Orange pharmacist Mr Tim Denham has found his life on the fast track since he swapped the gridlock of Parramatta Road for the broad horizons of country NSW.

 

Mr Denham left Parramatta when he completed high school to study a Bachelor of Pharmacy at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange in 2005. Now managing a local pharmacy and expecting his first child with wife Elyse, Mr Denham said he couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

 

"When I finished school I knew I wanted to study pharmacy but I wasn't sure where," he said.

 

"I visited Orange with family and was immediately drawn to the Charles Sturt University campus and the town in general."

 

Mr Denham graduated in 2008 and undertook an internship in nearby Bathurst before returning to work in Orange where he married Elyse in 2012.

 

"I've found there are personal and professional opportunities available here that aren't as readily available in the city," he said.

 

"There are more opportunities to be involved with the local community, greater professional opportunities to progress my career and a much more relaxed and affordable environment to raise a family.

 

"I've also found there are a lot of people who have moved here from Sydney in the past few years for the same reasons, so there are plenty of people in a similar situation which makes it much easier to make new connections and friendships."

 

CSU Pharmacy discipline leader, Associate Professor Maree Simpson, said metropolitan students were sometimes surprised to find CSU could not only offer first-class facilities, a safe community and cheaper accommodation, but also an active community and social life.

"We find many students come because they have found through research or word of mouth that country NSW can offer a safe community in which to raise children, lower housing costs and cheaper purchase costs for pharmacies, which provides opportunities to become a partner or owner much sooner," she said.

 

"If the student comes from a rural area, then they can study in a similar environment and retain their connection to their home communities. We have found that many country students do return to their home regions after graduation, bringing with them valuable skills that are still often in short supply in the country.

 

"If the student comes from a larger regional or metropolitan community then they have the opportunity to see some different models of practice in a new setting and experience the ongoing professional relationships with regular patients that tend to be typical of rural practice."

 

Professor Simpson said there were also significant professional advantages to studying Pharmacy at CSU, aside from a graduate employment rate very close to 100 per cent.

 

"Pharmacy at Charles Sturt University offers a more personal experience because there are smaller classes. Our academics deliver lectures, practical sessions and tutorials so students have more opportunities to engage with staff and seek clarification or assistance," she said.

 

"Smaller classes also mean that most students know each other, which helps develop a stronger and broader professional network than they may have formed in a metropolitan university with much larger classes. These professional networks are important during their intern year and as pharmacists seeking to further their careers."

 

For his part, Mr Denham considers his own choice to study in Orange to be a winning one.

"I love it here," he said.

 

"We're building a house in Orange and I can't see myself going back to Sydney any time soon.

 

"The Orange region offers more for us in terms of career, family, and lifestyle factors. But it's the community around us that has made this our home. And the sunsets are fantastic."