• The Australian Government Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health The Hon. Emma McBride visited Charles Sturt University in Orange on Thursday, July 6
• The Assistant Minister met with the Vice-Chancellor, students, and staff and toured some of the University’s newest, state-of-the-art medical training facilities
• The tour included visiting the School of Rural Medicine, the Dental Simulation Clinic and the Physiotherapy teaching facilities

On Thursday, July 6 Charles Sturt University in Orange hosted The Hon. Emma McBride MP, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health.

The Assistant Minister met with Charles Sturt Vice-Chancellor Professor Renée Leon, along with other senior executives, staff, and students, and was given a tour of some of the University’s latest medical facilities, including the ground-breaking School of Rural Medicine, the Dental Simulation Clinic, and the physiotherapy teaching facilities.

Professor Leon welcomed Assistant Minister McBride to the Orange campus and was delighted to showcase some of the newest, state-of-the-art facilities which are training the much-needed rural health workforce. 

“Today we have Assistant Minister McBride here to view firsthand the impact Charles Sturt is having on producing rural GPs, dentists and physiotherapists,” Professor Leon said.

“The first cohort of students studying the Doctor of Medicine through our School of Rural Medicine is in its third year, and these students have commenced their placements in rural communities across the state and beyond.”

Professor Leon noted the Doctor of Medicine continues to be oversubscribed each year.

“Every year the number of applications increase for students wanting to study our Doctor of Medicine,” Professor Leon said.  

“Charles Sturt will be very keen to secure some of the additional 80 medical Commonwealth supported places (CSPs) that will be offered per year from 2024 as announced by the Australian Government this week.”  

Charles Sturt Associate Head of the School of Rural Medicine Professor Damien Limberger said the tour included a viewing of the plastinated teaching specimens.

“We are delighted to have Minister McBride visit,” Professor Limberger said.

“We welcome the Australian Government’s additional Commonwealth supported places for medical student training and capital funding for new rural training facilities which will support and enhance the experience of medical students training in rural communities.

“The expansion of end-to-end medical schools in rural locations will support the recruitment, training and retention of rural doctors by providing high-quality rural medical education close to the student’s place of origin, establishing strong and enduring professional networks and maintaining long-lasting relationships with rural communities and health services.”

Assistant Minister McBride said “Growing medical training across rural and regional Australia will improve access to medical care for people living outside the major cities.

“We know that maximising rural clinical training opportunities leads to students far more likely to choose to practise in rural and regional communities.

“It was a pleasure to visit Charles Sturt in Orange and see firsthand the great work being done by faculty, students and staff.”

Other facilities and notable areas visited at Charles Sturt in Orange on Thursday included a tour of the Dental Simulation Clinic and the physiotherapy teaching facilities.

Dean of Dentistry and Oral Health at the Charles Sturt Centre for Rural Dentistry and Oral Health Professor Andrew Flatau said the dental course and the University Dental and Oral Health Clinics were vital to regional communities.

“There are currently 216 Bachelor of Dental Science students enrolled at Charles Sturt in Orange,” Professor Flatau said. 

“Thirty-three are international students from Canada and one is from India, with the remainder being domestic students. 

“It is one of only two courses in Dentistry in NSW and was established to build the regional dental and oral health workforce as it is well-known that patients living in regional, rural and remote communities have reduced access to care which often leads to worse oral health outcomes than their urban counterparts.” 

Professor Flatau noted the Charles Sturt Dental and Oral Health Clinics also operated in Bathurst, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and Albury offering vital dental services to patients in these communities.

“It is estimated that across our Orange, Dubbo, Albury, Wagga Wagga and Bathurst campuses our dental students see approximately 21,500 patients per year, while our oral health therapy students see roughly 11,500 per year, totalling approximately 33,000 patients per annum,” he said.

The Charles Sturt University physiotherapy course facilities are designed to simulate clinical environments found in real workplaces. These include a musculoskeletal clinic, hospital ward, rehabilitation gym, movement laboratory, on-campus clinics, skills laboratories and simulation facilities.

There are currently 115 Bachelor of Physiotherapy students enrolled on the Orange campus.

ENDS