Design, development and implementation of the virtual, coordination, access, referral and escalation service in western New South Wales

Abstract

Problem: People in rural and remote New South Wales experience avoidable admissions, limited access to skilled clinicians and commonly travel >400 km to access specialist services within the district and >700 km for tertiary services outside.

Virtual elective placements for medical students during COVID‐19

“…Students joined the teams at vCare and the Virtual Rural Generalist Services (VRGS) which support communities in western New South Wales, Australia, the largest health district in the state. 1 These services aim to improve the health outcomes of rural and remote people by providing 24/7 emergency medical advice to under‐resourced facilities with limited specialist care. The virtual services workflow model provided an excellent platform for medical student integration within a team and a clinical learning environment.…”

“…Three Australian final year medical students pioneered a 2‐month medical elective in the field of virtual rural medicine. Students joined the teams at vCare and the Virtual Rural Generalist Services (VRGS) which support communities in western New South Wales, Australia, the largest health district in the state 1 . These services aim to improve the health outcomes of rural and remote people by providing 24/7 emergency medical advice to under‐resourced facilities with limited specialist care.…”

“…With the COVID-19 pandemic causing strict border closures, students were prevented from travelling internationally and interstate, thus reducing medical elective opportunities and making it difficult to fulfil the traditional curriculum requirements.2 | WHAT WAS TRIED?Three Australian final year medical students pioneered a 2-month medical elective in the field of virtual rural medicine. Students joined the teams at vCare and the Virtual Rural Generalist Services (VRGS) which support communities in western New South Wales, Australia, the largest health district in the state 1. These services aim to improve the health outcomes of rural and remote people by providing 24/7 emergency medical advice to under-resourced facilities with limited specialist care.…”

Feedback in online classes: Keeping it real‐time

“…In this way, learner-to-instructor engagement resulted in higher student engagement. 1 While originally designed for online TBL, our tool also has the potential to enhance in-person classes in other pedagogical formats by providing a simple, non-intrusive and informative tool to guide instructors on matching content delivery to student needs, thereby enhancing student engagement. Simulation in paediatric ioMRI has previously been used retrospectively to mitigate near-miss events, 1 but there are no previously published reports using simulation prior to first patient involvement.…”

Return of the unexpected: Rural workforce recruitment and retention in the era of COVID‐19

“…The COVID‐19 pandemic has helped many health service providers realise the potential of telehealth. In this issue, Parks et al 24 discuss some of the successes of delivering virtual health services in the far west of New South Wales. However, we should not be fooled into thinking that telehealth replaces the need for boots on the ground in rural communities.…”