About

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is seeking $98 million in Federal capital funding, and 80 medical student places, to establish an Integrated Health and Medical Education Precinct in Orange to:

  • address the chronic shortage of suitably trained health and medical practitioners across rural and regional Australia; and
  • to prepare the next generation of health professionals for the demands of integrated health practice in a technology enabled environment.

The program will be linked to CSU's health and medical science programs in Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga. The University will also establish an Medical and Health Services Precinct in Bathurst to provide medical and health training for students in a real-life multi-million dollar hospital, primary health and dental care facility. The facility will link with up to 40 GP practices in Outer Regional and Remote areas, providing medical students the chance to participate in substantial rotations and learn the fundamentals of integrated GP practice in rural areas. This facility will be a model for the development of CSU's growing integrated health care centres on each CSU campus in the future, linking medical and health education across rural NSW and Victoria.CSU will contribute up to $20 million to the development of the initiative.

The unique features of this proposal include:

  1. Doubling the number of health and related programs delivered in Orange (medicine, dentistry, oral health, pharmacy, practice nursing, physiotherapy, rehabilitation science, nutrition and dietetics, clinical science, social work) supported by the construction of a purpose built facility that promotes both formal and informal interactions among students in different disciplines, linked through CSU's unique multi-campus system to its other campuses across rural NSW and Victoria.
  2. The introduction of a six year undergraduate medical program within the Precinct, with the following features: an annual intake of 80 students; a Positive Rural Recruitment Program with more than 60% of students from a rural area, from an Indigenous background or disposed to rural practice; and, streaming of students from their fourth year to focus on providing those students committed to rural practice with procedural skills particularly suitable to rural practice.
  3. A strong focussed on a balance of clinical training in rural GP practices, CSU's integrated primary health care precinct and other community settings, as well as rural hospitals, to develop in students the skills to work in rural medical and health practice.
  4. Integration of medical and health curriculum through interprofessional education (IPE) to build the skills and capabilities of graduates for integrated health care - 'team learning for team health'.
  5. Integration of specialised e-health curriculum to prepare students for future technology enabled health practice (eg. telemedicine; electronic health records).

Medical Teaching Building - Orange
ABOVE: Artists impression of the new Health and Medical Services Precinct in Bathurst.

Super GP Clinic - Bathurst
ABOVE: Artists impression of the new Health and Medical Services Precinct in Bathurst.