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

The VRGP is a statewide end-to-end training program that allows future rural generalists to train, work and live in rural and regional Victoria.

And one of the great benefits to this program is the support and guidance on offer for anyone looking at becoming a Rural Generalist in Victoria.

As part of their studies at Monash Rural Health, all medical students complete a six-week Scholarly Intensive Placement during their final year.

These placements allow you to focus on a particular medical or professional practice issue in-depth, by taking part in scholarly activities, such as analysing relevant literature, collecting data, reviewing policies, or developing new resources.

Thanks for listening! If you're PGY2 and above, reach out to Monash Rural Health because we're always looking for topics, ideas and supervisors. And if you're a Monash Alumni, it's a great opportunity to get involved in our teaching programs. You can get in touch by emailing rural.health@monash.edu

There's so much to learn before you even start your first research project. In this episode we'll cover some fundamentals of research to get you started. 

Hear from researchers about what it takes to get started in research with fundamentals like ethics applications, and methodologies.

If you're finishing medical school and heading towards your Internship, we've made this episode just for you! To help start this exciting phase of your career, we sat down with four junior doctors in the GRIT program - Gippsland Rural Intern Training at LRH, Latrobe Regional Health in Gippsland - to reflect, tell stories and hear about lessons learned.

So you're thinking about becoming a GP, or perhaps even taking it to the next level and becoming a Rural Generalist. Well there's a lot of exciting things happening with this specialty right now. The return to College-led training, Rural Generalists potentially becoming a protected title, and lots more new things to look forward to.

If you're thinking about a GP fellowship you'll already know there's two colleges - the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.

Becoming a fellow of either college enables you to practice as a GP anywhere in Australia. But there are subtle points of difference. In this episode you'll hear from people from both colleges as well as trainees who decided to opt for each college.

Learning about cultural safety is the best way to help address the poorer health outcomes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face.

Hear from New Zealand first nations speaker Abe Ropitini from VACCHO, as well as a GP working in Indigenous Health in Bendigo about how this simple, yet effective element of practicing medicine can help build trust and help address these unequal health outcomes.

You've probably heard of medical conferences, and maybe attended some. In this episode we're going to show you five ways conferences can be incredibly useful at any stage in your career, as well as how to get the most out of these events.

At first glance, adventure sounds like something that shouldn't be a part of healthcare. But it's a key part of practicing medicine and probably something that drives you to pursue this career too.

Whether it's getting hands-on and learning new medical techniques or working with limited resources to treat patients, your adventure in rural medicine is out there.

Talking about these issues as a doctor can be really tough.

In this episode we explore some of the available support services, and hear from a doctor who has experienced mental health issues, sought assistance and found they're better off now.

There's a lot you can do to develop hands-on skills early on in your training journey with a clinical placement in a rural setting, then developing these early career skills further through internship.

Hear how these junior doctors developed these skills, as well as a passion for rural medicine in the latest episode of Doctor What? Doctor Where? Stories of Rural Medicine.

Dr JuMP is a free coordinated medical mentoring program designed to support Medical Students, Junior Doctors and Registrars in regional Victoria. Whether you're an established practitioner or just starting out, this program is helping regional medical professionals to connect and grow.

Monash Rural Health's DRIVERS Conference is an ideal opportunity to present research at the beginning of your career.

Get a taste of what to expect at this year's DRIVERS conference by hearing from the Co-Chair of the Scientific Committee from this year's conference, as well as how the conference has built on the legacy of the inaugural conference in 2021.

Monash Rural Health's DRIVERS conference is an ideal opportunity to present research at the beginning of your career.

Get a taste of what to expect at this year's DRIVERS conference by hearing from early career doctors who presented at the inaugural conference in 2021.

We've heard from doctors all over regional Victoria that training and practicing in rural health lets them get more hands-on experience. Combining that with AMA Victoria's Emerging Leader Program is a brilliant combination to establish your early career.

That's what Dr Thang Dao is doing as an Intern at Latrobe Regional Hospital who has just wrapped up the first stage of the Emerging Leader Program.

Quality Improvement is a great way to take your career to a new level, but it might seem daunting. Large scale projects in this field can take up to a decade to complete, so it's easy to set it aside for a later point in your career when you're more established.

You might be surprised how easy it can be to get involved in established quality and improvement projects, or even pursue smaller initiatives yourself while training.

Bendigo Health Clinical Director of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Safer Care Victoria's Clinical Lead for the Maternity and Newborn Division Dr Nicola Yuen shares some insight into how to get involved in quality and improvement.

Making the jump from medical school into your early years as a doctor can seem pretty daunting, and there's so many things to learn along the way.

Learning from classmates and colleagues a year or two ahead of your journey can be a brilliant way to prepare for this next step, and in this episode Dr Katie Blunt talks about her experience with a near-peer program supported by Monash Rural Health and the North West Regional Training Hub.

Medical training pathways can be a significant challenge to develop, particularly when you're trying to build experience within an area of medicine you're interested in, or you're trying to follow a specialist pathway in the regions.

In this episode, Head of School of Rural Health at Monash University Professor Shane Bullock outlines some of the resources on offer to help you forge your own pathway to practice.

In this episode we're providing an in-depth look at East Grampians Health Service which serves an area of Victoria centred around Ararat, a town of about 10,000 people and one of the gateways to the Grampians.

It's a good example of Rural Health in Practice - highlighting the training opportunities and the career possibilities in regional health services all around Victoria.

The Great Ocean Road and the coastal towns beyond are major drawcards for the South West. Millions of people each year flock to the region, causing these coastal communities swelling in size over summer.

The doctors featured in this episode have all made the sea change to the South West coast, moving from inland rural towns and metropolitan cities to join in the easy lifestyle locals lead all year round.

The years after medical school are filled with formative moments as you learn skills, encounter unexpected joys and challenges while continuing your training.

Hear what junior doctors are saying about their journey in medicine as they navigate training in regional Victoria in this episode of Doctor What? Doctor Where? Stories of Rural Medicine.

Dr Fariha Islam made headlines when she moved to Horsham. As the Wimmera's first Neurologist, the community and health service welcomed her with open arms. Together with her partner Dr David Hunchak, they have found a rich lifestyle in Horsham.

With the Grampians on their doorstep and a friendly community, the tree change has provided a wonderful environment to raise a family. 

Dr Pauline Chapman is the Clinical Director of Emergency at Ballarat Health Services. Her career journey began in the heartland of the Wimmera on a farm filled with sheep. In this episode of Doctor What? Doctor Where? We look at how Dr Chapman went from Hay Bales to a Hectic ED.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to start out as a doctor? the highlights, lowlights, challenges and unexpected things along this journey - all the things you'll experience as you're starting your medical career.

This episode of Doctor What? Doctor Where? features a group of junior doctors currently training in Bendigo, talking about all the different things they have experienced along their study and training journey.

General Practice can take can take you anywhere. Whether you're looking at becoming a GP, Rural Generalist or Advanced Skills GP, there's something for everyone within this field. 

In regional Victoria you'll find opportunities to practice everywhere from remote towns of 1,000 people or less to the largest regional cities.

Physician pathways are some of the most varied and diverse of any within the medical field, and the peak of this diversity can be found in the regions.

Each of this episode's guests have come from different backgrounds and cultures, and are all working in West Gippsland right now.

In this episode you'll hear from doctors working within the surgical field across Victoria. You can study and train to be a surgeon entirely in regional Victoria, so no matter where you are in your career there's opportunities from medical school to advanced trainee placements and beyond.

Sports and exercise medicine is quite a new area of medicine, with limited places to study regionally. There are opportunities in Bendigo, Ballarat and Cairns, with a growing demand for this field.

While its name might evoke images of doctors tending to pro athletes during sporting matches, that's just one part of this field which broadens out to musculo-skeletal medicine.

Dr James Ooi posts preventative health tips on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.movement.doctor/

The importance of local Cardiologists is steadily growing as our population ages. Coronary heart disease is the leading underlying cause of death in Australia with more than 10 per cent of deaths linked to this disease.

These specialists delivering acute treatment and preventative medicine is one of the keys to managing cardiac health for the whole population and over the last few decades, there have been significant advances in treatment methods, as well as capacity.

North West Victoria encompasses a vast area, reaching from the northern edges of Melbourne, to the semi-arid lands surrounding Mildura.

All together there are 19 health services in the region, providing a wide range of healthcare and a rich tapestry of training and career opportunities for doctors across the region.

Rural Obstetrics and Gynaecology brings life to the regions, treating patients at some of the most important times in their lives. For the babies which these specialists deliver, it's the first time of their lives.

Hear about the fulfilling career in Obstetrics and Gynaecology that's waiting for you, directly from doctors at the forefront of regional maternal and women's health.

Ever wondered what opportunities are available in a regional health service? In this episode health service executives across Gippsland unpack the opportunities available across the region.

These health services don't just deliver a high standard of care, they work with each other to design training opportunities across each other's sites.

The variety of towns and landscapes bring with them unique healthcare challenges and a breadth of experience hard to find elsewhere.

Regional cancer treatment is a growing field across the board. With new appointments, dedicated cancer centres and new resources, it has become easier than ever to treat cancer patients within their own communities.

In this episode Oncologists from regional Victoria talk about the role they play in treating their patients close to home.

Training for junior doctors in metropolitan cities is often done through well defined, well traveled pathways with a history that sometimes stretches back decades.

Out in the regions, pathways are newer. Some are still being built right now, and all of them are expanding to incorporate more regional rotations and placements.

This is where the Regional Training Hubs come in. Their role is to build on the rural training network established through the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training program.

Then, as rural medical pathways develop and grow, the hubs help coordinate different stages of medical training to enable students intending to practice regionally to complete as much of their medical training as possible within regional and rural areas.

Ever wondered how to get into Medical Administration? Pathways in this space are less defined than some specialisations, but there are no shortage of administrative opportunities out there in regional Australia.

Managing a health service is a lot like any large organisation - it takes expertise and committed people to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. Medical Administrators come from all areas of healthcare and management, as well as every stage of career.

Some doctors get into administration after decades of clinical work, and others seek it out from the beginning. In this episode of Doctor What? Doctor Where? You'll hear from a wide range of perspectives training and working as Medical Administrators.

Regional Paediatricians form a vital network of doctors providing local care to kids all around Victoria.

When a child in regional Victoria falls ill, the whole family is affected. Parents have to take time off work, other family members might have to take care of siblings, and in more serious cases, a lengthy trip to Melbourne is needed to seek more sub-specialised treatment at the Royal Children's, or Monash Children's Centre.

Opportunities from trainees to consultants across country areas are opening up as demand for rural Paediatricians grow. The rich lifestyle, career mobility and community spirit all come together to provide a fulfilling life in the regions.

Intensive Care Units are growing in regional areas and along with them, training and career opportunities.

When patients need weeks of inpatient care, providing it close to home is the best scenario. 

In this episode you'll hear from doctors in Bendigo's ICU, which has expanded its capabilities alongside the redevelopment of their hospital, turning it into a key service in regional Intensive Care medicine.

Emergency departments are the first port of call for seriously ill patients. This creates a fast paced, dynamic and varied job for doctors working in the ED.

For the most part, these patients will just go to their nearest hospital with an Emergency Department. This means the only differences between an emergency department at a metropolitan hospital and a rural health service are their size and capability. For an Emergency doctor, we can find some differences in the variety of the work they do, and the lifestyle which regional living offers.

Anaesthesia is an essential part of patient care and plays a critical role in rural medicine. This specialisation is a crucial part of every health service, big or small.

In this episode you'll hear from standalone specialists, consultants and GP anaesthetists who paint a paicture of the rich opportunities anaesthetics offers in regional Australia.