Community engagement

Community Engagement forms an integral part of the Rural Clinical School's mission to work with the community to raise awareness of health and health careers.

Throughout each academic year we deliver a number of interactive learning programs on site and at local schools, covering aspects of health education and allowing participants to explore future health careers. We also provide health checks and lifestyle advice at events across the region. RCS Community Engagement initiatives are led by medical students with the support of our staff educators

View our Health Careers events below

School programs

The Rural Clinical School offers health education programs for local primary, high school and college students, designed to raise interest and awareness of health and health careers.

Medical students lead engaging hands-on activities which allow young participants to learn in a fun and informative setting. The programs align with the national curriculum and can be delivered at the RCS Burnie and Mersey campuses, or at participating schools.

Download our flyers for more information about these initiatives:

Health Careers

Our Health Careers programs are tailored to high school and college students considering a career in the health sector, who would benefit from practical exercises and knowledge of pathways to a health occupation.

Year 10 Health Careers Practical Skills Workshops

The Year 10 Health Careers Practical Skills workshops are day-long programs offered at our Burnie and Mersey campuses annually, giving students an opportunity to learn and practise essential skills used by health professionals.

Each workshop is divided into simulation stations. Participants receive an initial presentation from medical students, before working in teams to apply problem-solving techniques in hands-on scenarios. Health stations allow students to practise responding to casualties in an emergency, administer first aid, make a medical diagnosis by piecing together clues, learn to take blood, check blood pressure and understand chronic illnesses such as diabetes.

The workshops also share information about the University of Tasmania’s higher education courses in health, and what steps and subjects Year 10 students need to take during their pre-tertiary college years in pursuit of a health career.

In 2024, we held our Year 10 Health Careers event in Mersey in May, and in Burnie in June.

Dates for 2025 are pending. If you are interested in attending, please ask your careers advisor or grade coordinator for more information.

Year 9 Health Careers Workshops

The Year 9 Health Careers Workshops are facilitated annually at our Burnie and Mersey campuses. Each day-long program is delivered by Rural Clinical School staff, students and local health workers to allow participants to discover various health professions.

Students elect their chosen health careers and in groups, experience simulated scenarios in Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Radiography, Oral Health, Optometry, Social Work, Nutrition and Dietetics, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Paramedicine, Environmental Health and Speech Pathology.

Activities include administering fillings, dressing in gloves, gowns and masks to perform surgery using hospital equipment, suturing techniques, maternity nursing delivery procedures, applying first aid and resuscitation, taking blood pressure, and applying dressings to wounds.

In 2024, we held our Year 9 Health Careers event in Burnie in August, and Mersey in September.

Dates for 2025 are pending. If you are interested in attending, please ask your careers advisor or grade coordinator for more information.

Year 10, 11 & 12 Health Careers Evenings

Each year, the RCS hosts an informal evening event at each Burnie and Mersey for local high school and college students, their parents/caregivers and other individuals interested in a health career to engage with University of Tasmania staff, local health professionals and current students.

This information session comprises of short presentations from University of Tasmania staff from a range of health disciplines followed by an expo where attendees can learn more about the University’s courses, accommodation services and scholarships. Attendees can engage in one-on-one conversations with representatives from local health services about what their future in health could look like.

These evenings were held in March 2024.

If you are interested in attending in 2025, please ask your careers advisor for further information at the beginning of the 2025 school year.