The Tasmania University Department of Rural Health (“the Department”) is a research-focused academic unit that achieves its mission by valuing close, sustained, and responsive relationships with the communities it serves and engages with. It is uniquely positioned within an island state and has developed strong strategic alliances with local government, community organisations and the Tasmanian Government Department of Health and Human Services, to promote an evidence-based rural health agenda.
The Department promotes rural health through supporting the teaching and clinical placement of undergraduate students, delivering a contemporary continuing education program to working health professionals and offering a range of graduate program in e-health to students in Tasmania and elsewhere. We welcome graduate research students and create a supportive, learner-friendly environment in which they can undertake their studies. By drawing on a wide range of skills sets and methodological expertise, staff engage in a vigorous and diverse program of high quality rural health research that positions the Department as locally relevant, nationally competitive and internationally recognised.
The Department was established in 1997 under the regional Health Strategy of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aging (“DoHA”). The Department is one of eleven University Departments of Rural Health established around Australia and is linked to these other Departments through its membership of the Australian Rural Health Education Network (ARHEN).
The UDRH has responsibility to develop a focused state-wide multidisciplinary network of rural health education, support and research programs and career development opportunities that are vertically integrated. This is underpinned by its network of Rural Health Teaching Sites (RHTS), which provide the UDRH with a strong presence in rural and remote locations around Tasmania and on the Bass Strait Islands. The RHTS provide opportunities for short-term rural experiences principally for undergraduates, particularly in the early years of their training. Staff is located in three main sites - Launceston, Hobart and Burnie.