Nursing and medical students will come together to improve their health assessment skills during an inter-professional education session at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange on Wednesday 31 August.In a new initiative, Master of Nursing students from CSU will be joined by 14 Doctor of Medicine students from the University of Sydney's School of Rural Health for a four-hour session during a residential school underway this week.Associate Professor of Nursing Rachel Rossiter from the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health at CSU in Orange and Associate Professor Gabriel Shannon from the University of Sydney hope that bringing together the two sets of students will further improve collaboration between the healthcare professions and the respective universities in this region."This is a rare chance for medical students to train alongside Master of Nursing students," Professor Rossiter said."It is an opportunity for the students to develop a shared understanding of their respective roles before they enter the workplace where a hierarchical structure can exist in the busy healthcare environment."During the residential school, the nursing and medical students will participate in a series of clinical scenarios focusing on health assessment, clinical reasoning and critical thinking activities."Professor Shannon said: "Our medical students are aware that the model of care in the healthcare environment is one of teamwork and this workshop is an important initiative to strengthen that component of their learning."Inter-disciplinary learning is an increasingly important part of the medical curriculum and this workshop signals the intention of both universities to work together to their students' benefit."Several community members have agreed to attend the inter-professional session to act as 'patients' in the scenarios.The Master of Nursing is a three-year program offered through CSU Online to provide Registered Nurses with postgraduate qualifications. Read more here.