Chinchilla Hospital
Address
106 Slessar Street, Chinchilla, QLD, 4413, AUSTRALIA
About the Placement
Placement Type: Hospital
Chinchilla Hospital offers emergency care, specialist surgical services, several visiting allied health, community health, and outreach services.
About Chinchilla
Chinchilla has seen significant growth in recent times thanks to the mining boom (coal and gas), which saw many infrastructure upgrades. Beyond the mining boom the town is a middle-sized service town for the surrounding agricultural district, famous for its biannual watermelon festival, which attracts over 14,000 visitors for the weekend of events every second February.
Close-by attractions include;
- Chinchilla Weir
- Chinchilla Watermelon Festival - biannually in February
- Charleys Creek Walk
Website
Getting there
Distance from Brisbane: 291km (4h drive time)
Transport Options: Drive
Accommodation Type: Hospital quarters
Transport required for placement: Not required on placement, but useful for local activities
Tips from previous students
Placements:
- Make sure to get involved and let the doctors know you're eager. You'll be able to accomplish so much if you attend the hospital heaps and just be in the thick of things.
- Definitely speak up if you're not confident in a skill initially - everyone is supportive and will help.
- Get involved at the hospital, there is so much opportunity to see a wide variety of patients and work on procedural skills.
Community Engagement:
- Getting involved in local sports was fun
- Park run on Saturday mornings
- the local gym is great
- Join in with some of the nurses TRL teams
- Playing tennis with other hospital staff
- Community events like the one long table
- Check out the wier and Charlie’s creek for swimming/fishing, etc
- The swimming pool is Olympic sized and is lovely.
It's been such a privilege being on placement at the Chinchilla Hospital. Everyone from the Med Super to the nursing team, admin team, facilities and catering teams through to the patients have been supportive, enthusiastic and generous with their time, even when working under staffing pressures. I have had a chance to do an incredible amount of procedural activities (including cannulas, venepuncture, IDCs, ring blocks, suturing, reduction of dislocated joints, plastering), and observe countless others which I have not previously seen up close.
The small facility meant within the first fortnight, most hospital staff know you and you get hands on very fast with seeing and learning different skills. Almost everyone at the hospital (doctors, nurses, admin staff) was incredibly welcoming and supportive.
My preceptor was an amazing mentor and teacher - someone I really looked up to while on placement. All of the staff at Chinchilla Hospital were so welcoming and encouraging I found my time there to be really conducive for learning. I could not rate my experience at Chinchilla Hospital highly enough so much so that I hope to return in the future.