Real World learning preparing students for the 'Real World'

There’s no doubt about it, the human body is both weird and wonderful and our Allied Health students get to learn every day about its quirks. Specifically they are now beginning to get an even greater insight into human anatomy, thanks to the use of plastinated body parts within our anatomy courses.

For those who have never heard of Plastination, it is a chemical technique developed by Germany’s Gunther von Hagens, made famous by his Body Worlds exhibitions. The technique preserves bodies, or body parts (yes actual human body parts from people who have donated their bodies to science), so that they can be safely used for educational purposes. CQUniversity is one of the first Australian universities to introduce plastinates.

The intricate detail preserved within each plastinate makes them perfect for tertiary level programs, and so there was little hesitation when it was proposed that this ingenious teaching tool should be introduced into our class rooms. Coming from a health background myself, I cannot stress enough the value of learning about the human body from a human body. What’s more the use of these plastinates is a great way to help familiarise students with the human body in way that is much less confronting than the use of cadavers.

The use of such realistic teaching practices is a direction I am proud that CQUniversity is taking. Along with plastinates our School of Medical and Applied Sciences have also introduced displays cast from original bone, from the Bone Clones® Human Adult Skeleton Series and our School of Nursing and Midwifery has gained National and International recognition for the Mask-Ed (KRS Simulation) pioneered by our very own Professor Kerry Reid-Searl. 

This ‘real-world’ approach is not only preparing our students for clinical practice but is preparing them for their careers. Click here to see a video about plastinates at CQUni.

From the Torres Strait to the Pilbara, via CQUni

The great thing about universities is that every student who comes through the door has a different story to tell - how they got there, why they chose to study and where they are going next. Every story is unique and so is every student.

In our latest CQUniversity Be Magazine there is a great example of this, in the story of Adeah Kabai.

Adeah is from Sabaii Island, a remote island in the Torres Strait, located just four kilometres from Papua New Guinea. He talks about his homesickness after leaving the Island, to attend boarding school in Yeppoon and the struggles he faced being away from his family at such a young age, before going on to become a student at CQUniversity.

At the age of 15 Adeah’s life changed when he was asked to attend an Indigenous engineering summer school at the University of New South Wales. It was this experience that opened his eyes to the possibilities that lay ahead and his future career in engineering.  It also made him understand that by attaining a good education he could one day go on to apply his skills to helping the community of Sabaii Island.

Adeah’s higher education journey initially began in Sydney, but after a semester he decided that he preferred life in Central Queensland and was accepted into the CQUniversity Bachelor of Engineering Co-Op program.

The Co-Op program is unique in that it offers students the chance to embark on paid work experience with organisations in their chosen industry. In Adeah’s case he gained a cadetship through Rio Tinto’s Indigenous Cadetship Support Program. Not only did Adeah get to learn through paid, real-world, work experience but he was also guaranteed full-time employment after graduation.

Adeah will now be taking up a full-time position with Rio Tinto in an iron ore mine in the Pilbara, commencing next year. Adeah is a great ambassador for CQUniversity and I am sure his story will go on to inspire other Indigenous students living in rural and remote areas. 

Click the image above to read more about Adeah's story