WHAT Sarah Henderson has learnt after receiving the 2014 Fred McKay Medical Student Scholarship will prove invaluable for her as she moves forward in her medical career.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The scholarship allowed the final year medical student to spend two weeks with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Broken Hill and two weeks with Ambulance Tasmania in Launceston.
"It has allowed me to get an understanding of how the system actually works," Miss Henderson said.
"You hear about the RFDS and to actually understand what the staff and what the patients have to go through when you do that sort of journey is invaluable for patient care and planning.
"There can be lots of difficulties with access to the patient and care during the flight and changes in the environment and that can be quite complex when caring for the patient in an aircraft.
"The sheer isolation and loneliness out there is hard to understand unless you have actually been there, and the people living in those environments have to be wonderfully resourceful.
"With Ambulance Tasmania, you'll often have a little bit more time to make sure the patient is safe before you move them, however, it is a very busy base [in Launceston] that transports patients.
"The biggest learning points have been the importance of comradery and the emotion and passion for the job required."
Miss Henderson, who was formerly from Hobart and studied at the Rural Clinical School in Burnie, will next year start work as an intern at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
The scholarship was established in 1997 in honour of Reverend Fred McKay, the "spiritual leader" of the RFDS.