WAALHIIBE

The Western Australian Allied Health Interested In Bush Experience (WAALHIIBE) Rural Health Club was established in 1999, by a small group of students in response to the growing concern about the lack of allied health professionals working in rural Western Australia.

 

Membership is free and open to all allied health students who have an interest in rural health or want to find out more about the opportunities available for health professionals in country areas. Members are supported through mentoring, education and professional and personal development.

WAALHIIBE members are all students enrolled in health science courses at Western Australian universities - Curtin, Edith Cowan, Notre Dame, Murdoch and UWA. Members are from urban and rural backgrounds and need only to be interested in experiencing rural allied health.  Disciplines include Health Promotion, Nutrition, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Pharmacy, Speech Therapy, Social Work & Chiropractics.

WAALHIIBE aims to:

• Expose students to a range of rural experiences
• Educate students on rural health practice and issues in an informal way
• Encourage students to consider working in rural locations in the future
• Promote a multidisciplinary approach to health
• Provide an opportunity to network and form friendships within and between disciplines
• Provide support for students from rural areas studying allied health degrees
• Provide opportunities to attend state and national conferences
• Provide scholarship opportunities

 WAALHIIBE hosts a variety of events and activities throughout the year, often teaming up with SPINRPHEX to reinforce the concept of a multidisciplinary approach to health care. Activities include:

• Professional development workshops, covering topics such as cultural awareness training for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, mental health and others.
• Multi-disciplinary Nights, where the integration of many health care disciplines in the care of a patient is demonstrated.
• An annual conference, usually held at Notre Dame in August
• An information evening on how to go about organising and making the most of a rural placement
• Rural High School Visits, which aim to promote health careers to high school students in rural areas and to provide these students with an insight to university life.

Additionally, WAALHHIBE members are provided with:

• A mentoring and support network
• Information on studying and working in rural or remote areas
• An opportunity to attend conferences, through the Conferences of National Significance (CoNS) Scheme
• Scholarship opportunities

For further information please go to the WAALHIIBE website or email:

NRHSN Senior Representative Christie Leyendekkers, President Joanna Fry or Administrator Poonam Pannu.