Psychology and wellbeing student placements across rural Victoria
Through an expansion of allied health student placements under the Mental Health and Wellbeing for Remote and Aboriginal Victorians project, students can now partake in fulfilling training opportunities to provide beneficial wellbeing and mental health services to rural, isolated, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Placements are open to students from all nationally recognised tertiary education providers. Placement blocks are currently open, please get in touch for further details.
Student psychology placements in Wangaratta
A new psychology clinic has been established at Gateway Health in Wangaratta to provide culturally safe and appropriate mental health services, drawing on the skills of postgraduate psychology students.
The Gateway Health Psychology Clinic offers a nurturing and professionally stimulating vocational placement experience for their placement psychologists. Supervisors are an experienced team of psychologists and clinical psychologists. Placement psychologists are an integral part of the Gateway team.
To access all information detailing the psychology placements at the psychology clinic at Gateway Health, please refer to their Psychology Clinic Placement Information Kit which can be downloaded below.
Psychology Clinic Placement Information Kit
Who can apply?
If you are a Masters or Doctoral candidate studying relevant counselling, clinical, professional, neuropsychology or educational psychology courses you can apply to do a vocational placement with Gateway Health.
Wellbeing placements in rural and remote communities
Through this program, also available are interprofessional service-learning placements in more remote communities working with local primary schools, sporting clubs, mother’s groups, and other groups to deliver holistic mental health support programs. These placements provide a unique and beneficial learning experience that can have a huge impact on rural and remote communities.
By creating new placement programs in communities that need the services most, we are delivering a two-pronged approach; providing an enriching learning experience to students and offering rural communities a service they may not have received otherwise.
Who can apply?
Nursing and allied health students in the disciplines of social work, occupational therapy, dietetics, nutrition, physiotherapy, exercise physiology or other allied health disciplines who require as part of their curriculum an undertaking of practical learning through a placement program can apply.
Support services for students on rural placement
While on rural placement, you will have access to the Going Rural Health student support services to assist you while living away from home. These include:
- Student accommodation at the University of Melbourne accommodation sites in Wangaratta and surrounding towns in North East Victoria
- Bursaries and financial assistance
- Support and mentoring
Further information
Get in touch to find out more about these placement opportunities.
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Contact us
For more information about the psychology placements at Gateway Health, please contact:
Kim Haebich
Gateway Health - Senior Psychologist Consultant
e: kim.haebich@gatewayhealth.org.auAlana Pund
Gateway Health - General Manager Mental Health Wellbeing
e: alana.pund@gatewayhealth.org.auFor more information about the wellbeing placements, please contact:
Going Rural Health
University of Melbourne
going-ruralhealth@unimelb.edu.au
About the program
In 2022 the Wellbeing for Remote and Aboriginal Victorians project was launched to help boost mental health expertise in several communities across Victoria.
Through this expansion of allied health student training and placements, rural, isolated, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in northeast and western Victoria will benefit from the services available.
The project is a partnership between Gateway Health, the University Departments of Rural Health (UDRHs) of Melbourne, Monash, La Trobe and Deakin Universities and Budja Budja Aboriginal Cooperative (in the Grampians region). We acknowledge the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care for funding through the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training program.
As well as increasing workforce capacity in the region and providing additional services, training healthcare workers in the regions, provides a workforce pathway and an experience of the opportunities available for a successful career in regional and remote areas. The project also arms nursing and allied health students with mental health skills to use in future work with mental health patients and clients.
This program is in collaboration with the following partners...
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waterways on which this program takes place. We pay our respects to their Elders both past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.