TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW WITH UNSW MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT MADELINE INGRAM, 15 APRIL 2024

SUBJECTS: UNSW Medical School, Wagga Wagga 

E&OE

STARTS: 1.20pm

ENDS: 1.23pm

MICHAEL McCORMACK

I am with Madeline Ingram, who is a first-year student at the UNSW Medical School here in Wagga Wagga. Madeline, what does being able to do all of your training from start to finish in Wagga Wagga mean to you?

MADELINE INGRAM

It's very meaningful, we are very lucky to be able to do it from 1st year to 6th year. It's a really great experience that we get to be mentored by dozens of like-minded doctors who have the same mindset. They know how important it is to bring more doctors and students to rural New South Wales. So, it’s really special to us to be able to do that.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

And the new building is going to house the students. So far you've got more than 90 studying. It's going to be so special. What will that mean, having the best of the best world-class state-of-the-art facilities in which to train?

MADELINE INGRAM

We are really lucky to have that, too, it's going to be so beneficial for all of our classes and pracs and we don't have to travel too far anymore, which is great – really beneficial, and we have really great resources and we're very lucky.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

You spoke wonderfully well this morning and what I liked best about your speech was the fact that you said you hope to continue to live and practice in a rural setting after you graduate. That's what this is all about, isn't it?

 MADELINE INGRAM

Yeah, definitely. I have seen what my grandparents have gone through and my parents as well. So, it's really important to me to stay rurally, even just seeing — having worked since completing Med Science — you can just see the real need for rural doctors and staff too.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

And your mum works in medicine too?

MADELINE INGRAM

She's a medical scientist, so she works in histopathology up here at the base, which is also a really important department. I think they get forgotten about a little bit, but they're really important.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

She'd be quite the inspiration for you.

MADELINE INGRAM

She is. My dad is in the construction industry, so I didn't really go down that route, but he did a lot of maintenance on Harvey House in his early days – so still standing, maybe because of him!

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Good luck with your course, good luck with everything and we hope to see you in the future practising here in the Riverina. It’s fantastic and you deserve the very best facilities, I'm sure all your students and all your colleagues are pretty excited too.

MADELINE INGRAM

Yeah, it's amazing, we're such a tight-knit community here too. From years 1 to 6, no matter the age. I am classed as a bit of an older student, but we’re all really good friends and we get along so well, it's so nice to have the help with just a small tight-knit community.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Thanks Maddi. Good luck, but I know you don’t need good luck, you just need a good facility and you're going to get that. Well done.

ENDS