KEEP IN TOUCH
(07) 3105 7800
Turrbal and Jagera Country
Level 4, 348 Edward Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
In October we held our second Go Rural Virtually event and it was a great success with over 79 students online. The whole HWQ team came together to make this event run seamlessly, and student engagement and interest was clearly visible. The program provides valuable opportunities and are a great way to showcase remote and rural work and living opportunities. We even had one student offered a job on the spot!
Go Rural Virtually (GRV) provides Queensland health students with a virtual rural experience that explores the benefits and challenges of rural health practice and the many pathways into a rural career by showcasing rural locations and community-based health services.
GRV was developed by Health Workforce Queensland (HWQ) in response to the limitations COVID imposed on delivering face-to-face rural immersion events, with the intention of maintaining student interest and intent to practice rurally. Since GRV’s launch in October 2020 GRV health students have virtually visited Longreach, Mt Isa and Goondir Health Services in Southwest Queensland.
During GRV, students experience a virtual tour of the community, participate in interactive discussions with a live panel made up of local doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, as well as submit questions in real time. GRV allows the students to experience the collegiality of rural health professionals, appreciate the value of interprofessional collaboration and gain an understanding of the vital role belonging to a community plays both within and outside of the workplace.
Topics discussed at GRV to date include:
Cultural awareness and preparedness
Overcoming social isolation and the challenge of being away from family and friends
The value of having a supportive community
The importance of mental health in a remote and rural location
The benefits of collaborative practice and opportunities for practitioners to upskill and diversify their scope of practice
Rural clinical placements
Navigating the road to rural employment
Professional development opportunities
Importantly, delivering GRV online has enabled HWQ to significantly expand its student reach in comparison to the customary face-to-face programs and activities.
By taking a holistic approach, the ‘Go Rural Virtually’ model plants the seeds to grow our future rural workforce through encouraging the involvement of local health professionals and services to participate in health as a workforce solution. This means health professionals are provided an opportunity to engage a new cohort, outline how their career pathway led them to rural employment and showcase their community. Importantly, GRV actively keeps the rural conversation going beyond the virtual by connecting health professionals and services with rural workforce agencies (RWA’s) to promote Queensland rural locations as clinical placement sites.
Reframing how students experience rural communities has allowed HWQ to take a new approach to the enduring dilemma of creating sustainable pathways to the bush.
Click below to visit the Health Workforce Queensland website to keep up to date for all future GRV events.
