Mitchell O’Leary

Mitchell O'Leary
Doctor of Medicine MD (second year)
Bendigo Rural Clinical School placement

Initially I was apprehensive about being sent to my Rural Clinical School placement in Bendigo, but I could not have been more wrong in hindsight. It’s been a phenomenal, comprehensive and supportive introduction to clinical medicine.

The quality of, and commitment to, teaching has been just amazing. The staff at Bendigo Health are incredibly supportive and will always help students search for educational opportunities, while taking the time to answer our barrage of questions! We have very small groups on wards, which makes it easier to find patients to talk to, people to supervise procedures, and doctors to follow.

The best part of the experience has been getting to know everyone else within the cohort; they’re not just great study partners and future colleagues, but fantastic friends and housemates. It’s been an incredibly fun and supportive group that socialises and studies really well together. I think I will have a lot of lifelong friends from this experience.

At first I was a bit worried about sharing the site with the Monash Medical School, but within the first day we found everyone got along. The dual stream of resources, lectures and academic support has helped create a great academic experience, while the combined cohort has done wonders to make a positive learning and living environment.

The houses are all really lovely, a very short walk from the hospital with plenty of parking. The benefit of Bendigo is that it’s a short walk or shorter drive to pretty much everything you need, day or night.

My tip for other students: Take the opportunities that come your way, be honest if you’re anxious or nervous and ask for support if you need it.