Warren Blackwood
Written by Amelia Theodore, Class of 2025
During MD3, I was lucky enough to complete my clinical year in the Warren Blackwood Rural Clinical School site with five other students. We lived in Bridgetown but completed Placement in Bridgetown, Manjimup, Boyup Brook, and Balingup. We also did rotations in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Albany, and Paediatrics in Bunbury. The hands-on experiences we got as students was something I will always be very grateful for – with no junior doctors on site, the Rural Generalists and GPs treated us as interns, being the first to clerk patients and present out patients, we were there to assist in resus cases, and liaised with Emergency Telehealth (ETS) Consultants in the ED. We followed the antenatal journey of local pregnant women until their births, then followed their newborn’s healthcare. Truly can’t get more special than that!
Balancing medicine with life outside of study and placement can be difficult, especially in the metro setting where the pace is very fast – on the roads, in the hospital, and making sure there’s enough time to do the things that fill your cup. I found this to be very different on RCS, where our wellbeing was prioritised by our amazing Clinical Supervisors and Academic Service Officer. We made time to make the most of our year in the South West, and it truly paid off. Here are just some of the highlights…
On weekends we weren’t out and about, we spend time drinking coffee at our amazing local cafes, exploring wineries and local pubs, making platters or committing to ‘cuisine nights’ at home, or firing up the beloved pizza oven!
Living in such a beautiful region of Western Australia meant there was always somewhere beautiful to go and explore – we did day trips to Pemberton, Nannup, Collie, Bunbury, Balingup, and Donnybrook. We took weekend trips to Busselton and Margaret River for camping, beaching, and spending some quality time as a group. Being a small but centralised RCS site, meant we got invited to all the fun camps in Albany, Narrogin, and Bunbury for great teaching and skills workshops, nights by the campfire, enjoying bush walks, and even learning the art of Archery!
“The hand-on experience we got as students is something I will always be very grateful for.”
The crew!
