Mental health industry representatives and Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff in Orange will hear about Australia’s only mental health program for Indigenous people at a meeting being held this Thursday 11 March. The Djirruwang Program, run by CSU’s School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, is recognised  as a best practice model within CSU. The University's Bachelor of Health Science (Mental Health), which is part of the program, aims to prepare graduates who have appropriate knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes to work competently as mental health workers within their own communities and mainstream mental health services. The course is designed in collaboration with a community-based Aboriginal Mental Health Steering Committee and the Greater Southern Area Health Service. The members of the seminar panel include Head of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health Professor Elaine Duffy, Course Coordinator Mr Wayne Rigby, clinical coordinator of Aboriginal Mental Health, Mr Tyrone Toomey, and Program graduate Ms Sonia Butler.

A delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of Education and 18 universities in China will visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Friday 12 March to discuss the potential for academic initiatives and partnerships between their institutions and the CSU Faculties of Education, Science, Business and Arts. Professor Jo-Anne Reid, the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Education, said, “The purpose of the delegation's visit to Australia and Charles Sturt University is to gain an overview of teacher education in Australia and current trends. We will be discussing opportunities for academic and student exchange, and potential research collaboration. The delegation is particularly interested in Charles Sturt University as a regional university because many of the universities represented are spread throughout rural China.”

Undergraduate business students from South Korea and China who will study business at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst will be welcomed at a special morning tea  on Wednesday 24 March. The Acting Head of the School of Business, Dr PK Basu, said the students will spend at least one year completing the CSU undergraduate business degrees they commenced at Donggkuk University in Seoul, South Korea, or at Jilin University in Changchun, China. “This is the first group of students from Donggkuk University to study at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, and they chose this campus because of the climate and the access to Sydney,” Dr Basu said. “Students from Jilin University have been studying Charles Sturt University business courses for the last decade, and its academics and students regularly visit the University’s campuses in Australia. This year we have 12 Chinese students studying in Bathurst. Both groups of students have said they are enjoying their educational experience and the rural and regional setting,” Dr Basu said. It is expected that the number of students from Korea and China studying at CSU in Bathurst will continue to grow.

The Lithgow Ambulance Station will be recognised on Wednesday 24 March by Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Biomedical Sciences in Bathurst for being the ambulance station that provided the best mentoring for CSU paramedic students during 2009. Senior representatives of NSW Ambulance and paramedic students who went to Lithgow for clinical placements in 2009 will be present when Professor Peter O’Meara and senior lecturer Ms Veronica Madigan, the 2009 CSU Lecturer of the Year, present the School’s Certificate of Excellence in Clinical Mentoring. Professor O’Meara said, “This inaugural award is in appreciation of the positive role of the Lithgow paramedics in preparing CSU paramedic students for practice. The selection of the Lithgow station for this award was based on feedback from students who undertook clinical placements at 50 ambulance stations throughout NSW. The mentoring approach of the Lithgow paramedics has set a standard that other ambulance stations can now aim for in order to make a major contribution to the education and training of paramedic students.”

A paramedic from the South Australia Ambulance Service brings a different perspective on pre-hospital ambulance practice to her new role as a paramedic educator at Charles Sturt University (CSU). Professor of Paramedic Practice and Leadership at CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences in Bathurst, Professor Peter O’Meara, welcomed the appointment of Ms Rhiannon Evans, saying, “Rhiannon strengthens the paramedic program through her experience as a recent graduate and her clinical practice. She brings the youth and vitality that was so much a feature of her leadership role within Student Paramedics Australasia (SPA), a special interest group of the Australian College of Ambulance Professionals.” Ms Evans’ first interaction with CSU staff and students was in her role with SPA. “I was surprised at how relaxed and friendly everyone was,” she said. “Even before I applied for the lecturer position, I was being supported and encouraged. I’m a strong believer that a great education is student-driven and is about encouraging students to focus their learning to get the most from their experiences.”

The effective management of diabetes, one of Australia’s major health problems, will come through input from a range of health professionals, not just a general practitioner (GP), says Professor of Rural and Remote Pharmacy Patrick Ball of Charles Sturt University (CSU). In response to the Federal Government’s plan to keep the growing number of diabetics out of hospital, Professor Ball said one-on-one professional input from diabetes educators, dietitians, pharmacists, physiotherapists and exercise physiologists are needed to tackle the health problem. “While additional resources are welcome, the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s plan seems to lack a clear appreciation of how the outcomes will best be delivered, particularly in inland Australia,” Professor Ball said. “While the GP must always be kept in the information loop, routing all the resources through already over-worked general practices is unlikely to be the best way to achieve the outcomes for which the government is aiming.” Professor Ball believes the successful control of Type 2 Diabetes requires that the diabetic takes their prescribed treatment but successful management also requires a change of diet and lifestyle.  “This has to come from the person, the family and the community.  How can one person change their diet if the rest of their household will not?  How can people walk more if we don’t have safe streets and pavements?” questioned Professor Ball.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) justice studies lecturer will be locked up in a Bathurst shopping centre as part of the Time 4 Kids campaign to raise awareness and funds for youth intervention programs operated by the local Police-Citizen Youth Club (PCYC). Dr Diane Solomon-Westerhuis from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Bathurst will be temporarily detained in the Bathurst City Centre shopping complex from 1pm to 2pm on Thursday 15 April and is seeking donations for her $500 ‘bail’ to assist the Time 4 Kids program as part of National Youth Week, which runs from 10 to 18 April. Dr Solomon-Westerhuis said, “Time 4 Kids and similar programs can be significant turning points in young people's lives, giving them opportunities they may not otherwise experience. The hard-working PCYC volunteers and staff are to be congratulated for putting in the effort to promote Time 4 Kids, so we should give as much as we can to support them - and to get me out on bail!” Contact Dr Solomon-Westerhuis on (02) 6338 4648 to pledge your support to raise her ‘bail’, or contact Bathurst PCYC manager Mr Matt Brealey on (02) 6331 2191 or 0407 226 202. All donations are tax deductible.

Leading Australian energy supplier Country Energy has sponsored the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Remote Telescope by installing a dedicated high speed fibre optic line stretching 1.5 kilometres to enable students around the world to study the universe as seen from the Southern Hemisphere. The initiator and administrator of the CSU Remote Telescope, Associate Professor David McKinnon, from the School of Teacher Education in Bathurst, said the generous offer by Country Energy ensures the viability of the long-running project by providing up-to-date technological links to the Internet. “Country Energy has taken the ‘long view’ to assist starry-eyed school students everywhere. I’m over the moon! The in-kind support consists of plant labour and parts, which is mainly an optical fibre cable backbone link and termination devices. This will ensure faster and more secure download times and viewing opportunities for students,” Professor McKinnon said.

Organisers of the 2010 Charles Sturt University (CSU) Bathurst Half Marathon and 10 Kilometre Run have announced a new course for the event on Sunday 2 May. One event organiser,  Mr Peter Micalos from the CSU School of Human Movement Studies in Bathurst said, “The new starting line at the Bathurst Rugby Club is around the corner from the old start, and the new course incorporates lanes and pathways around the Macquarie River, avoiding busy roads, and the old ‘out-and-back’ section past the Tyers Park Racecourse has been eliminated. In the past, just over 200 runners have participated in the event, and we have seen competitive runners as well as individuals completing their first half marathon or 10 kilometre run. The event continues to attract interest and we hope to see more participants this year.”