When former UCRH physiotherapy clinical educator Jennie Hewitt thinks about Murwillumbah, one story comes to her mind immediately.
A student’s mother had tracked her down after placement to say thank you. Her son had returned home more confident, more capable and with a clearer idea of the kind of health professional he wanted to become.
For Jennie, it summed up what Murwillumbah had always done best.
For years, the town served as UCRH’s northern outpost, welcoming students into a close-knit community where learning happened as much over a cuppa or a community event as it did in a clinic.
“It was much smaller, and so there was a real sense of being included in the community,” Jennie says. “Those sorts of small-town things you don’t get in the bigger towns.”
Students lived together in the old nurses’ quarters, joined local trivia nights, became regulars at the local gym and quickly found themselves woven into community life. Some formed lifelong friendships. One even met his future wife while on placement.
Behind the scenes, Murwillumbah was also helping shape something that would become an important part of UCRH’s education program: allied health placements in aged care.
The idea grew from Jennie’s interest in improving care for older people and a conversation with colleague Lindy Swain, who was looking for rural placement opportunities for students. At a time when aged care was rarely seen as an exciting placement destination, Murwillumbah offered the chance to do things differently.
“They were able to deliver evidence-based physiotherapy,” Jennie says. “The students became part of demonstrating how evidence-based physiotherapy could work.”
Just as importantly, students discovered that growing older didn’t mean giving up the things that mattered.
“As a physiotherapist, you can help people achieve things that are important to them,” Jennie says. “It might be getting back to church, getting to the dining room to have lunch with friends, or being able to stay independent.”
The placements challenged assumptions on both sides. Students learned from older people whose lives, resilience and stories often left as much of an impression as the clinical experience itself.
Today, Murwillumbah remains part of the UCRH story, albeit in a different way. The faces and programs may have changed over time, but the partnerships, learning opportunities and community connections forged there continue to help shape students and rural health professionals across the region.
