Students requiring information about The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia, particularly those considering applying for future years, should first read the explanatory statements below.

Please be aware that applications for the 2010 academic year closed on 29 May 2009. If you require additional information, please email Rhonda Worthington.

If you are ready to apply, please print the Application Form below and mail it to:

Rhonda Worthington
Senior Administrative Officer
The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia
PO Box 1654
Kalgoorlie WA 6433

Important information

The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia (RCSWA) has been established as part of the Federal Government’s Regional Health Strategy. The School aims to provide medical students with an intensive and prolonged rural experience, primarily to encourage them to work in rural medicine in the future. The Rural Clinical School also allows you to work alongside students of other health professions, providing a much broader base to undergraduate medical education.

Locations

The School’s administrative headquarters are in Kalgoorlie. Other sites where students spend the year include Albany, Broome, Bunbury, Busselton, Carnarvon, Derby, Esperance, Geraldton, Karratha, Narrogin and Port Hedland.

Activities

Every site runs differently. Every site offers the full range of required clinical experience, but in a different way. Each site is unique in terms of lifestyle, climate, things to do and places to see. The success of your year does not depend on where you are, but how well you use the time to gain a great academic and clinical experience.

Student numbers 2010

In 2010 there will be:

• Eleven students placed in Kalgoorlie and Albany
• Twelve in Bunbury
• Nine in Geraldton
• Eight in Broome
• Six in Busselton
• Five in Port Hedland
• Four in Narrogin
• Three each in Esperance, Karratha, Carnarvon and Derby.

Eligibility

International students are ineligible to apply for a placement in the RCSWA. All other fourth-year UWA and second-year Notre Dame students are eligible, however.

Learning

RCSWA teaching is strongly student-centred. This means that students need to identify what they are going to learn, and then to seek the necessary experience to fulfil their objectives. To support this kind of learning, RCSWA gives students high levels of access to:

• hospital facilities and GP rooms, along with the likelihood of being invited to participate as a junior colleague in clinical service. The strength of the RCSWA curriculum is this constant clinical exposure to common and core presentations
• mentored learning via each site’s medical co-ordinators and preceptors. Teaching at every site includes a year-long problem based / case-based tutorial program, along with weekly videoconferences on clinical topics and tutorials from visiting doctors
• current medical knowledge with the support of RCSWA’s full-time librarian, whose familiarity with EBM databases allows clinical questions to be answered through UWA's virtual library plus a large selection of latest edition textbooks available at all sites.

Students who are proactive and self-directed will appreciate this approach. Students who prefer a more organised and directed learning experience may find this approach initially more stressful. All learners acquire confidence during the year as clinical knowledge and clinical work is consolidated.

Financial assistance

All RCSWA students receive a weekly allowance of $120 to help to offset personal expenses. For single students the RCSWA pays for your accommodation along with all associated costs. Students with families will be offered a bursary to assist in the costs.

All students are provided with flights at the beginning and end of your placement, and there is funding available for you to return to Perth one other time during your placement, normally for the mid-year vacation.

We also contribute $80 per month towards your mobile telephone account. You will be lent a laptop computer for your study and personal needs. We have installed wireless broadband internet access at all student housing to allow you to have fast internet access at all times.

Our philosophy is to make your experience as rewarding as possible in as many ways as possible. With this in mind we will pay a car carrier to bring your car to the RCSWA site you have been allocated to, and of course return it to Perth at the end of the year.

Orientation Week

Learning starts in late January with an orientation week during which you spend time learning about what your year entails and meeting your peers and staff of the RCSWA in an informal environment.

More information

If you require further information about the Rural Clinical School, please contact:

Rhonda Worthington, Senior Administrative Officer,
RCSWA – Kalgoorlie
Tel: (+61 8) 9091 0667 or 0418 935 855, or
Marianna Erkens
Notre Dame School of Medicine
Tel: (+61 8) 9433 0947

Applying

Simply complete and lodge an application form and provide a one-page statement indicating why you would like to join the RCSWA. Please note: applications for the 2010 academic year closed on 29 May 2009.