Medical students swap lectures for country life and practices through the Wheatbelt Medical Immersion Program

More than 200 medical students swapped the city lecture theatres for life in the country earlier this month, submerging themselves in country communities through the Wheatbelt Medical Immersion Program.

The program is run in partnership with the University of Notre Dame and Curtin University, and is designed to give students a firsthand understanding of rural living and health care, encouraging careers in regional areas.

This year, 210 students were placed across 14 towns in the Wheatbelt including Katanning, Brookton, Narrogin, and Corrigin where they spent four days with their host families experiencing the realities of country practice.

Deputy chief executive of Rural Health West Kelli Porter said the program was a great opportunity for students to experience country practice.

“A lot of the students have no country exposure whatsoever and this provides a rural exposure opportunity that they may not ever get to experience during their training in any other way,” she said.

Over the course of the program the students get to experience farm life, visit local hospitals and GP practices and take part in community activities at local schools.

“It’s always such a positive experience for the medical students, they go and visit local farms, they learn about what the land looks like, do farm safety tours and they get to understand the risks of working in paddocks with machinery and so on,” Ms Porter said.

“They visit industry — they visit general practices and hospitals, they meet with health professionals who have rural careers so that they can learn about the opportunities that are available to them.

“They also do a teddy bear clinic at the local primary school and they take part in community activities as well.”

Ms Porter said it was important for students to understand the importance of country work and the opportunities that are presented to them in regional areas.

“A lot of our rural professionals always say that compared to the city, the work is much more varied in the country and that the community is always so pleased to have a doctor that has a genuine commitment to working in country,” she said.

“The benefits for them is really that broad understanding of lifestyle and the health landscape and getting to know what opportunities there are for them in the country.”

This year, 86 families opened their homes to students, offering a firsthand insight into farm life, with Ms Porter saying the program would not be possible without their support.

“We could not do this without the support of the universities and the local shires and country communities as well,” she said.

“There were 86 host families this year and those families billet the medical students in on their farms or in their houses and look after them for those four days — we really couldn’t do it without them.”

Notre Dame medical student, Lincoln Bell completed his immersion in Cunderdin and said the program provided clarity about what life and medicine practice looks like in the country.

“Conversations with nursing and administrative staff at the Cunderdin Health Centre provided a clear picture of how rural health services operate, as well as the adaptability, teamwork and resilience required to deliver high-quality care in smaller communities,” he said.

“The Wheatbelt Medical Immersion Program is not simply about structured learning sessions or ticking off educational objectives.

“Some of the most valuable experiences came from the informal interactions that occurred throughout the week.

“For me, the most memorable moment was an evening of corporate lawn bowls at the recreation centre.

“There was no formal presentation or scheduled discussion, just relaxed conversations with members of the community.”