Abstract:The future allied health workforce needs to be flexible to meet the needs of an ageing population with increasing chronic health care needs and geographically dispersed populations in many developed countries. Existing research shows the maldistribution of the Australian health workforce, with allied health professionals being poorly represented in rural and remote areas. This mixed-methods longitudinal workforce outcomes study is ongoing to determine the rural and remote allied health workforce outcomes from an immersive student placement program based in rural New South Wales, Australia. Outcomes, to date, show 52% of graduates working in a rural or remote area (RA2-RA5) after one year and 37.5% at three years post-graduation. Students from a rural or remote background were 2.35 times (95% CI 1.056-5.229) more likely to be located in a rural or remote workplace after one year than graduates from a metropolitan background. Graduates provided reasons for their plans to move from or stay in their current position. Four key themes emerged: Seeking new and different opportunities; Better income and job security; Personal change and lifestyle improvement and Level of job satisfaction. An existing program to develop the allied health workforce in rural Australia is demonstrating positive short-term outcomes. Ongoing monitoring of workforce outcomes is required to determine the long-term outcomes for rural and remote communities.

IntroductionPre-vocational placement experiences are known to considerably influence the career preferences of health graduates and are a key factor in growing the rural allied health workforce. This paper explores the rural placement experiences and future work intentions of students who attended a placement with the University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health.MethodsPart of a larger longitudinal mixed methods study of students’ placement experiences and subsequent career choices, this study explored students’ placement evaluations responses. Following each placement, students were invited to complete an online survey which asked about their placement experiences and future work intentions. Counts and proportion tests were performed for frequencies of quantitative variables. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were conducted on the paired pre- and post-rural intent scores to determine any perceived differences in intent before and after placement for students both with and without a rural background. Qualitative data from short answer questions were analyzed thematically guided by qualitative content analysis. Data were comparatively analyzed for students of a rural or urban background.ResultsFour hundred and forty end of placement surveys were completed by 275 students (response rate 69.8%). There was a positive shift in intention to work rurally for students of both rural and urban background post-placement, but this was only statistically significant in the group from an urban background (p≤0.001). From the qualitative analysis three themes emerged: immersed rural supported placement experience, immersed interaction in rural life with other students, and immersed interaction in the rural community. Students from both rural and urban backgrounds indicated similar benefits and challenges.ConclusionWhile the positive impact of rural placement experiences and rural background on future rural practice is well known, this study highlights the importance of positive supported placement experience for students from both rural and urban backgrounds.

Objective Combined, nursing and allied health constitute most of the Australian health workforce; yet, little is known about graduate practice destinations. University Departments of Rural Health have collaborated on the Nursing and Allied Health Graduate Outcomes Tracking to investigate graduate entry into rural practice. Design Data linkage cohort study. Setting Monash University and the University of Newcastle. Participants Graduates who completed their degree in 2017 across seven disciplines. Main outcome measure(s) The outcome variable was Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency principal place of practice data. Explanatory variables included discipline, age, gender, location of origin, and number and duration of rural placements. Result Of 1130 graduates, 51% were nurses, 81% females, 62% under 21 years at enrolment, 23% of rural origin, 62% had at least one rural student placement, and 23% had over 40 cumulative rural placement days. At the time of their second Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency registration, 18% worked in a ‘Rural principal place of practice.’ Compared to urban, rural origin graduates had 4.45 times higher odds ratio of ‘Rural principal place of practice.’ For graduates who had <20 cumulative rural placement days, compared to zero the odds ratio of ‘Rural principal place of practice’ was the same (odds ratio = 1.10). For those who had 20‐40 rural placement days, the odds ratio was 1.93, and for >40 rural placement days, the odds ratio was 4.54). Conclusion Rural origin and more rural placement days positively influenced graduate rural practice destinations. Outcomes of cumulative placements days may compare to immersive placements.

Introduction: Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is the catalyst for a significant shift in the delivery of disability services to people with a disability and their families, including those residing in rural and remote parts of Australia. Allied health services in rural areas of Australia are often limited, existing services are characterised as being of a generalist nature and demand for services often exceeds service capacity. This shift in the delivery of disability services with the rollout of NDIS could have a poignant impact on the rurally based allied health providers delivering these services. The aim of this study was to explore in Rural and Remote Health rrh.org.au

Simulated learning experiences (SLEs) assist students to acquire knowledge and skills and are an effective teaching tool in physiotherapy education. The aim of this project was to explore physiotherapy student attitudes towards SLEs as a preparatory component of an introductory clinical placement. The project was a quasi-experimental, pre/post-test repeated measures design. Participants were second year physiotherapy students (n=57) allocated to a placement which included one week of SLEs and three weeks in a healthcare setting. The SLE week consisted of sessions to develop students' clinical skills in preparation for placement. Data on participant attitudes towards SLEs were collected via anonymous survey before and after the SLE week, and at the completion of the three week clinical placement. Attitudes of respondents (n=43) towards SLEs were significantly more positive at the completion of the SLE week. At the completion of the three week clinical placement, all responses remained more positive than at the commencement of the project, however participant responses were generally less positive than at the conclusion of the week of SLEs. Students valued the use of SLEs in preparing for introductory clinical placements. Simulated learning experiences should be considered as a useful tool for pre-placement preparation for early year physiotherapy.