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Home  Training Benefits of rural experience
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Benefits of rural experience |
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Rural psychiatry provides trainees with many new opportunities to improve their clinical skills. Recently, trainees were surveyed about their experiences on their rural rotation and around half of the trainees responded to the survey (40 trainees). Of the trainees who responded, 55% reported it was a very beneficial or extremely beneficial experience, 19% reported it was moderately beneficial, and 19% reported it was a little beneficial. Trainees identified a number of benefits including:
The rural team
The most frequently reported part of the rural experience was the opportunity to be a part of a committed, friendly and supportive team of professionals. Many trainees highlighted that they were welcomed by the team and were included as an important part of the team. Trainees also reported that the opportunity to work with a range of professionals from a variety of disciplines was really beneficial.
 The work
The next most frequently reported benefit of the rural experience was the breadth and depth of patients that they had the opportunity to assess and treat. Trainees reported the rural experience provided them with ‘loads of hands on clinical experience’ and a ‘varied and diverse caseload’. Furthermore, trainees found that they had higher levels of responsibility and more autonomy during their rural rotation that was both challenging and beneficial.
The support
Many trainees also commented on the level of supervision and support they received on their rural experience. Some commented that they received more than the four hours of required supervision.
The new experiences
A number of other work opportunities were also considered beneficial to trainees including having an opportunity to work with indigenous and remote communities, develop skills using videoconferencing, and learning to manage patients with limited resources.
The environment
The rural lifestyle and location was also perceived as a benefit by many of the trainees. The opportunity to travel and see new parts of Australia, as well as the opportunity to experience the rural lifestyle, beautiful scenery, a slower pace, sense of community, and less traffic, were all perceived as beneficial by trainees.
The community
Trainees also commented on feeling appreciated and respected by the community and feeling good about having an opportunity to make a real difference and provide a valuable service to a community in need.
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