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.
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Registrar Dr Thiru Thirukkumaran shares his heartfelt story of being on the ground in Tasmania at the centre of a COVID-19 outbreak.
I am living in Burnie, Northwest Tasmania and almost half the population in my town is in isolation right now (the worst Corona outbreak in the country). Due to the hospital spread, all hospital staff and their family/close contacts are in isolation. Deep cleaning is ongoing at the hospital and reserve force medics are going to run the hospital once cleaning has been completed until the community spread reduces.
We have been working in the GP surgery with minimal PPE (only gloves & masks) until the end of March 2020. The Principle GP was in isolation after his overseas holiday and the planned locum doctors couldn't come with the inter-state lockdown. My Principle GP gave me support from his isolation. I had to step up and devised a clear plan for the surgery with the available PPE. I came from a Palliative care background to ACRRM training and clearly my ACRRM training has helped me face the current issues with confidence.
For the last 10 days we started doing tele-consults and reviewing minimum face to face consults (4-5/day). Due to the hospital closure and the next ED being in Launceston (over 150km distance), we have a greater patient influx and most Burnie GP surgeries are being overwhelmed. It has been hard for all the "remaining health professionals" but we are doing our best to support our community.
At home, my family and I started social distancing since Feb. 2020. For the last eight weeks, we have been living in separate rooms and social-distancing from each other. My wife is also a GP and we’re aware of the possibilities of being asymptomatic carriers so we want to protect our family as much as we can.
On the 1st week of April, I was down with severe sore throat, cold and a fever spike. I stopped working, further isolated myself. Luckily I was found negative for COVID-19 PCR and was treated for a bacterial infection.
I restarted work again, earlier this week. Even though I am physically and mentally exhausted, I have been studying hard to pass the STAMPS exam (this is my last step). Our Rural clinical school - Burnie / hospitals are closed at the moment. In our GP surgery (Burnie Super Clinic), we have multiple unused consultation rooms and conference rooms.
I'm working with ACRRM to hold STAMPS in one of these venues and undertake the assessment remotely. I think this highlights the level of one-on-one support and flexibility that ACRRM adopts to support registrar's through training.
We have been working in the GP surgery with minimal PPE (only gloves & masks) until the end of March 2020. The Principle GP was in isolation after his overseas holiday and the planned locum doctors couldn't come with the inter-state lockdown. My Principle GP gave me support from his isolation. I had to step up and devised a clear plan for the surgery with the available PPE. I came from a Palliative care background to ACRRM training and clearly my ACRRM training has helped me face the current issues with confidence.
For the last 10 days we started doing tele-consults and reviewing minimum face to face consults (4-5/day). Due to the hospital closure and the next ED being in Launceston (over 150km distance), we have a greater patient influx and most Burnie GP surgeries are being overwhelmed. It has been hard for all the "remaining health professionals" but we are doing our best to support our community.
At home, my family and I started social distancing since Feb. 2020. For the last eight weeks, we have been living in separate rooms and social-distancing from each other. My wife is also a GP and we’re aware of the possibilities of being asymptomatic carriers so we want to protect our family as much as we can.
On the 1st week of April, I was down with severe sore throat, cold and a fever spike. I stopped working, further isolated myself. Luckily I was found negative for COVID-19 PCR and was treated for a bacterial infection.
I restarted work again, earlier this week. Even though I am physically and mentally exhausted, I have been studying hard to pass the STAMPS exam (this is my last step). Our Rural clinical school - Burnie / hospitals are closed at the moment. In our GP surgery (Burnie Super Clinic), we have multiple unused consultation rooms and conference rooms.
I'm working with ACRRM to hold STAMPS in one of these venues and undertake the assessment remotely. I think this highlights the level of one-on-one support and flexibility that ACRRM adopts to support registrar's through training.
We have been working in the GP surgery with minimal PPE (only gloves & masks) until the end of March 2020.
