Nursing students at La Trobe University will be running a free health clinic called Healthy Ky from December 2 to December 20 to ensure the community is fit and healthy ahead of Christmas.
The student-led clinic will provide free health check-ups to anyone who walks through the door.
Dr Brad Hodge, who runs the Rural Health Innovation Lab at La Trobe University, said the initiative arose from the challenge of finding innovative ways to provide students with real-life experience, especially regionally.
“I think it’s important for metropolitan students to understand all the diverse ways of living,” Dr Hodge said.
“I think from a student perspective, one of the things we really want to see is that our students have a rich understanding of the diverse of ways that they can practise.”
When walking into the Healthy Ky clinic, clients will be greeted by students at the door and showed in for a health screening.
Services that will be on offer will include temperature checks, oxygen saturation, pulse rate, blood sugar and pressure checks, respiration and pain scores.
Alongside a free health check-up supported by a registered nurse, the clinic will offer free CPR training conducted by St John’s Ambulance.
In return for trusting nursing students with health, community members can walk away knowing they have saved money, helped a student gain invaluable experience and checked their health all in one go.
As an added incentive, health check participants will be entered into a draw for a chance to win one of three $50 local business vouchers.
Dr Hodge said there was a lot more benefit to the community than might initially meet the eye.
“It’s going to be a fun process … You get to meet some students, and you might even get the opportunity to convince them that they might want to come back here,” he said.
“Kyabram takes great pride in the fact they do things as a community well.
“I’m hoping the community can wrap around this and understand that it’s a great opportunity for them to have an influence of the number of health professionals they might have in the future.”
Healthy Ky will be touring Kyabram during its time here and will visit the Kyabram P-12 College, Kyabram Community Learning Centre, the Kyabram Men’s Shed and Kyabram District Health Service.
The Healthy Ky initiative will extend its services to Lockington (December 3, Plumbers Shed), Rushworth (December 10, Maxes Maze), and Rochester (December 17, Shire Hall), ensuring wider community access.
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