Working with community, encouraging young people, and understanding the needs of rural Australians is in our DNA.
We believe that an important part of education is engaging with community around us. Students who join us on placements spend much of their time working in community settings; our professional staff are deeply connected with the region’s health networks; and our researchers and research projects are inextricably linked with communities and partner organisations.
You can read more about some of our important programs that specifically focus on engaging with our local community below.
Baribunmani Wanyi Ngay
Baribunmani Wanyi Ngay is our youth program aimed at inspiring and encouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to pursue future career paths within health. We want high school students to feel at ease in a tertiary learning environment and hear from local Aboriginal community members who are already working in relevant fields.
High School Careers Day
Our annual High School Careers Day is an annual event organised in partnership with Connect Northern Rivers. Aimed at Year 11 students, we provide a chance for students to connect with and hear first hand from students who are already studying a health-related degree and are on placement locally. The day is interactive, with a chance to learn about entrance exams for health degrees, talk to clinicians, and to get hands-on with a range of health-related skills and scenarios. A unique part of the days is a session aimed at careers advisors, to support them in their work to help students navigate career pathways into health fields.
Research engagement
We are committed to research that is responsible and ethical. Many of our research projects require working closely with communities across the Northern Rivers and further afield, and this is something we take very seriously. All our research complies with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research and is subject to ethics approval through the University of Sydney. We also work hard to ensure that all our projects embed collaboration and empowerment as the foundation for any engagement activities they involve.