HOPE4HEALTH Annual 2013/14

ANNUAL 2013-2014

Featuring: Healthy Start Check It Out PNG Elective Teddy Bear Hospital

Engaging

INDIGENOUS . LOCAL RURAL . INTERNATIONAL Communities

CONTENTS All about HOPE4HEALTH

Page 2

2014 Executive

Page 3

President’s Address

Page 4

Vice President’s Address

Page 5

Jazz Dinner Dance

Page 6

Healthy Start

Page 7

Papua New Guinea Project

Page 9

Spirit of Healthy Horizons

Page 11

Student Elective Aid | Red Party

Page 13

Jungle Party | Birthing Kits Assembly

Page 14

Ubuntu Through Health

Page 15

Sumba Project

Page 16

Local Portfolio | Check It Out

Page 17

Shave For a Cure | Op Shop Ball

Page 18

SUP Day

Page 19

Teddy Bear Hospital

Page 20

Teddy Bear Hospital Cherbourg

Page 21

Cherbourg Volunteer Dental Hospital

Page 22

Rural Portfolio | Clinical Skills Trips

Page 23

Midnight Muster

Page 25

Speech Pathology

Page 26

Alumni | Major Sponsors

Page 27

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2014 HOP4HEALTH Annual Compiled by Karen Bui | Edited by Oscar Close | Laura De Souza

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ALL ABOUT HOPE4HEALTH HOPE4HEALTH (H4H) is a non-profit organisation and registered charity founded by Griffith University students in 2006.

What was initially a small medical student run organisation, now boasts over 1,000 members from all health disciplines. Our organisation is focused on eliminating health inequality wherever it exists. H4H aims to improve health outcomes for local, rural, indigenous and international communities. We achieve our goals by coordinating awareness raising activities for our members including guest speaker seminars, clinical skills trips, teddy bear hospitals and much more. Each year we also host corporate and student fundraising events, including Jazz Dinner Dance and Red Party.

Almost 6 months later, on August 25th 2006, HOPE4HEALTH was registered as an Incorporated Association and Charity with the Office of Fair Trading, Queensland. Less than 12 months on from that the proposed gala ball – the inaugural Jazz Dinner Dance – was held in May, 2007 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. The evening was a stunning success! There were over 400 guests, a new BMW was sold at auction, and entertainment was provided by Con Artists jazz big band. Most importantly $60,000 was raised for the ‘Ghana Project’ and HOPE4HEALTH was prepared to achieve even greater heights.

History In early 2006, as the sun was setting over the Broadwater in Southport, a group of first year medical students were conversing in The Anglers Arms Hotel after a long day of lectures. One of the students was telling his peers of an exciting project that was being undertaken to build a hospital in Ghana, West Africa (shown below). Inspired by this opportunity, each of the students wished to make a contribution and discussions began about ways to increase awareness and support for this project – one of which was to host a gala charity dinner for the health and business communities of the Gold Coast.

Our organisation has been moving from strength to strength ever since. Annually, over 25 programs are run across our Local, Rural, Indigenous and International portfolios, with our enthusiastic members and dedicated executive are adding more each year. In 2013/14 alone five new projects – Birthing Kits Assembly Night, Check It Out, Deadly Ears Indigenous Placement, an International and Indigenous Health Conference and the PNG Project – were developed.

HISTORY

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2014 EXECUTIVE President John Leou Vice Presidents Oscar Close | Laura De Souza Treasurer Michael Crew Secretary Gabriela Kelly Assistant Treasurer Nathanial Chandra Senior Sponsorship Officers Sally Fry | Sarah McNamee Junior Sponsorship Officers Sneha Vidyasagar | Anisha Alluri | Ruby Lee Director of Publications - Karen Bui Local Portfolio Holders - Alistair McCombe | Cameron Harrison Teddy Bear Hospital Coordinator - Umesha Pathmanathan Wonderfactory Coordinator - Shi Shi Zhang Rural Portfolio Holders - James Dando | Shaun Purcell | Heather Angell Indigenous Portfolio Holders - David Dae Gun Je | Pushpraj Arora Cherbourg Dental Hospital Coordinators - Michael Baker | Vidya Krishna | Neil Evans International Portfolio Holders – David Flynn | Nimanthi Malawaraarachchi | Sanjana Danj Student Elective Aid Coordinators - Praneel Kumar | Eesharnan Mahendran Healthy Start Coordinators - Kris Salaveria | Laura De Souza AMSA Global Health Representative - Jessica Stenberg Ubuntu Through Health Representatives - Beth Hamilton | Stephanie French | Jessica Van Den Heuval Dentistry and Oral Health Representatives - Neeraj Vyas | Lauren Bolta | Samridhi Ojha Speech Pathology Representatives - Louise Sadler | Sheena Rowe Biomedical Science/Medical Science Representatives - Shruti Yardi | Tien Chen Nutrition and Dietetics Representatives - Heidi Neil | Ishtar Sladdin Nursing & Midwifery Representative - Shane Gower Physiotherapy Representative - David Reid Social Work Representative - Heather Angell

EXECUTIVE TEAM

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PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

Throughout 2013 and 2014, HOPE4HEALTH has

To complete the rest of the year, HOPE4HEALTH

grown not only in our membership base, but also

still has the Red Party – raising money for HIV/

in the number of community engagement

AIDS research and Graduation breakfasts’ for

projects that we run. Through our hard work

both the medical and dental cohort of 2014.

engaging with indigenous, rural and local

I t h a s b e e n a g reat h o n o u r t o b e t h e

communities we have been able to become one

HOPE4HEALTH President in 2014 and I would just

of the largest health student clubs in Australia.

like to personally thank every executive member

There have been many notable projects that have

for doing amazing work this year. Furthermore, a

been introduced in the last two years. These

big thank you goes to the keen and interested

include Healthy Start – a refugee health literacy

volunteer members who have helped out so

program, CheckItOut – a community screening

energetically throughout the year to make every

program. Furthermore, in conjunction with QRME

event a success.

and the School of Medicine, HOPE4HEALTH has

However, most importantly, I would like to thank

been able to create a connection with and

Laura De Souza and Oscar Close, this year’s Vice

provide ongoing support to a rural hospital in

Presidents who have put in hours and hours of

Kiunga, Papua New Guinea.

work to ensure that our organisation runs

HOPE4HEALTH hasn’t been idle in its fundraising

smoothly and efficiently. They have helped to

achievements either. Our team of enthusiastic

leave HOPE4HEALTH in a better position in 2014

Ubuntu Through Health volunteers were able to

than it has ever been and I am personally

raise $30,000 for their project in Africa in 2013.

indebted to them for their great work.

The 2013 Jazz Dinner Dance raised $20,000 to be

So whether you are reading this HOPE4HEALTH

spent on medical supplies in Kiunga, Papua New

as a student member, sponsor, or attendee at Jazz

Guinea – with the first funds to be used on a much

Dinner Dance, I would just like to thank each and

needed ECG machine. Now this year, we need

every one of you for your contribution to our

your help to raise money for our increasingly

organisation and in turn for helping the wider

important work with refugees through the Healthy

community.

Start program, so if you are at the JDD this year and you are reading this letter, please open your

John Leou

wallets and donate generously!

President 2014

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VICE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS 2014 has been a year of continuing and consolidating the initiatives of the forward thinking past executive members, as well as the inclusion of exciting new events for the HOPE4HEALTH calendar.

The year kicked off with the highly anticipated annual Midnight Muster, the rural event of the year raising funds for the Royal Flying Doctors Service. Rural high school visits, clinical skills trips and the annual Rural Doctors Association Queensland conference, this year held in Brisbane were just some of the continuing successes thanks to the brilliant Rural portfolio team Heather Angell, James Dando and Shaun Purcell. In the Local portfolio, big thanks to Umesha Pathmanathan and Shi Shi Zhang who continued the great work of Teddy Bear Hospital and Wonderfactory, and everyone’s support for the Leukemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave.

Sadler and Sheena Rowe who piloted inaugural trips to Cherbourg for the speechies. We also had new involvement from two very passionate Dietetic students Ishtar Sladdin and Heidi Neil who organised a stand up paddle boarding day down at Currumbin which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Our Biomedical Science representatives Shruti Yardi and Tien Choo also initiated a new women’s health night with a documentary showing to encourage awareness and give ideas to students on how they can get involved.

The international team also continued with the Birthing Kits Assembly night which was initiated last year, and packed a total of 600 safe birthing kits to be sent to Papua New Guinea. Big thanks goes to all the students who came and helped, and particularly the International Portfolio coordinators Flynn, Sanj and Nimanthi for putting it all together. This is a practical way for student input to go a long way to better health for women giving birth in developing countries. The Spirit of Healthy Horizons (SOHH) Conference also ran for another successful year incorporating two days of incredible speakers and practical workshops around International and Indigenous health.

Thanks to the Indigenous coordinators Manu Aurora and David Je for your collaboration with International team.

The Sumba Foundation team led by Andrew Lange had a flying start this year with a trip to the island of Sumba to begin their relationship with the community by providing malaria nets with the funds they have raised. Likewise, the Ubuntu Through Health team have continued their projects with again a very successful gala dinner at Victoria Park raising funds for a paediatric hospital in Timor.

From the beginning we have always tried to foster a culture of support, encouragement and fun for all health students to be involved in our projects. This year, we have been impressed by the initiative of incoming exec and student members. Adding within the Local portfolio we had the addition of new health screening and promotion event Check It Out which has involved a huge amount of effort from coordinators Cameron Harrison and Alistair McCombe and their team - to great success.

We've had our greatest involvement from Allied health to date – particularly from Speech Pathology with Louise

In August last year we saw the introduction of our newly refurbished website, the result of many hours of hard work of our previous President Skyle Murphy, Vice Dan Cattanach and some excellent assistance in the IT and communications department from now final year medical students Nimai Etheridge and Laura Renger. We have aimed to consolidate their work by updating and expanding the website and its functionality with technical assistance from IT guru David Maletsky. We are now able to receive donations directly through the website which will help us to more readily garner financial support for all H4H projects. In terms of our financial position, we have been fortunate to have a hard working sponsorship team led by Sarah McNamee and Sally Fry who have continued the important relationship with our valued sponsors.

We are extremely pleased to have our very own Healthy Start, a health education program for newly-arrived refugees as the beneficiary of this year’s Jazz Dinner Dance.

Huge thanks to Kris Salaveria and the team for running incredibly successful sessions with benefit to both the refugee clients and student volunteers.

Big thanks to our secretary Gabriela Kelly, treasurer Michael Crew and assistant treasurer Nathaniel Chandra for all their behind the scenes efforts to ensure smooth running of the club. We would also like to extend our thanks to Professor Broadley, Dean of Medicine and the entire Griffith School of Medicine as well as Prof. Cripps and a number of Griffith staff who have always provided much appreciated support to HOPE4HEALTH. Above all, this year would not have run as smoothly as it has without the guidance of our President John Leou who we have thoroughly enjoyed working with as a team.

There’s plenty more to look forward to in the next few months and coming year, and we look forward to seeing the club grow even further to bigger and better things.

Laura De Souza | Oscar Close Vice Presidents 2014

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JAZZ DINNER DANCE

education to the a rural community in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. Keep reading this annual to hear more about the exciting plans for the program.

The Jazz Dinner Dance (JDD) is our annual gala charity ball. It is the biggest event of the club’s calendar and is planned and organised by two central event organisers alongside the entire executive. Each year votes are taken from the team as to the beneficiary, where individuals have the opportunity to put forward an up and coming project or known area of need to support. This can be on an international, indigenous or local level. There is great potential for the night to raise much awareness and funds for some incredible projects.

Over the last few years the funds raised from the JDD have been used to provide significant support to international projects in particular. These have allowed much needed funds to help build a hospital in Dabaa, Ghana, establish a nutrition program in South Africa with the Ubuntu Through Health group, and outfit a catheterisation laboratory in Fiji alongside the organisation Fiji Heart.

With the increasing support that the JDD has obtained over the years, the 2014 ball is set to be the event of the year! It is heartening to see the JDD this year supporting a local project with an international element, H4H’s homegrown refugee health education project Healthy Start. There is great potential for this year’s funds to go a long way in ensuring the longevity and efficacy of the project, as well as raising general awareness of positivity that can surround refugee health in Australia when the right attitude is taken.

The 2013 HOPE4HEALTH Jazz Dinner Dance was again a great success. It was held at the spectacular Marriott Resort and Spa, Surfers Paradise, housing over 300 guests. Attendees included a large range of health professionals, students and local members of the Gold Coast and surrounding communities who enjoyed a three course meal, flowing beverages, live and silent auctions, plus an incredible live jazz band to dance the night away to. Thank you to Cassandra Peoples who organised the event, with countless hours of work to make it a successful and entertaining evening for all.

The proceeds from the night which neared $20,000 were used to aid a a multidisciplinary support program in PNG. This is a relatively new initiative headed by QRME and supported by H4H. The aim is to provide support in the form of resources, equipment and

JAZZ DINNER DANCE

There are certainly many other budding new projects out there just waiting to be taken on by an event like this, within and surrounding the H4H sphere. The JDD in itself has a lot of scope to adapt and change to best suit how it can support projects, and we look forward to seeing where this event will be taken in future years!

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HEALTHY START

Healthy Start is a preventative health education project that allows health students to both learn from and educate newly arrived refugees in Australia with the aim of increasing their health literacy. The program was started by a small group of Griffith University medical students back in 2010, and after a great deal of trialling and planning has been fully off the ground and running for over a year now.

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With assistance from the Multicultural Development Association (MDA), Refugee Health Queensland, the Mater Hospital and several independent GP’s around Brisbane, the project’s initial goal was to develop a one-day health information and education, interactive workshopstyle program for newly arrived refugees in the south Brisbane region.

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Healthy Start in currently only running in Queensland, with joint efforts from a committee of medical and allied health students in HOPE4HEALTH (Griffith University), MAD - Making a Difference (BOND University) and TIME Towards International Medical Equality (University of Queensland). It is now in the early stages of expansion to southern states of Australia.

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Teaching modules on the day include General Health, Nutrition, using GP’s and hospitals, Men’s Health and Women’s Health. These modules have been developed with the assistance of experts in the field to be run on a 20-minute rotation basis,

HEALTHY START

with student volunteers leading the sessions by engaging the volunteer cultural support workers MDA provide for interpreting services when needed. The refugee clients have opportunities to be involved in what they learn, ask questions and focus on areas of interest. The project provides the session free of charge run covering costs of interpreters, lunch for the day, and also a takehome show bag for clients to have a memory of the day and hopefully reinforce some of the healthy messages from the day.

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In 2014 the project has run 5 sessions with refugee clients from a range of backgrounds – Iranian, Afghan, Somali, Tamil, Sri Lankan just to name a few. There have also been a number of sessions run specifically tailored to youth and young adults, who are arguably stand to gain the most benefit with this program to bring knowledge and confidence to their bright futures in Australia.

Basic healthcare such as nutrition and the role of a GP are emphasised, but also important issues that may be taboo in other circles such as adolescent and sexual health, pregnancy and contraception are discussed with the young people in a culturally sensitive and safe way. This is the beauty of the program in that the gain of the refugee clients is just as great as the experience gained by students in communication, cultural awareness and professional practice.

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STUDENT WORKSHOPS

WOMENS HEALTH MODULE

Prior to involvement in the sessions the student volunteers are invited to a training workshop that was designed by the Healthy Start executive team. It aims to give students a basic understanding of temporary visas, the definition of asylum seekers versus refugees, and also their level of health care in the transit process. There is then an opportunity for the students to hear from the executive team of their experiences, tips and tricks for running the sessions, and subsequently have a go leading a ‘mock’ session with their peers. It is as much about familiarising with content of the modules as orienting themselves to this style of teaching. The modules are designed such that anyone from a health background can follow and deliver them, so the focus of training is more on presentation, interpersonal and cultural skills that will naturally develop further with experience.

also indebted to the team at MDA – lead by Nikki Wynne, Belinda Aldridge and Troy Nicholls - who make everything possible from client organisation, to venues to cultural support workers. Finally to our founding executive team for your never ending enthusiasm and support – Laura Renger, Kara Boyle, Jack Henderson, Oscar Close (pictured below) and Priya Sekar from Bond University, Katherine Wyld from UQ, Ashlee Nicholls from QUT and the original brains trust who has been behind the scenes supporting the program, Marrillo Jayasuriya.

Refugees arriving to Australia are more than likely fleeing war and persecution and have tackled many adversities to make it this far. Healthy Start hopes to give them the basic health knowledge they need to keep themselves and their families safe and well in their new life in Australia. We also hope the program will allow these new Australians to better share and integrate into their communities, beginning with GPs and health practitioners. By enhancing knowledge of the crucial aspects of health and the healthcare system whilst fostering a strong foundation for successful settlement in Australia, HS hopes to improve the future health outcomes for this at risk population.

We are honoured and blessed to have the support of the Jazz Dinner Dance 2014, and we hope this will allow us to continue the projects work well into the future, enable expansion and reach more new Australians each year.

Kris Salaveria and Laura De Souza Healthy Start Coordinators 2014

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We would like to extend our huge thanks to all the students that have participated in the sessions this year and made the great work the project does possible. Acknowledgement needs to go out to Medicare Local who have been our financial supporters from the beginning, thank you. We are

HEALTHY START

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA PROJECT continuing education of these individuals through the provision of text books as well as basic medical equipment for their practice and use.

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HOPE4HEALTH has established a community support program in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.

Alongside Queensland Rural Medical Education (QRME), we have established a connection with two hospitals – one in Kiunga and one in Rumginae both located in Western PNG. PNG has one of the least developed health care systems in the world. People living in PNG face significant risk of infectious disease including high rates of tuberculosis and HIV. The emphasise this, just over 1 in 20 children die before the age of 5. In addition to this, other problems include malnutrition, malaria, poor maternal health as well as trauma. These health problems are worsened by the fact that 85% of the population live in rural areas (WHO).


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Thanks to the generous support of the Gold Coast a n d G r i f fi t h U n i v e r s i t y community in their generosity at last years JDD, we have continued moving forward with our support program. Our first significant investment has been the purchase of an ECG or 'heart monitor'. The need was identified following reports that heart attacks were being missed due to lack of detection protocols which at the core of detection is via the information provided by an ECG machine.

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We plan to sustain funding for the purpose of providing medical equipment, medical supplies and educational materials for these hospitals and the surrounding communities. Currently, a significant portion of medical care is delivered to locally trained, community health workers in these areas. We have begun to facilitate the

INTERNATIONAL PORTFOLIO

Along with material assistance, HOPE4HEALTH members are undertaking their final year medicine elective at these clinics which was initiated by QRME under the guidance of Prof. Scott Kitchener. QRME is an organisation involved in the training of Rural Generalist Medical Practitioners in QLD and will oversee the electives both in terms of logistics and as medical supervisors for students placed in PNG. Students live and work in the western province of PNG over a 6 week period and provide valuable assistance to the local health care system. Being general hospitals, the students will experience all aspects of medicine including, emergency, general medicine, surgery, obstetrics and infectious diseases. Not only does this placement program benefit the western province, but this will also give Griffith medical students the opportunity to contribute to a community and hopefully inspire them to continue to develop the health care system in PNG throughout their professional careers.

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The areas of need have been identified as follows: basic medical equipment (stethoscopes, BP monitors etc); medical supplies (including all gloves, bandages, medicines, disinfectant gel; educational materials (including text books); medical student related placement expenses (including HIV prophylaxis kits, infectious disease medications and a basic travel allowance). Having H4H members in the area would also allow us to monitor and better control the aid element of our project. Students have also been e d u c at i n g t h e l o c a l health workers in skills such as ECG interpretation, as a key goal of our involvement in these clinics is to provide long lasting and sustainable support.

Oscar Close | Laura De Souza | Daniel Cattanach PNG Program Representatives

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SPIRIT OF HEALTHY HORIZONS

The Spirit of Healthy Horizons Conference (SOHH) conference is a tri-university event, which brings together students from H4H, TROHPIQ (UQ), Bushfire (Bond University) and prominent health figures to celebrate positive initiatives in Indigenous and International health.

The aim of the conference is to supplement the education of health students by providing a showcase for knowledge of both international and indigenous health issues and positive interventions. The aim was to inspire students to follow the footsteps of our speakers who will have worked both overseas and locally to improve health outcomes in areas of poverty or where healthcare is suboptimal. There was also an aim to highlight the realities of medicine outside our tertiary hospital districts and for our attendees to gain a broader perspective on social and political issues that directly affect the health of a community.

Essentially the weekend was about going further than just highlighting the issues to showcase what’s actually being done about them.

SOHH 2013 Fo l l o w i n g u p o n t h e s u c c e s s o f 2 0 1 2 , HOPE4HEALTH expanded SOHH to run across the first weekend of August with an inspiring showcase of positive health initiatives in Indigenous and International health. The student-run conference featured a number of speakers with extensive

INTERNATIONAL & INDIGENOUS PORTFOLIOS

international health and indigenous health experience, a range of hands on workshops and discussion groups, and an interactive Q and A panel.

Day 1 focused on positive health interventions and experiences on an international scale. Dr Neil Wetzig, General Surgeon opened the weekend with stories of his extraordinary experience serving several years in Congo during wartime, where he was forced to improvise and help out in any way possible using his extensive surgical experience. Assoc. Prof.

Clare Nourse - Infectious Disease Specialist then spoke about her experience in Malawi, Ethiopia and Timor Leste. Prof. Scott Kitchener - Medical Director of Queensland Rural Medical Education – spoke about his time in Papua New Guinea and opportunities for 4th year students to complete an elective there. Assoc. Prof. Anne Sneddon - Chair of the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics, along with Professor David Ellwood - Obstetrics and Gynaecology – were the final speakers of the day, who spoke about the challenges of advancing maternal health in developing countries.

Day 2 focused on positive interventions and projects in the sphere of indigenous health. The day began with a welcome to country and in the spirit of celebrating the rich culture of indigenous

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Aboriginal dance troupe. Matt Brown from Deadly Ears opened the day of speakers with an informative discussion on the impact of healthy ears and hearing on everything from early education to later employment and wellbeing.

The esteemed Dr. Judith Goh then spoke about her ongoing work as a urogynaecologist on the Mercy Ships. We then had Dr. Robyn Silcock, an inspiring junior doctor who shared her experiences working with MSF. The indigenous health day was equally inspiring. Matt Brown from Deadly Ears again

Next up was the incredibly inspiring Paul Pholeros from Healthy Habitats. Paul has spoken at events such as the AMSA Global Health Conference in 2013 so we were honoured to have him speak about his projects where he links the importance of clever home and structural design with aspects of health such as waste management and general hygiene; an area of public health that stands to make a huge difference to communities. We also had Dr Mark Loane, a very well respected ophthalmologist who works in indigenous c o m m u n i t i e s i n N o rt h e r n Queensland speak about his work and the impact of restoring healthy sight in these communities. The day finished with a number of hands-on workshops for the students to get involved with including otoscopy, cultural presentations and boomerang painting.

graced us with his presence.

We heard from Roianne West, the fi r s t i n d i g e n o u s registered nurse to become part of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses, esteemed ophthalmologist Dr Denis Stark who works with the Indigenous and Remote Eye Health Service (IRIS), and Dr Geoff Spurling who is an incredibly passionate GP working at Inala Indigenous Health Service. Again the students participated in hands on workshops, this year including dermoscopy.

SOHH 2014 The conference continued in the same fashion as the previous two years and was again a great success, spread over the first two weekends in August. The international health day began with Dr. Barbara Bell who spoke about her work in setting up the structures and protocols for a safe blood bank in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with the Red Cross.

INTERNATIONAL & INDIGENOUS PORTFOLIOS

Each year the conference is an enormous challenge for the convenors but it is an event that we have grown to be very proud of as we see the impact it has on motivating students. We look forward to seeing it develop even further in the future.

Kurt Thiele (2013) | Manu Aurora | David Je (2014) Indigenous Coordinators

Laura De Souza | Oscar Close (2013) Nimanthi Malawaraarachchi | Sanjana Dang | David Flynn (2014)

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PNG ELECTIVE

Daniel Faux, Griffith MBBS graduate and former Rural Portfolio Coordinator and NRHSN Co-Chair

I was lucky enough to see Messie again 4 weeks later for review and removal of her cast (shown below). At this point the bone was healing well and no long-term problems were expected, despite the cast being a distant representation of its original form.

In 2013 I was privileged to be among the first group of Griffith University Medical Students, supported by QRME, AbtJTA and Oktedi Mining, to undertake a 6 week medical elective at Kiunga, a small community in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. I honestly can say it was one of the greatest medical and personal experiences I have ever had.

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My time in PNG taught me more than medicine. It taught me compassion, respect and gratitude.

Compassion for the people I saw suffering from illnesses easily treated in Australia.

Respect for the staff that work to provide the best medical care with the limited resources and training. Gratitude for the healthcare we are able to access and provide in Australia.

The hospital at Kiunga is back to basics with the doctors, nurses and community health workers doing an incredible job with the limited resources and training available. The scope of medicine and surgery there encompasses what is seen in Australia, along with a vast number of tropical and notable public health diseases thrown into the mix.

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In my time at Kiunga I saw colds, diarrhoea, sciatica and fractures all common occurrences in any Australian ED or General Practice. However, each alternate patient may present with the diagnostic challenge of leprosy, HIV, malnutrition, malaria, TB or ringworm, to list a few.

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I met Messie, a 3 month old girl, and her mother in the outpatient’s department of Kiunga District Hospital after they were referred from an outlying village. She was the first patient I independently managed in PNG and she was the first patient that led to a connection between myself and the local people. She had a fractured femur sustained after her mother slipped over in the mud 2 days prior to her presentation. I was responsible for her cast and care which was a daunting experience given I’d never casted a fractured femur before, let alone one on a baby.

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INTERNATIONAL PORTFOLIO

It also taught me that the human body and spirit is strong.

I saw a lot of life threatening conditions that would be managed at a tertiary hospital in Australia. However between the patients, their families and the healthcare providers in Kiunga these patients had positive outcomes, despite initial uncertainties they would survive, let alone make a full recovery.

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I hope that the continuing link between Kiunga and Griffith University medical students increases the number of these positive outcomes via the provision of resources and sharing of knowledge. I would strongly recommend anyone, particularly those interested in rural or international health, to undertake an elective in Kiunga. It changed my perception of life and will undoubtedly change yours.

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STUDENT ELECTIVE AID The Student Elective Aid (SEA) program has a vision of health disparity effacement. It achieves this aim by providing medical equipment to impoverished countries for overall improvement in healthcare delivery. SEA endeavours to distribute medical supplies to resource-poor countries by recovering surplus medical equipment that would have otherwise been discarded in Gold Coast and Brisbane medical clinics.

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A stark example representing the gap in health care between nations is seen when low- and middleincome countries account for 90% of the global burden of disease, but only 12% of global spending on health. In light of this disproportionate allocation of resources, SEA facilitates the delivery

of much needed resources from Australia to developing c o m m u n i t i e s t h ro u g h G r i ffi t h Medical Students during their fourth year elective placements. So far in 2014, SEA has organised donations to East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Peru and the Solomon Islands.

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This support from medical students not only addresses healthcare burden, but also allows students to remunerate local communities for their invaluable learning experience. It is also a testament to the generosity of medical centres in South-East Queensland who provide the medical supplies to SEA.

Angeline Papajcsik & Samantha Nataatmadja, 2013 MBBS graduates, travelled to Uzima Mission Clinic in Mwandege in Tanzania. The clinic runs on donations alone & serves the local community – seeing over 100 people daily and delivering 50-60 babies/month.

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Praneel Kumar | Eesha Manhendran SEA Coordinators 2014

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RED PARTY - HIV SUPPORT A w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d a n d m u c h l o v e d p a rt o f HOPE4HEALTH’s social calendar, the Red Party has been run annually for the last 5 years and is designed to raise awareness of the continued spread of HIV in developing nations. In the past 3 years, Griffith has joined forces with Bond Universities’ international health society MAD to run an even more successful event. We hope that by combining our resources, we will be able to improve upon previous years’ Red Parties and raise more money for what is a great cause.

Last year, the event was held at Main Beach Surf Club with all funds raised going to the Fijian Network for People Living with HIV and AIDs (FJN+). FJN+ is a UNAIDS supported charity which has received widespread accolades for their successful and innovated approach to combating the spread of HIV and AIDs within Fiji. FJN+ uses a multifocal approach; combing educational seminars on how best to prevent transmission and manage HIV, with on the ground medical care.

INTERNATIONAL PORTFOLIO

In 2013, we met out goal of raising $4000 so thank you to all those who joined us for an excellent night of music and enjoyed the dance floor that was flooded in red!

This is an excerpt from an email from Membership Support and Treatment Care Officer on the ground for FJN+ in Fiji, Emosi Ratini, following the event’s success “FJN+ is now addressing some of the priority needs for people living with HIV in Fiji utilizing the funds donated last year. The program has been carring out home visitations in the community in order to measure their living conditions such as housing and general nutrition.

Some examples of the priority needs currently being provided by your funds include: A flush toilet and bathroom to 4 people, water tank to assist 3 mothers who cannot otherwise access clean drinking water. “ Red Party is held annually in September so keep an eye out for your international coordinators in the lead up to the event!

PAGE 14

JUNGLE PARTY On Friday the 11th of April Ubuntu through Health and the International Hope4Health Executive threw the inaugural Jungle Party at Swingin’ Safari in Surfer’s Paradise. This event attracted over two-hundred students from within Griffith Medicine and Allied Health as well as students from other Universities. Over $2000 in proceeds was raised, achieved by $10 ticket sales for Hope4Health members and a BBQ held in the week leading up the event. All proceeds have been given to the International Hope4Health Birthing Kit’s Evening (7th May) to fund the

making of birthing kits to be sent to Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea has one of the highest neonatal mortality rates in the world, which can be effectively reduced by the provision of a simple birthing kit. We thoroughly enjoyed organising this event, particularly in having Ubuntu through Health and International Hope4Health work together towards promoting positive international health outcomes. Hopefully it will be the first of many to come!

BIRTHING KITS ASSEMBLY Following up on the inaugural event last year where 400 kits were assembled and sent to Uganda, another successful night thanks to the attendance of our helpful members. This year 600 safe birthing kits were packed which will go a long way to improving the status and health of women in Papua New Guinea where they will be sent. The students had the opportunity to hear from a wonderfully passionate guest speaker Georgina Kelly, an extensively experienced midwife who's worked in developing countries such as PNG, where she had seen these types of birthing kits put into practice. It was inspiring to hear her stories, see her photos and put into perspective the aims of the evening.

The birthing kits contain a small number of very basic yet important supplies that each have an important role in

INTERNATIONAL PORTFOLIO

increasing the safety of delivery and aftercare of birth in places where equipment is either not affordable or not readily available. 6 items are placed in each pack; a large plastic sheet is folded in to be used as a clean area for delivery - it helps with waste disposal and prevents the baby coming in contact with the ground; a piece of soap for the birthing attendant to adequately wash their hands before using the pair of latex gloves when assisting, to minimise transmission of bacteria; pieces of string to tie off the umbilical cord; scalpel to cut the cord in a sterile manner; clean gauze to wipe secretions from the baby’s eyes and the mothers perineum. This small intervention has been lauded for its affordability and ability to reduce perinatal infection.

We are proud to contribute to our neighbouring countries and this years delivery to PNG adds to our contribution there.

PAGE 15

UBUNTU THROUGH HEALTH Ubuntu Through Health in 2014: A Closer Cause

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Late last year saw two of our members, Warren Fayers and Emma Cottle, travel to Dili in Timor Leste, just an hour north of Darwin, to spend time at what has now become our newest project; The Bairo Pite Hospital.

They were met with a wall of heat and humidity, as they took in the smells and sounds of bustling Dili life; mounds of rubbish heaped in the streets and in waterways, sewer systems emptying into the sparkling ocean where naked children swim.

!

The Bairo Pite Hospital (BPH) is a 55-bed inpatient hospital, which also attends up to 300 outpatients per day. One man, t h e e x t ra o rd i n a r y D r D a n Murphy, sees these 300 patients. In less than 2 minutes, Dr Dan is able to determine whether a patient is sick enough to be admitted as an inpatient, requires treatment under the Tuberculosis program, or is safe to go home with a prescription of whatever antibiotics, lotions or vitamins he knows is in the clinic’s pharmacy stores.

He does this day in, day out, six and a half days a week, every week of the year.

He is a truly remarkable human being.

!

Visit: ubuntuthroughhealth.org

INTERNATIONAL PORTFOLIO

trained), and the gaggle of medical students who have chosen BPC as an elective.

During the two and half weeks that Warren and Emma spent at the clinic, they saw cases of neurocysticercosis, periodic hypokalemic paralysis, Addison’s d i s e a s e , p i t u i t a r y t u m o u r, advanced cancers, leprosy, a severely malnourished baby and an unsuccessful neonatal resuscitation. This was amongst the endless cases of tuberculosis, abscesses requiring drainage, and the odd traumatic animal bite.

!

All of Ubuntu Through Health’s members were touched by the stories that Emma and Warren came home with, and motivated to help this hospital to improve upon the wonderful care it is already giving for some of our closest neighbours. Upon their return, the team began to plan our 2014 annual fundraiser, which we held on Friday August 1st and were able to raise over $28,000 for this incredible cause. 100% of these generously donated funds will be going to support the paediatric service at BPH. All had a fantastic night, and we can’t wait to see the real changes that these funds are going to help to make.

!

UTH 2015 Representatives Beth Hamilton | Jessica Van Den Heuvel | Stephanie French Below: the UTH Team

Meanwhile, the inspirational Dr Charlotte Hall, an Infectious Diseases registrar from the UK, is busy looking after the 55 inpatients, with the help of the clinic nurses (both locally and internationally

PAGE 16

SUMBA PROJECT Sumba is one of the poorest islands in the Indonesian archipelago. With little to no access to basic health care, clean water or education thousands of Sumbanese people die every year from very preventable causes. Severe illness due to malaria, tuberculosis, malnutrition and dysentery are common.

!

Last year Hope4Health launched a new initiative called the Sumba Project in conjunction with the Sumba Foundation Australia (now Surfaid Sumba). The project was conceived with a number of aims in mind. In the shorter term the team set out to contribute to some of the wellestablished programs the Foundation had already implemented on the island. In the longer term the value of this project lies within the relationships this project will forge between the medical students involved and the impoverished island of Sumba. It is our hope that as these students become doctors and move through their careers they will continue to provide aid to the island to help lift the standards of healthcare into the future.

!

To facilitate both short and long term aims, the team set out to establish an annual trip to the island. Over the past year the team raised money for the purchase of malaria nets and in June 2014 embarked on the first annual trip to Sumba in order to distribute these nets to the community.

!

Prior to leaving, the team had several special water filters donated by the surf company Hurley. These devices are able to filter bacteria from water and ensure it is safe to drink without going through the lengthy boiling and sifting process that is otherwise required. The team installed these in schools and delivered general hygiene education to the children.

!

After Dr Stephen Nolan OAM, CEO of the Sumba Foundation joined us we distributed the nets we had purchased to a number of villages in the Lamboya region. Here the team met Blindi, an 8 year old boy who

INTERNATIONAL PORTFOLIO

contracted malaria two years ago and suffered severe brain damage.

While he was lucky to have survived the infection, he now lives much of his life tied to a post inside a makeshift cage at his home. He is kept in the cage for most of the day, because while his parents are at work earning the equivalent of a few Australian dollars a day to buy food and essentials, there is no one else to look after him. While its one thing to read statistics about the prevalence of malaria and the devastating consequences of the disease, it is another thing to have experienced the stark reality of these statistics on the ground.

!

Joined by Andrew Judge (Surfaid CEO) and Anne Wujits (Surfaid Regional Manager Indonesia) the team helped assess some of the water distribution networks in Patiala Dete. We were also lucky enough to workshop with Andrew and Anne on fundraising, project sustainability and what we hoped to establish into the future. Our final days were spent learning about malaria with world expert Dr Claus Bogh and helping out with a health clinic in the rural area of Kodi where 62% of the children tested were found to be positive for malaria.

!

The trip was a great success and the team is already looking forward to next years trip and the programs we are planning to put in place on the ground. We are hoping to increase both the team numbers and money raised for the trip in 2015 to further establish this as an annual expedition into the future.

!

We would like to thank everyone who has helped support the project in its first year, without your generous donations and support none of this would have been possible.

! !

Sumba Project Coordinator
 Andrew Lange

Visit: thesumbaproject.org

PAGE 17

CHECK IT OUT HOPE4HEALTH’s Local Portfolio was designed to empower Griffith Health students to get involved with projects close to home. The aim of this portfolio is to encourage students to develop a philanthropic mindset that can be carried through into their future careers. To this end the Local Portfolio has developed a number of student run initiatives that provide tangible benefits for the local Gold Coast community. In addition, the portfolio also actively supports local charity partners including the Leukaemia Foundation and Radio Lollipop.

One of H4H’s new events in 2014 is the Check It Out program.

Check It Out is a major Gold Coast community health screening and education event that strives to actively engage the local (and wider) Gold Coast population. The event provided members of the community with the information they needed to look after their health, as well as screening them for common preventable and manageable conditions such as diabetes, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and mental health.

This event, held at Southport Sharks Football Club (Gold Coast), attract numerous Griffith Health students, exhibitors and community members.

some of the procedures they have learnt as part of their degree programs.

!

Exhibition stalls included representatives from Diabetes Queensland who were conducting a Type 2 Diabetes risk assessment, Snore Australia, All Sports Physiotherapy, Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia and Sharks Fitness, who provided their body composition scales which were very popular.

!

Students from health disciplines including Medicine, Nutrition, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Speech pathology and Exercise Science were available to offer members of the public a range of free health tests including blood pressure, blood sugar, BMI and cholesterol levels. It was great to see a good number of people come along, participate and engage with the various stations, ultimately taking control of their health. Many people were very keen to get their health tests carried out and have their results recorded in the booklets they were provided with. It was also excellent experience for all the students to be able to put into practice

LOCAL PORTFOLIO

Earlier in the year, the Check It Out team were invited by Medicare Local and Woodridge Senior High School out to the Woodridge Health Expo (shown above). This served both as a trial run for our event in August, and a chance to interact with the high school students on health awareness and behaviours. Most of the children had never had things like their blood pressure checked, and so our stall was very popular. The positive feedback received from Medicare Local and the students gives us motivation and confidence going forward for our own event in August, as well as attending similar expos throughout the Gold Coast and rural southeast Queensland in the years to come. students gives us motivation and confidence going forward for our own event in August, as well as attending similar expos throughout the Gold Coast and rural southeast Queensland in the years to come.

PAGE 18

SHAVE FOR A CURE The World’s Greatest Shave initiative ra i s e s m o n e y f o r t h e Le u k a e m i a Foundation who provides practical and emotional support to people with blood cancer, as well as investing millions in research. Each year blood cancers affect 11,500 Australians. HOPE4HEALTH’s Local team is proud to support this fantastic organization to continue to provide its services free of charge to the patients and their families affected by blood cancers. In 2013, the brave Yasu Hamilton stepped up and shaved her long locks to massive crowd support.

2013 will also be remembered for the debut of “Wax-A-Paz”, where members donated money to tear a wax strip from second year medical student Pascalino’s body. Unfortunately his body had not fully recovered by March 2014, so Angelica Triant put her hand up, going from 2 feet of hair to a #2 buzz cut in a matter of minutes. This took the total amount raised over the last 2 years to over $5000, both on the day and thanks to their personal efforts in the weeks leading up to the shaves.

OP SHOP BALL HOPE4HEALTH kicked of the year in style at the 2014 launch party - the annual Op Shop Ball, held this year at the newly refurbished Helm Bar. We're not really sure how to describe the style of most of our members' outfits, but they were stylish nonetheless. We doubt any of the clothing items had double-digit price tags, some fashionistas actually chose to accessorise their kits by leaving the price tags on the clothes. We saw everything from denim bras, faux cowskin vests, terrible wigs, even worse hawaiian shirts, and of course a few gorgeous cross-dressers.

!

This event grew from its humble beginnings as Fun Shirt Friday – a day where students showed

LOCAL PORTFOLIO

support for local charities such as the Red Cross and St Vincent De Paul Society by donning the loudest pre-loved shirts they could find purchased from local second-hand stores.

!

Over the last 3 years of running this event, the Local team have managed to raise over $2000 for Radio Lollipop at Gold Coast Hospital. Radio Lollipop provides care, comfort, play and entertainment for sick children in hospitals.

Cameron Harrison | Alistair McCombe Local Portfolio Coordinators

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PAGE 19

SUP DAY 2014 also marked a year of H4H endeavouring to facilitate more allied health student involvement than ever before!

And what better way to meet, greet and bond than in the sun and surf of the beautiful Gold Coast.

!

The SUP day was a great way to hone those water-sport skills and get involved with H4H, some for the first time. This event was purely to encourage inter-health discipline mingling and bring students together. Everyone knows that building networks with like-minded people is the first step to creating amazing future opportunities for collaboration!

With cracking weather, a great BBQ and a sunset over Currumbin Creek, all who came are counting down the days until next year’s event.

Heidi Neil | Ishtar Sladdin Dietetics Representatives

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PAGE 20

8/09/2014 3:05 pm

TEDDY BEAR HOSPITAL 2014 has been a

It has been very rewarding to be able to teach

fantastic year for Teddy

children content that they had not known previously.

Bear Hospital and

Feedback from the schools have been very positive,

Wonder Factory. Teddy

saying:

Bear Hospital is a great initiative aimed at teaching positive health behaviours to school children aged 4-7 in a non-threatening manner by using teddy bears as “patients”.

During May and June, a group of volunteers visited each school and ran sessions for about one hour. The program places an emphasis on sun safety, looking after their teeth, what to expect at the doctors, recognising that they are not to touch medications, how to call an ambulance and the importance of

“ It was great that most activities had some hands on things for the kids to do…”

“Some of the activities were covering content that we had/about to cover in class so this provided another learning experience which was fantastic…”

We have also been sending volunteers every Saturday to Wonder Factory, an initiative of Working Wonders.

In this, our volunteers have great fun playing with sick children and their siblings at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.

This is such a remarkable

program which makes children smile during a difficult time in their lives that a lot of us are unable to imagine. This has been quite a rewarding experience

exercise and healthy eating. The volunteers use the teddy bears to make the session interactive and enjoyable, giving the children the best learning experience possible.

This year, we have had a very successful season and were able to run close to 20 sessions, more so than possible any other year. We were able to teach locally at primary schools in the Gold Coast but we also collaborated with the Indigenous Portfolio in HOPE4HEALTH to deliver sessions to an Indigenous

and we hope to continue our relationship with them

School in Cherbourg, QLD. New to this year, Teddy

next year.

Bear Hospital expanded to 2 schools in the Logan region, both of which have a high population of refugee students and are of a lower socioeconomic status compared to neighbouring suburbs.

A massive thanks to Roman and Jane from Medicare Local for picking up Teddy Bear Hospital and helping us in expanding, as well as providing some fantastic resources.

Also to the School of Medicine, Griffith

This has been a great step for us in expanding TBH, as

University for being our major sponsors. Finally, many

we are reaching out to the schools which have had

thanks to Working Wonders for letting us be part of

great need for it. This has only been one step in the

Wonder Factory.

expansion, with the program beginning to include other schools with the help of Medicare Local.

Umesha Pathmanathan | Yong Shi Zhang Teddy Bear Hospital and Wonder Factory Coordinators 2014

LOCAL PORTFOLIO

PAGE 21

CHERBOURG TBH The Cherbourg Teddy Bear Hospital is

Cherbourg including the

an ongoing initiative led by

Ration Shed, Hospital and

Hope4Health Indigenous portfolio

Community Health Centre,

which is also recognised by the School

and the Audiometry Van. It

of Medicine as a practical placement

was a real eye-opener to

7th

most students to see the

May, the 18 first year medical students

rich history of the town and

and 5 speech pathology students very

experience rural and

successfully delivered the Teddy Bear

Indigenous health services.

Hospital to the Cherbourg State

Overall, the trip was a jam

School in years 1 to 7. The children

packed and memorable

have been eagerly waiting for this

one, from which everyone

annual event, and it was a joy to teach

could take away something

the enthusiastic children health

valuable for their future

principles, with an emphasis on the

health career.

for first year medical students. On

!

approachability of doctors, dentists and speech pathologists, as well as

Testimony:

prevention practices for common

“My Teddy Bear Hospital

diseases affecting Indigenous children

placement at Cherbourg

such as Otitis Media, and scabies. It

State High School was my

was a program enjoyed by all involved

first visit to an indigenous

– the Hope4Health “Teddy Doctors”,

primary school.

school teachers and principal, and

Delivering health promotion to the children of Cherbourg truly

most of all the children. The latter half

showed me the value of the Teddy Bear Hospital program, and

of the day, before the return journey,

how TBH plants a seed of healthy habits, which is nurtured by the

w a s d e d i c at e d t o v i s i t i n g a n d

school environment and grows at home. I think every medical

exploring community services around

student should have the opportunity to visit indigenous

It was a very humbling, positive experience.

communities and primary schools, to appreciate the value of health literacy amongst our indigenous and younger communities.” – Jupinder Kaur, 1st year Griffith medical student.

Pushpraj Arora | David Je Indigenous Portfolio Coordinators

INDIGENOUS PORTFOLIO

PAGE 22

CHERBOURG DENTAL HOSPITAL In 2010, a group of dental students attended a regular HOPE4HEALTH Teddy Bear Hospital primary school health education visit held in Cherbourg, Queensland’s t h i rd l a rg e s t I n d i g e n o u s c o m m u n i t y l o c a t e d approximately 250 kilometres north-west of Brisbane.

While providing basic dental hygiene instructions to students at the primary school, it became apparent that the oral health of the community was in a bad state, with no regular dentist, despite a dental chair being available at the local medical centre. Further research found that the closest QLD health dental clinic was an hour away, with a waiting list of over two years.

Dental student Tessa Byrne saw this need in the community and the dental chair as an opportunity to relieve the pain and discomfort of the local people caused by the high level of decay and poor or absent oral hygiene. She ran a pilot volunteer dental clinic program later in this same year, taking dental students, portable equipment and consumables provided by Griffith University and a supervisor out to provide emergency dental care to those in pain due to oral disease.

Now, in 2014, the baton has been handed to Michael Baker, Neil Evans and Vidya Krishna. These students have worked to create a sustainable service to the community with patients being treated each year on one-week long visits attended by dental students and their supervisor. The project not only offers the opportunity for local residents of Cherbourg to receive dental care, but also provides dental students with a clinical and social experience like no other.

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This year, the team has been fortunate to secure the ADAF Wrigley grant once again. This combined with the generosity of Griffith University’s School of Dentistry and Oral Health has allowed the program to continue running. Consumables, and specialised equipment have been purchased to allow students to continue helping the wonderful people of Cherbourg. We are proud of what we have achieved this year at the clinic where our September visit saw the hospital undertake over 120 examinations and procedures making it one of the most successful trips to date. We look forward to sustaining this workload in 2015 and ensuring the community maintains contact with the clinic thereby improving their dental health long term.

The project was a lot of hard work but an excellent success and inspired many other dental students to get involved. The project was solidified in 2011 with David Baker and Kylie Arnot establishing a Memorandum of Understanding with the highly supportive Barambah Regional Medical Service in which the emergency clinic runs. In 2013, the program was passed over into the capable hands of dental student Ryan Goh who helped in seeing a record number of 123 patients over a 5-day period.

INDIGENOUS PORTFOLIO

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Involvement in HOPE4HEALTH has opened the doors to endless opportunities for dental students to attend rural conferences and social events, with a move to multidisciplinary involvement, meaning dental participation is highly supported and even favoured in the selection of participants. We hope to continue to grow in number and establish continuity with the great projects already in action.

Michael Baker | Vidya Krishna | Neil Evans Cherbourg Volunteer Hospital Coordinators

PAGE 23

RURAL CLINICAL SKILLS Each year Hope4Health Rural cakes on the makeup, squeezes into a cocktail dress and shimmies down the r u n w a y i n p l a i n v i e w o f t h e l at e s t b at c h o f impressionable young medical students. Our objective: to tempt these brave young folk into the eventual pursuit of a career in rural medicine.

Health inequalities between the bush and the city are significant despite all the amazing work that’s been done to address them. Rural Australians live shorter lives under a greater burden of chronic disease than their urban counterparts. Today’s young medical students, the

Kingaroy

doctors of tomorrow, will provide important solutions to

First on our list of destinations was the peanut capital of

this, one of our most intractable problems.

Australia – Kingaroy. The excitement was palpable during

One of Hope4Health’s most effective marketing strategies has proven to be the staging of the rural clinical skills trips. This year Hope4Health has held three rural clinical skills trips to the towns of Warwick, Kingaroy and Stanthorpe, with a further trip to Dalby planned for later in the year. The limited places available are usually

the three hour drive, and we were immediately impressed by the rich scenery of the South Burnett. Our journey also allowed us a brief stopover to take in the sights at Wivenhoe Dam at its best. The first event upon arrival was dinner at the local RSL with the wonderful folk from QRME and students currently placed at Kingaroy.

hotly contested as students clamour for the opportunity

We started the next morning at QRME’s clinical training

to gain insights into a life of rural practice.

facility at the Kingaroy Hospital for a clinical skills training

The clinical skills trips this year were a great success.

Students were exposed to rural practice in its most alluring and enticing form. We expect that this year, once again, places on QRME’s rural placement program Longlook will be highly sought after. Not all of these young students will eventually come to practice in rural or remote areas. But the resolution of Australia’s dramatic health inequalities will be the fruit of many enterprises.

The recruitment of junior doctors, perhaps following on

session. We received valuable training in the essentials of cannulation, airway management, and plastering, under the excellent supervision of Dr Nova Evans and the current Longlook students. A tour of the local hospital followed, allowing us a rare look into the ins and outs of a rural hospital. The rest of the day was left open for students to explore Kingaroy, with half of the group leaving to start an impromptu game of ultimate Frisbee at the local park.

from a positive rural experience while still at university,

Dinner at one of the Kingaroy’s wonderful wineries could

will be just one of them.

not have been more picturesque, where we were greeted with a beautiful sunset over the vineyard and surrounding hills. We eventually left our dinner site with much reluctance, and concluded the night with a trip to the local pub.

To round out the trip, it would not have been fitting to leave without a quick visit to the famous Kingaroy Peanut Van.

RURAL PORTFOLIO

PAGE 24

Warwick

bustling local RSL, where students

The next trip in May of this year

engaged in a boot-scootin’ dance-

saw us leaving for the lovely town

off with bemused

of Warwick on the Southern

locals, to the strains of the well-

Downs. First stop on our trip was

known classic, ‘nut bush city limits.’

the historical Warwick Hotel,

Log fires abounded, which was

where we were greeted by a lovely

fortunate, given plummeting night-

log fire. A number of current

time temperatures, exacerbated by

Longlook students joined us for

a wonderfully crisp and clear night

dinner, which allowed us the

sky.

opportunity to learn more about

Next morning we rolled our weary

the many benefits of rural

bodies out of our toasty beds and

placement.

On Saturday morning we departed

hosted by Queensland Rural

for Warwick Hospital for our

Medical Education on clinical skills

clinical skills session, beginning

including suturing, cannulation, and

with a tour of the excellent

plastering. Fortunately no patients

facilities of the hospital and the

were harmed, and nor were they

adjacent residential care service.

ever likely to be, given that our

Following the tour we had our

deft skills were employed only on

clinical skills session at QRME’s

plastic models, cow tongues and

training facility, with a heavy focus

each other.

on obstetrics. We tried our hand at

birthing, neonatal resuscitation,

We were lucky enough to count,

and cannulation, followed by an

amongst a number of expert

extensive case-based scenario led

tutors, the former president of the

by the Longlook students. All this

R u r a l D o c t o r ’s A s s o c i a t i o n

hard work left us rather hungry, so

Queensland, rural generalist Dan

we decided that a trip down to

Halliday. It is telling that a man in

Thulimbah was in order to sample

his position would so happily give

the famous apple pie at Sutton’s

up his Saturday morning in order to

Juice Factory. Finally, we could not

tutor a group of junior medical

resist a visit to the Granite Belt

students, telling of the generosity

Brewery for dinner and a taste of

and altruism found in rural settings

the local craft beers.

such as Stanthorpe, where doctors

Stanthorpe Our most recent trip to Stanthorpe began with dinner at a local brewery, the first opportunity to sample local produce from a region famous for the quality and variety of its fresh and fermented ingredients. An impromptu pub crawl ensued, taking in the

RURAL PORTFOLIO

into the hospital for a session

work cooperatively in the service of their communities. An afternoon visit to several local wineries then followed, finishing up with a trip to Mt Marlay to view the sunset over Stanthorpe. Dinner that night was spent with QRME and 3rd year medical students currently placed in Stanthorpe.

PAGE 25

MIDNIGHT MUSTER Night fell to the sounds of Rick Barron tuning up on stage, and going on to play a cracking set as partygoers jostled for a turn on the mechanical bull and surfboard. With the crowd imbibing freely, and DJ Naloxone dropping in for a killer late set, the party kicked on late into the night.

!

Each March HOPE4HEALTH presents one of the biggest parties on any medical student’s social calendar – the infamous Midnight Muster. The B&S styled event brings together over 350 health students and friends for one loud, large, old fashioned party in the name of charity. Each year students head out to Beaudesert Race Club to spend a night camping under the stars, listening to live music and indulging in a BBQ feast, all the while raising money for the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

There were some tired eyes in the morning, but, for once, no sodden equipment or damp pyjamas to further trouble hearts already burdened by industrial strength hangovers and the consequences of an illadvised liaison. As always, the scouts served up a good old country breakfast of bacon, eggs and sausage before our restored group scattered to the different corners of SE Queensland. The residents of Beaudesert could once again breathe easy. Until next year, at least.

!

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The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) is one of the largest and most comprehensive aeromedical organisations in the world. Using the latest in aviation, medical and communications technology, it delivers extensive primary health care and 24-hour emergency service to those who live, work and travel throughout Australia.

Beaudesert locals were warned to lock up their daughters (and sons) one Saturday night earlier this month. There could only be one reason: the infamous Midnight Muster, Hope4health’s annual fundraiser for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, had once again rolled into town.

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Crowds gathered under a clear Beaudesert sky, with no rain or clouds in sight: the notorious Muster curse had finally been broken. Tents were erected, eskies emerged, frisbees brought out as groups settled in for a long and productive evening of frivolous debauchery, all in the name of charity. Our Aussie heroes included a motley crew of tennis stars, cricketers, swagmen, and, of course, loveable bogans.

Best-dressed went to a team representing our iconic beers, the judges unable to settle fierce competition between XXXX and Toohey’s New and instead opting for a draw.

RURAL PORTFOLIO

A big thanks to all the helpers who put in their time on the night to ensure the event went off without a hitch: Oscar, John, Laura, Cameron, David, Sam, Matt and Estelle. Thanks also to the Scouts and Beaudesert Race Club, and particular mention to our performers, Rick Barron and the incomparable Saad Ahmed, aka DJ Naloxone.

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Shaun Purcell | James Dando | Heather Angell Rural Portfolio Coordinators

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SPEECH PATHOLOGY Joint GUSS (Griffith University Speech Students) / H4H Welcome Back BBQ: The year started really well with this opportunity for the final-year students to welcome the new student. Hope4Health generated a lot of interest and new members. On this occasion we also introduced the mentorship programme with almost all of the final-year students signing up, demonstrating a real commitment to supporting our colleagues.

specifically to organise activities with the children of the holiday care programme run by the Gundoo child care centre. The aims of the trip were toTo gain a better understanding of Aboriginal culture and language, provide a positive experience to the people of Cherbourg, maintain relationships with the people of Cherbourg and to sharpen our clinical skills in relation to assessment and intervention.

We planned 7 stations (5 for younger children and 2 for older children): nature walk, collage, making a library bag (with the community’s ear health message: “healthy ears hear better”), book reading (using “Budburra books” made by people in Cherbourg), making a banner (including a word cloud about ear health and the link to learning), cards and games, and creating a video of the day. The session was attended by 20-30 children, aged from 7-13. This trip was much more challenging compared to the Teddy Bear Hospital trip. We were in a highly unstructured environment and as such it was difficult to engage the children at times. We had to be flexible and creative in order to provide activities and experiences for the children that we had on that day.

Pickle is a local elder who conducts ear checks and services all the schools in the local area – providing a culturally appropriate and relevant service. He showed us his state-of-the-art van and demonstrated the use of his equipment. After that we went to the Ration Shed Museum and learnt about the history of the Cherbourg settlement. At this time we also had the opportunity to meet with a speech pathologist employed by Queensland Health who spoke to us about her experiences in working in Cherbourg.

Teddy Bear Hospital - Cherbourg On 7th May, 5 final-year students were fortunate enough to join a group of medical students delivering the Teddy Bear Hospital Programme to the children of Cherbourg State School.

Overall we had a successful clinical skills trip measured by the positive reflections of the students and staff from Deadly Ears, the smiles on the faces of the children, and the fact that we have been invited to return to the community next year.

We organised and ran the Otitis Media Station. This preventative health information is particularly crucial due to the high prevalence of otitis media in Indigenous communities, and, indeed, in Cherbourg. Otitis media has grave implications for children as fluctuating hearing loss results in difficulties for children in developing speech and language, and in turn, literacy. Our station was very well received and the children were very responsive to our message. (Although I think they taught us a lot more than we taught them!)

Check It Out: Speech pathology was proud to be involved in the program. We provided education on topics such as typical paediatric speech and language development, stuttering, the importance of book reading, and when to see a speech pathologist. We were also joined by student representatives from Speech Pathology Australia and the Australian Aphasia Association’s Aphasia Social Group (a Griffith University student-run group).

Overall, this has been a very productive and positive year for speech pathology involvement in H4H, and I will be working hard with the new representative to continue this into next year.

After meeting with the Head of Special Education Services, we were invited to the pre-prep room where we had the delight of playing with the children. Overall, our trip to Cherbourg was positive and unforgettable, and it is my wish that Griffith University Speech Pathology, Hope4Health, and the community of Cherbourg will continue our partnership for years to come.

Clinical Skills Trip - Cherbourg On 2 July 9 final-year Master of Speech Pathology students, 1 health promotion officer and 1 speech pathologist from Deadly Ears, and 2 4th-year JCU speech pathology students (on prac in Kingaroy) visited the Aboriginal community of Cherbourg,

Louise Sadler Speech Pathology Coordinator

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ALUMNI HOPE4HEALTH prides itself on its continuing support from Alumni after they graduate and enter the working world. Student members are welcomed into the HOPE4HEALTH Alumni Program at the annual Alumni Launch and Finance Night held in May prior to final year electives.

There is a second opportunity for sign up at the Alumni Graduation Breakfast held in December.

opportunities, promote events to esteemed colleagues, and provide support on a background of prior experience to the club and its executive team.

The events are organised by the sponsorship officers and executive team to help foster that spirit. Final year students from medicine and dentistry have the opportunity to hear from our sponsors MIPS, Avant, Hillross and Investec, about finance options for young dentists and doctors and how best to manage their newly acquired wages.

With the addition of tax deductibility of monetary gifts currently pending, it is our hope that this will soon encourage Alumni and the wider community to provide a small level of financial support that will bolster the club’s overall running costs, and also provide an avenue for graduates to contribute to HOPE4HEALTH’s future work. We are very grateful for the support and involvement of a few key Alumni members in recent years – Benjamin Wakefield, Brodie Quinn, and also Marty Brewster who was on the founders of the organisation.

Alumni working in the health sphere are in a unique position to be able to seek out new

With plans for new alumni events in 2015, keep an eye out for whats in store for you.

MAJOR SPONSORS

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