The engagement and retention of commencing students is a longstanding issue in higher education, particularly with the implementation of the widening student participation agenda. The early weeks of the first semester are especially critical to student engagement and early attrition. This study investigated the perceived early transition needs of…

Since 2011, all first year students in a health sciences faculty at a university in Western Australia complete a compulsory (half) Unit titled Indigenous Cultures and Health. The Unit introduces students to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, diversity, cultural protocols, social structures, patterns of communication, contemporary…

Placements are an integral component of the medical, nursing, and allied health curriculum. Literature on problem-based learning indicates that curriculum change can impact student experience. However, outside of the nursing literature, there is little research on the impact of education reform on students' experiences of placements. This paper…

This report describes a program initiated in 1992 to provide appropriate training for rural physicians and to address the shortage of physicians in rural Australia. Rural medical practice differs dramatically from urban practice in that there is limited access to specialist services in rural areas, thus requiring rural practitioners to be…