Meet Emily - Doctor of Medicine (Extended Rural Cohort) Alumni
While completing her third year of the Doctor of Medicine, Emily Lawson was part of the Extended Rural Cohort (ERC), where the majority of her teaching and learning occurred within the general practice setting in Echuca. Her other clinical years were spent in Bendigo and Shepparton.
Emily underwent research examining the evidence for an association between Locus of Control and risk of obesity, within adult populations in developed countries titled 'The interaction between Locus of Control and Obesity - a Review’.
Emily's research has been published and is accessible below:
Since graduating, Emily is now undertaking an internship at Bendigo Health and is looking forward to being involved in further research with the aim to commence physicians training in the near future.
Congratulations Emily on your publication and your positive contribution to rural health!
About the Extended Rural Cohort Program
The Extended Rural Cohort is a cohort of University of Melbourne medical students based at the Rural Clinical School, who spend at least 5 semesters with the Rural Clincal School and spend their MD3 year predominantly based in primary care placements across Northeast Victoria.
There are a number of unique features to the ERC MD3 year:
- Students spend a minimum of 21 weeks attached to a primary care placement
- In addition to their primary care placements, students undergo hospital mini-blocks (1-3 weeks in length) in the specialities of Aged Care, Child and Adolescent Health, Mental Health, Women’s Heath
- Students will spend a considerable amount of time being the first person to assess primary care patients in a parallel consulting model
- Students are exposed to undifferentiated illness at an early stage.
- Students practice taking a history and performing a targeted examination with nearly every clinical encounter.
Students are supported individually by GPs who are experienced educators.