Rural, Remote & Regional Placements - College of Human Sciences and Culture

Flinders University offers extensive rural, regional, and remote health placements across South Australia and the Northern Territory, focusing on medicine, nursing, and allied health. Key SA locations include the Riverland (Renmark/Barmera), Greater Green Triangle (Mt Gambier), Barossa Valley, Hills Mallee Fleurieu, Port Pirie, and Kangaroo Island. Remote opportunities exist in the NT, including Alice Springs, Darwin, Katherine, and Tennant Creek.

There are many support options available for students on placement, including:

• Wrap around supervision and academic support provided virtually or in-person. 
• A dedicated supervisor within the host organisation. 
• Specialist support from a Field Education Coordinator where applicable. 
• Eligible students will receive tailored supports from Rural and Remote Health including interprofessional networking sessions, cultural awareness workshops, and pastoral care and mentoring support from a specialist team. 
• This is in addition to the wide range of supports and services available to all Flinders Students 
• You can access the National Rural Health Student Network. The NRHSN and its Rural Health Clubs offer rural experience weekends, career information sessions and professional development activities as well as providing a social base for students at university and when on rural placement.
• You can access the Bush Support Line, a 24 hour 7 day a week telehealth online counselling service that offers free professional and online counselling. The Bush Sup­port Line is open to all health work­ers, health dis­ci­pline stu­dents, and their fam­i­lies in rur­al, remote, and iso­lat­ed com­mu­ni­ties, includ­ing nurs­es, mid­wives, med­ical offi­cers, Abo­rig­i­nal and Tor­res Strait Islander Health Workers/​Professionals, the allied health work­force and oth­er staff involved in health ser­vice delivery.

Before placement

Before you go on placement, any issues or concerns about applying for placement, pre-placement requirements (compliance), or the placement allocation process can be managed by your WIL placement team.

Any issues that arise about your topic, study, or assessment should be directed to your topic coordinator.

During placement

If you have a problem or concern that arises during placement, your first point of contact is your placement supervisor. Discuss the issue with them and see if you can resolve your concern.

If this does not resolve your issue or you would like to discuss it further, contact your WIL placement team via phone or email.

If the issue or concern has impacted your wellbeing, or you would like to speak with someone confidentially about the matter, Flinders offers a free and confidential counselling service for all students, including students studying entirely online. You can access up to 6 counselling sessions in a calendar year. 

If you need to speak with a counsellor urgently, and it is between 8.45am and 5pm please call 8201 2118.

If it is out-of-hours (5pm to 9am, weekends, public holidays), contact the dedicated Flinders Out-of-hours Crisis Line by calling 1300 512 409 or texting 0488 884 103.