Riverland Academy of Clinical Excellence

About RACE

The Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network (RMCLHN) has established RACE – the Riverland Academy of Clinical Excellence.

The newly formed Academy aims to boost clinical training and employment across the Riverland Mallee Coorong region and will create exciting new opportunities for research and innovation.  RACE will also enable RMCLHN to further develop its culture of quality improvement and deliver on its commitment to excellence in clinical care.

RACE is a multidisciplinary division within RMCLHN, that has been created to deliver on our commitment to take responsibility for training our own clinical workforce, creating and improving relevant evidence bases for our clinical practice, and bringing the benefits of integrated teaching, research and clinical care to the communities in our region.

RACE articulates RMCLHN’s ambition to be a centre of excellence in rural health and highlights our commitment to medical education in our region and counteracting medical workforce shortages in line with the South Australian (SA) Rural Health Workforce Strategy, SA Rural Rural Medical Workforce Plan the National Rural Generalist Pathway.

Our vision for RACE is that RMCLHN is a highly sought-after training region for medical graduates. Our projected outcome is that Trainee Medical Officer (TMO) positions are consistently filled with high quality graduates who progress to Fellowship training, through to consultant positions in RMCLHN. RACE has two functions – Research and Education.

RAP Clinic

Children and teenagers at Renmark High School, Renmark Primary School, Renmark North Primary School and Renmark West Primary School can now access free healthcare consultations with a local doctor at school.

The new service is being run by RACE in collaboration with Renmark Medical Clinic (RMC) and local state schools.

The service is called the Riverland Academy of Clinical Excellence and Renmark Medical Clinic Rapid Access Paediatric Clinic – or RAP Clinic for short.

Through the clinic, a doctor called a Trainee Medical Officer (TMO) will be on-site at each school to provide a healthcare consultation to students of all ages. During the consultation, children and teenagers can discuss any healthcare concerns that they would visit a General Practitioner to discuss. For example, concerns about their mental health, healthy diet and exercise or contraception.

Parents and guardians are required to be present during these consultations at school.

If required, the TMO will refer students to the Renmark Medical Clinic for a bulk-billed consultation with a GP during dedicated hours each afternoon.

For more information, chat to your School Principal or contact the Renmark Medical Clinic on (08) 8586 4111.

To book a consultation at your school, contact the School Principal.

If a consultation is required at the Renmark Medical Clinic, this will be booked for you by the School and the Practice Manager.


Research

Through the research function, RMCLHN via RACE will collaborate with various universities, medical research institutes and organisations.

RACE research programs will enable Riverland residents to benefit earlier from the latest treatments as they are being developed. it will attract investment into our region and assist us in recruiting the very best clinician scientists to our hospitals and practices.

Research will be funded through various grants and organisations, such as through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

Regional JEV Serosurvey

The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) partnered with RACE to coordinate a regional Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) serosurvey.

Japanese Encephalitis is a rare but serious disease caused by JEV, which can be transmitted to humans through bites from mosquitoes carrying JEV. Anyone can catch JEV, but those who spend time in areas where JEV has been detected such as people who live and work along the River Murray are most at risk.

A serosurvey is a survey of blood samples collected from the population. Serosurveillance provides estimates of antibody levels against infectious diseases and is considered the gold standard for measuring population immunity due to past infection or vaccination and determining how many people have already been exposed to this virus. 

Everyone living in the Riverland Mallee Coorong region was invited to participate in the serosurvey, and blood collection was offered by SA Pathology at their sites in Murray Bridge, Tailem Bend, Mannum, Berri, Loxton, Barmera, Waikerie and Renmark.

The purpose of the serosurvey was to gain a better understanding of the level of exposure to JEV in the community. Testing of volunteers from the population was undertaken to inform our public health response to JEV.

To find out more about the serosurvey and the results, download the JEV Serosurvey Results Fact Sheet (PDF 203KB).

Education and training

The medical education program offered by RACE is called The Academy Pathway. The Academy Pathway will enable medical graduates to undertake all the required postgraduate training to achieve a Rural Generalist Fellowship based in RMCLHN.

Rural Generalism is a sub-speciality of General Practice that provides comprehensive general practice, emergency care and additional care that would ordinarily be referred to another specialist in the city, for example, obstetrics and emergency care.

Rural Generalists are recognised by a Fellowship of either the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) or the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

To gain this Fellowship, a person must complete:

  • a university medical degree (4 to 6 years)
  • employment and training as a junior doctor (2 years)
  • training as a Registrar, including successful completion of a national examinations (4 years plus)

Additional education programs, including programs for nursing, allied health and others professional groups will be added over time.

Find out more and apply