Students compare rural health care

University of Otago rural medical immersion students (from left) James Heaton and Matt Restieaux, with Pat Farry Rural Health Education trustee Sue Farry, of Queenstown, and Queenstown Medical Centre (QMC) chief executive Dr Richard Macharg and student Thomas Kuperus, in Frankton, in March, before the students experienced Australian rural health care on QMC sponsored trust scholarships. Photo supplied.

Matt Restieaux (23), a fifth-year Christchurch campus student, was one of three rural medical immersion students awarded the inaugural trust scholarship funded by $5000 from the Queenstown Medical Centre. The others were Thomas Kuperus (22), of the Dunedin School of Medicine, and University of Otago Wellington campus student James Heaton (24).

Mr Restieaux worked in the Heyfield Medical Centre, which served a population of about 2000, and the Gippsland Base Hospital in Sale, which served a population of about 40,000.

He said the hospital services included a CT (computed axial tomography) scanner, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), three theatres, intensive care unit, paediatricians and general medical physicians.

"The hospital was comparable in both size and services to Invercargill. However, it served a population of almost one-third the size. During my time working at Sale the differences in quality and modernity of the equipment compared with Lakes [District] Hospital was glaringly obvious."

Mr Restieaux said the medical centre in Heyfield, which was similar in size to Balclutha where he grew up, was staffed by three GPs, two GP registrars, medical students, nurses and receptionists.

"Same-day appointments were readily available. The reasons for this may be attributed to the increased pay available to rural doctors in Australia, compared to New Zealand," he said.

"The very remote rural areas in Australia are very hard to staff and rely heavily on locum doctors. The general day-to-day problems associated with rural practices are also shared, such as the great distances from secondary and tertiary care."

Mr Heaton and Mr Kuperus were based at Bairnsdale in rural Victoria, a teaching centre for Monash University students.

They spent time at the hospital emergency department and operating theatres, at Cunningham Arm Medical Centre and at the Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Co-operative.

They believed New Zealand was addressing indigenous health more effectively. One aim of their trip was to make observations about their rural health practices and relate them to Queenstown and New Zealand's health services.