vol 12, no 1 | April 2016
Rural clinical schools: a decade of success Rural communities and the health of rural people is a key focus of Flinders University. The Flinders University Rural Clinical Schools (FURCS) support health and medical students to thrive in rural clinical placements while also actively partnering with rural communities to consider rural workforce needs and research relevant to the community. Research recently published by Professor Jennene Greenhill, Associate Dean FURCS, has highlighted the benefits of long-term clinical placements in rural health services for medical students. Together with colleagues from Monash University and the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia, Professor Greenhill reviewed the achievements of rural clinical schools since the Commonwealth funded Rural Clinical Training and Support Program was introduced over a decade ago. The research team conducted semistructured interviews with key stakeholders from sixteen rural clinical and regional medical schools across Australia Australia. The responses were used to ascertain the
numbers of students, types of student placements and range of activities undertaken by each university program. The findings reveal extensive positive impacts on rural and regional communities, curriculum innovation in medical education programs and community engagement activities. Teaching facilities, information technology, videoconferencing and student accommodation have brought new infrastructure to small rural towns. Rural clinicians are thriving on new opportunities for education and research. Clinicians continue to deliver clinical services and some have taken on formal academic positions, reducing professional isolation, improving the quality of care and their job satisfaction. This strategy has created many new clinical academics in rural areas, which has retained and expanded the clinical workforce. Nine universities established programs prior to 2004 and these well-established programs are finding that graduates are returning to rural practice. University admission policies encourage applications ad from rural students m rur ural al stu tudents and d extensive exte ex tensive research rese re sear arch ch evidence shows rural-origin students are likely like kely l to become rural practitioners. practitioners. Additional capacity for research in rural clinical uenced cllin i ic ical al schools sch c oo ools ls has has positively pos osititiv ivel ely inflflue enc nced ed the rural health agenda in fi elds including ag gend da fie eld ldss in incl cluding epidemiology, epid demiologyy, population p pu po p la atition on n health, hea ealtlth, h, Aboriginal Abo b rigi g nal health, aged care, mental health h al he alth th,, ag age ed car are e, men e tall heal health th and and suicide suicid de prevention, prev pr even entition on, farming fa g families fami fa milies and
climate change. There are now strong research partnerships with rural workforce agencies, research centres for early career researchers and PhD students. Flinders Rural Health SA is actively involved in research, teaching and community development throughout rural South Australia. FURCS signifies a commitment to, and collaboration in, rural health research and encourages community engagement. Through research the community can understand the health challenges and better plan for the future. Additionally, undertaking quality post-graduate research locally facilitates staff retention rates and attracts clinicians to the region. In this way rural health research can provide a powerful vehicle for further strengthening interconnections in rural communities. Rural health research at Flinders University is experiencing exciting changes brought about by increased collaboration between the Schools of Medicine, Health Sciences and Nursing and Midwifery. FURCS FURC CS research ch themes the heme mess include i clude rural in clinical education, primary health service clinical cal educa catiton, he evaluation and development, inter on and development nt, professional professsi sional al education, edu ducation on, rural health career pathways, pathwayss, Indigenous Indige eno n us health and rural mental health. A list of current research healtlth. h resea arc rch h is available to view at: www.fl inders.edu.au/ vie ew ww inderss.e .edu du.a au/ medicine/sites/furcs/ medicine/sites/ffur urcs/ jennene.greenhill@fl jennene.gr gre eenhil ill@ l@ @flinders.edu.au inde in ders de rs s.edu .e edu.a .au u elena.rudnik@fl inders.edu.au elen el ena. a.ru rudn d ik k@fl @fliinder nde s.edu.au