JCU enhances health services in Longreach

The Federal Minister for Rural Health, Fiona Nash, recently opened a new James Cook University clinical teaching facility in Longreach, designed to bring top-quality training and telehealth services to the outback town.
The facility on Longreach hospital campus is a collaboration between JCU’s Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health (MICRRH) and the Central West Hospital and Health Service.

MICRRH Director Professor Sabina Knight said the building has been fitted out with state-of-the-art technology to enable audiovisual teleconferencing and remote training.
“It will be used by everyone from undergraduates to people going through our GP registrar program,” she said. “It means doctors, nurses and allied health workers won’t have to leave Longreach to get extra training—we’ll be bringing the trainers here—and that will mean a huge difference to the town.”
Professor Knight said the project reflected the Minister’s commitment and understanding of need. “It is also a great example of JCU partnering with the community and I’m delighted it’s happened,” she said.
Central West Hospital and Health Board Chair Ed Warren said the new training centre would have significant benefits for all rural and remote areas of Queensland.
“The centre will expand our region’s capacity to host clinical students, including medical students, as well as support ongoing clinical training for our existing workforce,’’ he said.
Central West Health has donated both the relocated building and its site. The new facility is operational only nine months after receiving a $90,000 grant from the Commonwealth.
The new building will complement JCU’s 10-bed student accommodation already on the Longreach Hospital campus.

JCU Medical School MBBS

The 6-year, full-time Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery degree is a comprehensive program with integrated instruction in biomedical sciences, professional practice and clinical medicine. Students attend the Townsville campus for the first half of the course with clinical experience from year one.
The James Cook University medical precinct is opposite the Townsville Hospital, the largest teaching hospital in regional or tropical Australia. In later years, students have a base at one of the James Cook University clinical schools that include Townsville, Cairns, Mackay or Darwin. MBBS graduates will be uniquely qualified in the fields of rural, remote and Indigenous health, and tropical medicine.
Program: Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery
Location: Townsville, Queensland
Next semester intake: February 2017
Duration: 6 years
Application deadline: August 30, 2016
Entry Requirements

• Entry is directly from high school. Students may also transfer into the program during their undergraduate degree or at the completion of their undergraduate degree.
• High school cumulative average necessary to be considered is a minimum of 85% in Grade 12 subjects, including prerequisite subject grades.
• If you are applying to the program after you have partially or fully completed your post-secondary studies, you should have a Canadian GPA of 80% cumulative average across all university studies, but to have a competitive application, applicants should have achieved at least an 82% cumulative average.
• Interview: held in-person and via video conference

Apply to James Cook University Medical School!

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Would you like more information about JCU Medical School and the MBBS program? Contact OzTREKK’s Australian Medical Schools Officer Courtney Frank at courtney@oztrekk.com.