What was the major factor that helped you decide to choose a career as a Rural Generalist?
Early on in my medical training I was exposed to a group of passionate, talented and down-to-earth Rural Generalists who were dedicated to delivering high quality care in remote areas. I spent my youth in Cape York Peninsula and I feel a strong affinity with rural and remote areas. It was the attraction to rural living combined with the realisation that I could potentially follow in my mentors’ footsteps that encouraged me to undertake Rural Generalist training.

And what made you choose to train ACRRM?
ACRRM is a perfect fit for the true Rural Generalist. The College is driven by rural doctors and is championed by President Dr Ewen McPhee who embodies the archetypal Rural Generalist. They speak my language and they understand the challenges of training and working remotely.

Tell us about your current role
I am a LifeFlight Retrieval Registrar, which involves working full time with the Cairns QGAir EMQ Rescue Helicopter. I work alongside an incredibly talented team including the helicopter pilot, air crew officer, rescue crew officer and intensive care flight paramedic. We operate in shifts over a 24hr period, 7 days a week to provide emergency aeromedical retrievals. This includes facilitating the transfer of critically unwell patients from rural hospitals and health care facilities (such as those I frequently staff as a Rural Generalist) to regional and tertiary facilities. It also involves being tasked as part of the primary response to scenes such as farm accidents, motor vehicle accidents or mass casualty events where we land on scene, provide medical care and fly to definitive care.

How did you come to be working with RACQ Life Flight?
As a child living in a remote region, I believed that medical care only ever came by plane and I’ve had an interest in it ever since. I had my first experience of retrieval medicine in the Torres Straits when I was working as a Rural Generalist. I feel it is essential to understand both what is like to work in remote areas with limited resources, and also what is involved in transporting patients to regional and tertiary centres. Along with my passion for Rural Generalism, I also have interests in pre-hospital medicine and critical care. As such I have been undertaking further fellowship training in Emergency Medicine, which has given me the skill set to undertake a training rotation with LifeFlight. This job has not only expanded my experience and clinical skills, but also given me the opportunity to give back to a service that continues to assist remote communities when they need it most.

Can you provide an example of an experience where you truly knew you had chosen the right career or yourself?
As a Rural Generalist, many of my most rewarding and career affirming experiences occur while providing the essential service of primary care. However, as a Generalist, I also staff the rural hospital services (emergency, wards, birth suite, operating theatre etc). At Christmas I flew via helicopter to Australia’s northernmost island to retrieve a woman with life threatening complications of pregnancy. After stabilising the patient, we flew back to Thursday Island where I gave an anaesthetic to facilitate her caesarean section, then intubated and stabilised the critically unwell baby and arranged retrieval onwards to Intensive Care. Six days later, mum and baby arrived back to Thursday Island ready for discharge home and I provided basic primary care including post-natal checks and contraception advice. To deliver care along the entire spectrum from preventative health to critical care, and to see people survive and thrive, who otherwise would not have due to their remote location, is an incredibly rewarding experience.

As a recent Fellow, what advice would you have for registrars training on the ACRRM pathway?
The best thing about being a Rural Generalist is that you get to practice meaningful medicine in a community that you develop a strong affinity with. Given that Generalists are a “Jack of all trades”, registrars with a range of special skills across the entirety of medical care are needed, so I strongly recommend that you forge your own pathway and follow what interests you most. Having your own interests and being surrounded by like-minded colleagues is a recipe for a long and satisfying career. If you are going to work remotely, ensure you have the skills that you need before you go. The development of support networks and links to specialist clinicians in referral centres during your training time is also extremely important.

Do you have a mentor who has inspired you throughout your Rural Generalist training and work?
I have plenty of exposure to a wide range of clinicians who encourage me to improve and expand my clinical and non-clinical skills. These range from my mentors during medical school to colleagues who I work with on a daily basis who show to me that I have made the right career choice. I’m lucky that the list is too long to print here!