07 March 2008

Improved facilities for medical students at Sutherland Hospital

Sutherland Hospital is expected to become even more popular with medical students after an upgrade of student facilities at the Hospital
 
Medical students undergoing training at the Hospital now have access to significantly improved facilities, with student rooms now all in the one permanent location.
 
Sutherland Hospital, Senior Staff Specialist and Conjoint Associate Professor of UNSW, Dr Peter Gonski, said student rooms were previously located in different parts of the Hospital, and were moved every few years, which was unsettling and unpredictable.
 
“The new medical student facility provides a tutorial room, offices, computer facilities, an informal lounge and garden,” Dr Gonski said.
 
“It is important to have a facility for students in one permanent location – set up for learning, as well as leisure – as this establishes a focus of University influence.”
 
Sutherland Hospital has had a long association with the UNSW Faculty of Medicine, providing teaching to medical students and organising exams for their assessment.
 
Dr Gonski said this role had expanded in recent years.
 
“Sutherland Hospital’s role as a Teaching Hospital is expanding with more students at all stages of the curriculum attending the Hospital and community health services,” Dr Gonski said.
 
“With the opening of the new facility, there has been an increased commitment by the UNSW.
 
“We are now also able to provide teaching to more students than ever before and our teaching numbers have been boosted by visiting medical officers who have shown an increased interest in teaching.”
 
Dr Gonski said in addition, senior and junior doctors, and nursing and allied health staff had worked hard to provide an interesting, supportive environment for students.
 
“To further enhance the program, two Sutherland Hospital visiting medical officers have been appointed as senior lecturers at the University,” Dr Gonski said.
 
The new student facility is located in the former Possum Cottage, located on site at the Hospital.  In the spirit of the Hospital’s aboriginal ward names, the facility has been named Na Ma Wa, meaning “see and understand” – an integral part of diagnosis in clinical medicine.

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