ACRRM students, registrars and Fellows have one thing in common - a desire to See More, Do More and Be More. Whether they are working in central Victoria, on the rugged Western Australian coastline, in the tropics of North Queensland or the farmlands of New South Wales and further afield, they are committed to being the best Rural Generalist they can, supporting rural and remote people with excellent health care. Enjoy their stories here.
Many of our members at ACRRM have gone on to win awards. Check out our awards page here.
If you are an ACRRM Rural Generalist and would like to share your story, contact the membership team at membership@acrrm.org.au.
Sarah graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine in 2004 from the University of Newcastle. As a dual fellow in both Colleges, in 2009 she was named National Rural Faculty Registrar of the Year by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and in 2010 was honoured as Rural Registrar of the Year by the RDAA/Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM). A unique honour she cherishes deeply.
During her career Sarah has completed an Advanced Diploma through the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, a Diploma of Clinical Education and is currently one subject away from a Master of Health Administration through Flinders University. Sarah has previously held a board director position for General Practice Education and Training and currently sits on the board of directors of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association. Dr McEwan’s topics of interest and expertise include Aboriginal health, sexual health, family planning, obstetrics and gynaecology.
Ten years has flown by since winning the award (time flies when you are having fun). I have spent the last decade working in the Pilbara at Hedland Health Campus which was a career goal of mine from a medical student placement experience I had back in 2001. I had the most amazing experience which drove my interest down a career path of rural generalism. I have worked in Port Hedland as a rural proceduralist in obstetrics and gynaecology and emergency medicine for the last decade. During this time, I have acquired additional skills along the way to assist in my role to encourage and support others in the same quest. I completed a Diploma of Clinical Education in 2013 and I have almost now completed a Masters of Medical Administration with the view to utilising those skills in the health leadership and change the management space.
Other roles I have held whilst being an RG include the following:
The award itself was a much unanticipated recognition of the hard work that I had put in. However, the award was not the inspiring driver for the hard work – that hasn’t stopped.
The community in which I had my focus on serving was my driver – that’s what made me want to be the best that I could be, armed with as many skills as time allowed me to acquire. Some of the skill acquisition I can say I have used daily, some have simply been more for personal development, nevertheless I continue to strive to be the best doctor I can be for those that I serve.
Community involvement has many elements to it. There is social community involvement, political community involvement, health advocacy community involvement and the list goes on…
Being a busy, shift working Rural Generalist, limits my ability to have too many structured community involvement activities, however I have through various projects, been involved in many of the elements mentioned above in different forms.
From a community perspective:
From a social perspective:
From a health advocacy and leadership perspective I would say that my community involvement is from a higher level, being involved in health leadership and advocacy from a state and national scale rather than from a community level but still having local community advocacy in mind.
I have been involved in the following over the past 10 years:
I have also undertaken many media/speaking/written opportunities in many forms including:
Personally, my Aboriginal community connection belongs to the Mudgee region. I have regularly returned home over the past few years as often as possible to care for my terminally ill parents who have both passed in the last 12 months. This has given me the opportunity to reconnect with my own community and I have plans in the near future to undertake a certificate in Wiradjuri language, culture and heritage as I feel my cultural obligation is to revive our language for our next generation.
It is vital to be connected, to understand your community and its needs – so that you can advocate for change and assist to lead that process with the backing of your community. This is the underpinnings of any successful community engagement strategy. To be able to get better health outcomes, we need to be empowering our communities through strengths-based approaches to take charge of their health care needs. We will only gain these insights by being connected, open and willing to sit back, listen, learn and engage in a meaningful, empowering way. We can then lead from behind and allow our communities to thrive utilising their own initiatives.
I had a powerful medical student experience back in 2001 when I was a 2nd year medical student. To be honest I selected Port Hedland as my brother, his wife and my three nephews lived there, and I hadn’t seen them in a long time and wanted to go and visit. So, in the spirit of killing two birds with one stone, I arranged for an elective. I was exposed to the AMS, RFDS, the local hospital and I was simply blown away by the health disparities even as a young 19-year-old. It was this placement that inspired my career path to date.
Supervisors that believed in my vision!! I have had too many amazing mentors to list them all – I hope that they know who they are as I have always been very grateful for their advice and mentorship.
That it is ok to not always have the answers, that time is your best friend (for those things that can wait), to always speak up if you think something is not right – trust my intuition.
I am a mentor to a whole bunch of RGs. I think it is important to pass down the knowledge and beliefs that have been passed down to me. It is my obligation to ensure that the doctors of the future are well rounded and grounded individuals ready to tackle the health care needs of the future.
If you are passionate about a community – live there. No matter where it is, you can make it work and gain reciprocity from the experience. There is plenty of time to get city fixes during the generous annual leave allowances provided by rural contracts. They still have almond mylk lattes in the Pilbara to service my needs.
The community in which I had my focus on serving was my driver – that’s what made me want to be the best that I could be, armed with as many skills as time allowed me to acquire.Dr Sarah McEwanFACRRM