Flinders NT Matters September 2014

 Vol 8 Issue 2| September 2014
Welcome
year the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health was established in
Alice Springs. Each of these developments has built on previous
efforts and investment in addressing the complex social and health
problems faced by the NT. All of
these activities in the NT, in the
context of a strong partnership with
CDU, have become a strategic
priority for the University and an
important part of the health and
higher education sectors here.
It has been some 5 months since I
commenced as Associate Dean
Flinders NT. It has been a privilege
to work with our dedicated staff
and our many collaborators. Over
this period I have reflected on the
development of the organisation,
its current status and how to best
position us for the future. The
Flinders NT Clinical School
commenced in Darwin in 1997.
This was the beginning of a close
partnership with the NT Government to train medical students in
this educationally rich environment
and for this complex context. The
Centre for Remote Health, a joint
centre of Flinders University and
Charles
Darwin
University,
commenced in 1999 in Alice
Springs. It has acquired a national
reputation as the leader in Remote
Health education and research.
The NT Remote Clinical School
was established initially in Katherine in 2005. The NT Medical
Program, in partnership with CDU
and
the
NT
Government,
commenced in 2011. In the same
Flinders NT acknowledges
the traditional owners and
custodians across the lands
on which we live and work
and we pay our respects to
elders past, present and
future.
Inside this issue:
RDH Academic Centre
2
AMC Review
Honorary Doctorate
3
Clinical Supervision Training
4
Medical Program News
5
Community Engagement
6
Community Engagement
7
Indigenous Transition Pathways to
Medicine News
8
We are building on this very solid
foundation, thanks to the committed staff of the University, the
many clinicians who teach our students, the health services involved
in our research, and our students
in Darwin, Katherine, Nhulunbuy,
Alice Springs and around the
country. We also have excellent
physical and IT infrastructure in all
of these locations.
Poche Centre for Indigenous Health 9
This newsletter documents some
of the many activities of Flinders
NT. We are currently taking stock
within the organisation, building on
these strengths to ensure sustainability and further growth into the
future.
Poche Centre for Indigenous Health
10
Poche Centre for Indigenous Health
11
Muster Update
12
Nhulunbuy news
13
Katherine News
14
Katherine News
15
Katherine News
16
CRH News
17
CRH News
18
StARRH Update
19
Flinders NT Updates
20
Professor John Wakerman
Associate Dean
Flinders NT
September 2014
Events
19th September: Flinders Curriculum
Conference video conference
Welcome to the second edition of
Flinders NT Matters for 2014.
If you have any articles you would
like to submit for the third edition
of the Newsletter for 2014, please
email the editor, Lila Loveard on
[email protected]
22-23rd September: NTMP
Admission interviews
13-17 October: AMC Reaccreditation
visit
27-30 October: 2014 Muster
Conference
16th December: NTMP Yr 4 student
Qualifying Ceremony
18th December: NT Medical
Program Inaugural Graduation
Flinders University Royal Darwin Hospital Academic Centre
Staff and students recently moved
into the new Flinders University
Royal Darwin Hospital Academic
Centre. The $12.6 million building,
funded by the Federal Government’s Health and Hospital Fund,
will enable Flinders to enhance its
four-year graduate entry Doctor of
Medicine (MD) through the Northern Territory Medical Program.
The building contains a new lecture theatre with state-of-the-art
video conferencing technologies,
five classrooms, a computer room
to facilitate e-learning, two boardrooms and a student common
room equipped with a kitchen,
lounge, dining room and outdoor
area.
Photos clockwise from top right:
Academic Centre from outside,
Elearning room, Student balcony,
Reception, Indigenous Lounge,
Academic Hot desks.
Photos Des Gellert
11/09/2014 2 AMC Review
The Flinders University Doctor of
Medicine (MD) is being reviewed
for reaccreditation in 2014 by the
AMC. An AMC Mock Review took
place on 6th, 7th and 8th August,
2014. The final review will take
place in October 2014.
Many Northern Territory staff have
been involved in the review which
covers the following standards:
Standard 1: The Context of the
Medical Program
Standard 5: Assessment of Teaching and Learning
Standard 2: The Outcomes of the
Medical Program
Standard 6: The Curriculum Monitoring
Standard 3: The Medical Curriculum
Standard 7: Implementing
Curriculum - Students
Standard 4: Teaching and Learning
Standard 8: Implementing the
Curriculum – Learning Environment
the
Honorary Doctorate, Dr Calma AO
In April 2014, an Aboriginal elder
from the Kungarakan tribal group
and a member of the Iwaidja tribal
group of the Northern Territory, Dr
Tom Calma AO was made an
honorary Doctor of Flinders
University in recognition of his extraordinary achievements in the
areas of health, education, economic development, human rights
and social justice on behalf of Aboriginal people. His career includes
key posts as Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner and national Race
Discrimination Commissioner at
the Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission.
Calma supported the establishment of two Poche Centres of
Indigenous Health in Adelaide and
Alice Springs, and continues as
Patron of the national network of
four Poche Centres. He helped to
shape the development and
embedding of the university-wide
Flinders Indigenous Engagement
Framework. Since 2013, he has
been Chancellor of the University
of Canberra.
Below: Dr Tom Calma AO at the
graduation ceremony with Flinders NT
Manager
Ms
Monica
Barolits–
McCabe
Dr Calma’s 2005 Social Justice
Report initiated the national Close
the Gap campaign, and he was
crucial in winning the agreement of
the Council of Australian Governments to fund a combined federal
and state response, the Closing
The Gap program. He also played
a role in setting up a new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
representative body, the National
Congress of Australia’s First
Peoples.
A significant contributor to the academic life of Flinders University, Dr
3 3 4 Clinical Supervision Training
Narelle Campbell and Helen Wozniak
Flinders NT has delivered the 2014
round of Interprofessional Clinical
Supervision and Support Workshops. Two workshops were held
in May, one in Darwin and one in
Alice Springs. Another workshop
was held in Katherine from 22-23rd
of July. While the workshop focus
is on foundation skills for supervision, participants came with a
range of experience and contributed energetically to the discussions.
Feedback on the workshops included comments such as:
Thank you so much!! This
was such a valuable workshop for me.
I was reasonably confident
before but this course has
highlighted
how
to
supervise in a more
structured way.
One popular aspect of the workshop is a practical session on
managing supervision situations
where difficulties have arisen.
Participants are provided with tools
to take away and use in their workplace as well as the opportunity to
practice their skills.
Module 1: Introduction to Clinical
Supervision
Module 2: Teaching and Learning
in the Workplace
Module 3: Developing Professional
Expertise
with the Department of Health and
the Northern Territory Regional
Training Network (NTRTN) under
HWA funding.
This is the third year that Flinders
NT (including the Centre for
Remote Health) has delivered
these workshops in partnership
Online Training Packages
In addition to offering Clinical
Supervision Workshops, Flinders
NT staff from the Medical Program
and Centre for Remote Health,
also developed a series of 3 free
Introduction to Clinical Supervision
e-Learning Packages through an
NTRTN and HWA funded project.
The online series include:
Above: Participants at the Darwin
Clinical Supervision and Support
Workshop held in May.
Helen Wozniak
Free Access is available from
http://mylearninghealth.nt.gov.au/
course/info.php?id=597
(with
ePass)
Or
http://
mylearninghealth.nt.gov.au/enrol/
nthealth/external.php to request
access
Right: The launch of the online
packages L to R: Christine
Prescott, Renee Moore, Heather
Malcolm
(DoH),
Prof
Rose
McEldowney (Head of the School
of Health, CDU), Helen Wozniak
(Flinders NT)
(not pictured Narelle Campbell
and Sue Lenthall)
411/09/2014 4 4 Bachelor Clinical Science Graduation
On Thursday 29 May 2014, the
inaugural group of CDU Bachelor
of Clinical Sciences students graduated from their CDU degree. This
degree forms the first stage of the
student’s double degree, the
second stage being the Flinders
University Doctor of Medicine.
The ceremony was held at the
Darwin Convention Centre and
attended by
the
graduating
students and their families, as well
as CDU and Flinders University
staff from Darwin and Adelaide.
In December this year, the inaugural group of NT Medical Program
students who have completed their
four years of Medicine in the NT
will graduate.
Neuroscientist Visit
In June a visiting distinguished
neuroscientist Professor William
“Billy” O’Connor from University of
Limerick medical school visited
Darwin. Professor O’Connor is a
neuroscientist with research interests in Parkinson’s, head injury,
and schizophrenia and has been
working with the Adelaide Flinders
campus this year.
He delivered a lecture titled The
Brain Science of Learning to our
medical students as part of their
curriculum, and a presentation to
PBL tutors, clinicians, GP tutors
and consultants entitled The Neurobiology of Problem Based Learning. This talk discussed how the
brain learns and explained why
PBL is so powerful at helping the
brain to learn optimally.
Advanced Studies
2014 marks the introduction of a
new “research and scholarship”
theme in the Flinders MD called
Advanced Studies.
Advanced Studies is an opportunity for MD students to undertake
supervised research activities or
postgraduate coursework as part
of their MD qualification. All students commencing the MD in 2014
or after will undertake Advanced
Studies as part of their degree.
5 5 6 Try a Health Career Day
On Tuesday 15 April, a ‘Come &
Try’ event was held at RDH for 93
students from seven Darwin senior
schools. The event was timed to
be part of Youth Week. Activities
included assisting Sim-mom in
labour simulations, learning CPR,
experiencing a giant-size ear,
video-otoscopy
examination,
plastering, looking at x-rays,
discussing sexual health issues,
and talking to staff about study and
career pathways. Potential careers
included nursing, midwifery, medicine,
paramedics,
audiology,
speech pathology, physiotherapy,
health research, mental health
nursing, and health promotion.
The event was facilitated by 11
Third Year Medical students who
worked with the Adolescent Nurse
Consultant Erin Evans, and other
staff. Participation fulfilled the
requirements of the medical
students’ ‘Community Engagement
Project’, which is part of their
Health Professions in Society unit.
But the project did much more than
meet assessment requirements.
Partnerships were forged between
Flinders NT, CDU, RDH, Menzies,
Core of Life and senior schools.
School students had a positive
experience of the hospital environment. RDH was enabled to trial an
innovative approach to meet the
needs of students wanting a career
in the health sector in a safe and
supportive manner. Staff passing
by the University displays took the
opportunity
to
ask
about
post-graduate courses.
High school students commented
that the best thing about the day
was:
‘discussing potential options
to get into university to study
medicine’
‘learning
about
different
parts of the health industry’
‘hearing people’s personal
experience and insights into
uni courses’
Teachers commented that the
small groups allowed the students
to get involved and ask questions.
They were keen to be involved in
coming years and made helpful
suggestions to improve the experience.
Franceska Edis
in healthcare, and gave me
some perspective as to how I
feel about healthcare when I
am not overwhelmed by
work. I also enjoyed the discussion and teaching side of
the station, and would now
consider a teaching role at
some point in the future if it
was an option’.
Nurse Consultant Erin Evans commented that the event exceeded
her expectations and she thanked
the students and staff involved, in
particular Kate Wilson and John
Bauert.
Medical students commented:
‘Volunteering time to encourage young people to open
their eyes to notice the many
opportunities
within
the
Territory for work and study
was an inspiring experience.
I was surprised that on the
day I was learning as much
from the students as they
were from us and I really
enjoyed that interaction’
‘this experience ….broke
down pre-conceived fears
and ideas of the hospital
environment’
‘I thoroughly enjoyed the day
and felt this has reinforced
that my decision to study
medicine was indeed a
correct path’
‘It was refreshing to hear that
many
of
them
(school
students) had a keen interest
Above:
Third year student Jilly McCool
with SimMom and midwives Jenni
Gilbert, Marg Phelan and Anna
Beecham.
Year 11 and 12 Taminmin
students climb out of the ear:
Natasha Bond, Mali Booth, Cuong
Tran, Emma Worsley, Rebecca
Jenkins
611/09/2014 6 6 Community Engagement Activities
Flinders University in the NT has
participated in numerous engagements with the community in the
past few months. Some of the
activities we have held or
participated in are:




NAIDOC week Film screening (photos above), NAIDOC
March and morning tea
Darwin, Katherine, Tennant
Creek (photo below right)
and Alice Springs Careers
Expo
CDU Open Day (photos
below left)
Indigenous Work Experience Program with Kormilda
College Students (photo
right).
We will also be participating in
CDU Discovery Day for Year 10
students on 24th September.
Tina Abi
7 7 8 Indigenous Transition Pathways to Medicine News
National Reconciliation Week Activities
Associate Professor Don Christophersen, a member of Flinders
NT’s Indigenous Transition Pathways team, was recently asked by
ABC radio to select someone he
admires and interview them as part
of National Reconciliation Week.
Don selected not one, but two people – Flinders second year medical
students in the Northern Territory
(and brothers!) Rury and Riagan
Liddle. The two Aboriginal brothers have family around Alice
Springs and told Don that support
has been the key to them getting
into university and succeeding in
their studies. They hope to return
to the communities where they
grew up in Central Australia once
they are doctors.
“I guess long term I can see myself
working in remote health. Hopefully we can get some more of the
Aboriginal guys on board and it will
work really well” Riagan said as
part of the interview.
Above: l‐r Rury Liddle, Don Chirstophersen, Riagan Liddle‐Stewart The interview was aired on ABC
radio during Reconciliation Week.
National
Reconciliation
Week
(NRW) is celebrated across Australia each year between 27 May
and 3 June. The dates commemorate two significant milestones in
the reconciliation journey—the
anniversaries of the successful
1967 referendum and the High
Court Mabo decision.
explore how each of us can join
the national reconciliation effort.
At Flinders University, we recognise the unique position of Indigenous Australians as First Nations
people, and support for (and
engagement
with)
Indigenous
students is a high priority.
The week is a time for all of us to
learn about our shared histories,
cultures and achievements and to
Flinders NT held a lunch to commemorate National Reconciliation
Week.
Preparation for Medicine Program 2014
Selected applicants from the
Indigenous Entry Stream application process to the Flinders University Doctor of Medicine (MD) took
part in this years Preparation for
Medicine Program. Six applicants
completed the two week program
in Darwin in July.
The PMP
provides students with the experience of what it is like to study medicine through attending lectures,
tutorials and laboratory sessions in
anatomy and physiology, clinical
skills and the professional aspects
of medicine. After completing the
PMP, each applicant will be
reviewed on a case-by-case basis
811/09/2014 8 for their suitability and readiness to
study Medicine.
Above: 2014 Preparation for
Medicine Program applicants and
program deliverers.
8 Poche Centre News
Poche Centre for Indigenous Health (Alice Springs)
Heading into a Central Australian
winter has not slowed things down
for Poche Centre activities. We
have been so busy with research
and teaching that our April and
May seminar series could not be
scheduled this period. However,
we have been engaged in our
usual teaching of Flinders Medical
students with lecturers Colleen
Hayes and John Reid providing
cultural content in ways that prioritise Indigenous pedagogies and
knowledge, as well as my regular
presentation on intercultural communication for new nursing staff of
the Alice Springs Hospital. I also
presented an overview of working
in remote Aboriginal communities
to a group of 60 audiologists at a
workshop in Sydney, via skype for
Hearing Australia.
Above: Kerry and Pauline at Brandywine Campus Cultural Safety seminar Other Poche presentations included a paper at the International
Health & Wellness Conference in
Vancouver on the development of
shared vocabularies for improved
health education and a seminar at
Brandywine Campus of Penn State
at the invitation of colleague and
co-author Pauline Guerin. The sec-
9 ond edition of our collaborative text
is now available and I am proud to
share that it is a recommended
reading in over 30 health-related
courses throughout Australia.
In collaboration with Dr Lloyd Einsiedel we have applied for an
NH&MRC grant to continue his
research on HTLV1 in remote
Aboriginal communities. As part of
preparation for further research
and a knowledge translation
project Clint Pepperill and I visited
Ikuntji (Haast Bluff) community on
two occasions to inform the community about research findings and
obtain consent to conduct further
related research in the coming
months. Clint and colleague Hai
Pham will be undertaking field
work in the community in August.
Requests for Poche Centre staff is
growing with Colleen Hayes contracted to conduct field work on
behalf of the University of South
Australia and the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, investigating the experience of people
accessing family support services.
Our new admin officer Cy Starkman, has already made a significant contribution in assisting staff
to develop teaching materials and
resources including an exciting
innovation in the development of a
culturally appropriate pain assessment tool for Central Australia. The
draft version of the pain tool which
Kerry Taylor
uses
graphics
of
microexpressions and locally recognisable hand gestures, will be trialled in
the Alice Springs Hospital over the
coming months.
Below: Indigenous research officer
Clinton Pepperill, - another tough
day at the ‘office’, on the way to
Ikuntji, looking over the Finke River
In a major development for Poche
Alice Springs, our staff and others
from CRH, have been invited to
participate in the Evaluation of the
trial of the National Disability
Insurance Scheme in the Barkly
region of the NT.
The NDIS Evaluation is a major
national project funded by the
Department of Social Services and
carried out by the National Institute
of Labour Studies at Flinders
University.
(continued on next page)
9 10 Poche Centre News
Poche Centre for Indigenous Health (Alice Springs)
(continued from previous page)
As part of the initial planning for
this activity, we recently hosted
Professor Kostas Mavromaras (the
Chief Investigator of the Evaluation) and Dr Megan Moskos (a
lead researcher in the Evaluation),
orientating them to the region and
facilitating preliminary introductions
to key stakeholders. We look
forward to being involved in this
very important national research
which seeks to understand the
experiences of people with disabilities, their carers and families,
specialist disability support providers and their workforces, and
which will last until the end of June
2016.
Finally, in May, we reluctantly said
goodbye
to
Maria
PalmerThompson who has chosen to
Kerry Taylor
retire after some forty years
working in Aboriginal health, cultural awareness education, government and legal services. Maria
wanted to depart quietly, but we
are determined to send her off
appropriately as soon as we can
pin her down. We also look forward to continuing our substantial
contributions to Indigenous health
and well-being in the remainder of
2014.
Garma Festival Testimonial Winner
The Garma Festival recently announced the winner of their 2013
Testimonial competition.
Kerry
Taylor, from the Poche Centre in
Alice Springs, won a free ticket to
Garma 2014 as a Yothu Yindi
Foundation VIP guest.
Kerry's poem, Same But Different,
is a personal insight drawing on
her own attendance at Garma in
2013 with Flinders University. The
Yothu Yindi Foundation advised
her entry was successful as she
primarily drew inspiration from
practical Yolngu cultural language
or dance and structured her poem
to highlight the stark difference
between the NE Arnhem Yolngu
people and the broader western
concept of expectations. Kerry
also managed to capture the many
colourful characters that attend
Garma, and different aspects of
the program.
my own cultural heritage and yet
resonated for me as a meeting of
minds,
ceremony
and
relationships.
Have you any Inspiration for
those thinking of attending but
not sure? I think Garma represents all that is good and possible
for our country.... a generous
sharing of culture in an extraordinary landscape. It stimulates all
the senses through colour, sounds,
tastes, smells and intellectual
exchange.
What year did you attend? Was
this
your
first
year?
2013 yes, first year.
What brought you to Garma,
Why
did
you
attend?
I was fortunate enough to be
asked to represent my workplace
on a stall for Flinders NT and had
always wanted to go to Garma, but
never been able to get there. I
have lived and worked in Central
Australia for over 25 years and am
constantly amazed by the diversity
of Aboriginal cultures, so the
chance to see and experience
Yolgnu culture was too good to
miss.
To read Kerry’s poem go to:
http://www.yyf.com.au/news/
detail.aspx?ArticleID=22
Below: Kerry Taylor (busy working
the badge machine at the back of
the photo) at the Flinders NT booth
at Garma 2013
Upon winning the prize, Kerry
shared the below with the Yothu
Yindi Foundation on her Garma
experience:
A few words on why you think
you would like to come back to
Garma? I would love to come back
to Garma as it was a rare privilege
to be part of such a vibrant intercultural event. It felt like I was part
of something that had its origin
back thousands of years, beyond
1011/09/2014 10 10 Poche Centre News
Poche Network Meeting
July saw the coming together of
the five Poche Centres for a network meeting that was held in
Darwin. The national network of
Poche Centres now includes
Flinders
Alice
Springs
and
Adelaide,
Sydney
University,
University of Western Australia
and Melbourne University. There
are plans for further expansion
with negotiations in place for a
Queensland Poche Centre as well.
Apart from an opportunity for
showcasing our work, the network
meeting focused on potential
collaborations to strengthen the
profile and outcomes for Poche
Centres nationally. The gathering
started with a Welcome Reception
at Government House hosted by
the Administrator of the Northern
Territory, the Honourable Sally
Thomas, AC. Other activities included a well-attended Key Thinkers’ Forum, chaired by Poche
Patron Dr Tom Calma. The purpose was to discuss substance
use in Indigenous communities,
the evidence, what’s working,
what’s not and what are the issues
and opportunities for the future.
The program included a lunch
hosted by Professor John Wakerman at Flinders NT and tours of
the NT Medical Program and associated facilities. It was also an
opportunity to formally announce
the 2014 recipients of the Poche
Alice Springs Scholarships for
Indigenous
medical
students,
established to support 3rd or 4th
year students to complete their
studies. This year’s recipients were
Bekkie Lee and Amber Revell.
Bekkie was able to join in the
presentation ceremony via video
link from Katherine, with Amber
able to attend in Darwin.
Mrs Kay Poche described meeting
the students and hearing their
stories as the highlight of the
philanthropic work undertaken in
Mr Greg Poche’s name.
The network of Poche Centres
nationally bring together leading
researchers,
alumni,
faculty,
students and communities to find
sustainable,
workable
and
affordable solutions to Indigenous
health issues.
Poche Centres, 2014
Above: Bekkie Lee (l) accepting
her scholarship via video-link from
Katherine Campus, with Dr
Pascale Dettwiller
Above left: The Poche meeting
held in Darwin in July 2014.
Below left: Dr Tom Calma and
Poche scholarship recipient
Amber Revell.
11 11 12 Muster 2014 Update
The Global Community Engaged
Medical Education Muster will take
place from 27-30 October 2014 at
Voyages Ayers Rock Resort at
Uluru. Over 200 abstracts have
been received from around the
world for Muster 2014.
The Muster will bring together
internationally recognised leaders
in community engaged medical
education and will stimulate
important discussions about key
concepts and practices at the forefront of medical education through
the themes:

Longitudinal Learning,

Community Engagement,

Social Accountability and

Aboriginal Health.

Dr Patricia Miller AO, CEO
of the Central Australian
Aboriginal Legal Aid Service

Ms Donna Ah Chee, CEO of
the
Central
Australian
Aboriginal Congress
Local Ngangkaris (Indigenous
healers) will also be fully engaged
in the conference.

Professor Stephen Billett,
Professor of Adult and
Vocational Education, ARC
Future Fellow 2011-2015,
Griffith University, Queensland, Australia

Dr
Rachel
Ellaway,
Assistant Dean Curriculum
and Planning, Associate
Professor, Acting Director of
Simulation, Northern Ontario
School of Medicine, Canada
Muster 2014 Registrations
Full
registration:
Student
registration:
Partner
registration:
Day
registration:
$1300
$800
$750
$300

Professor
Lambert
Schuwirth, Professor of
Medical Education, Flinders
Innovation in Clinical Education/Health
Professions
Education,
School
of
Medicine, Flinders University, South Australia
Plenary Speakers
We are pleased to announce the
following confirmed plenary
speakers:


Dr Agnes Soucat, Director
for Human Development,
African Development Bank
Dr Fortunato L. Cristobal,
Dean of School of Medicine,
Ateneo
de
Zamboanga
University, Philippines
Pre-Conference Workshops
Registration is now open for
Muster
2014
Pre-Conference
Workshops including:

Health Literacy Workshop,
Friday 24 October, Alice
Springs

LIC
101
(Longitudinal
Integrated Clerkships 101),
Monday 27 October, Uluru
Keep Updated
To sign up to the 2014 Muster
mailing list, please complete the
short form at
www.flinders.edu.au/muster2014
1211/09/2014 12 12 Nhulunbuy
Nhulunbuy News
Gemma Porteous
In the second quarter of this year
the Flinders University Nhulunbuy
Clinical Education Training Facility
was completed and ready for
occupation. This was met with
great expectation from the health
community across the Gove Peninsula and a great deal of anticipation by Dr Sarah Chalmers, Senior
Lecturer and Michelle Hockings,
Campus Administrator in Nhulunbuy.
The habitation of the building by
Flinders NT staff was the first step
towards offering a greater learning
experience not only to students
studying remotely but to the broader health sector locally. With the
anticipated commissioning of the
SIM Lab in the last quarter of the
year there will be a designated
facility for an extensive range of
learning for everyone.
In mid-August, as a result of the
downsizing of the Nhulunbuy community courtesy of the Rio Tinto
Alcan Refinery shut down, it was
with great sadness Michelle Hockings
left
the
organisation.
Michelle’s
contribution
was
welcomed by all whom she worked
with over her four and a half years
of service. She will be greatly
missed for her warmth and professionalism. Her position has been
transitioned to Gemma Porteous.
first large group to trial the new
facility utilising the future Sim Lab
space, Tutorial Room and Student
Lounge. The energy and enthusiasm for which the course and fresh
new surrounds was met was excellent. Feedback was extremely positive and it gave local Flinders NT
personnel an insight into how good
and productive the space can be
and
the
immense
resource
potential the facility holds.
Late August saw the return of the
annual Careers Expo, which caters
primarily to high school students
from Nhulunbuy, Yirrkala and
Gunyangara. Leana Downs one of
our Year 4 Flinders Medical Package Students and Gemma Porte-
Above:
Laynhapuy Health and
CRANA Plus workshop attendees at
the Flinders University Nhulunbuy
Clinical Education Training Facility
ous were on hand to answer the
questions asked by the students,
careers councillors, teachers and
parents. Whilst numbers attending
were lower than in previous years
there was quality enquiry for which
it was great to have a student on
hand to offer insight into the opportunities offered by Flinders, the
NTMP and training remotely.
Leana graciously agreed to be interviewed by the local radio station, Gove FM in an effort to
spread the word on Flinders NT.
Below: Leana Downs, Careers
Expo Nhulunbuy
Photo from l-r: Gemma Porteous,
Michelle Hockings and Sarah
Chalmers
The week after Michelle departed,
Laynhapuy Health in conjunction
with CRANA Plus ran a two day
workshop on Remote Emergency
Care for Nurses and Aboriginal
Health Professionals. This was the
13 13 14 Katherine News
Governor-General Visits Katherine
Hayley Jackson
Students from Flinders University’s
Northern
Territory
Medical
Program showcased the University’s new teaching facility at the
Katherine District Hospital to
Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove.
As part of the June 20 visit, third
year NTMP student Felix Ho and
rural placement student Gary Sit
from the University of Melbourne
represented Flinders in the Northern Territory by escorting His
Excellency through the facility,
accompanied by Flinders NT
Manager Monica Barolits-McCabe.
The students demonstrated a
range of new simulation equipment
at the Katherine facility and
highlighted the advantages of
studying in a rural setting.
Photo: The Governor General Sir
Peter Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove,
the Katherine Mayor and Flinders
NT staff and students.
Associate Dean Katherine visit
The Associate Dean of Flinders NT
Professor John Wakerman visited
the Katherine Site in May
providing the perfect opportunity
for our community partners to welcome Professor Wakerman into his
new role. During his visit Prof
Wakerman met with Sunrise
Health Service, Kintore Clinic,
Wurli-Wurlinjang Health Service,
Katherine West Health Board and
Katherine District Hospital as well
as enjoying morning tea with a few
members of the Banatjarl Strongbala Wumin Grup.
The Banatjarl Strongbala Wumin
Grup was officially formed in 2003
although the work they have been
doing dates back much further.
The ladies focus on family, women
and healing and more recently
they have been working closely
with the Katherine Site to support
Hayley Jackson
the students learning experience
when on placement.
Prof
Wakerman’s
visit
was
welcomed by the staff in Katherine,
giving the chance for new and old
faces to meet and for partnerships
to strengthen and develop.
From left to right (top row): Rebecca Miniken, Indigenous Women’s
Program Coordinator, KRAHRS,
Prof. John Wakerman, Associate
Dean, Flinders NT, Prof. Pascale
Dettwiller, Katherine Site Director,
Flinders NT
From left to right (bottom row):
Tammy Russell, Project Officer,
KRAHRS, Nellie Camfoo, Snr
Aboriginal Woman, Member of
Banatjarl Wumins Grup, Kylie
Stothers, Flinders NT
1411/09/2014 14 14 Katherine News
Barunga Festival 2014
For the last two years, Flinders
Northern Territory has provided
silver sponsorship for the Barunga
Festival. The Katherine Flinders
team held a booth at the Festival,
and they were joined at the booth
this year by a group of colleagues
and students from Darwin and Flinders University in Adelaide.
Students engaged in activities with
the kids including apple peeling,
badge making, recognising plastic
body parts, finger nail painting and
signing names on cards. Indigenous community participants came
from communities from around the
NT to the sports and cultural festival.
Pascale Dettwiller
promotion impact by asking participants a simple question “Do you
know that the Barunga Festival is a
smoke free event?” Information
collected will form part of a new
assignment related to community
engagement; providing students
with an appreciation of meaningful
community engagement.
Below: Hajar Siti Razak (JCU), Ian
Lee (NTMP), Kevin Helsop
(NTMP) and Felix Ho (NTMP)
Bottom: Pascale Dettwiller, Hajar
Siti Razak (JCU), Sunrise Health
Service Health Promotion Mascot,
Kylie Stothers
Indigenous lecturers, Cheryl Davis
from Darwin and Kylie Stothers
from the Katherine campus,
ensured that protocols were
respected and students were
appropriately representing the University. According to an Indigenous
medical student who attended
Barunga,
‘... it is important (for
Indigenous students) to attend
such events as it does reconnect
them with their culture and this is
an important part of our wellbeing”.
Indigenous student Ian Lee said
that “this event was a great success; I was able to assist the
Banatjarl Wumin Grup at their stall
and attend their activities. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the
two day event alongside family,
colleagues, students and dedicated lecturers such as Pascale
Dettwiller’.
The contribution Flinders makes to
the Barunga Festival is an
important part of our engagement
strategy in the NT to collaborate
with local partners and promote
community wellbeing.
This year a Year 3 student contributed to the smoke-free festival program with the organiser of the
event, Skinny Fish Records. All the
students said that this was a great
initiative that they were proud to be
part of. They evaluated the health
15 15 16 Katherine News
Meaningful Community Engagement
Inter-professional Education
In June 2012 the Flinders Katherine office received a query from
former Binjari Community CEO
Bev Patterson for information on
FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder). In November 2012 I
organised a community ‘one day’
seminar event for organisations to
come and talk about the topic and
offer their community-based solutions. Heather D’Antoine from
Menzies
School
of
Human
Research came to talk about her
experience with FASD in WA.
Local organisation representatives
also spoke about their successes
and celebrated family and children
projects in the Katherine region.
Speech Pathology Placements
In December 2012 I visited Broken
Hill University Department of Rural
Health (UDRH) where a speech
pathology student-led clinic project
has been running for the last 6
years. Despite the context appearing quite different, social issues
and family issues were similar and
I saw potential to transfer the
knowledge acquired at Broken Hill
to Katherine.
Clyde Fenton Primary School
(CFPS) was identified as a suitable
school for a pilot with the enthusiasm of its Principal Sandy Cartwright embracing the project. I
then approached Flinders University and James Cook University
(JCU) Speech Pathology course
directors to discuss sending some
speech pathology students to
Katherine. Flinders Northern Territory has had an agreement with
the James Cook University since
2008 for collaboration and cooperation in health.
Pascale Dettwiller
tember-October 2013. One of the
results of the pilot was to secure
Northern Territory Rural Training
Network funding for a part-time
speech pathologist supervisor for
2014.
In February 2014 two students
from JCU came for 8 weeks at
CFPS. In June a few speech
pathology representatives from
University of Sydney, Flinders University, Southern Cross, JCU and
the Broken Hill University Department of Rural Health met in Katherine at Clyde Fenton Primary
School to design what the future of
the program may look like.
Eighteen months after the idea of a
student–led clinic germinated, the
story was presented as a poster in
order to inspire others to pursue
their goals with patience and
tenacity and believe in the strength
of communities whatever they are
and where ever they may be! The
poster was presented at the May
2014 Speech Pathology Annual
conference in May in Melbourne.
Above: Poster presentation at
2014 SP national and international
conference in Melbourne, Pascale
Dettwiller & Claire Brunero (SPBHUDRH)
Left: Debriefing seminar at CFPS
on the last day of the pilot project;
Academics gathered to discuss
‘Where to from here?’
Below: Scoping exercise at Clyde
Fenton: left to right Sam Senecal
(NOSM), Claire Brunero (SP –
BHUDRH), Andrea Smith (SP student ), Pascale Dettwiller (Director
FNT Katherine), Sandy Cartwright
(Principal CFPS), Narelle Campbell (Director IPE at FNT), Mary
Lynch, Cultural Support at CFPS.
A scoping study was undertaken in
April 2013 to assess the feasibility
of a pilot that would inform a subsequent larger project.
Some funding was sourced from
the Smith Family Katherine for a
pilot that was implemented in Sep1611/09/2014 16 16 Centre for Remote Health News
Remote Primary Health Care Manuals Launch
Sandeep Reddy
The Remote Primary Health Care
Manuals (RPHCM) project team
officially launched the latest
editions of RPHCM in Canberra.
The manuals were launched under
the auspices of the 2014 Primary
Health Care Research Conference
with attendance from Conference
Delegates and the Australian
Government Department of Health
personnel.
The
manuals
include
the:
CARPA Standard Treatment
Manual - 6th Edition
Minymaku Kutju Tjukurpa Women’s Business Manual - 5th
Edition
Clinical Procedures Manual - 3rd
Edition
Medicines Book - 3rd Edition
and
RPHCM Reference Book - 5th
Edition
The manuals are available both as
hard print and electronically at :
http://remotephcmanuals.com.au/
html/publications
The 2014 editions are a culmination of a long and complex process
of updating and developing numerous guidelines to ensure relevance
to current practice. This complex
process saw the involvement of
hundreds of reviewers and volunteers. However, the story does not
end here, with the RPHCM project
and editorial team having already
commenced work on the next
editions.
Also, scheduled is a series of
secondary launch of the 2014
editions including a local launch in
Photo above: At the Canberra
launch (from left): Wendy Geoghegan (Department of Health,
Australian Government); Sabina
Knight (Chair, Editorial Committee); John Wakerman (Outgoing
Chair-Governance
Committee)
and Janet Struber (Coordinating
Editor).
Alice Springs and launch of the
Standard Treatment Manual at the
CARPA conference on September
12th.
Centre for Remote Health Hosts NT Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards
The Centre for Remote Health
recently hosted the Northern
Territory Nursing and Midwifery
Excellence Awards which were
conveniently held at two sites for
the first time. This was made
possible via video link-up with Darwin. Almost a quarter of the
entrants were from the Central
Australian region.
Midwifery Group Practice Coordinator, Raelene Carroll was awarded the Excellence in Nursing / Mid17 wifery Leadership Award. Mental
Health nurse, Natalie Colmer took
out the Excellence in Mental
Health Nursing Award. Alice
Springs Correctional Centre Health
Facility manager, Dorian Dent
received the Excellence in Primary
Health Care Award.
Clancy Tucker was the winner of
the Graduate Nurse of the Year
Award for his commitment to the
Graduate Nurse Program at the
Alice Springs Hospital.
Health Minister Robyn Lambley
attended the awards ceremony at
the Centre for Remote Health and
expressed that the award ceremony was a fantastic opportunity to
showcase the hard work and dedication of each recipient. Minister
Lambley said “Nurses and midwives care for people at their most
vulnerable and at some of the
most memorable events in their
lives”.
17 18 Centre for Remote Health News
New Aged Care Workshop
The National Ageing Research
Institute (NARI) has worked in
partnership with staff from the
Centre for Remote Health to develop a new short course on
“Assessment, care planning and
care coordination in rural and
remote communities”. The development of the course was funded
by a Rural Health Continuing
Education Grant. A two-day workshop was held in Katherine in July
to trial the materials, and participants were drawn from a wide
range of organisations and professional backgrounds.
Feedback was positive and valuable information about how to target
and market the course was
obtained from the pilot. Alice
Spring-based staff Heather Jensen
and Melissa Lindeman and Katherine-based staff member Kylie
Stothers all delivered parts of the
course, and all will be involved in
ongoing delivery. It is intended that
the program will be run in both
rural and remote contexts by the
two organisations on a fee-paying
basis. There is a also potential for
the course to be offered as a postgraduate Topic in the Flinders
remote practice program.
Above: some of the Katherine
course participants with Maree
Daly from NARI (bottom left), Kylie
Stothers (bottom right)
and
Heather Jensen (top right).
Article provided by Melissa Lindeman, Heather Jensen, Annie
Farthing and Kylie Stothers
CRH Updates
Published Papers:
Carey TA (2014). Using practicebased research to build effective
and
efficient
psychological
services. Presentation for the
Jocelyn Wade Seminar, James
Cook University, 11 April 2014
Dingwall KM, Lindeman MA &
Cairney S (2014). “You’ve got to
make it relevant”: barriers and
ways forward for assessing cognition in Aboriginal clients, BMC Psychology, 2(13): 1-11.
Gador-Whyte AP, Wakerman J,
Campbell D, Lenthall S, Struber J,
Hope A & Watson C (2014). Cost
of best-practice primary care man-
agement of chronic disease in a
remote Aboriginal community,
Medical Journal of Australia, 200
(11): 663-666.
Conference Presentation:
Lindeman M & Grant L (2014).
Experiences of Central Australian
workers regarding suicide risk
among Aboriginal youth.
Report:
Vicki Carroll has completed her
report on the Fitzroy Crossing
Hospital model of care following
the incorporation of primary health
care into the acute role.
1811/09/2014 18 18 StARRH Update
StARRH, The Top End’s Rural
Health Club, had an exciting start
with a number of student and community focused events to launch
the 2014 academic year for
Flinders, CDU and JCU students.
Since the April edition of Flinders
NT Matters, StARRH has been
extremely active in encouraging
and promoting rural, remote and
Indigenous health.
Thursday 17 April kicked off bright
and early with an Allied Health
Breakfast held at the CDU Basketball courts. This event was a great
success, with an opportunity for
StARRH members from all disciplines, but especially Allied Health
students to meet each other, learn
from other disciplines and encourage multi-disciplinary education.
After all, no one single health
profession ever works alone for
patient centred care!
ClinSkills 2014, StARRH’s biggest
multidisciplinary clinical event was
a great success again with over
100 attending! Held on the evening
of Wednesday 30 April, ClinSkills
2014 featured much loved skills
like suturing and cannulation while
introducing some new skills such
as sports strapping and cream
preparation. This highly interactive
event helped to introduce preclinical medical, nursing and allied
health students to some key clinical skills needed in rural practice;
as well as an opportunity for clinical medical students to teach and
mentor. We even got noticed in the
national media! Thank you to all
our presenters for volunteering
their time to make the event such a
great success!
StARRH again supported the Barunga Festival, an Indigenous festival held on the long weekend of 6
to 8 June in the town of Barunga,
approximately 80km south of Katherine. StARRH members volunteered their time with the Flinders
NT stand and the NRHSN stand
supporting members from the
FURHS (Flinders SA) and KRASH
(University of Notre Dame Broome
campus) rural health clubs. This
was a fantastic success with great
community engagement, health
promotion to many local children
and positive encouragement for
kids to achieve their dream!
Last, but not least, StARRH jointly
held a movie night to celebrate
NAIDOC week with GPSN NT and
Flinders
University.
Featuring
amazing catering and great
support, we would like to thank
GPSN NT and Flinders Indigenous
Pathways to Medicine team for
jointly help celebrate NAIDOC
week.
Our Semester 2 calendar is
packed with more exciting events:
StARRH attended the
Desert
Harmony Festival from 16 to 21
August in Tennant Creek. This
exciting event saw students from
RAHMS (UNSW) and MARHS
(CSU) also attending.
Territory Tough 2014 was held on
29 to 31 August. Following on from
the success of 2013, this residential event saw a positive promotion
of living and working in a rural
environment through community
immersion. Students had fun doing
practical activities such as undertaking a 4WD course, quad bike
course, canoeing the Katherine
Gorge and visiting local hot
springs!
Thank you to all the amazing
StARRH members that donated
their time and energy this year to
bring these activities to all StARRH
members.
To find out more about
StARRH, please visit our
website at
www.starrh.com.au
Please feel free to drop us a
line anytime, we’ll love to
hear from you!
Felix Ho
StARRH President 2014
Below: Flinders
Barunga Festival
NT
Booth
We celebrated International Nurses Day on 12 May and acknowledged the important contribution of
nurses and the vital complementary role that all nurses and midwives play in health care. This
year, we celebrated with a morning
tea on campus to say thanks to all
the
nursing
and
midwifery
students!
19 19 at
NT Simulated Learning Manager
range of health professionals
involved in the obstetric and midwifery discipline. She has a
Masters of Public Health with
distinction, a post grad diploma in
midwifery, a Diploma of Education
and a Bach of Science (Nursing)
and has worked at Southern Cross
University, Wollongong University
and Edith Cowan University as a
clinical educator.
I would like to welcome Devon
Plumley who started on the 24th
April as the new Educator / Facility
Manager for the NT Simulated
Learning Environment (NT SLE)
located at RDH building 4.
Devon is a midwife with considerable teaching experience, most
recently at Tweed Hospital NSW
where she led and developed a
teaching program with a wide
Narelle Campbell
Her enthusiasm, energy and creativity evidenced at the interview will
be welcomed as we aim to move
from the establishment phase of
the NT SLE to develop the educational aspects of simulation.
Conference workshop
Helen Wozniak (Flinders NT) and
Heather Malcolm (DoH) delivered
a workshop titled “Developing
professional expertise: strategies
for supervisors to GP supervisors
and other health professionals” at
the recent Compass NTGPE and
Medicare Local conference in
Darwin.
Helen Wozniak
This workshop aimed to build on
the participants understanding of
the differences between novices
and experts, provide some frameworks to outline the development
of professional expertise and
consider the supervisor's role in
promoting the development of
expertise.
Staff Updates
Commencing Permanent staff
Elisabeth Comacchio:
Devon Plumley:
Administrative Assistant/Receptionist RDH Site
NT Sim Lab Manager and Educator
Commencing Short term staff
Sin Kaan Chan:
Tina Kaluba–Oteng:
Caitlin Ligo:
Gemma Porteous:
Christine Butler:
Doctor and Patient Lecturer
Doctor and Patient Lecturer
Year 1 and 2 Administrator CDU Site
Nhulunbuy Administrator
Katherine Administrator
Departing Staff
Alysha Hewitt:
Hayley Jackson
Michelle Hockings:
Administrative Assistant
Katherine Administrator
Nhulunbuy Administrator
CONTACT FLINDERS NT:
P. 08 8946 7488
E. [email protected]
W. www.flinders.edu.au/medicine/sites/flinders-nt/
20