GIPPSLAND health care professionals have been urged to apply for the GippsDairy Agricultural Health and Medicine scholarships.
The $2500 scholarship, which is funded by GippsDairy, is aimed at improving connections between the dairy farming community and health sector.
Last year two recipients were chosen when the selection panel could not choose between the equally compelling cases of two candidates.
Paramedic Tricia Weickhardt and alcohol and other drug nurse Terrie Coleman were selected for the unique skills and knowledge they could bring to the dairy industry.
For Terrie Coleman, better connecting with dairy farmers is just a natural extension of the work she already does at the Sale hospital.
Her role as an alcohol and other drug nurse brings her in contact with patients from around central Gippsland who may be in need of assistance with their substance use.
“I would sometimes connect with people on dairy farms who are using alcohol because of stress or using it in a self-medicating way because they are dealing with depression or other things that are going on,” she said.
“That’s why I became excited when the GippsDairy scholarships were announced because I could see it adding value to what we do here at the hospital in terms of heightening the profile of people dealing with mental health issues on dairy farms.”
Tricia Weickhardt said dealing with the health of farmers presented unique challenges for paramedics.
“When you go to a farm they have usually had chest pains for days because they tend to look after everybody and everything else before themselves, so this was an opportunity to try and educate the patients that I get to see,” she said.
“Hopefully I can give them some tools where they can see the avenues for assistance that are available for whatever health area is required – whether that be mental health, financial aid or actual physical health.”
As part of the scholarship, recipients complete a five day intensive course developed by the highly regarded National Centre for Farmer Health and delivered by the School of Medicine at Deakin University.
Topics covered in the course included:
· Agricultural medicine conditions;
· Occupational health assessments;
· High risk remote populations and chronic disease;
· Vision and hearing injuries;
· Musculoskeletal health and ageing;
· Common cancers in agriculture;
· Traumatic agricultural injury;
· Remote emergency medicine;
· Zoonotic diseases;
· Addiction, suicide and mental illness in rural Australia.
GippsDairy regional manager Allan Cameron urged health professionals to consider applying for the scholarships.
“GippsDairy invests dairy service levy funds in this scholarship because we believe it will pay a long term dividend in improving health outcomes for the region’s dairy farmers,” he said.
Applications for the scholarship close on 11 November. For more information go to www.gippsdairy.com.au
