Destination Doctor: Teens get hands-on medical experience
By Priscilla Roberts
Regional Queensland teenagers who have dreams of becoming doctors got a taste of their future careers at a CQUniversity immersive clinical experience last week.
Designed specifically for Year 10 students, the Destination Doctor program was held in Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg and Emerald, and was delivered by CQUniversity on behalf of the Regional Medical Pathway − a partnership between CQUniversity, The University of Queensland Rural Clinical School, and the Central Queensland and Wide Bay Hospital and Health Services.
Students had the opportunity to immerse themselves in a range of hands‑on clinical tasks such as blood typing, suturing, patient simulations, and vital signs assessments.
They also had the opportunity to meet practising medical and health professionals as well as current medical students, and on completion of the program gained a Certificate of Completion which they can include in future medical school applications.
CQUniversity’s Future Students Manager Kylie Ciocca said the program was very well received by the 130 students in attendance.
“Destination Doctor is such a fun event. The students really enjoyed getting hands-on with the activities and spending time with our very generous and patient medical clinicians and researchers,” she said.
“CQUniversity was proud to host the event in 2024 on behalf of the Regional Medical Pathway and we'll be keen to run it again in 2025.”
CQUniversity’s Head of Course for the Bachelor of Medical Science (Pathway to Medicine) Dr Andrew Fenning said the Destination Doctor experience provided Year 10 students with the opportunity to experience what it takes to study medicine, what being a doctor is like, and information about the Regional Medical Pathway program which is offered in Rockhampton and Bundaberg.
“The students participated in three experience stations where they learned about and completed a basic ECG (electrocardiogram) obtaining an electrical recording of their heartbeat, a blood typing assay, and learned how to suture.
“Students also engaged in an interactive information and Q&A session about what it is like to be a doctor, what the course and study experience entails, what subjects to choose and important selection criteria to consider in Grades 11 and 12, and what our current students have experienced so far studying with CQUniversity.”
Dr Fenning said the Regional Medical Program offers school leavers (completing Year 12 during the year of application) the opportunity to study to become a doctor with full end-to-end training in Rockhampton and Bundaberg, providing a unique opportunity for our local students.
Destination Doctor will be held across the region again in 2025.
