The Rural Health Academic Centre ( RHAC ), Ashburton is a collaboration between University of Otago Christchurch, Canterbury District Health Board and the Advance Ashburton Community Foundation.
Located within Ashburton Hospital, RHAC is a physical and virtual hub for inter-professional rural health training and research. RHAC focuses on rurally relevant education, research, clinical skills. and simulation, and links a diverse academic faculty across the South Island.
A simulation suite and training centre was completed in 2019 which caters for skills training and courses such as the Rural Inter-professional Simulation Course.
A faculty development stream for interprofessional rural practitioners has also been described with the aim of growing a pool of simulation based education practitioners across New Zealand.
Rural Inter-professional Simulation Course
Rural Simulation Faculty Development Plan (PDF)
Areas of research include:
- Inter-professional education
- Rural teamwork and simulation training
- Procedural sedation in rural hospitals
- Self-harm in rural populations
- Rural models of care and health service delivery
- Rural nursing workforce projections and planning
- Rural oncology service scope and outcomes
- Stroke management
- Chest pain assessment in rural hospitals
Our people
- Dr Marc GutensteinClinical Senior Lecturer, Emergency Physician, Rural Hospital Medicine Specialist
- Dr Steve WithingtonSenior Lecturer, Consultant Physician, Rural Hospital Medicine Specialist
- Jane Wright, Nurse Researcher, Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist
