Alumni profile

For nursing graduate Tirzah Janssen, studying locally at La Trobe’s Mildura Campus came with an array of benefits.

For nursing graduate Tirzah Janssen, studying locally at La Trobe’s Mildura Campus came with an array of benefits. There was of course the short commute to class which made early starts bearable, as well as a built-in network of friends who’d also chosen nursing. But undoubtedly the biggest benefit for Tirzah was the well-established career pathway between La Trobe and Mildura Base Hospital (MBH).

“Studying locally was great – the Mildura campus has everything you need for studying nursing, plus amazing lecturers who take the time to get to know their students and are so approachable for anything and everything,” Tirzah said.

“I got to experience placements at the MBH, which was beneficial when I got my grad year there,” she said. “It also meant we got better nursing placements – when we needed acute placements in second year, we got them.”

This year, 11 out of the 16 general graduate nursing positions at the Mildura Base Hospital were filled by La Trobe Mildura graduates. Half of the graduate midwifery positions were also filled by La Trobe graduates, as well as both mental health graduate positions. These numbers are particularly high given there were 30 nursing graduates from La Trobe’s Mildura Campus last year.

Tara Williams, nursing lecturer and health science campus lead, says regional nursing students are highly sought after.

“Our students have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of clinical placement experiences,” Tara said. “This diversity is a huge advantage when they go on to apply for their first nursing roles,” she said.

“We love seeing our nurses picked up locally. Many of them have aspirations to study local and stay local. Last year we also had students secure roles at the Royal Children’s, Alfred and St Vincent Hospitals in Melbourne,” she said.

Tirzah said she was excited to continue building her nursing career in Mildura.

“I’m loving my grad year at the Base,” she said. “Being rural, we see anything and everything and get exposed to so much. There’s lots of support from the education department plus the general nursing staff, which helps make the transition from student to nurse a lot easier.”

The high demand for La Trobe’s regional nurses is part of a wider story of the University’s contribution to regional Victoria. Last year an independent report revealed the vast majority of the approximately 1500 students who graduate from La Trobe’s campuses in Albury-Wodonga, Bendigo, Shepparton and Mildura each year, go on to live and work in regional Victoria.

The report showed La Trobe graduates were successfully filling local jobs in the key areas of health, education and business.

Regional Health

Last updated: 2 February 2023