Students arrive at doctors' school

FOUR trainee doctors started an 11-month program at Collie’s Rural Clinical School of Western Australia (RCSWA) last week.

The school, in Steere Street, will provide the students with on-the-job training, before they sit their final exams at the end of the year.

RCSWA has 16 sites in the state, and aims to train and retain doctors in rural areas.

Collie’s doctors-in-training are Shachar Eyal, Kirsty Eades, Grace Anwar and Tash Bower.

They will be based at the RCSWA office and will receive training at the Collie Health Service, Collie River Valley Medical Centre, ValleyView, South West Aboriginal Medical Services (SWAMS), Collie Family Centre, and school nurses.

During their stay in Collie, the students will receive tutelage from three medical professionals - Collie River Valley Medical Centre (CRVMC) GPs and RSCWA medical coordinators Dr Emma Jones and Dr Marelene Oelofse, and Bunbury nurse Suzanne Wallace.

During their first week, the students participated in an orientation camp at Lake Evedon, visited Bunbury Regional Hospital and St John of God Hospital, and participated in a scavenger hunt around Collie. They went to the Visitor Centre, Coalfields Museum, Collie Art Gallery and the pool.

Kirsty said they haven’t had much time to explore the town yet, but she was looking forward to the start of training.

“We will get more one-on-one training - we’re very fortunate in that aspect,” she said.

Tash said she was looking forward to the challenges ahead.

“It is nerve wracking, because we don’t have a lot of experience in hospitals yet,” she said.

“We will get more experience here than if we were in Perth.”

The doctors have come to Collie from various backgrounds.

Shachar is from Bunbury, Kristy is from the Great Southern and both Grace and Tash were born and grew up in the United Kingdom before moving to Australia as teenagers.

Collie will host the Collie-Harvey open on Saturday.

The club is among 11 WA sporting clubs to receive funding.

A Healthway survey recently found 82 percent of parents think healthy eating and drinking is important for children, particularly at sporting games.

Healthway Lotterywest acting chief executive officer Julia Knapton said the company’s focus is on supporting the younger generation.

“Sporting clubs and district associations play a big role in the health and wellbeing of our children,” she said.