Congratulations to the 2022 Rural Clinical School Graduates
On Friday 21 October the University of Melbourne Rural Clinical School held a graduation ceremony for the 2022 cohort of Medical Doctor students who have recently completed the Doctor of Medicine degree.
2022 graduating cohort of Rural Clinical School Medical Doctor students.
Switching to an online format at the last hour due to the impact of the Victorian floods in the region, graduating students and staff attended the online ceremony to celebrate their tremendous achievements before they embark on a promising and rewarding career in medicine.
Notably, 100% of students that spent three years at the Rural Clinical School received their top three intern preferences (an increase of 27% since 2021).
“Our students are the future rural workforce. We are very fortunate to have such a high calibre of students who are so passionate about rural health” said Professor Julian Wright, Head of the Department of Rural Health at the University of Melbourne.
The Rural Clinical School is a key program of the Department of Rural Health, the University of Melbourne’s centre for teaching, research and community engagement in rural health. The Doctor of Medicine is a four-year postgraduate degree and students from the Rural Clinical School complete the Melbourne Medical School curriculum in a rural setting.
Since the Rural Clinical School was established in 2002, there has been an incremental increase in preference for rural health from the Rural Clinical School students. Significantly, this year the students’ interest in a rural career increased by 9% (up 48% from last year to 57%).
“It is vital that we continue to train our future rural doctors in a rural setting” said Professor Wright.
“Evidence shows that the longer students spend in the country, the more likely they are to choose to live and work in a rural setting, and the recent data from our student surveys demonstrates just that.”
Now with the end-to-end delivery of the Doctor of Medicine degree made available, thanks to the Rural Pathway initiative launched earlier this year, students are now able to remain rural for the entirety of their medical studies.
“It would be reasonable to expect that by the time the current MD1 students, who are the first Rural Pathway cohort, graduate – there will be further increase in rural health preference.”
The celebration also marked a significant milestone for the Rural Clinical School, with the recent 71 MD graduates now adding to the total of RCS graduates, surpassing 1000 students with a total of 1060 Rural Clinical School alumni.
“We are delighted that the Rural Clinical School has reached this milestone, it is a fantastic achievement” says Professor Jane Gunn, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne.
“We are proud of each and every one of our students and wish them all the very best as they commence their careers.”
2022 Award Recipients
The following graduating students received the following awards at this year’s graduation ceremony:
2022 Valedictorian
Jasraaj Singh
The Rural Communities Award
For the graduating student who demonstrates the highest commitment to Rural Health & Community Service and/or commitment to Rural Health Practice.
Molly O’Donohue
James Etherington
Sam Hurrell
The Rural Clinical School's Student Award for Professionalism
For the graduating student who best demonstrates professionalism and a duty of care for patients, colleagues and self.
Hannah Vuong
Tadgh Fitzpatrick
The Rural Clinical School congratulate the award winners on their achievements and wish the class of 2022 all the very best on their next endeavours.