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@ElsevierAUS
Allegra
Boccabella
My name is Allegra Boccabella and I’m
a third year medical student at Bond
University in Queensland. My remote
experience started in 2012. I was on a
gap year and I can’t really remember
why I decided to do it, but I wanted
to experience something different.
So, we had a family friend who was an
Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon who did
specialist outreach in Cape York in
Queensland. So, I asked him if I could
come along for a trip and he said yes and
I’d be coming along as the Audiological
Assistant. So, I did that for a week and
I absolutely loved it, it was great and I
managed to convince him to let me go
again. It’s been four years now and I’ve
managed to go back six times into a whole
bunch of different communities. I’ve been
to Arukun, Pormpuraaw, Kowanyama,
Lockhart
River
and
Napranum.
Basically the setup is that we have the
Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon, the
Practice Manager, the Audiologist and the
Audiological Assistant, which is me, that
goes up in the group. We basically fly into
Cairns the night before the clinics start,
and on the morning of the first clinic
we get up nice and early and fly
in a little plane from Cairns
Airport to the first community.
At the end of the first clinic, which
is at the end of the first day, we fly
back to Weipa, which is a remote
centre, and we stay there overnight.