Placement Support Tips

WHAT DOES A GOOD PLACEMENT LOOK LIKE:

• Access to mentors — either in the community or on placement; • More autonomy (within a reasonable scope) = more serotonin; • Not feeling rushed or pressured to learn at a break-neck speed; • Getting to head out on hikes or to community events on the weekends and in your spare-time; • Having time to take in the fresh air every day; • Really friendly staff at the small rural hospitals; • Financial support from uni/other organisations; • Support with: - Travel - Accommodation - Internet • Community Involvement/Integration; • Study/common areas for students; and • Adequate, appropriate and skilled supervision

THINGS THAT ALL STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO (AS PER THE AMC1):

• Staff necessary to deliver teaching, administration and support; • Sufficient supervision to develop skills before participating in care; • Equitable assessment methods compared to metropolitan counterparts; • Opportunity to provide feedback; • Ways to access support for disabilities, medical and mental illness, cultural needs; • Access to necessary technology (i.e. internet, computers, library resources); • Teaching from clinical staff who have time allocated for teaching;

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1. Australian Medical Council. Standards for Assessment and Accreditation of Primary Medical Programs by the Australian Medical Council 2012 [Internet]. Kingston, ACT; 2012 [updated 2016; cited 2021 Aug 18]. Available from: https://www.amc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ Standards-for-Assessment-and-Accreditation-of-Primary-MedicalPrograms-by-the-Australian-Medical-Council-2012.pdf

PREPARATION AND SELF-CARE STRATEGIES:

• Consider and plan out issues such as transport, accommodation and supervision before you go; • If you don’t have a car and/or cannot drive, ask your university if you can be placed with a friend who can help; • Reach out to those who have been previously placed where you are headed; • Join in as many community activities that you can! Explore options for things that you usually do, and don’t be afraid to try new things; • Exercise! Walk, cycle, run or find HIIT buddies at the park. Rural sport clubs are fantastic; and • Explore the surrounding sights e.g. hikes, and satellite towns (which always have a tip-top chocolate factory, cheese shop, or bakery).

WHERE TO GO IF THINGS AREN’T OKAY:

• Australian Medical Students Association (AMSA) Rural Health Committee (rural@ amsa.org.au); • Your Rural Health Club, representative or medical society; • University wellbeing officers or staff; • Rural Clinical School or site sub-dean/ dean/coordinator; • Fellow students; • Psychologists; • Community organisations like Headspace; • Seeing friends or family when you feel isolated — via Zoom, or by travelling home if possible; • Make friends with the senior nurses, or unit managers, and go there for help with issues on the ward; and • Ask the local health team you are with for assistance.

RED FLAGS:

1. Not feeling safe on the wards; 2. Not feeling like patients are safe on the wards; 3. Feeling overwhelmed, excessively tired, or burnt out; 4. Feeling isolated; 5. Struggling to find accommodation and/or being unable to afford accommodation; 6. Staff always being too busy, or seeming perpetually unmotivated, to teach; 7. No appointed contact for wellbeing-specific concerns; 8. Being sent home early/lack of effort in arranging learning opportunities; 9. No cultural orientation training about the local Indigenous community; 10.Feeling that there isn’t a supportive environment for junior doctors or nurses; 11.Lack of contact with other students/significant isolation; 12.Being unable to find the mental/ physical health support you need; 13.Bullying or harassment from hospital staff, administrators, or other students.