Getting a placement

To apply for a placement, you’ll need to talk to your education provider.

We accept students from all Australian universities and Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), including TAFEs and private RTOs.

Your education provider's clinical officer organises the placement request and negotiates on your behalf. We can’t negotiate placements with individual students.

Read more about clinical placements on the Queensland Health website.

Orientation

An orientation pack will be sent to you about 4 weeks before you start. It’ll include mandatory documents as well as local information.

You must return it at least 2 weeks before you start to ensure your placement is available.

Your orientation will be on your first day. We'll talk to you about what practicing in the Central West area is like. This will include things like where you’ll find essential items and going to safety briefings.

Nursing and midwifery

During your placement, you’ll likely experience:

• rural and remote nursing and midwifery practice
• indigenous health care
• primary clinical care
• community health
• mental health support and clinical practice
• acute and complex health care.

We also offer student placement experiences in primary health care facilities, depending on our operational needs.

Graduate midwifery students operate out of the Longreach Maternity facility. You can do your course while working as a registered nurse at a facility outside Longreach.

You'll be supported during your placement by clinical preceptors. You'll also have the support of our Nursing and Midwifery Education Team.

Medical student placements

We offer ongoing placement rotations for medical students from first to final year, depending on the university. Placements are between one and 42 weeks, from early January to mid-December.

Most of our students are from James Cook University, but we welcome students from other universities when we have capacity.

Our main facilities are at Barcaldine, Blackall, Longreach and Winton, but we may have placements available in other locations.

We offer students a unique experience where they're able to be part of a treating team with hands on and practical experience.

You'll learn about tropical medicine, infectious disease, and indigenous health. You'll see your patients through from emergency care to hospitalisations to being back in the community.

Elective students will need to contact their sponsoring doctor as a first step to getting a placement.

Allied health student placements

We offer allied health placements for students from all Australian universities.

Students are based at Longreach, with regular visits to outreach sites in surrounding communities.

The length of our placements vary and depend on your university and your discipline. They’re usually 5 weeks and run from mid-January to early December.

Students have the opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary team environment with a peer supervision model utilised.

Students enrolled in international education facilities

Queensland Health doesn’t enter into Student Placement Deeds with international universities.

If you're at a university outside Australia, your university should contact us by emailing cwesoedms@health.qld.gov.au.

They can also contact James Cook University’s Central West Site Coordinator by either:

• email: centralwestplacements@jcu.edu.au
• phone 07 4658 4711

Read more about Students enrolled in international education facilities on the Queensland Health website.