Physiotherapy students Joshua McKim and David Bosker will have an opportunity to see Bond’s fundraising efforts in action when they travel to Tanzania this month for a four-week clinical placement.
Our physio cohort hit the newspaper headlines in June when they held a barefoot bowls day at Kingscliff Beach Club, raising almost $4000 to help train physiotherapy students at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Tanzania.
The Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College provides training for doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other health professionals.
Now Joshua and David will work alongside the College’s physiotherapy students at the medical centre.
“It costs $600 to educate a physiotherapist to Diploma level and $1000 to Bachelor level at the College,” said Joshua.
“The funds raised at our barefoot bowls day will help pay the costs for five physio students in Tanzania for a year.
“Thanks to Bond’s involvement, we not only get to help our African colleagues finance their studies, but we also benefit from the clinical experience we’ll gain by working in such a different situation.”
Another thing Joshua and David have in common is that they are both former students of Green Point Christian College on the NSW Central Coast.
Joshua graduated in 2002 and went on to complete a Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Sydney, taking time out to work as a ski instructor in Canada and travel through Europe.
David finished his HSC in 2004 and studied a Bachelor of Science (Exercise and Sport Sciences) at the University of Newcastle. He worked for a time with the Central Coast Mariners and Cricket NSW, and completed a summer research scholarship before enrolling at Bond with Joshua.
“Bond was the first Australian university to develop a doctorate level physiotherapy degree which is more recognised internationally,” said David.
“The 42 weeks of clinical placements also ensures that graduates are really well prepared for the workforce.”
David has served as Bond’s representative on Sports Physiotherapy Australia’s Queensland committee while Joshua has distinguished himself academically, being awarded a place on the Vice Chancellor’s List in his first two semesters last year and the highest GPA in the Health Sciences and Medicine Faculty for his first semester this year.
In addition to gaining hands-on experience at local hospitals throughout their studies, both have had the opportunity to work alongside the physio teams at the Gold Coast Marathon and the recent ITU World Triathlon Championships.
They will both graduate from Bond in May 2010. Joshua and David equally hope to seek out respective careers in sports and musculoskeletal physiotherapy working with elite athletes.
