It was an exciting time for the Parkes Electorate when the Assistant Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie visited Dubbo to announce a Regional Health Training Hub and a new University Department of Rural Health for Western NSW.
Health and medical students will have greater opportunities to live, study and work in rural and regional Australia following the latest round of funding through the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) program.
Under the RHMT program $54.4 million has been allocated over 2016-17 to 2018-19 for 26 new Regional Training Hubs and three University Departments of Rural Health (UDRH). 
Both of these Coalition Government initiatives support high quality rural placements for health students from across Australia, to help ensure rural communities have access to doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals in the future. 
Charles Sturt University was selected to establish the Three Rivers UDRH in Central New South Wales. 
Each of these UDRHs will support current health workforce priorities in their region, and expand support for clinical placement activity for nursing, midwifery, dental or allied health students.
The remaining two UDRHs will be established in South East Queensland (University of Queensland) and Broome and the Kimberley in Western Australia (University of Notre Dame). The $26 million in funding allocated for these three new locations takes the number of UDRHs across Australia to 15.   
The Electorate of Parkes will also benefit from the announcement that the University of Sydney’s School of Rural Health will operate the Western NSW Regional Training Hub in the Dubbo and Orange regions and a Far Western NSW based around Broken Hill.  This will form an essential component of the Integrated Rural Training Pipeline for Medicine. 
Other components of the pipeline initiative will offer 100 ongoing rural training places by 2018 through the Specialist Training Program, and rotations for around 240 interns into rural primary care settings each year through the Rural Junior Doctor Training Innovation Fund.
The Regional Training Hub will work with local health services to help move medical students through the pipeline, enabling students to continue rural training through university into postgraduate medical training, and then work within rural Australia.
These announcements strengthen Dubbo and the surrounding region as a destination for health education and training. It’s a great place for students to learn, but also provides pathways for them to continue a career in the region.
 
Votes pour in for national fish and chips awards ahead of Easter
Thousands of Australians have already cast their votes in the 2017 Australian Fish and Chips Awards, as the nation prepares to dine on seafood during Easter.
The competition is getting fierce and it’s been great to see some of our famous and iconic fish and chip shops getting into the spirit of healthy competition for this all important title.
Feasts of fish at Easter are an old tradition, and Australians were expected to crunch their way through almost a million serves of fish and chips over the four-day weekend.
These days, families are just as likely to tuck into a big feed of fresh prawns as they are a Sunday roast.
The national winner of the 2017 Australian Fish and Chips Awards will be announced on 28 September 2017 at the National Seafood Industry Awards in Sydney.
For more information and to vote, go to www.fishandchipsawards.com.au/