La Trobe Rural Health School
The School was established to provide more tertiary educational opportunities and choice for rural and regional communities in northern Victoria. We aim to be a leader in Australia and internationally for our teaching and research; improving the health, social care and wellbeing of people in rural and regional Australia; and developing sustainable collaborations with regional and rural communities and industry partners.
The School aims to make a difference to local communuties.
Course Expansion
The number of courses on regional campuses have increased over the past five years. We offer courses in dentistry, oral health, paramedicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry and speech pathology. Many of our graduates work in local health and human services.
Infrastructure expansion
There are two major construction projects currently underway, the new Health Sciences building on the University’s Bendigo campus and the Clinical Teaching Building on Bendigo Health’s campus, both due for completion in time for the 2013 academic year. The facilities have been designed to be flexible for the future and provide state of the art simulation facilities, with sufficient workspace, research and laboratory facilities, and a range of teaching and learning spaces.
La Trobe Rural Health School Clinical School
We recognise the vital role workplace learning plays in developing professional skills. Our students spend the last 18 months of their course in the field. We will soon have a new clinical teaching building in the Bendigo Health Education and Research Precinct. This complements the new dental clinic expansion and supports clinical research opportunities and collaborations with local health and human services.
New Professors
In addition to our new Head of School, Professor Jane Farmer, we now have professors in:
- Rural and Regional Allied Health
- Rural and Regional Paramedicine
- Dentistry
Our professors have national and international reputations for excellence in research.
La Trobe Rural Health School Research
LRHS research reflects its health and human services staff expertise. Considered are issues of health and wellbeing of relevance to the rural places and communities that LRHS campuses are embedded in at Albury-Wodonga, Bendigo, Mildura and Shepparton. We are building on links with government, local health and human services, businesses, community groups and communities, plus national and international researcher colleagues. The LRHS specialises in locally-driven research that has national and international relevance.
Key areas of research include:
- Health, wellbeing and resilience in rural communities (contact: Dr Virginia Dickson-Swift)
- Community-driven approaches to health and service development (contact: Prof. Jane Farmer and Dr Amanda Kenny)
- Innovative models of service delivery, including e-health & interprofessional teams (Dr Les Fitzgerald)
- Rural workforce & its education, particularly around interprofessional practice and roles for allied health workers (Dr Carol McKinstry, Dr Peter O'Meara and Dr Mark Gussy)
- Addressing the very under-served in rural areas, including those with intellectual and physical disability (Prof. Teresa Iacono)
- Musculo-skeletal research (contact: Dr Rod Green)
Higher Degree by Research Programs
The LRHS has a vibrant higher degree by research program. A Masters by Research or Ph.D. can be undertaken, supervised by research active rural staff. LRHS has an interdisciplinary seminar and events program to stimulate knowledge exchange and transfer about new and completed research projects. These are open to staff and higher degree by research students from across LRHS rural campuses.
Departments
The School is comprised of the following departments:
Our staff
Our academic staff are dedicated and experienced experts in the field, committed to producing relevant research and strong student learning outcomes.