Medical students get bush experience

Medical students Kate Crawford and Jerath Head at the Bourke District Hospital. Photo Twh

In Enngonia, on a Tuesday morning, two community health workers and two medical students sit at the local health clinic, preparing for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) to arrive.

The community is also waiting, but their clinic won’t be happening. Storms rolling in mean the RFDS planes need to depart earlier than usual, and they won’t make it out to Enngonia.

It’s the first lesson the medical students, Kate Crawford and Jerath Head from Sydney’s Notre Dame University will learn about life in the outback – things can be unpredictable.

“It’s something I hadn’t properly anticipated,” Jerath said. “Time works a little differently out here. It’s more dependent on the weather and on the many things that can go awry when a handful of people are servicing a huge area with a diverse population that moves around a lot.” […]

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