Post on 02-Jun-2020
2019 NAFEA Scholarship Recipient
Anita Tait Griffith University
Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics Earlier this year I was relocated to Mackay in Queensland and Darwin in the Northern Territory as part of my practical placement for my degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. Within Mackay I worked at the Mental Health Community Centre and also at the Mackay Base Hospital within the Surgical Unit for 6-‐weeks. The experience of working within the region of Mackay has provided me with an insight into the challenges faced by patients living in rural areas. I noted the importance of managing nutrition education within the inpatient setting before patients were discharged back to rural and remote locations where managing health conditions can be challenging due to the lack of Medical Professionals and facilities. Within my work at Mackay Base Hospital there was also more variety in the types of patient presentations, mainly due to less specialist wards and facilities within the region. This allowed me to expand my knowledge and education on managing a wide variety of surgical conditions within my case load. During my time in Darwin I had the pleasure of working with the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation for 6-‐weeks. This experience provided me with an incredible opportunity to travel to two remote parts of the Northern Territory (Gunbalanya and the island of Milingimbi). I travelled to these locations on small charter planes overlooking the great Kakadu National Park which was an exciting and very unique experience. Within these very remote locations I was exposed to the health challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians while also learning about the beautiful culture, language and way of life. Working within these very remote communities has influenced my motivation for providing nutritional education
to individuals and communities who may lack the basic education and resources that would otherwise prevent the incidence of chronic disease.
Darwin city is also a fantastic place to live and during my placement I was able to meet a great group of local Health Professionals and fellow health students.
Most weekends were filled with adventures of the local wonders within the Litchfield National Park, the local Noonamah Rodeo, the incredible Mindil Beach markets with those incredible sunsets and live local music festivals. Overall, I realise I have a passion for working within a community that requires dedicated Health Professionals who have the cultural knowledge to connect with the community. This scholarship has provided me with an invaluable experience within a rural and remote environment and I hope to be able to work as a Dietitian within these locations at some stage in my career. This way, I will be able to make a significant difference to people’s health through evidenced based practice in nutrition science while also gaining experience in all area’s of Dietetics that I can pass onto my professional peers. This experience has also motivated me to advocate for more Health Professionals to work within these rural and remote locations in order to combat the alarming prevalence of chronic disease. I would like to thank NAFEA for providing me with their generous financial support and therefore, the opportunity to work within two very fascinating rural and remote areas of Australia for my University placement.