Student placements, Aboriginal health and wellbeing, aged care and health research across rural Victoria will be strengthened with a renewed partnership between La Trobe, Melbourne, Monash, and Deakin universities.
The University Departments of Rural Health (UDRH) are funded by the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care and facilitate education, research and rural health workforce development across the state.
Since entering into a Memorandum of Understanding in 2019, the four universities have been successful in lobbying the government to expand grants for student placements in aged care and small towns in Victoria, which were previously excluded from funding.
A new Memorandum will be launched at The Capital Theatre in Bendigo on 4 February, recognising the value of continued cooperation between the universities to improve student experiences and community outcomes.
The renewed partnership will enable universities to continue developing collaborative approaches that support students in undertaking rural placements in Victoria.
Professor Jane Mills, La Trobe UDRH Director and Dean of La Trobe's Rural Health School, said the new agreement would build on workforce capacity in the regions and develop projects supporting psychology, nursing, allied health, social work and mental health disciplines across rural Victoria.
"La Trobe's involvement in research with other UDRHs has focused on enhancing the experience of mature-aged nursing and allied health students on rural campuses, and how rural health services can build a strong culture of research and research capacity building," Professor Mills said.
"We'll continue to advocate for better long-term health outcomes in regional and rural communities."
Director of Rural Health at Deakin University Professor Vincent Versace said the move signalled opportunities for future growth and collaboration.
"This renewed partnership signifies our commitment to serving regional and rural Victoria comprehensively and efficiently," Professor Vincent Versace said.
The UDRHs have developed statewide initiatives in priority areas such as mental and Indigenous health, including the Mental Health and Wellbeing for Remote and Aboriginal Victorians project, led by University of Melbourne in partnership with the other universities and local health services.
Professor Lisa Bourke from the University of Melbourne described how, "working with Gateway Health, we have established a psychology clinic in Wangaratta where all the UDRHs send students for their placement and the students provide counselling to local residents under supervision".
"The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive," Professor Bourke said. "There is so much health need across rural Victoria that it makes sense to work together to improve outcomes in First Nations health, mental health, access to services, and in every area of health."
Professor Shane Bullock, Head of School of Monash Rural Health, agreed: "The partnership between our universities presents a unique opportunity to combine our expertise and learn from each other's experiences to create more innovative approaches to the training and development of our future rural nursing and allied health workforce."
