This October, Lara returned to her home state of Tasmania to be awarded the 2023 ACRRM President’s Prize at RMA23.

What was your journey into medicine?

I grew up in Ulverstone, a town situated on the North West Coast of Tasmania. My childhood was spent growing up in the countryside and being heavily involved with the community, especially the local surf lifesaving club and swimming squad. It was a combination of community experiences and exposure to first aid and development programs in lifesaving which inspired me to go into the healthcare field.

Several of the Tasmanian locals had mentioned James Cook University (JCU) in Queensland when I was applying for medicine. The medical course at JCU has a big focus on rural and remote medicine, Indigenous health, and tropical medicine. Ultimately, I have known from a young age I wished to return a rural life and hence JCU’s course appealed to me. I knew, as well, it would be an adventure moving to Far North Queensland and it offered lots of unique opportunities.

What inspired you to take an interest in rural medicine?

My late grandmother was a missionary doctor, serving in remote parts of wild Africa in the 1950s.  Her tales of challenging but rewarding medical cases have remained with me, igniting a passion for helping underserved communities and the desire to seek unique opportunities which remote medicine has to offer.

Growing up in regional Tasmania, I also witnessed the difficulties with friends and family being able to access quality health services. The emergency departments are overwhelmed with patients due to the significant General Practitioner shortages, initially rural and now statewide. Many locals nowadays travel to Melbourne to access specialist care within a reasonable timeframe. However, this has now considerably added to the costs.

Whilst the long-term solutions rest with the politicians, I hope to make a difference and continue helping Australian rural and remote communities.

Where would you like to work in the future?

I am still open to where the future will take me. So far in my degree, I have lived in Townsville and Mackay for periods of my studies. Between this however, I have lived in Emerald for 6 months earlier this year where I gained valuable rural experience. I have also spent time in Atherton, Bowen, and other small Queensland communities.

I always love Tasmania and have taken on several placement opportunities in the island state allowing me to spend time with family as well. If it weren't for my local Tasmanian community, I would not be where I am today, and I am very thankful for all my supporters and mentors.

I am excited to see where my training takes me and the opportunities it has in store, but for now, all I can say is I will be working in a rural community somewhere in the future, but where is to be yet determined!

What are you most looking forward to at RMA23?

It will be great to return to Tasmania. The program looks great this year, but I am most keen for the networking session with the other Future Rural Generalists. It will be a fantastic opportunity to meet other medical students and junior doctors who are like-minded and build connections.  Ultimately, we will be likely working together in the future.

What AST would you like to do?

My interests in advance skill training include either surgery, emergency, or anaesthetics, but I am still open to all opportunities at the moment. My advanced skill/s are going to be determined by what community, my partner, and I, wish to reside for the long-term. I want to pursue skills that are going to be useful for the town or area, and for the greater community needs.