Innovative training for rural medical students

Traditional approaches to curriculum delivery are primarily devoted to producing graduates who are proficient in their professional domain, leaving little time for interaction between disciplines. Rural doctors need to work closely with other health workers in the context of life in smaller communities.

The Broken Hill University Department of Rural Health (BHUDRH) was established to improve health care in far-western New South Wales (NSW). It runs a programme of extended clinical placements for 10 medical students from three universities. It also takes many medical students on short-term placements, as well as nursing and allied health workers.

The BHUDRH has established a programme of weekly workshops that focus on rural and cultural issues in an interprofessional learning context. This programme is designed to deepen the medical students' experience, and to further the goal of developing the rural and remote health workforce. This article describes the Enhanced Rural Inter-Professional Cultural Health (ENRICH) programme. ENRICH uses community resources - professional, cultural and artistic - to provide stimulating educational opportunities. Students cover topics ranging from hands-on resuscitation skills to life-drawing classes with students from several health disciplines. The regular, programmed nature of this scheme gives rural, interprofessional and cultural aspects of learning a high profile in the students' experience.

The ENRICH programme puts issues of life and practice in a rural community firmly on the agenda of BHUDRH students. It gives them an experience of the depth of a rural community that they might otherwise not be aware of, and promotes teamwork through interprofessional education. It is another strategy for encouraging students to return to rural work.