02-02-2023
Two Bush Bursary medical students have recently completed a two-week placement in the Upper Lachlan Shire.
This is the third year that the Upper Lachlan Shire Bush Bursary students have been placed here, jointly funded by the Upper Lachlan Shire, the Rural Doctor’s Network and the Country Women’s Association, and the first year two students have been placed at the same time.
Both medical students had heard about the opportunity from the Rural Doctor’s Network and wanted to take part in the Bush Bursary program to broaden their experience of healthcare options.
The placement marked the third rural placement for Riley Green who had previously been placed in the two earlier stages of the process: Go Rural and the Outreach Program. Previously placed at Temora and Condobolin, at the beginning of his placement Riley said that Crookwell offered a new rural experience.
“I’m going into this with no expectations. I’m open to what other aspects of rural health care I can experience, and to some degree I’m looking to see what Crookwell has to offer as a potential place to settle down once I’ve completed this long training process,” Riley said.
“I think these placements offer students a chance to experience rural health care, and offer the towns a chance to try and attract doctors.”
New experience
For Maggie Bester, it was her first rural placement.
“I grew up in the city but attended boarding school and a lot of my friends lived in the country, so I visited and fell in love with those places and the warmth of those communities, and that played a role in my interest in a rural placement,” she said.
“I’m excited about the chance to look at rural health and how it functions on a day to basis. I’ve seen a glimpse of what health is like in the city and I think I’d love to see how a doctor in a rural space connects to their community and delivers health care, perhaps with different resources but being embedded in a community and knowing the people.”
Upon completion of the placement, both Riley and Maggie were excited by the experiences they’d had at Crookwell District Hospital, Gunning Health Care Centre, the Thrive Medical Practice and the Crookwell Health Care Centre.
Both agreed that one feature of rural health that was immediately obvious was that rural patients often present later with illnesses, having tried to grin and bear it as long as they can, which was partly influenced by the distance they had to travel and conflicting rural priorities.
They said they experienced new practical aspects of health care, including doing do their first sutures and giving vaccination injections.
Visit highlights
For Riley, one of the highlights was working in Emergency Care at Crookwell District Hospital.
“I really enjoyed seeing that acute care which I hadn’t really experienced before,” he said.
“The friendliness of the hospital staff and also the patients was amazing, and seeing that continuous care over several days, it’s not something I’d experienced before as I’ve just been in a GP setting previously Getting to know the patients, building that rapport and relationship was really good.
“Also my time with Dr Opie, that was amazing. She was very kind, very caring, very patient with a training doctor like me. I had a great experience there, got to do a few different things… an ECG, a few vaccination injections, and a neurological examination.
“Having completed this placement, I still want to be working in the country, or maybe in between with a few days in the country and a few in a more metropolitan area to have that balance of a broad range of experiences and community-based care.
“You tend to get more of the unique cases sent to metropolitan hospitals and the interdisciplinary skills you draw on there can then be of benefit in your work in the country.”
Maggie’s interest in working rurally was also reinforced, as was her interest in being a GP.
“I’ve had such a great time, it’s hard to name just a few highlights,” she said.
“One of the major things was the community of Crookwell. We were lucky enough to join the Country Women’s Association luncheon, which was fabulous not just for the delicious food but also because of the wonderful ladies who spoke about community, the work the Association has done and what’s happened in Crookwell over time. As well as just interacting with locals, everyone in the shops, on the streets were so friendly and welcoming to us.
“In the health care centres and the hospitals, you see artwork on the walls from community members, community donated equipment and funding for the wards, all that sort of thing, and you see how strong and special community is in Crookwell and how much a part of rural health practice that interaction is.”
“I saw more complex health situations and later presentations of conditions than I’d seen before. And I’ve seen that the doctor-patient relationship is very holistic – you look at the whole person. And that means asking about family members, and what’s going on at home and how the harvest has been or how the farm’s running.
“The visit confirmed for me was what I’d heard about rural stoicism, that people are as tough as nails, and so seeing some of those later presentations … someone who has come in with an injury they’ve been gritting their teeth over for the past two weeks.
“This experience has opened the door for me to see how exciting regional GP work can be. And I can tell you when I stepped into this place, being a GP was not front and centre for me. But now that I’ve seen and experienced it first-hand it is much higher up my list, and I think it would be a regional or rural GP as opposed to a metropolitan one.”
Many thanks
Both Riley and Maggie thanked the Rural Doctor’s Network (especially Ange Kerr), the Country Women’s Association, Crookwell District Hospital, Gunning Health Care, the Crookwell Health Care Centre and the Upper Lachlan for supporting the placement.
They also thanked all medical and nursing staff who had thoroughly welcomed and assisted them, including Doctors Opie, Jenner and Les.
Riley and Maggie also expressed their gratitude to Mayor Pam Kensit and Dave Kensit for letting them stay with them for the two-week placement.
Both said they would be talking up the Bush Bursary program as well as Crookwell at every chance they get.
Related stories
Rural Doctor’s Network thanks Shire for assistance
Medical student experiences rural health services thanks to Bush Bursary