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Campus medical services receives accreditation

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Brigid Veale
Published
16 May 2005
Southern Cross University's Lismore campus Medical Service has gained accreditation with Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL), a national not-for-profit GP organisation.

SCU Student Support Services Manager Dr Jonathan Munro said accreditation involved meeting criteria, set by the Royal Australian College of General Practice, including patient rights, practice service and quality assurance.

Dr Munro said university students expected and needed to be looked after beyond educational needs.

"If aspects of health go untreated, there's a risk students will leave education and that's an outcome we don't want," he said.

SCU Medical Service doctors hold accreditation in several areas including women's health, family planning and family medicine, youth health and sports medicine. The practice is Lismore's only remaining bulk-billing medical service. It has been established for more than 10 years, with an earlier part-time on-campus medical service established as an outpost of Lismore's Keen St Medical Centre.

Dr Munro said three local doctors, with one on duty at any one time, and a practice nurse worked from SCU Medical Service.

"For all students, particularly students who relocate to Lismore and leave a family doctor behind and international students, we can quickly link people up again with medical services by providing these services on campus," he said.

"Potentially there could be up to four-and-a-half thousand students on campus in Lismore along with several thousand other students who study part-time or externally, many of whom visit the campus or live in the region."