On Thursday the 2nd of July, RMIT and Epworth Healthcare formally announced their new Fellowship partnership and program for EN nurses.
Epworth and RMIT University (RMIT) have an excellent longstanding relationship, supporting clinical placements for students enrolled in the Bachelor of Nursing as well as those enrolled in the Diploma of Nursing (EN). The current placements are based on rotational clinical placement blocks with students attending Epworth Hospitals as part of their clinical placement experience.
The event was held as a Microsoft Teams Live Event and included RMIT executive staff, RMIT Teaching and Learning staff and Epworth directors. During the launch, speakers had the chance to provide a high-level overview of the program, as well as highlighting the partnership between RMIT and Epworth Healthcare. The launch was emceed by Debbie Reynolds, Director of Industry Engagement & Initiatives at RMIT and speakers included:
- Mish Eastman - Pro Vice-Chancellor Vocational Education, RMIT University
- Kate Steen - Director of Clinical Services, Epworth Richmond
- Jane Lynch - Director of Clinical Services Epworth, Freemasons
- Rennie Fotopoulos - Director of Clinical Services, Epworth Hawthorn
The newly launched Fellowship model provides a pathway from enrolment to graduation to align clinical placement requirements and embeds students within the Epworth Healthcare environment. While Epworth does have Fellowship Placements with a small number of other higher education providers, Epworth does not have a Fellowship model in place with RMIT.
The Fellowship program has an emphasis on:
- An excellent recruitment program to attract 32 high calibre students
- Initially, the focus of recruitment of the cohort of 32 students would be for the Richmond and Freemasons Graduate Program
- A clear pathway for scaffolded placement delivery throughout the Diploma of Nursing program and greater engagement between Epworth and RMIT to ensure the selected students succeed.
- Embedded in the Epworth Healthcare environment
- Guaranteed interview for the Epworth Richmond and Freemasons Graduate Program to each Fellowship student that successfully completes the Diploma of Nursing at RMIT.
This was a fantastic opportunity for both partners to discuss ad demonstrate their ongoing commitment to skills and building talent.
13 July 2020