Issue 581 (March 2009) - Office of Marketing and Communications

UQNEWS, MARCH 2009 ➔ 18STOCK.XCHNGGP boostThe University will contribute$1.7 million towards a GP SuperClinic to be established atRedcliffe.The Federal Government hasannounced it will contribute up to $5million towards the facility.It is one of nine proposedGP Super Clinics in Queenslandannounced by the Commonwealth tobe located in Brisbane, Bundaberg,Cairns, Gladstone, Ipswich, MountIsa, Redcliffe, Strathpine andTownsville.The clinics will provide high-qualityservices, with a focus on convenient,multi-disciplinary care from teamsof medical, nursing and allied healthprofessionals.They will also provide an idealteaching opportunity for GP registrars,along with other medical, nursing andallied health professional students andnew graduates.The Head of the NorthsideClinical School in The University ofQueensland’s School of Medicine,Associate Professor Ian Yang,welcomed the announcement.“From a training and educationpoint of view, this is a very excitingopportunity for The University ofQueensland to partner with theMoreton Bay Region community,to build a sustainable health careworkforce for the future,” Dr Yang said.“This GP Super Clinic will helpto train medical, nursing and alliedhealth students, in a dynamic learningenvironment.“This will also enable significantresearch into preventing chronicdiseases and their complications, tohelp our patients in the region.”SEAN MITCHELLUQ aids African hospitalsUQ postgraduate Sean Mitchell testedboth sides of his brain recently in Africaas part of his medical studies.Using his science and French language skills,Mr Mitchell spent six weeks in Rwanda as partof an elective undertaken through the School ofMedicine.In conjunction with St John’s Ambulance, MrMitchell (pictured) spent the first two weeks witha colleague teaching 200 Rwandan high schoolstudents basic first aid in French.He then went on to spend four weeks at theNyanza District Hospital working in the maternityand surgery departments where he saw donatedequipment from Brisbane hospitals put to gooduse.UQ students are involved with TowardsInternational Medical Equality (TIME), which sentalmost $15 000 of equipment to hospitals all overthe world last year.Prior to commencing his studies inmedicine, Mr Mitchell completed a Bachelor ofScience/Bachelor of Arts dual degree, with hisknowledge of French proving invaluable duringhis visit.“Most of the doctors and nurses were trainedeither in Rwanda or the Democratic Republic ofCongo, and as such French was used clinicallyfor communication between the staff, andalso between the Congolese doctors and theirpatients,” he said.“This also meant that doctors were accessingFrancophone clinical aids from the World HealthOrganisation and UNICEF.”Mr Mitchell said he was fortunate to havestudied several different disciplines at universitybefore deciding to become a doctor.“An Arts degree offers a great opportunityto explore both the theoretical underpinnings ofvarious intellectual movements and critique yourown way of thinking,” he said.“Having a strong understanding of who youare, the way you think and what you stand forbefore you begin to study medicine will make youa better doctor at the end of the day.”In the future, Mr Mitchell hopes to work inRwanda with Médecins Sans Frontières.Fast, accurate & affordable transcription –free your time for the analysis!mobile: 0403 050 473 email: tara@daats.com.auweb: www.daats.com.au– Specialists in transcription of one-on-one interviews,telephone interviews or large focus group discussions.– Fixed pricing (per hour of recorded audio) to help youplan your grant application and budget.– All recording formats, including tapes can be transcribed.– Files can be uploaded to our secure server from your PCand are sent back to you via email in a Word document.– You can contact us 7 days a week and we are availableto take your enquiries on weekends & public holidays.