Initiatives developed by Charles Sturt University (CSU) to increase the number of health professionals in Australian rural communities will be highlighted at an international conference in Scotland next week.

Two CSU academics, Head of the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences Lyndall Angel and senior lecturer with the School of Clinical Sciences Sue Mcalpin, will present papers at the conference: Taking Charge: Community Empowerment in Rural Health, Rural Education and Community Development.

Associate Professor Lyndall Angel will outline the strategies that her School and the Faculty of Health Studies have developed to attract rural students to a career in the health sector and to foster a desire in graduates to pursue a health profession in rural and regional areas.

The CSU School of Biomedical Sciences offers courses in pharmacy, medical science, genetic counselling, respiratory science and asthma education.

“Many of the social, economic and cultural challenges facing rural communities in Australia are linked to a lack of health professionals,” Associate Professor Angel said. “CSU has recognised the need to work collaboratively with employers, health professionals, industry, education providers as well as rural communities to try and find solutions to the shortage of health workers.” 

A practical example of the success of a regional university educating health professionals is the positive impact the introduction of the CSU pharmacy course has had on the number of pharmacy graduates remaining in rural areas in NSW. 

The NSW Pharmacy Board found that the average number of graduates remaining in rural locations increased from two a year between 1995 and 2000 to 34 in 2001 when the first pharmacy students graduated from Charles Sturt University. 

In her paper, Sue Mcalpin will highlight the University’s nutrition and dietetics course. CSU is the first university in Australia to train dieticians outside metropolitan centres.

“People living in rural and remote Australians experience poorer health than Australians living and working in metropolitan centres,” Ms Mcalpin said. “The objective of the CSU course is to increase the number of dieticians practicing in rural Australia to help the communities tackle the three priority health issues of coronary artery disease, cancer and diabetes.” 

The nutrition and dietetics course is yielding results as the majority of students are from rural backgrounds and would prefer to work in a rural setting. 

The CSU academics will be joined by other international delegates with an interest in sustainable rural communities at the week long conference in the Scottish city of Inverness from Monday 23 June 2003.