Archive for March 16th, 2009

The Chancellor of the University of New England, Richard Torbay, has welcomed the introduction of a Bachelor of Social Work degree at UNE to meet the shortage of professionals, particularly in rural and regional areas.

The NSW Minister for Regional Development, Phillip Costa, an alumnus of Armidale Teachers’ College, was on campus today to officially launch the new four-year degree program. The first intake includes 22 internal and 41 external students, almost all from non- metropolitan regions.

“This degree is the first to specialise in social work practice in rural and regional areas, where geographic and professional isolation are significant factors,” Mr Torbay said. “There is a huge shortage of social workers in NSW, with more than 400 vacancies in regional areas alone at present.

“Dr Myfanwy Maple and her colleagues who put this degree together have shown great initiative in harnessing existing University expertise and facilities and adding the necessary extra components to establish this course.”

The Chancellor said that the new degree was in line with the establishment of UNE’s School of Rural Medicine, which, as part of the Joint Medical Program in collaboration with the University of Newcastle, was now in its second year on the UNE campus.

“The University is taking a leading role in addressing shortages of skilled professionals outside the major cities,” he said. “It is well established that students who study in regional areas are more likely to stay and work in regional areas.”

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, said that students in the new degree program would be able to take advantage of existing expertise within UNE’s two Faculties to complement their training. “UNE has outstanding expertise in rural medicine, psychology, sociology, criminology and nursing,” Professor Pettigrew said. “Students will be able to draw on all of these collaborating disciplines to help them shape their professional development and apply it in the workplace.”

The Bachelor of Social Work degree was launched on the eve of World Social Work Day, which this year, with the theme “Social Work and Social Development: The Agenda”, aims to approach social issues and challenges collectively throughout communities.

THE IMAGE displayed here expands to show Susan Gould, Head of Hunter New England Health’s Social Work Discipline, speaking at today’s event. In introducing her, Professor Victor Minichiello, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of UNE’s Faculty of The Professions, emphasised the University’s close collaboration with the social work profession in planning the degree program. Ms Gould welcomed the new degree, while Mr Costa said: “Graduates in Social Work from this university will deliver the level of service in social work that our regional communities deserve.”

The first international conference on the evidence supporting the use of complementary medicine, held at the  University of New England over the weekend, signalled a long-awaited rapprochement between the practice of complementary and orthodox medicine.

Professor Kerryn Phelps (pictured here), a former president (and first woman president) of the Australian Medical Association, delivered the opening address at the three-day conference. Professor Phelps said that, with scientific evidence as the “bridge” between orthodox and complementary practice, “we won’t be seeing so much of a ‘them’ and ‘us’ mentality, but rather a working together”. She emphasised that “it’s important for us all to work together for what’s best for patients”.

In officially opening the conference, Senator Jan McLucas, the Australian Government’s Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, said that it was being held at “an important point in the history of complementary medicine in this country”, and called for “more dialogue between practitioners of orthodox and complementary medicine”. Simon Mills, a British leader in the field, said that, at an international level, complementary medicine was now “at a crossroads”, having acquired an evidence base with the potential - finally - “to make an impact on the world of orthodox medicine”. “A conference like this will help us to move on,” he said.

More than 320 people, from around Australia and from Russia, India, the UK, Sweden, New Zealand, the United States and Malaysia, attended the International Evidence-based Complementary Medicine Conference, hosted by UNE’s School of Health and School of Rural Medicine. The conveners, UNE’s Associate Professor Kerry Bone and Dr Yoni Luxford, said that it had been not only an international forum for the presentation of exciting new research results, but also a catalyst for research collaboration and acceleration.

An important aspect of the conference was its examination of interactions between orthodox and complementary treatments. Professor Bone, who is also the Director of Research at MediHerb, said that evidence presented over the three days had helped to identify and explain both positive and negative interactions, so that positive interactions could be encouraged and negative interactions avoided. Professor Bone’s own presentation at the conference examined the safety and efficacy of complementary therapies - often used in conjunction with orthodox medicine - in the treatment of cancer.

Professor Margo Halm from the United States, whose conference presentation was a review of available knowledge on the effectiveness of essential oils such as lavandin in managing symptoms in critically ill patients, has conducted research on the use of essential oils to prevent acute skin reactions in women undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer. Professor Halm is the Director of Nursing Research/Quality at United Hospital in St Paul, Minnesota.

Professor Frank Rosenfeldt, Head of the Cardiac Surgical Research Unit at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, presented the results of his research into improving the success of procedures such as cardiac bypass operations by using nutrients including antioxidants and fish oils. Professor Bone said the conference had heard about “an amazing amount of research on fish oils - including research related to brain development, the reduction of heart disease, and the treatment of inflammatory disorders”.

While a major focus of the conference was on herbal treatments, including the therapeutic effects of plants such as Echinacea and garlic and the therapeutic properties of plants used in traditional Aboriginal Australian medicine, evidence relating to the use of many other complementary therapies was reviewed.

Dr Luxford said the conference had provided a forum for “rejuvenation”, establishing networks that would enable the participants to “continue and extend their conversation about the way forward”. Professor Bone added that the conference’s generous support from the complementary medicines industry showed that “the industry is serious in promoting the accumulation of evidence in the field”.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Professor Kerryn Phelps displayed here expands to include Associate Professor Kerry Bone and Dr Yoni Luxford.