![Twenty medical students from across NSW took a tour of Tamworth Hospital on Sunday, capping off a four-day road trip designed to promote working and living in a regional area. Picture by Peter Hardin Twenty medical students from across NSW took a tour of Tamworth Hospital on Sunday, capping off a four-day road trip designed to promote working and living in a regional area. Picture by Peter Hardin](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200003594/fc92f3c9-fd74-42b4-9625-3d334e48295b.jpg/r0_0_4666_3111_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Twenty medical and healthcare students from across NSW have been on a "cultural journey," experiencing work and life in the bush.
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The NSW Rural Doctors Network (RDN) finished off their second 'Go Rural' road trip of the year with a trip to Tamworth hospital on Sunday.
"A lot of these students have grown up with a negative narrative around living rurally, and so by getting them out of their bubble it breaks down their biases and that makes them more likely to go out West," RDN Future Workforce Project Lead Eleanor Knight said.
The students also passed through Quirindi, Narrabri, Bingara, Inverell, Glen Innes, Armidale, and Tenterfield in order to get a wide perspective on all the opportunities a career in rural health can offer.
"It's not just the exposure to the health workforce, it's the lifestyle and how great living rural is," Ms Knight said.
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Speaking on Go Rural more generally, Ms Knight said the project's success speaks for itself, attracting not just GPs, but also nurses, therapists, and other health professionals to the bush.
"These trips have encouraged many students to choose a career in rural health as they are drawn to the beautiful landscapes, opportunities for adventure and the real sense of community in rural NSW," Ms Knight said.
She also said the trips provide exponential returns, as students encourage their peers to 'Go Rural' as well, to the point where it can be difficult for the RDN to meet demand.
"We would love more funding to do more trips because at the moment we have four each year and there are so many different areas. You can't do all of Northern NSW in just four days," Ms Knight said.
Ms Knight said the Tamworth leg of the journey was made even more special by a tour of the Tamworth Regional Astronomy Centre led by Kamilaroi man Len Waters, which was added to the road trip to show students more of the cultural side of living in regional NSW.
RDN Future Workforce Program Lead Ella Roch-Perks said the students were very impressed.
"The Tamworth hospital was the biggest we'd seen, and I think it was a really nice way to round up the four days and it really drove home for the students that there's a great opportunity in working rural," Ms Roch-Perks said.
Several students on the trip, including second-year nursing student Lawrence Wong and final-year speech pathology student Jamilla Smith, say their interest in working in a rural setting was bolstered by their experiences in rural health.
"Rural healthcare providers work in close-knit communities and often have more autonomy and responsibility than their urban counterparts. These experiences can help to develop clinical skills that are not always available in urban settings," Mr Wong said.
"I hope to work in sexual health as a doctor and provide care to the LGBTQIA+ community. These services are extremely rare in remote communities and people often need to travel hours to access sexuality and gender affirming healthcare," Ms Smith said.
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