Case Studies

Background

Monash Rural Health is one of four clinical schools within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University.

The School operates in regional areas across the State of Victoria performing a range of health-related functions across the regions including medical education, allied health education, research, clinical placement, workforce retention, community engagement and student accommodation. Each year, Monash Rural Health hosts a cohort of around 400 medical students across regional Victoria and provides placement support for thousands of students studying in allied health professions.

Project Goals

The School wanted to understand the economic impact of their activities in regional Victoria accounting for both the operational expenditure of the school and expenditure of students. As a supplementary outcome, the School also wanted to gain an understanding of the social capital that was supported by the school operating in regional towns and cities.

REMPLAN’s Involvement

REMPLAN developed a customised survey tool to capture information about the levels of student expenditure and engagement while studying in regional areas. REMPLAN then delivered the survey as a face-to-face polling with groups of students across the State, a method which greatly reduced non-responses while also allowing qualitative follow up discussions.

Individual engagement was also undertaken with staff across all sites, to gain an understanding of the type of activities occurring across the School.

The final socio-economic impact assessment report provided Monash Rural Health with a preliminary qualitative analysis of the social capital created by the students and a detailed quantitative assessment of the economic impact of their operations in the regions which could be used for marketing, grant applications and to guide decision making.

Results

Economic analysis indicated that the combined impact of Monash Rural Health operations and student expenditure resulted in over $40 million of output being generated each year which supported more than 200 jobs both directly and indirectly.

These results excluded several other significant sources of economic activity that were outside the scope of the study but identified through the course of engagement with staff and students.  These included the contribution of research undertaken by the School, the expenditure of allied health students and the ongoing contribution of return graduates. Further studies into these areas of activity would provide greater insight into the overall impact of Monash Rural Health operations in regional Victoria.