Placement options and dates

Placement options

RIPPAH placements are offered to:

• Medical imaging students for undergraduate clinical placements for 10 weeks or more including placements with interprofessional learning activities and generalist caseload placements.
• Nutrition and Dietetic students in Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT), Food Service Management (FSM) and Community and Public Health Nutrition (CPHN).
• Pharmacy students in extended clinical placement blocks including hospital, community, Quality Use of Medicine and industry placements (with opportunities covering a rural generalist caseload and specific clinical speciality areas such as renal, cancer care, aged care and medical wards).
• Physiotherapy students in Musculoskeletal (MSK) placement plus an (other) rural generalist caseload (with varied clinical opportunities such as inpatients, musculoskeletal, paediatrics, cancer care, maternity, cardiorespiratory, women’s health).
• Occupational therapy students on a 10 week rural generalist, or mental health caseload placement (with opportunities such as inpatient including rehabilitation, hand therapy, home assessments, vascular/oedema, early childhood development and aged care plus adult or paediatric mental health team placements).
• Speech pathology students on a 10 week rural generalist caseload placements (with varied clinical opportunities such as early speech and language caseloads, inpatients, aged care, paediatric feeding, adult rehabilitation, voice).

During placements, students work closely within a multi-professional team and learn from educators and rural generalist clinicians. RIPPAH students will gain a true understanding of the interprofessional care and skill sharing opportunities seen only in a real-world dynamic rural context.

Placement dates

Rural Immersion Placement Program – Allied Health (RIPPAH) placements are offered throughout the year, across the health and hospital service. Placement dates will change from year to year to reflect workforce availability and service needs. We’ll add specific date information when it becomes available. Every RIPPAH placement will be at least 10 weeks.

Rural Immersion Placement Program- Allied Health (RIPPAH) placements are subject to change, and we may offer you placements for other dates and locations from those listed below.

Rural placements offer a fun and unique learning experience that looks great on a resume. When students undertake placement in a rural and remote area, they play a valuable role in delivering healthcare for some of the most vulnerable populations in Australia.

A RIPPAH experience gives students the opportunity to work in a minimum of 2 health service caseloads while immersed in the community for at least 10 weeks. This longer placement opportunity will provide richer experiences and deeper connections for both the student and the community.  Health service settings a student may work in include:

• hospitals
• aged care
• primary care
• education.

Students will either be placed in pairs, or placements will be aligned with students from an alternative program to ensure everyone has access to peer support. Students will also have a coordinator as a single point of contact in addition to the placement supervisors.

Because RIPPAH placements are longer in duration, students will have the opportunity to become immersed in the community and take part in optional experiences such as:

• social activities
• part-time paid employment
• sporting team membership.

Students may be eligible for financial benefits that they may not receive in a usual short-term placement such as free accommodation and bursary support.

Speech pathology RIPPAH placements 2024 (applications now closed)

Expression of interest (EOI) applications for 2024 RIPPAH placements in Mt Isa open 11 April 2024.

EOI applications must be submitted online by 8 pm Sunday 21 April. Find out more about how to apply for a placement.

Pharmacy RIPPAH placements 2024 ( applications now open, close 19 May 2024 at 8 pm)

Occupational therapy RIPPAH placements Semester 1, 2024 (applications for Semester 1 now closed)

Physiotherapy RIPPAH placements 2024 (applications now closed)

Dietetics and Nutrition RIPPAH Placements 2024 (applications now closed)