Around 60 Year 11 students (and their careers advisors) will attend the UCRH (University Centre for Rural Health) High School Careers Day for local high school students interested in a career in health today.

From 9.30am until 2.30pm students from Summerland Christian College, St Johns Woodlawn, Kadina High School, Alstonville High School, Trinity Catholic College, Emmanual Anglican College, Ballina Coast High School, St Josephs College, Byron Bay High School, Grafton High School, Kingscliff High School and Murwillumbah High School will visit the University Centre for Rural Health at 61 Uralba Sreet, Lismore to learn more about entrance exams for health degrees, talk to clinicians, and to get hands-on with a range of health-related skills and scenarios as well as hear firsthand from students who are already studying a health-related degree and are on placement in the Northern Rivers.

Part of the morning session will include a panel discussion (9.45am-11am) from current university students studying health degrees (including medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, dentistry, occupational therapy, nutrition and dietetics and exercise physiology). 

Part of the afternoon session will include hands-on skills stations (1-2.30pm), giving students a chance to learn everything from suturing to basic life support to dentistry skills.

The day is interactive, with a chance to learn about entrance exams for health degrees, talk to clinicians, and to get hands-on with a range of health-related skills and scenarios.

A unique part of the days is a session aimed at careers advisors, to support them in their work to help students navigate career pathways into health fields.

The UCRH High School Day is an annual event organised in partnership with Connect Northern Rivers. Due to COVID and floods, this is the first time the event has been held since 2019.

Professor Vicki Flood, Director of UCRH said, “Supporting and nurturing the health workforce of the future is a big part of what we do.”

“We know that young people from rural areas are more likely to return to regional areas after their university studies, so if we want more healthcare professionals in our communities, days like our student forum are critical,” she added.

“If we can plant a seed in the minds of these bright young students, hopefully we’ll see them inspired to study a health profession and then one day return to be our next generation of doctors, dentists, physios, nurses and more.”

About the University Centre for Rural Health:

UCRH is a multidisciplinary centre of excellence delivering distinctive education for medical, allied health, nursing, pharmacy and dentistry students in a thriving academic environment in the heart of the Northern Rivers. Founded by the University of Sydney in 2001, UCRH now works with many other universities around Australia to build rural health workforce capacity.

"Our collaborations in teaching and research with the Northern NSW Local Health District and community health providers nurture excellence, and we are at the forefront of developments in service-based learning in multidisciplinary primary healthcare. We conduct leading research programs that contribute to large-scale health services and environmental health research collaborations, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care. Our world-class researchers have funding support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Research Council (ARC) and publish in peer-reviewed journals."