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Speaker 1: Well, as I mentioned, Charles Darwen University, they've previewed the

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Speaker 1: brand new Center for Better Health Futures. It's a thirty

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Speaker 1: point eight million dollar investment and it promises to revolutionize

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Speaker 1: health training in the Northern Territory. It's going to have

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Speaker 1: cutting edge facilities and a new school of medicine. It

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Speaker 1: is being hailed as a major step forward for growing

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory's own workforce. Joining us on the line

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Speaker 1: is CDU's pro Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Health,

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Speaker 1: Professor Dominic Upton. Good morning to you, professor.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. How are you this morning?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, really good, wonderful to have you on the show now, Professor.

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Speaker 1: We know that this is a huge investment in health

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Speaker 1: training here in the top end. What's going to make

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Speaker 1: the Center for Better Health Futures such a game changer

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Speaker 1: for us?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Well, I think there are two things. First of all,

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Speaker 2: it's the simulation activities that we can that students can

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Speaker 2: take place in here. So it's got a fully kitchen

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Speaker 2: out wall, so nursing students, for example, can practice the

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Speaker 2: skills before they go out into the real world. He's

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Speaker 2: got an emergency base, so again our paramedic students can

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Speaker 2: practice there. It's got a rehabilitation facility, so our physiotherapists,

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Speaker 2: occupational therapists, our speech therapists and so on and so on,

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Speaker 2: so they can practice, and more importantly, I think all

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Speaker 2: of them can work together to make sure that we

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Speaker 2: do inter professional practice. At the other end of the building,

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Speaker 2: we've also got the newly created Health Hub, which means

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Speaker 2: that residents from the top end, from Darwin and beyond

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Speaker 2: can actually come and take part in the student need clinics.

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Speaker 2: So they might have a particular issue of concern and

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Speaker 2: if we run a clinic on that then they can

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Speaker 2: see a student under the supervision of one of our

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Speaker 2: staff who's fully qualified. But they can get better service,

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Speaker 2: quicker service, and help train the future workforce for the

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Speaker 2: territory and profess that.

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Speaker 1: Like, how soon are we expecting everything to be up

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Speaker 1: and running and students to be in there in those

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Speaker 1: simulated rooms.

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Speaker 2: Yep, So we've actually started using the facility already to

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Speaker 2: the therapy students of practicing their skills. We ran our

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Speaker 2: audiology pediatric screening clinic last week and the week before,

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Speaker 2: so they started already. Now it won't become fully functioning

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Speaker 2: until probably in the new year, once we get used to

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Speaker 2: the building, once we've got all of those courses come

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Speaker 2: on stream, or rather that the clinics come on stream.

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Speaker 2: But at the moment, we're taking it step by step up.

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Speaker 2: We started using it already.

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Speaker 1: With the simulated rooms and the simulated emergency departments. How

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Speaker 1: close to the real thing is it for students?

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Speaker 2: Yep, exactly the same. So there's an ambulance base, so

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Speaker 2: we have a training ambulance so that will take in

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Speaker 2: simulated patients over to the ambulance bay that have to

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Speaker 2: pass over hand over their patient to the nurse or

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Speaker 2: the doctor or the pharmacist or whoever it might be.

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Speaker 2: In that sort of emergency bay, it's or kitted out

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Speaker 2: with the beds with all the equipment. Now, I think

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Speaker 2: importantly say that all the panels and all the air vents,

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Speaker 2: they look real, so they're modeled on what we have

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Speaker 2: in hospital, but they're not connecting up to oxygen or

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Speaker 2: to instruction facilities. M's just step beyond. So probably want

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Speaker 2: students to recognize the workplace when they get out there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Oh, I think it's so important, particularly when you're

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Speaker 1: talking about such a hands on job. I mean you

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Speaker 1: have said that the facility gives students and staff access

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Speaker 1: to opportunities which are really available outside some of our

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Speaker 1: bigger cities. What sort of age do you think this

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Speaker 1: gives to Charles Dalen University in terms of, you know,

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Speaker 1: really wanting to you know, to to encourage students to

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Speaker 1: study here in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well that was exactly the reason and the thinking

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Speaker 2: behind the facility. It means that we've got contemporary, cutting

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Speaker 2: edge facilities, the best in the country, I would suggest,

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Speaker 2: and that means a territory students can actually study here,

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Speaker 2: remain here. Practice here has actually really been to grow around.

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Speaker 2: They don't have to go into state for high end facilities.

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Speaker 2: We've got them here. You know, we are the most modern,

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Speaker 2: up to date facility. So students should be aware of

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Speaker 2: that and should want to stay here. But I think

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Speaker 2: just as importantly, people down south or elsewhere outside of

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Speaker 2: the territory are going to look enviously at our facility

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Speaker 2: and they're going to want to come up here and

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Speaker 2: train here. So again we'll be creating a new pipeline

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Speaker 2: of territory workforce.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, in terms of you know, in terms of this facility,

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Speaker 1: but also our new School of Medicine. You know, how

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Speaker 1: significant is it that you're able to actually, you know,

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Speaker 1: you're going to be able to do your medical education

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Speaker 1: and it will be delivered right here in Darwin.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean fundamentally. I mean, there are so many

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Speaker 2: health professions that we need here in the territory, in

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Speaker 2: medicine being one of the key ones, and that's going

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Speaker 2: to commence in January February of next year. Applications are

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Speaker 2: open at the moment, and we want as many territory

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Speaker 2: people who feel that they're qualified to take on that

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Speaker 2: role and want to take on that role obviously to

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Speaker 2: actually apply and come here and stay here in the territory.

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Speaker 2: But it also means that we can train future doctors

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Speaker 2: to work in the territory, to work with the population

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Speaker 2: that we have here, to work in the geography that

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Speaker 2: we have here, so they know exactly what they have

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Speaker 2: to deal with and how best to deal with it.

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Speaker 2: But that goes across all of the professions. I mean,

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Speaker 2: since you know, over the past six years, we've created paramedicine,

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Speaker 2: we've created speech pathology, we've created occupational therapy, we've created

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Speaker 2: all of those allied health professions. We've also got a

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Speaker 2: new course in allal health therapy sorts of that dental

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Speaker 2: support or dental profession. So again, you know, we are

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Speaker 2: creating all of these, so teritory students just have to

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Speaker 2: look at CDU for their future careers, really.

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Speaker 1: Like, how are enrollment numbers looking with some of these

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Speaker 1: degrees as well?

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Speaker 2: Obviously the enrollments for twenty twenty six have just started,

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Speaker 2: so we have I know, we've got over a thousand

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Speaker 2: applications for our medical program, all of our If I

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Speaker 2: look at a faculty level, then we're above target too.

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Speaker 2: We're above where we need to be in order to

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Speaker 2: hit our target for twenty twenty six. So enrollments are

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Speaker 2: looking positive, but we won't really know that until January,

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Speaker 2: February March of next year.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, And professor, in terms of you know, you

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Speaker 1: said that you've already had one thousand applications for the

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Speaker 1: medical program. Are a lot of those local people or

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Speaker 1: are you seeing quite a few from interstate want to

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Speaker 1: come here to study?

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Speaker 2: Yep? So both, and we've probably got I think it's

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Speaker 2: about ten percents of between one and two hundred from

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Speaker 2: the territory and the rest are into state. And what

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Speaker 2: we've set up the system is the priority given to

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Speaker 2: first Nations people and then people from the territory. But

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Speaker 2: then those that live into state, if they live all

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Speaker 2: and remote so they used to the sort of experience

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Speaker 2: of the territory, then they're given priority as well. So

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Speaker 2: again we're making sure that the people that come on

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Speaker 2: our medical program not really from those inner city areas

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Speaker 2: and don't understand the context. So that's the type of

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Speaker 2: practitioner that we want, the medical practition or nursing practition

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Speaker 2: so that they will know what to do within the

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Speaker 2: territory and be able to stay here and help you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say, and wanting them to

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Speaker 1: stay as well. I don't know whether you can make

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Speaker 1: that a prerequisitive of coming to study in the North Chac.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's right, No, no, no, I mean I think

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Speaker 2: to be honest, you know, we've had a real positive experience.

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Speaker 2: Now people come to the territory and they have negative perceptions,

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Speaker 2: but when they get here they love it and you know,

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Speaker 2: they fall in love with their peers, but with the

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Speaker 2: atmosphere with Darwin or broader territory, and they do tend

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Speaker 2: to stay in here so you know, I'm quite happy

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Speaker 2: to have that brain drain from down south im into

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Speaker 2: stay up to the territory. The more the merria so, professor.

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Speaker 1: Obviously, as you pointed out, some of those some of

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Speaker 1: the areas within the facility are already being utilized and

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Speaker 1: are operational. But is it early next year that you're

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Speaker 1: expecting the whole facility to be operational.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yep, that's right. So the medical program starts in

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Speaker 2: January February of next year. The academic year starts in

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Speaker 2: February March and next year, so that's a type of

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Speaker 2: timeline that we're working on.

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Speaker 1: Well, see to you, pro Vice Chancellor for the Faculty

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Speaker 1: of Health, Professor Dominic Upton, really appreciate your time this morning.

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Speaker 1: Always good to catch up with you.

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Speaker 2: Likewise, Thanks Katie, thank you

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much,