Doctor What? Doctor Where? Stories of Rural Medicine in Victoria

How much does it really cost a doctor to specialise, including in the highly competitive field of surgery? In this episode, we go beyond tuition fees and exam costs to explore the true cost of training pathways, including the financial burden, time, uncertainty, and the impact on life outside medicine. You’ll hear from three doctors at different stages of their careers: Dr Sumudu Welikumbura, a ge...

What if a medical career could take you far beyond the walls of a hospital? In this episode, we explore the growing world of wilderness and expedition medicine, where doctors work in remote, resource-limited and often extreme environments.  Fortunately dramatic rescues are rare and wilderness medicine is often more about planning, prevention and managing risk in environments where help may be hour...

Australia’s rural health system relies heavily on overseas doctors or international medical graduates (IMGs), but their pathway into practice isn’t easy. One of the biggest hurdles is the Australian Medical Council (AMC) Part 2 exam, with pass rates as low as 21–24%. In this episode we explore what it’s really like to train and work as an IMG in Australia, and how we can better support this essent...

Mistakes are an inevitable part of any job, including medicine. Understanding how to learn from them and then move on (without getting trapped in self blame), is a critical skill for any doctor. This episode brings practical insights from two doctors about dealing with mistakes in medicine and the pressures of perfectionism, which is often borne out of the medical system with its exams, hierarchy...

If you thought the Royal Flying Doctor Service is only about emergency retrievals and outback planes, then think again.  In Victoria, it actually looks quite different. In this episode you’ll hear from two general practitioners who combine living and practicing in Melbourne, with regular clinical work in the remote town of Robinvale, in north-west Victoria: Dr Anita Moss, GP obstetrician at Baysid...

Lifestyle medicine is gaining momentum as healthcare systems grapple with rising rates of chronic disease and the limits of reactive, treatment-focused care. But alongside the science sits something just as important; the art of having difficult conversations with patients about weight, alcohol, behaviour change and long-term health. In this episode, Dr Louise Sterling discusses how lifestyle medi...

Medicine attracts high achievers, but even the most capable doctors can feel like they don’t belong. In this episode we explore imposter syndrome; the persistent feeling that you’re not good enough, that you don’t deserve to be where you are, or that someone will eventually “find you out.” You’ll hear from three doctors at very different stages of their careers: Dr Thelma Boshoff , a PGY3 Rural Ge...

So you’ve just received your internship allocation… and it’s rural. For some junior doctors, that moment can bring mixed feelings, especially if they were hoping for a metro hospital. That’s exactly how Dr Joe Wong initially felt. Growing up in Malaysia and studying medicine overseas, Joe assumed the biggest hospitals in Melbourne were the best places to train. Like many medical students, his unde...

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of everyday medical practice; from patient notes, documentation and imaging, to risk prediction and clinical decision support. But while AI is powerful, the ethical frameworks, governance systems, and clinical guidance needed to support its safe use are still catching up.  In this episode, Dr Shizar Nahidi discusses why AI should be understood as an...

 Writing discharge summaries might not be the most exciting part of the job, but it's certainly a very important one. It's a critical piece in the transfer of care from hospital to the GP or other health service. In this episode, you'll hear about how to write a good discharge summary from the perspective of an intern who regularly writes them, as well as a GP who regularly receives th...

How much can you plan your medical career in advance? Dr Bridget Clancy is  an ear nose and throat surgeon who's cared for more than 24,000 patients over the past 20 years. On paper, you'd look at her career and assume she must have strategically planned it out. But in this conversation, she reveals that that's not the case at all.  Dr Clancy left medical school thinking she would be m...

Dr. Belinda Bell is a GP based in south-west Victoria, who vividly remembers breaking down into tears for apparently no reason, while sitting in a crowded lecture theatre as a young medical student. She's very open about her past mental health challenges, including during her student and registrar years. Belinda says she learned the hard way about the need to prioritise her mental health; from eat...

 What makes a medical student or intern want to become a rural generalist? And what does that journey look like? A rural generalist is a doctor who provides healthcare to regional, rural or remote communities. They are trained in primary care, emergency medicine and an advanced skill to meet the health needs of their rural community. This is in one of a number of disciplines, with the most common...

Medicine is consistently rated as one of the most popular courses to study at university. However it is also ranked as one of the hardest. Students probably feel this the most at exam time. In this episode we speak to Brie Allman, a final year medicine student at Monash University, to reflect back on her degree and how she coped with exam nerves. Brie grew up in northern NSW and is planning a long...

Is there a “right time” to have kids, when you have a career in medicine?  Perhaps that’s not the right question. Instead, in this episode, two rural doctors speak about the “right way” to think about making decisions about family and career. Guests: Dr Holly Atkinson- General Physician and Director of General Medicine at  West Gippsland Healthcare Group in Warragul. She’s a medical oncologist and...

Many rural doctors feel uneasy about the medico-legal aspect of their job when they’re an intern. But while it is natural to feel uneasy, there is plenty of support available from senior doctors, nurses and administration staff. While the media often focuses on ‘suspicious’ deaths, relating to homicide, that only makes up less than 2% of all the casework that’s carried out by forensic doctors. Ind...

Being a rural GP, means being a key part of the community. It also provides you with great flexibility to balance the life you have outside of medicine. In this episode, we have two contrasting stories; from Dr Tom Kefford, who became a GP to return to his hometown, to Dr Kingsley Rajasingham, a GP who moved to Gippsland 30 years ago, not knowing anyone.  They discuss the benefits and challenges o...

The transition from medical school to becoming an actual doctor can often be exciting and a little daunting. Dr David McAlpine and Dr Reem Alameri are both medical interns in the Gippsland Rural Intern Training program, run through Latrobe Regional Health in Gippsland. However their journeys to get to their internships are very different, as well as their future career aspirations. In this episode...

The first year when you can actually call yourself a doctor is obviously very important in a medical student’s career. However, the application process for where you will start your prevocational years has previously been opaque and sometimes confusing.  After a significant review to make the process fairer, the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (PMCV) has made multiple changes to the appli...

There’s a growing number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors in Australia, but like a lot of things in Indigenous Health, this workforce is a lot smaller than it should be. As we’ve explored in previous episodes on cultural safety and other aspects of Indigenous Health, the importance of culturally safe healthcare and being treated by a doctor who’s a part of your community is a huge...

If you’re at the start of your journey into medicine, you might be considering the Bonded Medical Program - it’s a Government initiative to help address the shortage of medical professionals in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia. In this episode you’ll hear doctors who have gone through this program talk about their experience with it and get some useful tips on whether this program is...

There have been some major changes made to prevocational training with a new two year framework for PGY1 (interns) and PGY2 trainees. In this episode you'll hear from people involved in these changes from the top down. You can find out more about the AMC Prevocational Framework by heading to amc.org.au/framework For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Vi...

A career in rural medicine can involve moving to different towns and cities to complete parts of your training, so mastering the art of moving can really help make your overall experience much more enjoyable. For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Victoria, head to https://monash.edu/medicine/rural-health The North West Victoria and Gippsland Regional Train...

In 2021 the John Flynn Placement Program for medical students ended, and in its place came the John Flynn Prevocational Doctor Program for PGY1 to PGY5 junior doctors.  In this episode you’ll hear from people directly involved in the new program, and what it is doing to develop the skills of rural and regional trainees. The Victorian Rural Generalist Program is the funding body for the The John Fl...

In this episode we're taking a closer look at one of the ways doctors are getting to know more about cultural safety in Indigenous Health, the Joint Colleges Training Services The JCTS is a joint venture of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, delivering shared GP training activities for the two colleges' respective...