Department Student Resources

The Department of Rural Health manages student residential accommodation at Ballarat, Benalla, Mansfield, Shepparton and Wangaratta. This accommodation is self-contained. Residents are allocated a bedroom, while the kitchen, laundry and bathroom facilities are shared. (Rural health students also have access to accommodation managed by health service partners.)

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Shepparton

• Goulburn Valley Health (03 5833 2332) in Graham Street has a 24 hour Accident and Emergency Centre.
• The University of Melbourne Shepparton Medical Centre (03 5823 3100) is a bulk billing centre that is on the Shepparton Campus.
• Shepparton Lister House Medical Centre (03 5831 2333) and Princess Park Medical Centre (03 5821 9655) are two local Shepparton medical centres which will see Rural Clinical School students. (Students should identify themselves as a Rural Clinical School student as clinics may advise they are not taking new patients)
• There is a fee paying after hours GP service offered at Goulburn Valley Community Health Centre, 399 Wyndham Street, Shepparton. The number for this service is (03) 5831 8022.

Ballarat

• Ballarat Health Services (5320 4000) in Drummond Street, has a 24 hours Accident and Emergency Centre.
• There is a fee paying Accident and Emergency centre, at St. John of God, Private Hospital, Drummond Street, Ballarat. Ballarat also has bulk billing medical services readily available. Please contact your local student administration or the Student Support Officer.

Wangaratta

• Northeast Health Wangaratta is located in Green Street and has a 24 hour Accident and Emergency Centre. Wangaratta Medical Centre, 34 Green Street, Wangaratta, Ph: (03) 5722 1500 (bulk billing available if you mention you are an RCS student) and Ely Street Clinic, 19 Ely Street, Wangaratta, Ph: (03) 5721 2141 are two local Wangaratta medical centres which will see Rural Clinical School students. (Students should identify themselves as a Rural Clinical School student as they may advise they are not taking new patients)

Students completing rural placements face a range of unique stressors and challenges. Fortunately there are a variety of support services available for current University of Melbourne students to access and stay well. Services are accessible across rural campus locations, as well as at the Parkville campus. Services include;

Stop 1:

Stop 1 is a directory where students can find information and student services whether online, on the phone or in person. Stop 1 can help you with admissions, enrolment, course planning, administration, support services and skills and development. Further information can be found at: http://students.unimelb.edu.au/stop1 or call P: 13 MELB (13 6352).

Financial Aid:

Student Support Financial Aid provides student loans, advice and advocacy around Government student payments, grants based on financial need (including housing/rent assistance grants) and welfare support. You may book an appointment to speak with a specialist staff member. For further information see http://services.unimelb.edu.au/finaid.

Housing:

Student Housing provides support in arranging temporary accommodation, tenancy advice or emergency accommodation. For further information see http://services.unimelb.edu.au/housing.

Student Equity and Disability Support (SEDS):

Student Equity and Disability Support is available for students who may require reasonable and equitable adjustments to their studies due to disability and/or health conditions. Adjustments may include Alternative Exam Arrangements (AEA) or Academic Adjustment Plans (AAP). Students must register with SEDS in order to be considered for any academic or exam related adjustments. This can be done through Stop 1 and involves a face to face or phone meeting with an Adviser.  For further information see http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/students.

Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS):

The Counselling and Psychological Services are based in Parkville, though offer phone sessions for students based rurally. Appointments for individual counselling sessions can be made online or via phone. Students may also wish to access the range of online resources available, including information regarding different mental health issues, audio tracks and interactive online programs. For more information about these services, see http://services.unimelb.edu.au/counsel/resources or contact CAPS on: 61 (3) 8344 6927.

Health & Wellbeing Practitioner (rural):

The Health and Wellbeing Practitioner is available to offer support services for all rural based medical students within the Melbourne Medical School. This is a confidential service and independent to clinical educators or academic assessors. Students may wish to speak with the Health and Wellbeing Practitioner for a range of purposes, from mental health concerns, to peer related difficulties or bullying and harassment issues. Students may arrange an appointment with the rural based Health and Wellbeing Practitioner via a secure online booking portal: https://the-university-of-melbourne.cliniko.com/bookings#location or through direct contact with Dr Hannah Sloan: Email: Hannah.sloan@unimelb.edu.au, Phone: 0428 933 952.

For further information about relevant support services, see your student handbook or http://medicine.unimelb.edu.au/study/current-student-resources/melbourne-medical-school-students-resouces/support.

Going Rural Health:

Going Rural program have been developed to support undergraduate and post graduate health professional students completing placements in a rural setting throughout Hume, Greater Shepparton, Ballarat and Grampians regions.

Going Rural

Rural Clinical School students operate a rural club appropriately called “Moovin' Health” in line with the ever-present cow theme in Shepparton as well as reflecting the move most have had to make to come to Shepparton. The aims of this club are to:

• Foster a relationship between students of ALL health professions and the local community.
• Engage in educational, health promotion and possibly fund-raising activities that may be important to RCS students and the greater Shepparton community.
• Encourage the growth and development of the RCS.
• Encourage pre-clinical students of health professions at the University of Melbourne to choose the RCS as their clinical school.

If you are a pre-clinical student PLEASE send us your email address. We would love to hear from you
If you are thinking of attending the RCS and why! or, Why you think the RCS is not an option for you. Or, if you are just interested in rural health!

If you are interested in our club please send your email address to: moovinhealth@gmail.com and we'll put your name on the monthly emailed newsletter to keep you up to date on things going on in Shepp!

Going Rural program have been developed to support undergraduate and post graduate health professional students completing placements in a rural setting throughout Hume, Greater Shepparton, Ballarat and Grampians regions.

Please ensure you fill out the Student Payment Request form and attach to the relevant travel claim form below before returning to your Site Administrator.

• Student Travel Claim Form

NPS MedicineWise Learning provides health professionals and students with a range of learning activities and resources. All our courses are available free of charge.

University Buildings

Dunvegan is a large historic property, conveniently located opposite the Ballarat Health Service campus. The property provides teaching, student services and research facilities and incorporates a small dedicated clinical skills training area for teaching of procedural skills, and a student retreat. Located 4km away is Midlands House, which has 33 individual bedrooms, shared bathrooms, living rooms, a computer room and kitchen. Midlands is fully furnished and is mainly occupied by Rural Clinical School students.

Lecture Theatre

The RCS in Ballarat has access to the Baxter Theatre, which is located at the Ballarat Health Service campus. The Baxter Theatre seats approximately 80 people, and is used regularly for Grand Rounds; a weekly joint session incorporating clinicians from Ballarat Health Service and medical students from the Rural Clinical School.

Tutorial & Small Group Discussion Rooms

Dunvegan has three dedicated tutorial rooms, one small group discussion room and a small, well-equipped clinical skills room. Tutorial Room 4 is the larger tutorial room, accommodating 20 students with video-conferencing facilities and general teaching resources. Tutorial Rooms 2 & 3 both accommodate 12 students and offer teaching resources including whiteboards, projectors and a portable x-ray box. Tutorial Room 1 is a small group discussion room that accommodates six students and has video-conferencing facilities and general teaching resources. All of the facilities at Dunvegan are allocated via a room booking system, with teaching facilities available for shared access with Ballarat Health Service, other health organisations and the local community. On some occasions the Ballarat Health Services, Educational Resource Centre or Queen Elizabeth Centre meeting rooms may be allocated for teaching.

Library

As noted above, students located across the RCS campuses have access to hospital libraries which are funded by the RCS to stock the Melbourne Medical School book list, along with the ability to borrow other books and journal articles from Parkville via the University of Melbourne library catalogue.

Ballarat Health Service’s Library, located at the BHS campus, provides access to approximately 18,000 books, 150 hard copy journal titles, 6,000 on-line titles and 1,000 videos/CDs. The BHS Library has 6 computers with internet access, photocopying facilities and study areas. Opening hours include: Monday – Thursday 8.30am to 6pm and Friday – 8.30am to 5.00pm.

IT Facilities

Students located at the RCS in Ballarat have access to a wide range of IT facilities. Midlands House provides wireless internet access, along with computers and photocopying/printing facilities. Also, located at the rear of the Dunvegan premise is a student retreat that has both a lounge area and a computer laboratory. The computer laboratory is equipped with 8 University computers and printing and photocopying facilities. The computers located in both these facilities provide students with network access through the University’s student proxy server, internet access and teaching resources such as UpToDate. Fax facilities are accessible to students via reception. Telephone facilities are located in each floor of the student accommodation.  Other teaching resources at Dunvegan include teaching stethoscopes, PanOptic opthalmoscopes, digital video-recording facilities that enable scenarios to be loaded to DVDs and a digital camera.

University Buildings

The Bendigo campus has an administration building at Rowan Street that also provides student services. Lister House is located next door and includes residential accommodation for up to 50 students. The Mercy Street site is located between the hospital's acute and rehab campuses, around 1km from the student accommodation and administration buildings.

Lecture Theatre

Mercy Street currently includes a fully-equipped auditorium that seats 100.

Tutorial & Small Group Discussion Rooms

At Mercy Street there are currently three tutorial rooms, a library and a clinical skills laboratory for the teaching of procedural skills. New office and teaching facilities are planned for Mercy Street within the next two years.

Library

The library is situated at the Mercy Street facilities. Opening hours are: Monday – Friday – 8.30am to 5.00pm.

IT Facilities

Students located at the Bendigo campus can access the computers at the Mercy Street Library as well as in the student accommodation at Lister House. Wireless internet access is available in all student rooms.

University Buildings

The Department of Rural Health (DRH) is co-located with Goulburn Valley Health providing teaching, student services and research facilities. Adjacent to the DRH, six blocks of self-contained units each comprise 11 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and shared living room and kitchen. These facilities are mainly occupied by Rural Clinical School (RCS) students. The facilities are situated approx 20-30 minute walk from the CBD, and are within easy walking distance from the hospital, teaching facilities and other off-campus accommodation.

The off-campus accommodation facilities are situated at the School's Kilpatrick Ave property. It consists of 12 bedrooms, each containing a double bed; shared bathrooms, living room and kitchen facilities. These facilities are mainly utilised by other Allied Health students.

Based at Goulburn Valley Health, the Clinical Skills Laboratory is equipped with sophisticated teaching equipment, allowing students and hospital staff to develop basic and advanced clinical skills using a range of simulation techniques.

Lecture Theatres

A dedicated tiered lecture theatre within the DRH accommodates 120 people. The theatre is well-equipped with audio visual equipment.

Tutorial & Small Group Discussion Rooms

There are four dedicated tutorial rooms and 1 small group discussion room (known as the Boardroom) in the DRH building. Three of the turorial rooms (known as Conference Rm 1, and Tutorial Rms 1 & 2) are well equipped with audio visual equipment. Conference Rm 1 includes an x-ray view box. Conference Room 2 and the Boardroom are equipped with state-of-the-art video conferencing equipment, Smart Boards and computers. Wireless is available in all of the Shepparton facilities.

Conference Room 2 accommodates 24 students, while Conference Room 1 accommodates 12 students. Both rooms are adjoined by folding doors, transforming into a larger conference room. The smaller group discussion room, the Boardroom, is located near reception and accommodates 12 students.

The Clinical Skills Laboratory includes Two tutorial rooms: one accommodating 20 students with video-conferencing equipment and a Smart Board, and the other – also equipped with a Smart Board - accommodating 15 students. The Clinical Skills Laboratory also includes two skills rooms for simulation and procedural skills practice, along with a control room to facilitate the simulations with Sim Man. Adjacent to the Clinical Skills Laboratory, Goulburn Valley Health library also offers Two tutorial rooms: one accommodating 20 students, and the other accommodating 12 students.

All DRH tutorial, group discussion and procedural skills rooms are allocated via a room booking system. Many of the teaching facilities are shared with Goulburn Valley Health, Allied Health, Latrobe University, other health organisations and the local community. The joint partnership between the DRH and Goulburn Valley Health provides students with access to many shared facilities and teaching resources, including a student interview room at the Specialist Consulting Suites and access to Elsie Jones Education Centre; a training and resource centre for interns, registrars and International Medical Graduates (IMGs).

Library

Students located across the Rural Clinical School campuses have access to hospital libraries that are funded by the RCS to stock the School of Medicine book list, along with the ability to borrow other books and journal articles from Parkville via the University of Melbourne library catalogue. The School also co-funds access to UpToDate (an outstanding and popular online medical text) at all three major sites associated with the RCS.

Goulburn Valley Health’s Library borders the Clinical Skills Laboratory and offers a loan collection of approximately 5,000 books and 1200 journal titles. Goulburn Valley Health’s Library has 12 computers with internet access, photocopying facilities and study areas. Opening hours include: Monday-Thursday 8.30am to 6pm, Friday 8.30am to 3.30pm and Sunday 2pm to 5pm, with extended hours offered during the examination periods.

IT Facilities

The DRH’s computer laboratory has 9 University computers with internet access and printing/photocopying facilities. The student hub with the new Shepparton Medical Centre (next door) houses a further 10 computers. Students are also provided with access to computers at the library and on both the surgical and medical ward at Goulburn Valley Health. Computers located throughout the DRH and Goulburn Valley Health provide access to essential learning resources such as UpToDate and Goulburn Valley Health’s intranet page. Fax facilities are accessible to students via reception. Telephone facilities are located in each of the bedrooms in the student accommodation. Other teaching resources at the Department of Rural Health include teaching stethoscopes, PanOptic opthalmoscopes, digital cameras, and video-recording facilities that enable scenarios to be loaded to DVDs.

University Buildings

The Chalet is located on the campus of Northeast Health, Wangaratta, and provides teaching and student services. Other facilities include a staff/student kitchen common area. The student accommodation is based at Worland Road, around 3-4km from the Chalet. It has recently been extended to make it a 32 bedroom facility with five shared bathrooms and a shared living room and kitchen.

Lecture Theatre

The Wangaratta site does not currently have a lecture theatre.

Tutorial & Small Group Discussion Rooms

There are two dedicated tutorial rooms at the Chalet and one video conference room offering teaching resources including whiteboards, three data projectors, and a fixed video-conference unit.

Library

Students have access to the Northeast Health Wangaratta library service which has a loan collection of approximately 2,000 books and 70 journal titles. The standard loan period is two weeks. Opening Hours Monday to Friday 9.00am – 3.00pm.

IT Facilities

Northeast Health Wangaratta library has six computers with internet access, as well as photocopying facilities and study areas. There are a further four computers at the Worland Road accommodation. Each bedroom also has access to an internet connection. There are two telephones located at the accommodation and fax facilities are accessible to students via reception at the Chalet.