Welcome... We’re now halfway through the Academic year, and all students seem to be progressing very well and have started their preparation for examinations later in the year. The Year 6 final exams are in September and I’d like to thank in advance all those people who’ve vol-unteered to assist with these examinations. Many of you on campus will have been keeping a keen interest with respect to the debate on a Regional Medical School, in particular, the competing bids submitted by Charles Sturt University and UNSW. I recently attended a conference in Canberra hosted by CSU to examine the feasibility of a Regional Medical School. There was a clear consensus that: 1. There is a maldistribution of doctors with a greater concentration in metropolitan

areas. 2. A regional Medical School in NSW would help with recruitment and retention of

doctors in regional areas. 3. Increased generalist training places in regional Australia would provide graduate

doctors with the correct skill set for regional practice. Australia now has more doctors per head of population than USA, Canada and the UK. As a consequence, many people believe that simply training more doctors will not resolve the rural doctor shortage. I believe that UNSW is best positioned to establish a Regional Medi-cal School in order to provide a medical workforce for rural Australia. UNSW can achieve this in a short timeframe and without increasing the total number of graduates per year. I am quite sure that the discussions will continue, however I am hopeful that a sensible out-come will be negotiated and that we won’t see unemployed doctors driving taxis to pay off their HECS debts! Last month for the Update Series, Dr Glynis Ross presented an excellent Update on Diabe-tes in Pregnancy which was enjoyed by an audience in excess of 100! In late June, Dr Alex Lim, (a member of Faculty currently working as a Psychiatrist in Sydney) will be present-ing a Public Forum at the RSL Club addressing Self Harm in Adolescence. Our next Up-date presentation will be on Concussion in Sport. These presentations highlight that we at UNSW take very seriously our role of providing education to the medical and broader com-munity in Wagga Wagga. John Preddy, Head of Campus

Rural Clinical School Wagga Wagga Campus NEWSLETTER June 2013

CONTENTS 1 Welcome A/Prof John Preddy 2 Farm Day—Jessica Thompson 3 Welcome: Dr Rakesh Seth - Paediatrician 4 Profile: Dr Mohamed Foda -Obstetrician/Gynaecologist 5 Proflie: Marg Dennis - Nurse Practitioner WWBH 6 Calendar of Events

CONTACTS Head of Campus A/Prof John Preddy

j.preddy@unsw.edu.au, 6933 5171

Administration Officer Melissa Denton

m.denton@unsw.edu.au

Administration Assistants Lyn Arthur

l.arthur@unsw.edu.au, 6933 5142 Margaret Tenison m.tenison@unsw.edu.au, 6933 5111

P.O. Box 5695

WAGGA WAGGA NSW 2650 Phone: 02 6933 5111

FARM DAY 2013 In April, Year 4 students were fortunate to spend a day on a farm at Holbrook. While many of us were still half asleep arriving for our bus in the morning, by the time we arrived at the farm nearly two hours later, we were ready to go! We met up with students from Albury campus at our first stop for the day, the shearing shed. We were lucky enough to see shearers in action! We eagerly watched on as they demonstrated the art of shearing sheep, discussing later some of the perils of working in that environment. We learnt about common injuries experienced, and were told sto-ries of years gone by working in the sheds. We had a good look around the shed, including out the back where the sheep were being kept and for a short while were ourselves locked in a pen. There was time for a quick cuppa and some biscuits, whilst admiring the great scenery. Soon it was on to the next stop, the machinery shed. We saw a selection of tools and equipment used daily on the farm, highlighting just how dangerous it can be. Then we ventured down to the cattle yards for a talk on Zoonosis by the local Vet. This was an interesting part of the day, as it was certainly something that I haven’t heard a lot about before. It prompted us to think about some of the hazards of working with animals, and things to be aware of especially when treating patients who engage in such work. We briefly toured the cattle yards and equipment there, although some were less than impressed at having to trudge through a mixture of cow pats and mud to do this. After a long morning, we were welcomed at the main house for a BBQ. We relaxed in the sun-shine and enjoyed the scenery! After lunch we bid our Albury counterparts goodbye, piled back onto the bus and were on our way back to Wagga. In all, the day opened our eyes to both the lifestyle and hazards involved in living and working on a farm. Jessica Thompson, Year IV

Year IV Wagga Wagga and Albury students down on the farm at Holbrook, NSW

Dr Rakesh Seth, FRACP, DM, MD, CCPU

Chair of Paediatrics MLHD,Clinical Academic RCS, UNSW Rakesh was appointed recently to his position and relocated from Adelaide with his family. He will be undertaking teaching, research and some clinical work especially with newborns and their development. Dr Nita Dhupar, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and Rakesh’s wife, also recently commenced at WWBH, Calvary and rooms in Docker Street. The RCS would like to wel-come them both and their family to Wagga Wagga. We’re sure they’ll settle in well with the help of the supportive medical and local community.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

Public Health Forum: Tuesday 25 June, 2013 6pm – 7.30pm

―What is self harming in Adolescence—what to do about it?‖

Presented by Dr Alexander Lim, Psychiatrist, Senior Lecturer, UNSW

Mirage Room, RSL Club, Wagga Wagga

Curriculum Meeting Monday, 24 June, 2013

Year 12 Student Info Evening Wednesday, 26 June, 2013

RCS Harvey House, Docker Street, Wagga Wagga

Update: Wednesday 17 July, 2013

―Concussion in Sport‖

Presenter: Dr Richard Parkinson, Spinal and Neurosurgeon

Welcome to Wagga Dinner: 27 Aug, 2013 7pm Riverine Club, Sturt Street, Wagga Wagga

Profile: Marg Dennis, Nurse Practitioner, Emergency Dept Wagga Wagga Base Hospital

The Rural Clinical School would like to welcome Marg Dennis to the School following her recent appoint-ment as Clinical Skills Coordinator. Marg will be teaching skills to students each Tuesday. For many peo-ple, Marg’s profile hardly needs highlighting due to her long association with Wagga Wagga Base Hospi-tal and the local community. Her illustrious career began with hospital based training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney from 1966 to 1970. Most of her post graduate work has been completed at WWBH. She commenced work at WWBH in 1970 and apart from several short breaks has worked and lived locally. Marg has worked in ICU, HDU, general wards and as Afterhours Nurse Manager. She achieved post grad qualifications in Emergency Nursing in 1980—at that time this was an emerging nursing specialty and she has since worked continuously in Emergency Nursing. Over the years she has worked as NUM, CNS, CNC. Further-ing her extensive experience in nursing, in 2005 Marg attained a Masters of Advanced Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) degree from the University of Newcastle. This too was an emerging qualification at the time. She currently works as Nurse Practitio-ner at WWBH ED. Marg also spent time working in medicine and paediatrics in Alice Springs. She has taught in Australia and New Zealand for 14 years through the Australian College of Emergency Nursing (Trauma and Emergency Paediatrics). Marg’s strong sense of commitment also extends to her family, being blissfully married for 42 years and the mother of 1 son, a viticulturist. Outside work her interests include walking, reading, learning to play the piano (to keep that sharp brain ticking over), patchwork and quilting. A highlight for the community, WWBH and RCS staff was cheering Marg on as a contestant in the local “Dancing with the Stars” several years ago. Needless to say she stole the show and she and her partner won the competition. Her interest in nursing is strong and she intends to continue her support of both nursing and medical personnel in the clinical workplace.

Profile: Dr Mohamed Foda, Obstetrician/Gynaecologist MBBCH ,FRCOG (UK), FRANZCOG, PGC-ME (UCL London) ,DFSRH (UK), Conjoint Senior Lecturer, UNSW

Mohamed had been working in London and wanted to move to Australia and escape the weather and hectic lifestyle there. Following contact with Prof Michael Chapman of St George Hospital, Syd-ney, papers were passed on to Wagga Wagga and he has been working as a Specialist Obstetrician/Gynaecologist at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital since March 2012. Fortunately Mohamed’s lovely wife Amal, who had been very accommodating of his demanding life-style, happily relocated to Wagga Wagga. Their daughter, Malak, is studying Pharmacy at CSU, Wagga Wagga and their son, who is a soccer fanatic, is studying at The Riverina Anglican College. All have settled well in to the Wagga Wagga lifestyle. Professional interests of Mohamed include Infertility, having gained much experience working for 3 years at an IVF facility in Birmingham and also in Cairo. He hopes to begin seeing patients in private rooms soon as an O&G and Infertility Consultant. In his free time, Mohamed enjoys swimming (hopefully indoors at this time of the year), read-ing and listening to music—he is a jazz enthusiast.

Biggest Morning Tea 2013 On Wednesday, 22nd May, RCS students hosted a hugely successful Morning Tea on behalf of the Can-cer Council’s Biggest Morning Tea. The team were very capably led by Carla Flynn, Yr 6 who rallied stu-dents and staff who cooked an abundance of cake, slices and biscuits. There was a brisk trade through-out the morning with the outstanding amount of $343.95 being raised.