 I think every student should do a rural placement because of the diverse clinical caseload that you get to see while on a rural placement. I think you get to see from, you know, your littlies up into your adults and then through to your elderly, as well as working in such a range of clinical settings. Back in first year I remember the speech pathology academic from the Department of Rural Health coming into one of my first year lectures and right from then I remember it was something that I wanted to keep in the back of my mind for a placement in the future while studying speech path. What I love most about OT is it allows me to see the best potential in everyone. I'm really passionate about rural health and really wanted to do my practice in a rural area. I really enjoyed my placement in Armadale. It gave me the opportunity to see somewhere that I wouldn't normally go. There's a lot more connectedness with the community and the pharmacists so it's actually quite a lot more rewarding I think in rural areas. No one day ever looks the same. In Coffs Harbour I was actually based out 40 minutes out of Coffs Harbour at a rural placement site there at a hospital and then also in the community with aged care. And then out at Maury again it was a little bit different. We had some outreach clinic days and then some days at the community health centre as well as visiting some preschools and some schools. I did a community placement. Pharmacists play a bit more of a front line role than they do in city areas. Rural you definitely see a lot more interesting in varied cases. I was able to engage in some community home visits which was really great not only to see the area but to practice within people's homes. In the Teddy Bear Clinic we got to go to one of the local school and teach them how a central line works as one of the children had one in the class so it was good that all the kids could know about it and understand why this little child had it and it was really positive. I had so much support from the department and that involved financials so the accommodation was subsidised as well as having close academic support which was great to know that I always had someone that I could reach out to if I had questions or even recommendations from the best coffee in town. So my rural placements I was able to be a part of a huge range of interprofessional learning activities. So this was like the healthcare team challenge that I was a part of and a few tutorials and workshops where I was not just with speech pathology students but with physiotherapy, OT, nutrition and dietetics and just a huge range of other students. I didn't know that University of Newcastle and the Department of Rural Health could also support students from other universities such as us from ACU in Sydney and it's provided a great opportunity where we're able to be offered accommodation while we're here and you get to stay with other students from different universities. The Manning Education Centre has been really impressive. We came here for our first day orientation. It was a meeting point where we got to meet all the other students that would be starting on the same journey as us which was nice. That made us feel more at home. I was drawn to study nutrition and dietetics because I am a massive foodie. I love all things food and nutrition and I also love helping people. The year-long rural immersion program lets me do all of my placements in one spot so I don't have to travel around to get to all my placement. Living with other students has been really great not only to get a bit of an insight into what they do on their placements but just making new friends and doing things together like going for coffee or walks. Over the past year in Port Macquarie I've really fallen in love with the area. There's so many gorgeous beaches. We were really excited to come and explore Tari. This is an opportunity that you wouldn't usually get just to be able to live somewhere for four weeks. In Kos Harbour I think you have the beautiful beaches which for me I absolutely love. This is a great little town. A lot of things I did in my spare time in Tamworth consisted of bush forks, going to cafes, going down the main street, hanging out with other students who are on placement in Tamworth. I think a rural placement is great for your social life. As a smaller rural town you're able to build some really good relationships. I would recommend doing a rural placement. You're going to end up with more skills. Definitely puts you out of your comfort zone. You're forced to kind of step outside of what you're used to and what you know and forces you to become a better student. The extra opportunities, the social activities and I think just the variety in the clinical caseloads that are offered is why I found a rural placement so exciting.