MEDICUS FEBRUARY 2016

D R Y E S

were perfect swimming escapes from the warm summer weather. Our final day began with Dr YES’s inaugural visit to Grace Christian School. We spoke to the year 11 cohort about Alcohol and Other Drugs and Mental Health, with a particular focus on coping strategies for stress as the students move into year 12 and beyond. It was encouraging to have several students ask us about university life and discuss their plans for the future. The Dr YES bus then trundled on to Collie, where we visited Collie Senior High School and ran sessions on Alcohol and Other Drugs with 103 year 8 students, and Mental Health with 125 year 10 students. With such a strong focus on Alcohol and Other Drugs and Mental Health, we were able to train several new volunteers in these areas; and placed an emphasis on harm minimisation, as well as on accessing GP and other medical services in rural areas across the three days of sessions. Overall, our trip to WA’s South West region was the perfect way to end Dr YES sessions in 2015. Our thanks go to the students and teachers from all six schools for being so welcoming, and to all of our volunteers for their hard work.

Guidance : Dr YES volunteers were able to reach out to 665 high school students from six schools in WA’s South West.

F or Dr YES’s final rural trip of visited 665 high school students in six schools over three days. Suffice to say, it was a busy and exciting way to wrap up the year. Departing early on Monday 30 November, we began our trip at Waroona District High School. Here we were able to engage in some in-depth conversations with students from the entire school about Alcohol and Other Drugs. After a quick 20-minute drive, we arrived at Harvey Senior High School, where we ran two more Alcohol and Other Drugs sessions for 160 students from years seven to 10. 2015, two dozen medical and pre-medical student volunteers

the Harvey campus of the WA College of Agriculture, where we had some insightful discussions about mental health with year 10 students. On day two, we were very lucky to be part of Dalyellup College’s “Big Day In” program, a day for year 10 students designed to ease their transition into years 11 and 12. Here we saw 130 year 10 students for all three types of sessions – Alcohol and Other Drugs, Sexual Health and Mental Health. Seeing the same group of students for all three sessions helped us to facilitate meaningful discussions about how these topics can interrelate. That afternoon we were able to relax and unwind after two very busy days, and the Dr YES team visited Koombana Bay Beach, and Black Diamond in Collie – both of which

We look forward to future visits in 2016. ■

To conclude our first day, we visited

F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 6 M E D I C U S 53