We spoke with Renmark local Tori Edmonds about the strengths of the Rural and Remote Health SA program. We also asked about how her Flinders MBA is progressing – and how her beloved pooches are preparing for a new arrival in the new year.
What is your role and what does your work focus on?
I work for Rural and Remote Health SA, which is a part of the College of Medicine and Public Health. I’m the program manager working across all of the rural SA sites, based at the Renmark campus. My role predominantly focuses on managing the admin and program requirements for the MD Rural Stream Program, which is where third year medical students are offered an opportunity to live, work and study in rural SA for an entire year while gaining unique, hands-on clinical experience.
What journey brought you to this point in your career?
My background is actually in taxation accounting, where I worked for nine years while studying a bachelor of accounting and becoming a qualified CPA. In 2014, I changed tack when I applied for the Program Administrator role at Flinders’ Rural Clinical School (as it was known back then) in Renmark, working with the rural medical students. After four years in Renmark, I took a new position with Flinders in the Examination Services team, which meant that I packed up and moved to Adelaide and the Bedford Park campus. In 2021, I thought it was time to return home and I was lucky enough to return to Flinders’ Renmark campus.
Tell us more about Rural and Remote Health SA
Rural and Remote Health SA enables Flinders to have campuses across rural and regional areas of the state, including Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge, Victor Harbour, Nurioopta and Renmark. Having support networks in each of these areas provides Flinders students with opportunities to undertake placements in rural and remote settings, so they can experience practice outside metropolitan areas. It’s also a great boost for the local workforce, as we’ve found that quite a few students who undertake these placements remain in the regions.
What do you love most about your work?
I love being able to do this work in my beautiful home town of Renmark, proving that not everything happens in bigger cities. My role has such variety and challenges. I love keeping busy, and working for Rural and Remote Health SA definitely fits that bill!
What are you most proud of?
I completed the Kokoda trail walk with my husband, before COVID-19 arrived. It was a huge milestone for both of us.
How do you like to relax or spend your spare time?
There isn’t much spare time at the moment, because I’m studying my MBA, but I enjoy simple things such as daily walks along the river with my two special canine companions, Lenny and Willow, and we stop along the way so I can enjoy a coffee. I’m hoping to complete my MBA by the end of this year, which will just in time for our baby to arrive in late January 2023 – and then there will definitely be no spare time!