BETTER learning environments and tighter communities were the selling points for two medical graduates taking the plunge into rural medicine who started internships at Tamworth’s rural referral hospital this week.
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Doctors Alison Jones and Mary Elsley will be based in Tamworth for the next two years thanks to a cadetship through the Rural Doctors Network, however they both agreed that rural health was their long-term calling.
While both were committed to rural health, they agreed there needed to more opportunities based in the country to avoid graduates having to move away to get the training they require in their career paths.
Dr Jones was looking forward to immersive clinical exposure while in Tamworth.
“In the city, because there’s so many students and junior doctors you don’t get the opportunity to participate as much in patient care,” she said
“Whereas here, because there are only about three people looking after the patient, we’re a lot more involved in it.”
Dr Jones was raised in Sydney and studied medicine in Newcastle, but having a partner from outside Walcha opened her eyes to the need for more regionally based medicos.
“You can see from being in that area that there’s long waiting lists just to see a GP,” Dr Jones said.
“I’m a lot more interested in continuity of care, so seeing people grow up and being involved in their care.”
Dr Elsley was originally from Newcastle and studied medicine in Sydney but she thought rural centres would be more her speed.
“There’s much more of a community feel. You can get involved and have close relationships with people,” she said.
The pair agreed more regionally based training opportunities would be a way to keep doctors in the sticks.
“It’s one thing to say ‘I want to be a country doctor’, but to actually do it is quite difficult,” Dr Jones said.
“GP training in the country takes four years and you have to move to a different GP practice every year.”
