NEW FACILITY OFFERS STUDENTS A HEALTHY FUTURE
HIGH school students throughout Cairns can fast track into a career in health care with the launch of a $1.4m state-of-the-art medical precinct at Bentley Park College.
There are critical workforce shortages in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services across the nation as well as a broader shortage of health care workers and Bentley Park
College Principal Bruce Houghton said 40 per cent of students were of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.
“The student response has been outstanding – by completing their certificate courses they can go on to do their diploma at TAFE or go on to nursing at university or become a medical practitioner, a paramedic or a doctor,” Mr Houghton said.
Students can complete certificate
two and three courses as well as an assistant in nursing qualification at the precinct, while students from other schools can jump in on school holidays and gain the same qualifications.
Mr Houghton said data in 2020 showed that a lot of Bentley Park graduates were going into medical work.
“And we decided that it was a pathway that we wanted to improve upon for our students – it was also
about the same time the health hub was going in at Edmonton, and we saw that as an opportunity for our students to be involved in our local area,” he said.
The precinct has virtual and augmented reality to enable the students to practice vital health skills ranging from identifying health hazards, how to respond to and treat various health scenarios, through to learning about human anatomy.