MD8002 - Rural and Remote Medicine

Credit points:	03
Year:	2011
Student Contribution Band:	Band 3
Administered by:	School of Medicine & Dentistry

Available to any experienced medical practitioner currently working in a rural or remote location.

This subject presents definitions and concepts describing rurality (as it applies to rural health care), data on the health care status of rural and remote Australians and the influence of these factors on rural health care policy. This information will then be applied in a practical exercise based on experience as a health care provider.

Learning Outcomes

• ability to apply these principles to describe health care of certain conditions, such as pregnancy care, diabetes, occupational injury or major trauma;
• demonstrate knowledge of major rural and remote health problems, such as infectious diseases; trauma from mining, farming and road accidents;
• demonstrate knowledge of the problems of particular populations e.g. Indigenous peoples;
• understand definitions of rural and remote, particularly as they relate to health care and be able to apply these to describe a rural or remote community;
• understand the funding and structure of a range of rural health services and the derivation of rural health policy;
• understand what it means to be rural and how this affects access to health care.

Prerequisites:

MD8001

Availabilities
External, Study Period 1
Census Date 24-Mar-2011
Coord/Lect:	Professor Tarun Sen Gupta.
Contact hours:	10 hours tutorials 20 hours practicals 20 hours workshops/Seminars
Method of Delivery:	Printed materials
Assessment:	an assignment prior to the residential block describing and analysing the student?s local rural or remote community and its health care system (3,000 words); an assignment by the end of the term describing and analysing the health care experience of one patient and his/her family (ideally one with which the student has been involved) as they are referred from the rural community to a regional centre and back (3,000 words).
External, Study Period 2
Census Date 25-Aug-2011
Coord/Lect:	Professor Tarun Sen Gupta.
Contact hours:	10 hours tutorials 20 hours practicals 20 hours workshops/Seminars
Method of Delivery:	Printed materials
Assessment:	an assignment prior to the residential block describing and analysing the student?s local rural or remote community and its health care system (3,000 words); an assignment by the end of the term describing and analysing the health care experience of one patient and his/her family (ideally one with which the student has been involved) as they are referred from the rural community to a regional centre and back (3,000 words).

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.