University of Queensland’s Rural Clinical School welcomes new med students to Toowoomba

More than 70 med students have started at the University of Queensland’s Rural Clinic School in Toowoomba, where they will get the chance to learn in practical environments with real professionals.

UQ medical students Johnathon Lejins and Brendon Song.

After a disrupted learning experience last year thanks to the impacts of COVID-19, the new cohort of medical students in the University of Queensland’s Rural Clinical School will be hoping for smooth sailing as they reach the end of their degrees.

More than 70 third and fourth-year students will be part of the program, which is one of four regionally-based schools across Queensland.

The participants will get the chance to learn in hospitals and medical practices from real professionals across a variety of fields.

Toowoomba clinical director Dr George Tucker said the school were looking forward to minimal disruptions to learning after upheaval of 2020, which limited the time students had in practical scenarios.

“When students are here, they spend a lot of time in clinical areas such as in hospital wards and operating theatres (but) when the COVID-19 obstacles were at its highest in 2020, students in their third year were brought away from their clinic placements,” he said.

“The second half of the first semester, they weren’t allowed to do clinical placements, and that meant schedules had to be reworked to allow placements later in the year.”

Dr Tucker said students who took part in the program were more likely to return to a regional centre once they entered the workforce.

UQ clinical skills educator Kellie Curtis.

“Students are seeing the educational experience of a regional or rural area is very rich,” he said.

“There is a better ratio of students to clinicians, and it’s not only medical practitioners but also allied health practitioners.

“Students living and working and experiencing a rural and regional life will be more likely to go back to return to these sorts of locations (some time) after graduation.”

UQ medical students Brendon Song and Jamie Malawkin.

Third year student Gabriel Glatthor said the opportunity for more one-on-one time with real doctors and patients wasn’t the only factor behind his move to the Garden City.

“I was at another rural clinical school last year in Rockhampton and I really liked the rural experience but I wanted to try something different, and also my tolerance for humidity was not great, so the Toowoomba weather was a drawcard,” he said.

“I’m excited about (working in) emergency, which was one of the things I got to do in my rotational work last year.

“I’d like to see what it’s like in a slightly bigger hospital like Toowoomba and see what similarities there are.”