Rate My Professor Rachel Lynskey

Rachel Lynskey serves as Senior Professional Practice Fellow and Regional Co-ordinator for Alexandra at the University of Otago's Centre for Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Health Sciences Division. In this capacity, she contributes to the Rural Medical Immersion Programme (RMIP), sharing the challenges and rewards of rural generalist environments with medical students. Clinically, Lynskey works as a Rural Hospital Generalist at Dunstan Hospital, serving a population of around 25,000 across Central Otago. The hospital features a 24-bed ward, a 3-bed high dependency unit, visiting specialist outpatient clinics, mental health services, district nursing, and a Mobile Surgical Bus. Students under her coordination experience emergency and acute presentations, procedures, and inpatient care, with teaching emphasized by rural hospital specialists who promote generalism. She also supports placements at Health Central general practice in Alexandra, which includes a large extended healthcare team of GPs, nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, nurses, and healthcare assistants, as well as an Urgent Care Centre opened in July 2024 and GP-led clinics in Roxburgh. Alexandra, a town of 6,000 renowned for its vineyards, orchards, mountain biking, and walking tracks, provides an ideal setting for immersive rural medical training.