Visitorship Program for First Nations Medical Students at the Royal Children’s Hospital Plastic & Maxillofacial Surgery Department

AIM:

• The Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne) enjoys a hospital’s unique position to teach, inspire, and sponsor medical students from Indigenous and other backgrounds who have been traditionally under-represented in the field of surgery.

THE PROGRAM:

• -2 x Two-week visitorships are available within the Plastic & Maxillofacial Surgery Department per year
• -Applications to be sent to Dr Will Alexander (plastic.surgery@rch.org.au), and interviews conducted by a panel of RCH surgeons
• -Students have the choice to focus on ‘Hand & Microsurgery’, ‘Cleft and Craniofacial’, or ‘General Paediatric Plastic Surgery’.
• -The student will be involved in clinics, surgical sessions, and departmental meetings.

LOGISTICS:

• -Duration: 2-weeks, the applicant can pick this period within a 3-month window. The exact dates can be flexible and adjusted in negotiation with the selection committee
• -Accommodation/ Travel – to be organised by the applicant, with various scholarships/funds available via Royal Australian College of Surgeons (RACS) and other groups
• -Visitors fee (~$1000 each for University of Melbourne / Department).
  • Will be waived
• -Advertising / Selection- to be conducted by the RCH Plastic Surgery Department

APPLICATION:

• -An application letter (~500 words) is to be submitted to Dr Will Alexander (plastic.surgery@rch.org.au) by
  • The last day of May, for August-October rotations
  • The last day of October, for March-May rotations in the following year
• -Interviews will be conducted within 4 weeks after the application deadline, with the successful applicant notified immediately thereafter

TESTIMONIAL:

• -Cooper Hill, University of NSW, Indigenous Medical Student
  • Completed 2-weeks observer-ship in 2024 and was the impetus to establish this as an ongoing, structured opportunity.
  • “Visiting the Royal Children’s Hospital was one of the most formative experiences of my medical training.  As a proud Wiradjuri man in my penultimate year of medicine, I reached out after seeing Dr William Alexander featured on both the RCH and RACS Indigenous Health Committee websites. He generously invited me to spend time with the paediatric plastic surgery team, and that week changed everything for me.
    From the outset, I was welcomed, included, and exposed to some of the most innovative and compassionate paediatric care I’ve ever seen. It gave me a clear picture of what a future in surgery could look like, and for the first time, I truly saw a place for myself in that world.
    This kind of opportunity is rare but incredibly impactful. A structured visitorship, especially one supporting First Nations students, would be incredibly powerful. RCH has the clinicians, culture, and leadership to make that kind of opportunity transformative for others, just as it was for me."