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Coffs Harbour Campus



The Rural Clinical School Campus


The Honourable Tony Abbott, Federal Minister for Health and Ageing opened the new Campus building on 3 June 2005. The building has state of the art, lecture and tutorial rooms, a skills laboratory, computer and Internet facilities as well as a student lounge and kitchen.

The Coffs Harbour Health Campus was opened in December 2001 and has 226 beds. It is a splendid place in which students can learn to practise medicine. The hospital provides level 5 facilities as a Base Hospital with a catchment population of some 100,000 people. Recent developments include the building of a modern cancer treatment centre. A new mental health unit is nearing completion.

Baringa Private Hospital has 80 beds and includes a private rehabilitation unit. Students have access to both the public and private hospitals.

Specialties available at Coffs Harbour include: intensive care, emergency medicine, pathology, psychiatry, general surgery, general medicine, cardiology, nephrology, respiratory medicine, gastro-enterology, orthopaedics, urology, plastic surgery otorhinolaryngology, ophthalmology, urology, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, oncology, rehabilitation medicine, endocrinology, haematology, rheumatology and radiotherapy. Visiting specialists conduct dermatology, neurology and infectious diseases clinics.



Location


Coffs Harbour is situated on the beautiful Mid North Coast of New South Wales, 554 km north (seven to eight hours drive) of Sydney and 427 km (five hours drive) south of Brisbane. Qantas, Virgin and Country Link provide regular daily services to Sydney and Brisbane.


The City


Coffs Harbour’s population is approximately 68,000, which more than doubles during holiday periods. The city also has a full range of modern educational, health, entertainment, commercial and sporting facilities.


Attractions and Recreational Activities


The Coffs Harbour area has many beautiful beaches, rainforest reserves, rivers and spectacular waterfalls, which make it a popular tourist destination. The area offers a wealth of outdoor and indoor recreational activities including surfing, fishing, scuba diving, whale watching, white water rafting, sailing, golf, tennis, bushwalking, mountain bike riding, ballroom and tap dancing, fencing, skydiving, jet skiing and even learning to fly. Team sports like hockey, soccer, football and cricket are freely available. There is also a chess club and a bridge club.


Clinical Experience


Details of the clinical experience available in at the Rural Clinical School are detailed below: -

Phase 2
In 2008 the Phase 2 Programme has the following format:

Society & Health (TP1)
Health Maintenance (TP2)
Beginnings, Growth & Development (TP3)
Aging & Endings (TP4)

The Society and Health programme has been arranged so that Coffs Harbour students can spend a whole week on two occasions at their selected attachment to enable students to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the services and process undertaken in these clinical settings.

In addition biomedical science practical sessions are delivered to students, either at Coffs Harbour or at the Port Macquarie Campus.

Phase 3
YrV of Phase Three is offered to students for the first time in 2008. Students are placed in small groups of two to four and rotate through Medicine,
Surgery, O&G, Psychiatry, Paediatrics and General Practice terms. Some students will spend four-week periods at the Grafton Base Hospital to complete their Paediatric, Obstetrics and Gynaecology terms. Grafton is about one hour north of Coffs Harbour. It provides very good clinical experience.
Students can also spend some time off campus during the General Practice term as well, if they wish, in such places as Macksville, Bellingen and Dorrigo.

Training is ward and clinic based with students acting as junior members of the clinical team. Opportunities to visit specialist rooms are freely available and such visits are encouraged. Frequent, special clinical skills labs are also available.

Sydney based lecturers visit to continue the biomedical science teaching. Local specialists provide didactic lectures throughout the year. There are also regular Pathology and Radiology tutorials.

For students continuing to Yr6, electives are taken during STP in 2009. Students planning to go overseas for their elective make their arrangements promptly for there are several administrative hurdles to overcome. Selective terms will also be available in Coffs Harbour.

Independent Learning Projects
Independent Learning Projects can be completed in Coffs Harbour. Supervisors may be available at both the nearby Southern Cross University (SCU) and the Rural Clinical School. General education subjects that are required in the ILP year can be completed at SCU.
For more information about Independent Learning Projects availble please contact, the Campus Coordinator
Dr.Gillian Gould



Library and Computer Facilities


Library resources are shared with the hospital and located at the hospital Education Unit.
Computers and Internet access are provided in the computer laboratory of the School which is accessable from 6.00am until 10.30pm.
Photocopying requests are handled by the School reception staff during office hours.


Coffs Harbour Campus

Contact


Mark Daddo
Locked Bag 812
COFFS HARBOUR NSW 2450
T (02) 6652 0411
F (02) 6652 0400
E m.daddo@unsw.edu.au


Useful Links

Coffs Harbour Hospital
Mid North Coast Division of General Practice
Coffs Coast Tourism
VisitCoffsHarbour.com

UNSW Rural Clinical School - UNSW - PO Box 5695, Wagga Wagga NSW 2650 | Tel: +61 (2) 6933 5111 Fax: +61 (2) 6933 5100
© Copyright 2005 UNSW Faculty of Medicine | CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G | Authorised by Head of School
Page Last Updated: 03:15:01 PM, Wednesday 11 June 2008
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