out-Of-Hours crisis line can be reached between 5:00 pm - 9:00 am on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends and public holidays: call 1300 512 409 or text 0488 884 103

The Regional Access program offers free professional telephone and online counselling 24 hours a day and seven days a week for people living in rural South Australia. This service will connect you with a local health service for additional support if required. See https://saregionalaccess.org.au/ for more information.