ONKAPARINGA CLINICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (15:37): I want to speak today about the Onkaparinga Clinical Education Program, commonly known as OCEP. This is run by the Flinders University School of Medicine, and I express my thanks to Dr Sarah Mahoney, Academic Coordinator of the program; Linnea Boileau, Project Officer for the program; and especially to Professor Paul Worley, the Dean of the School of Medicine at Flinders University, for initiating this very innovative program. Through this program, third-year medical students at Flinders participate in what is described as:

...an exciting, hands-on learning experience where they are able to work closely with senior clinicians in a wide variety of settings. OCEP combines a half-year longitudinal, community-based program with a half-year program of specialty rotations.

From attending a function at which students and some of the GPs and specialists who host them were present, I learnt of the value from the perspective of the host practitioner as well as the student. The host really had to reflect on why they do what they have done for years, almost automatically, and the practitioners also said that the patients welcomed the involvement of a student in the room setting—the GP area—rather than just in the hospital.

OCEP is currently embarked on an excellent project with Christies Beach High School called The Cube, a collaboration to provide school students with a situation where medical students will provide advice, counselling, mentorship and guidance. The school students will thus acquire a much needed health service in safe and familiar settings, and the medical students will obtain valuable teaching and learning roles in adolescent health and wellbeing, which, in other documents, is described as a very testing area for a number of medical practitioners.

The project coordinators have approached The Second Story, SHINE SA, Headspace, the AMA, the local Department for Education and Child Development, and the Inspire Mentor Program at Flinders University, and have received overwhelming support for the project.

At the moment the OCEP students are working with the Christies Beach High School students to ask what are the expectations of the wellbeing centre and what does Christies Beach High School, including students, see as important issues. So the OCEP students are building the path for future students to take on the practical service. At the moment the idea is that the OCEP students could provide pre-doctor advice, provide referral information, offer mentoring and near-peer support, and be part of a larger student support network. The OCEP students would in turn be supported by their own clinical educators and the Christies counsellors.

At a recent seminar to discuss further with community agencies just how this project could work, the point was made by all the agencies that the orientation of the OCEP students was very important. They needed to be aware of the complexities of dealing with adolescents and with a socioeconomically disadvantaged school, and have a good understanding of the services that are available in the community, referral processes, and the issues faced by the various agencies in dealing with adolescents.

The Christies students have suggested that a good way to start is by the OCEP students holding a number of seminars in presentation model. The Christies students asked that the first seminar topic be 'Going to uni' and that the next seminar topic be 'A day in the life of...'. So it was interesting that the students did not start off wanting to know any medical things; the first question was 'What does it mean to go to uni?'

I am very pleased that Professor Worley has indicated to me his willingness to work on ways of finding pathways for Christies and Wirreanda students and other disadvantaged students to go to the prestigious medical school at Flinders University.