Collaborative research partnerships

Research is a Team effort – we work together to focus on the health issues in rural and remote communities.

Our partners

Impactful research outcomes require strong and strategic research partnerships. The School of Rural Medicine Research and Evaluation team is committed to developing excellent networks across our region, and to working collaboratively with our stakeholders to address the issues that impact on the health outcomes in the communities we operate within, and beyond. Detailed below are several collaborative partnerships which, since 2023, are contributing to research outcomes for our local rural communities

The Western NSW Health Research Network was established in 2013 with the aim of strengthening emerging health research partnerships across Western NSW. It is considered the peak body for health research conducted in Western and Far Western NSW and is a collaboration between universities, Local Health Districts, Primary Health Networks, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations and non-government organisations. Two current members of the School of Rural Medicine Research and Evaluation team joined WHRN on its commencement in 2013 and have been active contributors ever since. Dr Catherine Keniry, Associate Head of School Research, Evaluation and Graduate Studies, was elected Co-Chair of WHRN in December 2023. This collaboration enables the School of Rural Medicine oversight of research activities across Western and Far Western NSW, and extensive opportunities for collaboration between the School of Rural Medicine, Charles Sturt University academics, clinicians and researchers across the region.

The Murray–Darling Medical Schools Network consists of 5 rurally-based university medical school programs in New South Wales and Victoria, including CSU’s School of Rural Medicine. It is part of the ‘Stronger Rural Health Strategy’ initiative.

The School of Rural Medicine meets regularly with our MDMSN colleagues and together we undertake a range of research activities aimed at understanding the practice intentions of medical students throughout their medical degree.

The Rural Health Research Institute was established by Charles Sturt University in 2020 to conduct research that addresses the rural health gap in communities across regional and remote Australia, as well as internationally. Like the School of Rural Medicine, RHRI’s focus on research excellence and collaboration with community ensures that the outcomes of the research undertaken can achieve sustainable and translational change. Of the RHRI existing programs, the School of Rural Medicine is currently aligned with the following:

  • Address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health inequity, contributing to ‘Close the Gap’ aspirations. To this end, in 2024/25 we collaborated on a research project titled: Evaluation of the Buvidal implementation in Bourke’. We received funding of $50K in 2023 for this research.
  • Improve health and medical service delivery in regional cities, rural towns and remote community. As part of RADAR (below), we collaborated with RHRI researchers on a project titled: Enhancing Access to Drug and Alcohol Services across WNSWLHD, for which we received funding of $50K for in 2023.
  • Boost rural, consumer-driven health and medical research capability and capacity. To this end, together with WNSWLHD and RHRI colleagues, we established ‘RADAR’ – the Rural Applied Drug and Alcohol Network RADAR. This collaborative group is dedicated to improving access to, and successful treatment for, drug and alcohol services across Western NSW – a region that unfortunately experiences higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse than other regions across Australia.

The School of Rural Medicine has established relationships with all LHDs within the communities in which our clinical schools are based. As a medical school, we work with our LHD partners to deliver our medical curriculum to our students, and to support clinicians working within these LHDs who are interested in undertaking translational research. These LHDs include:

We are committed to developing collaborations with research leads and research-active and interested clinicians, to identify the specific research needs of each local medical community.

In June 2023 we commenced a research project with Murrumbidgee LHD (Griffith Base Hospital). This project aims to determine the practice of thiamine prescription for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in the Emergency Department (via a retrospective audit), compliance with the MLHD Guidelines, and development of a training program of ED staff. We have now expanded this project to include Wagga Base Hospital (Murrumbidgee LHD), Orange Base Hospital (WNSWLHD) and Gosford Hospital (Central Coast LHD). We have Ethics approval from GWHREC.  In 2025/26 we will expand sites to include Macksville/Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Bathurst and Parkes hospitals. Please get in touch if you would like to join this project.

As their role is coordination of primary health care in their regions, Primary Health Networks (PHNs) are a critical partner for the School of Rural Medicine research team and enable collaborative research at grass roots levels. PHNs assess the needs of their community and as such are a prime partner for School of Rural Medicine to enable research that is relevant and translational in the primary care space. We are actively engaging with PHNs across our footprint and developing collaborative research projects to benefit each local community.