Darling Downs regional communities and Griffith University health students arebenefitting from the new Darling Downs Clinical Training Centre.
Based in central Toowoomba, a short drive from the Toowoomba Hospital, the $3.6mfacility, was officially opened today (Friday 13 June) by The Honourable IanMacfarlane MP, Federal Member for Groom, Minister for Industry.
“This facility is the first of its kind that allows for integrated rural medical educationand training by creating a workforce pipeline of medical students through to juniordoctor and specialist training,” said Professor Scott Kitchener, Medical Director ofQueensland Rural Medical Education (QRME) and Clinical Lead in Rural Health forGriffith University.
A collaborative effort
A collaborative effort between Griffith and QRME, the state-of-the-art facility featuresa high fidelity SIM Man on which Medicine students will be able to perform simulatedmedical treatments.
There is also a lecture theatre, two problem-based learning teaching rooms, twotutorial rooms and three consultation rooms. All facilities are connected by high
speed internet links, as well as video conference links to Griffith’s Gold Coastcampus.
So far Medicine and Midwifery students have been the first to take advantage of thenew facility, but this is expected to be expanded to other allied health disciplines suchas exercise science and dietetics, says PVC for the Health Group Professor AllanCripps.
“The Darling Downs Clinical Training Centre represents an important hub for GriffithUniversity to help improve workforce capacity for regional areas. It also links otherdevelopments across the Darling Downs for supporting work in other facilities.”
“The Darling Downs Clinical Training Centre is a huge boost for health on the DarlingDowns. It creates a facility for specialist training which will lead to more rural healthpractitioners and long term benefits for Toowoomba, rural communities and further
afield,” the Honourable Ian Macfarlane MP said.