2 Study Productivity Tips & Tricks 4 Get Involved In Iaha Events 5 .

CONTENTS2345671st EDITION OCTOBER 2015 Are you an Aboriginal and/or TorresStrait Islander university student?Do you study an allied health degree?Do you ever feel like your doing it alone?Or maybe you feel empowered and likeyou’ve got stuff to share?WE WANT YOU!Read below, because WE ARE FOR YOU!Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) is a nationalnot for profit, member based Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander allied health organisation and welcomesAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander allied healthstudents (and graduates) as full members of IAHA.IAHA recognises that there are few Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander students in allied health degrees.Sometimes it can be lonely being the only (or one of veryfew) Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander studentin a course so IAHA has established a strong studentnetwork to support you along your career journey.8STUDY PRODUCTIVITY TIPS & TRICKSLEADERSHIP REFLECTIONGET INVOLVED IN IAHA EVENTSTORRES STRAIT PODIATRY PLACEMENTSTAY TRUE TO WHAT DRIVES YOU5 REASONS TO BECOME AN IAHASTUDENT MEMBERJOIN THE SRCThe IAHA Student Representative Committee is a groupof Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studyingallied health degrees at universities across Australia. Thegroup was brought together to advise the IAHA Boardof Directors on issues and strategies affecting Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander allied health students.The SRC are representing students from all allied healthdegrees including audiology, chiropractic, counselling,dentistry, dietetics, exercise physiology, exercisescience, mental health, nutrition, occupational therapy,optometry, oral health, orthoptics, osteopathy, pharmacy,physiotherapy, podiatry, prosthetics & orthotics,psychology, public health, radiography & sonography,social welfare, social work and speech pathology.We brought you this newsletter because we want youto know you are not alone!!! Join us and get involvedbecause together we can really make a difference!A MESSAGE FROM THE IAHA STUDENTREPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE (SRC)You can contact us via email at src@iaha.com.au

STUDY PRODUCTIVITY TIPS & TRICKSHOW TO ENSURE YOU’RE GETTING THE MOSTOUT OF YOUR STUDY TIME“IF YOU GET STUCK ON SOMETHING TALK WITH YOUR FELLOWIAHA STUDENT NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015STUDENTS AND/OR LECTURERS. THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONEWHO WILL BE ABLE TO TALK THINGS OUT WITH YOU.”A MESSAGEFROM DEVINIASRC MEMBERAND SOCIALWORK STUDENTAT DEAKIN UNIsocial activities for the short term, but you don’thave to be a hermit. Finding a balance that suitsyou to keep up with your study load and still seefamily and friends is important too.Make a plan of action. It can be helpful to map outyour workload and keep up with the study guidedtimetable that recommends the time allocated toeach topic.Here are some helpfultips to keep you ontrack through the coming months so you don’t getbanked up come the end of the semester.Map out your assignment. This can be useful whenbreaking it down to introduction, body and conclusion,then allocating a word amount to each section canhelp to break it up and appeal less daunting.Try and find a nice space to study in if you can,somewhere quiet and as much away fromdisturbance as possible. Some people choose togo to a library or even a park or somewhere in thesun outdoors. Some like to burn their favouriteincense or have music playing.Take regular breaks, do some exercise and eathealthy. This will help keep you refreshed andenergised and save any sugar and caffeine crashes.Getting good sleep is also very helpful, so if you canget into a routine and stick to it that will help youkeep motivated and productive.Work out what time of day you are mostproductive; morning, afternoon or evening, andplan to put in some good hours around thosetimes - you’ll find that you will get more done.If you get stuck on something talk with your fellowstudents and/or lecturers. There is always someonewho will be able to talk things out with you. And justremember you are not alone, sometimes a yarn andsome fresh air can help clear any mind blockagesand get you back on track.Study every day, as you will be constantlyreviewing things and then less likely to cram at theend of the semester as this can be very stressfuland overwhelming, you might need to cut backon a few activities and prioritise study over someGood Luck and keep up the great work!2

LEADERSHIPREFLECTIONON THE IAHALEADERSHIPWORKSHOP HELDIN ALICE SPRINGS,FEBRUARY 2015One concept I remember from the workshop,which I have used several times since, is WHY,HOW and WHAT. WHY is leadership required inmy (work/uni/study) life, HOW should I lead toachieve my vision and purpose and WHAT actionsare required to achieve my vision and purpose. Ifound myself using this approach throughout myrecent 14 week practicum as I found that manyqualities of a leader are similar to the qualities ofmy profession.A MESSAGE FROM CELESTESRC MEMBER AND SOCIAL WORKSTUDENT AT CURTIN UNIVERSITYIfeltextremelyempowered after Iattended the workshop,I had a sense of directionandguidancetoleadership in my life. Ienjoyed listening aboutparticipants’ leadershipexperiences, skills, andjourneys, some were inspiring! We had a groupof emerging leaders and accomplished leaders,including our presenters, Edward Watkin & LenoraThaker (check them out if you haven’t heard aboutthem). It was great to see how everyone engageddepending on their leadership journey and skills.“FOR ABORIGINAL LEADERS, THESOCIAL AND MORAL OBLIGATIONTHAT COMES WITH COMMUNITYLEADERSHIP IS LIFE-LONG. THOSEWHO LEAD, WHO HAVE AUTHORITY,MUST CARE FOR AND LOOK AFTERTHOSE WHO COME BEHIND.”— PATRICK DODSONUPCOMING EVENTSCRANAplus 33rd Annual Conference“Telling Tales - The Power of the Narrative”15 - 17 October 2015, Alice Springs NTIAHA HealthFusion Team Challenge28 - 29 November 2015, Cairns Qld2015 IAHA National Conference:Allied Health - Stepping into Action1 - 2 December 2015, Cairns Qld11th National Allied Health Conference9 - 11 November 2015, Melbourne, Australia.IAHA 2015 National Indigenous Allied Health Awards1 December 2015, Cairns QldGlobal Gathering for HealingOur Spirit Worldwide16 – 19 November 2015, New Zealand3IAHA STUDENT NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015A key quote that I wrote down during theworkshop was ‘good followers bring out the bestin good leaders’. This shows that as a leader whois well recognised and supported will achievemore with the support and encouragement fromtheir ‘followers’.

GET INVOLVED IN IAHA EVENTS– INCLUDING THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ANDHEALTH FUSION TEAM CHALLENGE (HFTC)“THE IAHA HFTC IS A FUN AND INTERACTIVE LEARNINGIAHA STUDENT NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015EXPERIENCE FOR ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERHEALTH STUDENTS.”A MESSAGE FROM DIIAHA BOARD DIRECTOR (STUDENT),SRC MEMBER AND OCCUPATIONALTHERAPY STUDENT AT JAMES COOKUNIVERSITYIt’s actually quite a lot of fun! Participating inthe IAHA HFTC is a great learning opportunity aswell as an opportunity to network and meet likeminded people.The challenge can also provide an opportunity forstudents, close to their graduation, to build onresumes and job interview skills.I would love to seemore student memberscompete in the IAHAHealth Fusion TeamChallenge each year.I know the memberswho have previouslycome to the challengesover the last coupleof years have had a great time, learnt a lot andmade heaps of friends.So how does participating in the HFTC assist mewith my job interview skills you may ask?By using examples from within your teams, you shouldbe able to demonstrate in an interview how you The IAHA HFTC is a fun and interactive learningexperience for Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander health students. You work together ininterprofessional teams to solve problems, determinethe best care for a person with complex care needsand present your teams’ management plans. were culturally responsiveworked effectively in your teamsobtained research materials and usedevidence-based practiceapplied clinical reasoning skillscollaborated to complete your presentationworked to a deadlinepresented in front of peers and or to a largeraudience within the conference/forum.IAHA aims to hold a HFTC each year and in 2015 itis in Cairns prior to the IAHA National Conference.I have had a few students say to me, ‘but isn’t itshame?’ Well, for some of you it might feel a bitshame, or even scary at first. However, you willsoon be able to see that presenting in front ofone another is not as difficult as you may think.Visist www.iahaconference.com.au to find outmore information and to register.4

PODIATRY PLACEMENT IN THETORRES STRAITAN ARTICLE BY MADDISON ADAMSIAHA STUDENT MEMBER, AND PODIATRY STUDENT AT QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITYOF TECHNOLOGYI am a Wulli Wulli woman from Brisbane and afinal year Queensland University of Technologypodiatry student. In June, I had the privilege oftravelling to Thursday Island in the Torres Strait tocomplete 3 weeks of placement. I was fortunateenough to receive a SARRAH remote placementscholarship, which enabled my 3 week experience.I was based at the Thursday Island CommunityWellness Centre as a member of the multidisciplinaryallied health team. I had the opportunity to completecultural orientation, home visits, work in the dialysisunit at the hospital, and visit health centres in otherareas of the Torres Strait. The variety of clinical settingsmade for a very diverse caseload, which studentsdon’t often get to experience in an urban setting.Getting to Thursday Island is a journey in itself; inone day I flew from Brisbane to Cairns, Cairns toHorn Island and travelled by ferry from Horn Islandto Thursday Island. The Torres Strait is a beautifulpart of Australia and thoroughly enjoyed the timeI spent up there.Throughout the duration of my stay, I experienced manydifferent aspects of podiatric care. The diversity in clinicaltasks certainly made for a very interesting stay.The issue of accommodation was a large hurdleand did provide some uncertainty initially.Thanks to the combined efforts of QUT, JCU andthe director of allied health on Thursday Island,I managed to secure exceptional housing at theJCU medical accommodation. Living in a shareenvironment with other medical and allied healthstudents provided an excellent orientation to theisland and enabled me to settle in quickly.Thursday Island has a very welcoming community vibe.Whilst I was there I experienced a major celebrationfor the Christian community and the State of Origindecider game. I was also welcomed to the weekly yogaclass and volleyball training. Participating in activitiesoutside of work made me feel like a real member ofthe community.As this was my last major practical, I treatedpatients as the primary clinician with thesupervising podiatrist observing and completingclinical notes. This enabled me to refine myclinical skills and really cement my own routinewhen treating.I would highly recommend a rural or remoteplacement to any health student. I believe myremote placement has been extremely valuablefor me heading into my last semester of study. Ithas been a transformative experience as I havedeveloped on both a professional and personal level.5IAHA STUDENT NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015The Torres and Cape Health group is very different tothe rest of Queensland Health due to its geographicallayout; there is one podiatrist to cover the Cape andall 14 inhabited islands of the Torres Strait.