UNE Medicine and Health

✨ Nightingale Ball: Supporting our nurses & midwives ✨

Come and support your local community at a fun-filled black tie night for the Armidale Rural Referral Hospital Nurses & Midwives Education Committee. Come on your own or bring a group and book a table — everyone is welcome.

📍 The Bistro, University of New England
🗓️ Saturday 26 September 2026
🕕 6:00pm
🎟️ $90 — includes a 3-course meal + live entertainment
👗 Dress code: Black Tie / Formal
👉 Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/nightingale-ball
📩 Enquiries: Francis Miller - [email protected]

Assignment to published paper!

Fifth-year Joint Medical Program students Daisy Kelly, James Pennington, Lucie Bankowski and Suraj Chaudhari have turned a routine assignment into a scoping review published in the International Wound Journal.

Reviewing 41 studies, they found pressure injury care is strongest when health teams share plans, communicate clearly — and when psychosocial support (including psychology + social work) is part of coordinated, person-centred care.

👉 Read the story via the link in our bio.

Austin Page College’s Winter Concert (presented by students in the UNE Chamber Ensemble Programme) filled the Austin Page Dining Hall with music - and UNE Medicine & Health students were right at the heart of it.

Medical students were strongly represented across the evening which consisted of a string quartet, recorder feature, vocal ensemble, and a stirring bagpipe solo (including Highland Cathedral). The programme also moved through highlights from Mozart and Shostakovich, plus a special New England nod with Judith Wright’s poem Magpies.

It was a brilliant cross‑faculty showcase too, with performers studying Zoology, Palaeontology, Arts, Law, Neurobiology and Music alongside our future health professionals.

Congratulations to every performer - and thank you to Musical Director Deidre Rickards OAM and the Austin Page team for such a warm winter evening.

What if your first university subject was in the bag before you'd even finished the HSC?

Four Armidale Secondary School students have done exactly that - some even earning high distinctions.

Year 12 students Eleanor Peterson, Aayan Ahmed, Hugo Moulynox and Arman Sahebjam have recently completed UNE's Introduction to Quantitative Skills unit alongside their school studies, through the HSC University Pathways Program.

The program lets students experience university study, while building knowledge relevant to their school units and gaining advanced standing towards a future uni course.

For Eleanor, who hopes to study astrophysics, the experience has made the prospect of starting university a little less daunting.

“I'm worried about going into university and just being bombarded with the unknown, so by having completed this unit, I will be able to ease into it,” she says.

And despite adding a university subject to an already busy Year 12, the students found there was more crossover with their school studies than they expected.

For the full story, check our link in comments.

And a big congrats to Eleanor, Aayan, Hugo and Arman 👏

UNE has launched a Digital Psychology Clinic, giving postgraduate psychology students access to more than 60 hours of realistic, unscripted clinical sessions designed to reflect contemporary rural and regional practice.

Filmed with actors and UNE “treating” clinicians, the sessions take students inside the consulting room across a broad range of presentations and treatment options, supported by practitioner reflections on clinical decision-making. The clinic, piloted earlier this year, is now being rolled out to 150 UNE psychology students in 2026, with additional sessions to be added throughout their training.

Project leader Dr Amanda Jefferys said the initiative “bridges the gap between theory and application… ensuring geography is no barrier to developing critical skills” and helping graduates become more work-ready.

Full story in comments below.

After fourth-year medical student Caitlin Barber undertook high school work experience at a small regional hospital, she knew she wanted to be part of the change to make high quality healthcare more accessible to rural and regional communities.

Now, thanks to her hands-on training at UNE and the Rural Doctor's Network (RDN) cadetship, she's making her high school dream a reality.

Swipe to read more, and visit the link in the comments for the full story. 🔗

From Uralla to Armidale, so much of our mental health support relies on quiet, consistent work behind the scenes – checking in, building trust, and making sure no one has to navigate the system alone.

Clinical Direct Worker Tahsin Sultan grew up in a UNE family and is now helping strengthen person-centred, community-led mental health care right here in the New England region. His story highlights:

💚 Why trust and relationships matter so much in small communities
💚 How local services, councils and UNE can work together
💚 Why meaningful regional placements help graduates stay and serve locally

Read in comments how Tahsin is helping build a more connected, caring New England community.

You may recall, last year Food Standards Australia New Zealand ruled that Moringa oleifera, or drumstick tree, would no longer be allowed to be sold as a food or food ingredient.

Now, the decision is being challenged due to the implications it's had on growers, and also those who commonly use the ingredient in Eastern cuisine.

UNE Biomedical Scientist and medicinal plant expert Dr Vanu Gulati recently weighed in on the evolving situation in an interview with ABC News, saying the cultural and health benefits make it a unique ingredient, however more research is needed.

"[Oil extracted from the seeds] contains many phytochemicals that have really good activities for infections, fever and for skin health," she said.

"[In Indian culture] we use the leaves to make curries and the seed pods, which are known as the drumstick, are also used in cooking."

Read the full story via the link in the comments🔗