New opportunities for Canterbury students
Canterbury students studying nursing, social work, health sciences and nutrition have had the chance to be placed with Pegasus Health for the first time.
Pegasus Health’s Nursing Development Coordinator Di Bos says nursing students were usually placed only in General Practices. “In 2015 we decided we could extend that, so six nursing students spent five weeks with Pegasus Health during the year.”
Students were placed primarily with the Community Respiratory Nursing team and also had the opportunity to work with the Aranui Community Trust, Christchurch City Mission, Pegasus Health’s Partnership Community Workers, and teams from the Acute Demand Community Nursing Service and Child Health Support. They also spent time with a Medication Management Service pharmacist; completed community assessments; and were involved with Health Promotion.
Each year, about 250 nursing students from the Ara Institute of Canterbury and University of Otago are placed with Pegasus Health or General Practices in Canterbury and the West Coast.
In 2015/16, Pegasus Health also started placing students studying social work, nutrition and health sciences.
Three social work students, six health sciences students and eight nutrition students were placed at Pegasus Health this year.
“As an organisation, we are always looking for ways we can support students,” Di says. “Students bring new ideas, enthusiasm, youth and a fresh face. It’s also an opportunity for us to share our knowledge and skills.”
The placements are in addition to the four fourth-year medical students from the University of Otago who take part in Pegasus Health’s annual summer studentship programme. The students spend 10 weeks with Pegasus Health, conducting research projects usually related to General Practice.
The programme has been running for more than five years and is a way of encouraging more medical students into careers in General Practice, Di says.
In the 2015/16 summer, the research projects focused on treatment guidelines for cellulitis; knowledge and attitudes towards Green Prescriptions; phone-based brief intervention for smoking cessation; and predictors for non-attendance at pulmonary rehabilitation. Research into why patients did not attend pulmonary rehabilitation, by student Dean Ramage, was awarded the top prize at the end of the programme.