November 23, 2021

Volunteers wanted to help train Shoalhaven medical students

Graduate Medicine seeking community members of all ages to take part in Simulated Patients Program

Are you interested in contributing to the health and wellbeing of the Shoalhaven community? Are you a student keen to take on some extracurricular activities for credit?

Graduate Medicine’s Simulated Patient Program is seeking volunteers in the Shoalhaven to help current students practise their skills and hone their techniques in communication and examination.

Based at the University of Wollongong’s Shoalhaven Campus in Nowra, Graduate Medicine is training the next generation of medical practitioners, many of whom choose to practise in regional and rural communities.

Volunteers can be of all ages and genders but must be relatively healthy, active and engaged. It would suit those available during workdays who want to help provide unique and fulfilling medical opportunities for Graduate Medicine’s students.

Current UOW students are also encouraged to get involved, with the option of gaining UOWx credit for their involvement in the program.

Dr Sal Sanzone, Senior Lecturer in Medical Education and Clinical Skills for Graduate Medicine, said communication was at the heart of the Simulated Patient Program.

“Patient volunteers are essential in helping our students develop one of the most fundamental clinical skills in medical practice: excellent communication. Volunteers help our future doctors find a style of communication that suits them, and which also produces benefits for their patients,” Dr Sanzone said.

“Good communication has been shown to improve patient outcomes and deserves the same attention as the acquisition of clinical knowledge and procedural skills. Communication and consultation skills cannot be learned in a lecture or from a book. That’s why patient volunteers are such an integral part of our ‘family’ in Graduate Medicine.”

Volunteers take part in scripted role-play and/or physical examinations with medical students. Training is provided for volunteers through COVID-safe face-to-face sessions and online modules, and it encompasses an introduction to Graduate Medicine, simulated patient activities, feedback instruction and practice.

Many of the students who completed their studies at Shoalhaven’s Graduate Medicine are now specialists at Shoalhaven Hospital, with their field of expertise including gastroenterology, paediatrics, anaesthetics and geriatrics.

This rural focus is at the heart of UOW’s Graduate Medicine program, which embeds medical professionals in regional and remote communities to create the next generation of regional doctors.

UOW Graduate Medicine Shoalhaven launched in 2007 at the University’s West Nowra campus.

For further information, contact simulated-patients-shoalhaven@uow.edu.au or Debbie Lawrence, Clinical Skills Support Officer at Graduate Medicine, on +61 4429 1501 or debbiel@uow.edu.au.