On the Edge of the Possible: Educational Transformation at Flinders, Harvard and Beyond
Presented by Dr David Hirsh

Dr David Hirsh is a General Physician at Cambridge Health Alliance in Boston. His oration will describe how Flinders and Harvard Universities are together leading a world-wide transformation in the way doctors are trained to meet the technological and societal demands of the 21st century.
Dr Hirsh has served as the Medical Director of the City of Cambridge Healthcare for the Homeless Program. He has received numerous awards for his clinical teaching including the Harvard’s Daniel D Federman Outstanding Clinical Educator, the Harvard’s Robert H Ebert Teaching Award and the Harvard’s AAMC Humanism in Medicine Award.

View Flyer: 2011-waterman-oration-flyer

View recording of NT presentation

Wednesday October 19 2011 12.00 noon - 1.00 pm
Health Science Lecture Theatre Complex
No charge - No bookings Signposted from main entrance of the Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders University Car Park 1
Enquiries contact Dean’s Suite, School of Medicine (08) 8204 4160

---

Sir Ewen Waterman was a highly respected pastoralist, wool executive and businessman in South Australia. His estate, through the decision of his daughter, Sandra Waterman, has provided a bequest to the School of Medicine at Flinders University since 1993 to establish the Sir Ewen Waterman Foundation. The Foundation promotes and encourages education in the Biomedical Sciences at Flinders University.

Mental Health Reform and 21st Century Care

Presented by Professor Patrick McGorry

Professor Patrick McGorry, Australian of the Year 2010, is Executive Director of Orygen Youth Health (OYH), a world- renowned youth mental health organisation. He is also Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and founding member of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation (headspace) board and is the Chief Investigator of a $7.4m 5 year NHMRC Program grant.

OYH comprises Australia’s largest youth mental health research centre and a clinical service targeting the needs of young people with emerging serious mental illness, including first-episode psychosis. With an emphasis on early intervention and a commitment to educating the community to the early signs of mental illness, Professor McGorry’s extraordinary 27-year contribution has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of young people the world over.

Thursday July 28 2011 12.00 noon - 1.00 pm

Health Science Lecture Theatre Complex
No charge - No bookings Signposted from main entrance of the hospital and Flinders University Car Park 1

Enquiries contact
Dean’s Suite, School of Medicine
(08) 8204 4160

Download: John Chalmers Oration Flyer

The Flinders Medical Students’ Society (FMSS) has been named winner of the Australian Medical Students Association Healthy Body Healthy Mind Campaign in recognition of their hugely successful “Mental Health in Medicine Seminar.”

The national competition was established in 2010 to recognise projects by local medical student groups aimed at promoting the wellbeing of medical students.

The FMSS held a seminar last August aimed at increasing awareness and reducing stigma about mental health issues among medical students. Presenters at the seminar included Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry, AM, and Flinders Executive Dean of Health Sciences, Professor Michael Kidd, AM.

The initiator of FMSS’ Mental Health in Medicine Seminar, Minh Nguyen, said: “Last year’s Mental Health in Medicine Seminar was a huge success and gave the next generation of Flinders medical students an insight into the challenges of the profession and how to be better prepared for a career in medicine. The feedback from students was fantastic, and many left with a renewed inspiration and vigour to be successful in their studies. I’m glad the topic of mental health for students is being recognised, and I hope this award raises awareness as well as encourages other medical schools to follow our lead.”

The FMSS has been awarded $1500 for their efforts and will hold the 2011 version of the Mental Health in Medicine Seminar on August 31st.

Nine of our third-year medical students have been welcomed into the communities of the Greater Green Triangle (GGT) region in which they will live and study over the next year.

The students will live in Mount Gambier, Millicent and Hamilton, whilst doing their third year at the GGT University Department of Rural Health at Mt Gambier, http://www.greaterhealth.org/

The Flinders Parallel Rural Community Curriculum (PRCC) gives medical students the opportunity to experience the life of a rural GP whilst they continue their studies.

View articles published recently,

• Medical students develop community ties, Border Watch 20/01/2010
• Hamilton to host medical students, Hamilton Spectator 19 /01/2010
• Country program eases doctor shortage , Border Watch 19/02/2010

The Flinders Medical Students Society (FMSS) is a student-run organization that aims to provide a supportive environment for students during their medical training.

The Flinders Medical School attracts students from diverse backgrounds to it’s medical course, and FMSS aims to support all of its members through a range of extracurricular activities. The FMSS also promotes interaction between medical students and other health professionals, and participation in the general community, and represents Flinders medical students with agencies such as the Australian Medical Association and the Australian Medical Students Association.

Visit the FMSS website for regular updates and more information, http://www.fmss.org.au

Third year Flinders medical student Jeremy Wells has been jointly awarded the Westpac RDAA Medical Student of the Year Award for 2008. The presentation was made at the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) and Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) annual conference, held in Sydney over the weekend.

RDAA President, Dr Nola Maxfield, said the award recognises Jeremy’s strong commitment to rural medicine and rural healthcare, and his desire to make a real difference in health outcomes for those living in the bush.

Jeremy has been based in the Northern Territory in 2008, undertaking a community-based program through the NT Rural Clinical School. This has included six months in Alice Springs followed by six months in Darwin for the second half of the year. This includes clinical placements at the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress and the hospital outpatient clinic and visits to some of the most remote communities in Australia.

Jeremy has a strong interest in Indigenous health. He was one of the founding members of the Students Interested in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health group at Flinders University (SIATSIH). Through his membership with the group, Jeremy helped negotiate the push to institute an inaugural second year medicine Regional Community Week in Alice Springs for eight students. Jeremy has been an active leader in the Flinders University Rural Health Society (FURHS), helping organise a rural health forum and Wilderness First Aid Camp and contributing to the FURHS magazine. In addition to his FURHS responsibilities and medical studies, Jeremy’s time and energies have been devoted to the supervision and running of a Saturday night drop-in centre in inner city Adelaide.

Jeremy plans to move to the bush (in particular to the Central and Western deserts) to work in Indigenous health after he graduates.

“I’ve got a strong interest in rural and remote health, and in Australia that includes a large Indigenous component which I enjoy” Jeremy said. “There’s also the attraction of working in an area where there is such need, and a discrepancy between the health markers of non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians. This is a well-known gap and I’ve been drawn to that because I think it is something that can actually be worked on and improved.”

Jeremy said “There are strong networks of students from across all health fields - medicine, nursing and allied health - dedicated to working rurally when they graduate. I’ve been very lucky to have studied and socialised with a great number of like-minded students who feel very strongly that their futures lie in the bush, in the brilliant opportunity to be rural health professionals when we graduate. We encourage each other and keep that passion alive through our rural health clubs and student networks across the country.”

“I began medicine with the aim of becoming a rural doctor and the Flinders medical course has given me plenty of opportunities to experience medicine in rural and remote settings. I love the Northern Territory (Alice Springs especially) and it has been such a privilege to study third year in the NT. I have been really well supported by the NT Rural Clinical School and I encourage other students to do the same!”

An Indigenous health initiative and a care program working with Nepalese homeless children are part of an ambitious new project being launched by Flinders medical students.

The student initiative [Project]², pronounced ‘project squared’, will take medical students beyond the campus, to Nepal and the remote communities of South Australia.

“Our plan is simple – address the needs of today, while educating tomorrow’s doctors. Cultural awareness and understanding can’t be taught in classrooms but this project will provide both while making a difference to local health” Bjorn Cartledge, second-year medical student and co-president, said. “We want to close the gap in health and bridge the gap in understanding.”

Fellow co-president and second year student Kate Brennan said “Project squared will achieve positive health outcomes for these communities. And at the same time students will develop skills and experience for a future in health advocacy centred on fairness and the social determinants of health. It is our chance as students to really make a difference”.

Members have organised ‘Equinox’, a black-tie fund-raising event to launch [Project]² on 20 September. The money raised will finance the two projects identified for this year.

“Project squared has grown from our experiences in Pokhara, Nepal, at the start of this year” said Kate. Six medical students from Flinders collaborated with eight Nepalese medical students from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, and the Nepal based NGO Hope for Himalayan Kids (HFHK). “We conducted a health, nutrition and first aid program with 58 orphaned or abandoned Nepalese children,” said Kate. “Nepal was an amazing experience, we were able to collaborate with medical students from Nepal. One of things we want to do is continue these links.  We hope that through our involvement and the money we raise from Equinox, we can help enable an urban alternative care and preventative programme for homeless Nepalese children”.

The second project is closer to home but still very remote and involves the communities of Yalata and Oak Valley on the west coast of South Australia. Students have been working closely with the Aboriginal Health Council of SA, and the focus of this work will be antenatal and early childhood health, particularly targeting failure to thrive. Students will travel to these communities in December, once their studies are over for this year.

[Project]² has been conceived and directed by the Flinders Health and Human Rights Group (HHRG) and has strong support from the Dean of the School of Medicine, Professor Paul Worley. “We are training our students to be the medical leaders of the future. These initiatives will provide them with extra skills and motivation to make a difference where it counts,” Professor Worley said.

The students extend a warm invitation to the School community for the gala fund-raising event on 20 September. Equinox will be held at the State Library of South Australia, hosted by ABC’s Peter Goers, with Patron of [Project]² Professor Fran Baum as guest speaker and jazz entertainment by Bill Parton Trio.

Download your invitation to Equinox and the booking form.

Alternatively, view the [Project]² sponsorship prospectus to make a direct contribution.

For more information about [Project]², contact projectsquared@gmail.com.

Jacinta Spry is in her fourth (and final) year of a graduate entry medical course. Jacinta chose to complete her rural selective in Nhulunbuy through the NT Rural Clinical School Rural Selectives Package program. Through this program students complete 2 terms in Alice Springs and 2 terms in Nhulunbuy.

Here she shares her experiences …

Nhulunbuy is a remote, vibrant and welcoming township of 4,000 people on the northeast coast of Arnhem Land and it’s only 15 km from one of the largest Aboriginal communities on the Gove Penninsula. Nhulunbuy is the hub of a number of medical and other services that support eight other major Aboriginal communities, and many more homelands and outstations in the area. For the past 36 years it has been the site of a massive Alcan bauxite mine and refinery that produces 3.8 million tonnes of alumina per year and employs nearly 1,500 people in the area. It you have a passion for remote and Aboriginal health, but still enjoy the comforts and support of living in a town, it’s a great place to be.

As a Flinders student I got a taste for tropical medicine and Indigenous
health during my 3rd year at Royal Darwin Hospital. I was keen to get out into the communities and homelands where Country and Culture are strong, yet so is the grip of infectious and chronic disease with a crisis of poverty, overcrowding, and reportedly the lowest rate of Medicare expenditure per capita. Arnhem Land also has a wet season that turns roads into rivers and keeps everything but the mossies away.

The Yolngu people of East Arnhem have a fascinating life, law and language. The complex and sophisticated Yolngu systems of kinship, rights and responsibilities, creation, land and ceremony still permeate everyday life. I’m discovering how people belong to one of two moieties called Dhuwa or Yirritja. I’ve learnt for instance, the morning star, water goanna and stringybark are Dhuwa; while the evening star, stingray and cycad are Yirritja. In the Gove Peninsula and surrounding area, most Yolngu belong to one of sixteen clans, of which eight are Dhuwa and eight are Yirritja. Yolngu Matha is the second most commonly used language in the NT. It’s not easy when there are five different ways of pronouncing the letter n – luckily people are only too helpful to assist in any attempt you have at speaking Yolngu.

Flinders University NT Rural Clinical School spent much time and thought in developing this new six month Rural Stream for fourth year students. As the first student to come to Nhulunbuy under this program, I am blown away by the resources, support, clinical and cultural opportunities that are on offer. My partner and I have fantastic accommodation in a modern tropical style house on the edge of the town lease, with access to a 4WD vehicle, bicycles, internet and computer facilities, a medical and cultural library, and the help of two dedicated (one administrative and one medical) staff and many other willing helpers. We will spend three months here before traveling south to Alice Springs for a further three months, to compare and contrast another remote town and Indigenous health setting. We feel very lucky to have these opportunities even though I am still studying. The aim is to have such a good time as a student that we might plan to come back one day – and it is working!

For my first 6 weeks here I’ve been based at Miwatj Aboriginal Health Centre, where the NT Rural Clinical School Nhulunbuy Office is located. Through this AMS, I am able to do my own consults at the clinic, travel to nearby Marngarr community clinic to do outreach clinics; work with doctors, Aboriginal Health Workers, a nutritionist and participate in the activities of Layhnapuy Health who travel out to homelands to provide both general and special health services including audiometric assessments and midwifery care.

In addition, I spend a few mornings a week at Gove District Hospital doing ward rounds, emergency, working with visiting specialists (psychiatry, gynaecology, surgery, cardiology, you name it), flying out to Ramingining or Milingimbi communities, going on aero medical retrievals, or participating in the public health or clinical work undertaken by the local Centre for Disease Controller only 6 weeks, this diverse program has allowed me to see a huge variety of the weird and wonderful conditions unique to tropical life, and also some of the more serious conditions that sadly continue to plague remote and Aboriginal Australians. Serious renal disease in people my age and younger include multiple cardio-embolic strokes in a 32 year old man; Mucormycosis causing frontal lobe abscess and epilepsy; Leprosy; TB; Trachoma; Melioidosis; coral cuts and snake bites. Plus there are all the heroic hunting stories; “I cut my hand spearing turtle”, “I cut my foot with an axe when making yidaki
(didgeridoo)”, and “that mangrove root speared my foot when I was hunting stingray”.

It’s been a really amazing experience to go with Yolngu families hunting, fishing, walking and gathering bark for painting. They know that land so well. It’s been fascinating to listen to their stories, about the past and their hopes for the future. Jacinta Spry, 4th Year Rural Selective Student.

Our students come from many diverse backgrounds and we value the skills and experiences they bring into our courses.

Jason Lam is a new medical student. He has a background in dance and has been involed with the Sydney Dance Company, Opera Australia, Tasdance and has appeared in films and installations that have been in galleries, festivals and broadcast nationally and internationally. Here he shares his thoughts about the first few weeks of the course…

Its been 3 weeks since arriving in Adelaide and starting medical school at Flinders.  It is, without a doubt one of the most challenging and exciting things I have ever done.  After spending the last 10 years dancing, making films and installation art, medical school has been, and continues to be a mind-boggling experience for me. Already I have been in the wards, the endlessly fascinating anatomy museum and will be heading out to the student initiated health clinic in the next few weeks.  Quite a change from leaping around in tights and hoisting people into the air which has occupied me the last few years.

The amount of knowledge to be learnt and understood in a short period of time is truly astonishing, but for me the most amazing thing so far has been the opportunity to talk to patients. Their generosity of spirit in letting a bumbling newbie like me ask for their history in spite of their discomfort, illness and pain is humbling.  One I met the other day, who has the most magnificent spirit despite a disproportionate number of tubes and cancers invading her body and still found the time to humour and educate me.

I look forward to all the challenges and opportunities ahead, academically, professionally and personally.  There are going to be some really difficult times, and I worry how I will cope with them, but there are so many opportunities to get involved, to start making a difference and to grow as a person. I can’t wait.

But first, its my turn to provide food for my study group.

Congratulations to Mike Griffiths, for receiving the 2007 Kerry Kirke Student Award, awarded by the South Australian branch of the Public Health Association of Australia

Mike is a student in the Master of Science (Primary Health Care) program, offered through the Department of Public Health. Professor Fran Baum, Head of the Department said, “Mike has been working in very difficult circumstances in Myanmar on an HIV/AIDS project, so we are delighted he has this recognition of his work”.

Mike said he was honoured to receive the award. “Currently, I am working in Myanmar (Burma) as Country Co-ordinator for The Leprosy Mission International, where I am responsible for developing strategy and projects to help people affected by leprosy and disability to access rehabilitation and development benefits so they can participate in society as equals. Needless to say we have rather a long way to go on that one!”