Research Summary

Current research activities of the Department of Rural Health have two key areas of research focus.

1. Support of current and future rural health workforce:
   1. Education of medical students
   2. Health services
   3. Capacity building
   4. e-health
2. Rural Health Research (with population/public health focus):
   1. Mental health and wellbeing
   2. Rural Sexual Health
   3. Indigenous health

Given the multidisciplinary nature of the school, other research projects reflect the specific professional and clinical interests of Academic staff members. Although these projects can not be easily categorized, they reflect an important aspect of the clinical development of staff, enhancing their national and international reputation in their area of expertise.

Staff are involved in a variety of research collaborations with other University of Melbourne departments and mutually beneficial collaborations have also been established with other Australian universities, providing staff with the opportunity to be involved in larger, funded projects. This has resulted in successful competitive grant applications with Monash University and the University of Western Sydney. Some staff have international research collaborations with university departments in the UK, US and Sweden.

In addition to cross-university research links, other relationships with key hospitals in our region are being developed, including Goulburn Valley Health and Ballarat Health Services. The Rural Health Academic Network (RHAN) of the School is now well established and further enhances research links with small health services and communities in rural Victoria.