Rural Remote Health
-
Rural Remote Health · Jan 2006
Comparative StudyThe career aspirations and location intentions of James Cook University's first cohort of medical students: a longitudinal study at course entry and graduation.
James Cook University's School of Medicine enrolled its first cohort of 64 students in 2000. The School was established with the aim of increasing the number of medical graduates who understand rural, remote, Indigenous and tropical health issues and who would subsequently choose rural (non-metropolitan) practice. In December 2005, 58 students graduated the course. Several students left the cohort (either left the course or repeated earlier years of the course). In the early years, students who left the course were replaced by accelerated entry students. ⋯ The findings support the School's contention and that of others around the world that medical education undertaken in non-metropolitan settings is the best vehicle for increasing the rural medical workforce. This study provides support for the development of regional medical schools that focus on local recruitment and health care need issues.
-
The context for this study is a conversion program for enrolled nurses (ENs) or division 2 level nurses who want to further their career as a registered nurse (RN) or division 1 nurse. While the conversion program is available to both metropolitan and rural nurses, it is designed specifically for experienced rural ENs. The conversion program is able to offer an educational alternative that does not disrupt family life or adversely impact the rural nursing workforce. This alternative is necessary for both the rural EN's career opportunities and for the health outcomes of rural communities in particular. This article reports on the experiences of the first cohort to graduate from the EN to RN conversion program. The conversion program offers three semesters of advanced standing within a seven-semester Bachelor of Science (Nursing) degree. The advanced standing or recognition of prior learning is awarded to applicants with more than one year's clinical experience, regardless of the type of enrolled nurse course completed. Enrolled nurses with a technical college qualification or higher meet university entry criterion but students from a hospital-based program are required to complete a mature-age university entry test. The degree to which the three semesters of advanced standing within an external conversion course for ENs would adversely affect participants' transition to student status and course completion is not known. The conversion program: The two-year, fully external EN conversion program relies on learning centre partnerships with country hospitals and agencies. Teaching strategies consist of a mix of external-mode strategies, including fully web-based units, and a compulsory eight-day on-campus foundation study block at the beginning. The compulsory study block provides the opportunity for students to familiarize themselves with the various areas of the university they need to contact as an external student, prepare for expectations of their first unit, including assessment expectations, and to practise selected nursing skills that are not common to the EN role. With the program being delivered from the metropolitan area of a vast state that occupies one-third of the Australian landmass, a key feature is the establishment of rural learning centres to support students. Apart from two of the seven clinical units in their course, the designated rural academic mentors arrange clinical placements in school-approved health care agencies situated locally or in nearby towns. This later strategy avoids the necessity for students to relocate to the metropolitan area or larger towns to complete the clinical component of the course. The conversion program has enrolled a limited number each year since 2000 and continues to be in high demand. Rural ENs are given preference and metropolitan enrolled nurses are included when quota allows. ⋯ The transition experiences for participants in the external conversion program are generally positive although, as with other studies, the transition to student status is stressful. However, the course is able to facilitate the career aspirations of the study participants and to contribute to the retention of nursing staff in rural areas. Strategies to provide career opportunities for health-care professionals in rural areas are always a challenge. As one such strategy, the external mode EN to RN conversion program has proven to be effective for experienced ENs.