Redland Hospital has welcomed speech pathologist Kiara Rodrigues to a new role focused on educating the next generation of allied health professionals.
Kiara has been appointed as Bayside’s first Allied Health Clinical Education Support Officer, one of only a handful of positions of its kind in Queensland. In this position, she will support students, recent graduates and clinical educators across allied health fields such as physiotherapy, dietetics and speech pathology.
Her focus will be on strengthening teamwork between professions and creating a consistent, high-quality placement experience for all allied health learners.
“It’s about making sure our students and new graduates are learning the skills they need, not just within their own profession, but across teams,” Kiara said. “We know that better teamwork leads to better patient care, so the aim is to start building those skills from day one of their training.”
Kiara said the role would bring students together across physiotherapy, social work, dietetics, psychology, podiatry, occupational therapy and speech pathology to learn from each other and collaborate on case studies, time-management, well-being and core clinical skills.
She will also help develop Bayside’s clinical educators, ensuring they are supported to provide effective supervision, feedback and guidance for future health professionals.