Lockdown study: Business as usual for Geraldton health undergraduate Tarleah Moore

For one Geraldton woman, studying for a health sciences degree has been business as usual in 2020. “When COVID-19 struck I was pretty much already doing everything from home,” Tarleah Moore said. “I use the GUC facilities when I have exams but other than that everything is online now.” The third-year Curtin University student said flexibility had allowed her to study full-time and work 30 hours or more a week in retail. “All of my immediate family lives in Geraldton, my partner is here, and this is where I grew up,” she said. “Because I was studying online it made it so much easier for me to have that work/study balance, so it was really beneficial for me to be living in Geraldton and be able to study and pursue my career.” Ms Thomas advised prospective Geraldton university students to look at opportunities available at the Geraldton Universities Centre first. “After you have looked at that and if they’re not supplying the course you want, look at other universities,” she said. “A lot are offering courses online, then you can live at home live with your parents, live in your community, work and enjoy this coastal lifestyle.” Ms Moore has been doing her latest practical placement at the WA Centre for Rural Health in Fitzgerald Street. “I am part of a research project at the moment for COVID-19 and I’m working with Dr Sandra Thompson, who’s the director,” she said. “WACRH has been really flexible with all my placement duties, I don’t really have a routine.” Dr Thompson said they were helping a sister institution in Queensland with a remote study into people’s responses to the pandemic using phone calls. “We decided those interviews would be better done by someone who wouldn’t know the person,” she said. “We’ve mostly interviewed people in Queensland, one from Victoria, and the lead co-ordinator in Queensland said she was doing some Geraldton chats. “I’m surprised how many people have said it’s a good opportunity to re-evaluate what’s important in life.”