Some of Australia's most remote indigenous health students will have the chance to study at home from next semester through the recently-created Centre for Indigenous Health, Education and Research.
From July, the Centre will offer the bachelor of applied health science (indigenous primary health care) in Cairns and Thursday Island. Seventeen applicants have been interviewed for the first intake.
The Centre is a recent collaboration between the University of Queensland's Indigenous Health Program, the UQ North Queensland Clinical School's professors of public health and the Faculty of Health at Queensland University of Technology.
Together, the partners offer a full range of courses for the health professions, and will build on an existing academic presence in Cairns and their experience in flexible delivery to improve access to health studies for remote and rural indigenous students.
Centre Director Associate Professor Cindy Shannon of the University of Queensland said another desirable outcome was improved support for students of nursing, medicine and the allied health professions.
'While health workers from the Torres Strait have already been active in seeking out educational opportunities, previous course options presented them with the difficult choice of either full or part-time study away from home, or the isolation of distance education courses,' she said.
'Block release options have become increasingly difficult, both from the point of view of disruption of the workplace and students' family life, and the cost implications with the revision of Abstudy.'
Faced with the tension between maintaining the recognised quality of degree, and having to adapt to the constraints faced by remote students, the decision was made to offer the course full-time on location on Thursday Island.
'The strength of our coursework is in the relationships we have been able to build between staff and students and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community,' she said.
'The problem-based learning approach is integral to this in recognising students' knowledge and experience, developing their sense of teamwork, working on real health issues both in their coursework problem scenarios, and in field work across Queensland.
'We think it important to offer that approach to North Queensland students in adapting new technologies to sustain that sense of contact.'
Associate Professor Shannon said the collaboration with Queensland University of Technology was a key element to extending educational offerings in the Torres. With significant interest in nursing and other allied health professions, the Centre was adapting its curriculum for flexible delivery, with academic support from Cairns.
The post-registration bachelor of nursing was already available, and the pre-registration nursing course (for which remote students can gain access) is currently offered in Brisbane, although external units are being developed. Articulation with the TAFE diploma in nursing care provided one year's credit for the pre-registration degree. Discussions had commenced to explore a joint degree between the two universities in nursing and indigenous health.
Associate Professor Shannon said the University had a substantial relationship with the Torres Strait, with four graduates of the Indigenous Health Program from the region, and over the past three years, third-year students had undertaken field projects in the outer islands examining community infrastructure, water and sanitation issues, sexual health and nutrition projects.
'The University of Queensland's Social and Preventive Medicine Department has a long history of research links with Torres Strait islands, and key staff in the Torres Strait Islander Health District are currently enrolled in postgraduate health studies,' she said.
'Academic staff of the new Centre in Brisbane and Cairns are collaboratively researching a range of issues, from breast feeding and health promotion to environmental health.
'Torres Strait Islanders themselves see a University presence as further recognition of their strategic significance, both to Australia's indigenous population, and to their traditional trading partners in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.
'With recent restructuring of the health services placing greater responsibility for service delivery on to Torres Strait Islanders themselves, they have a clear plan for developing their local human resources across the health professions.
'Their eagerness to support on-site training reflects their concerns about retaining skills within the community. The projected work of the Centre for Indigenous Health, Education and Research for on-site delivery and improved access to a range of health courses are expected to complement these plans.'
Media: For further information, contact Associate Professor Shannon, telephone: (07) 3365 5434.
