Doctor What? Doctor Where? Stories of Rural Medicine in Victoria

Monash University
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Choosing a career pathway in medicine is a tough decision. With so many specialty options to choose from, the possibilities often seem endless and it can be hard to decide what medicine to practice and where. This series of conversations with doctors at all stages of their career across regional Victoria paints a picture of what training and practicing rural medicine is like, and the lifestyle that accompanies it. If you are interested in a medical career, beginning, part way through or finishing up your training, or just looking for career inspiration, this is the podcast for you!

  1. 05/21/2025

    Improving patient discharge… and writing good discharge summaries

    Writing discharge summaries might not be the most exciting part of the job, but it's certainly a very important one. It's a critical piece in the transfer of care from hospital to the GP or other health service. In this episode, you'll hear about how to write a good discharge summary from the perspective of an intern who regularly writes them, as well as a GP who regularly receives them. When done well, a discharge summary can help patients stay out of hospital;, enabling general practitioners to best follow the appropriate care plan. However, many in the medical profession would probably agree, the entire discharge process could be improved to allow for better sharing of information and cooperation between health services. Therefore, this episode’s guests discuss what needs to be done to make the discharge system more efficient, as well as some of the changes that are already being implemented to discharge summaries across the Gippsland health services network, following a recent improvement project. Guests: Dr Tom Kefford - GP in Warragul, VIC and Medical Educator with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Dr David McAlpine - medical intern in the Gippsland Rural Intern Training program, run through Latrobe Regional Health in Gippsland. Jared Slater -  Manager of Digital, Data and Insights at Gippsland Primary Health Network. — For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Victoria, head to the Monash Rural Health website. The North West Victoria and Gippsland Regional Training Hubs have commissioned this podcast to help medical students and junior doctors learn more about training and practising medicine in regional Australia.  Find your nearest Regional Training Hub here.

    29 min

  2. 05/14/2025

    Opening your mind to a non-linear career journey - Dr Bridget Clancy

    How much can you plan your medical career in advance? Dr Bridget Clancy is  an ear nose and throat surgeon who's cared for more than 24,000 patients over the past 20 years. On paper, you'd look at her career and assume she must have strategically planned it out. But in this conversation, she reveals that that's not the case at all.  Dr Clancy left medical school thinking she would be more of a rural generalist, than a specialist. However, a combination of mentors and the need to balance family and work life led her down some unexpected, but ultimately very fulfilling career pathways. In this episode, Bridget discusses the tough decisions she made in her career as well how her out-of-the-box thinking led to new opportunities. For instance, she became a pioneer in telehealth, when she mobilised her private practice very quickly during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Clancy has recently closed her practice in Warrnambool and is now focusing on more governance and policy roles within medicine, including as Chair of the rural surgery section of the College of Surgeons.  — For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Victoria, head to the Monash Rural Health website. The North West Victoria and Gippsland Regional Training Hubs have commissioned this podcast to help medical students and junior doctors learn more about training and practising medicine in regional Australia.  Find your nearest Regional Training Hub here.

    36 min

  3. 05/08/2025

    Prioritising your mental health from the junior to the senior years of medical school.

    Dr. Belinda Bell is a GP based in south-west Victoria, who vividly remembers breaking down into tears for apparently no reason, while sitting in a crowded lecture theatre as a young medical student. She's very open about her past mental health challenges, including during her student and registrar years. Belinda says she learned the hard way about the need to prioritise her mental health; from eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep and knowing when to seek professional help. This even meant requesting to work part time when she was a GP registrar, in order to cope with the workload. Something, which was unheard of at the time. Dr Bell grew up, studied and interned in country NSW, before eventually settling in Warrnambool, where she is regarded as ‘the GP to see’ for mental health support. In this episode, you’ll hear how Dr Bell turned her perceived ‘weakness’  of being a highly empathetic person into a doctor's super power. She also discusses how she continues to look after her mental health as a practicing GP and now a mother of a 3 year old. Please be aware this episode also briefly discusses suicide. If you need to speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14. — For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Victoria, head to the Monash Rural Health website. The North West Victoria and Gippsland Regional Training Hubs have commissioned this podcast to help medical students and junior doctors learn more about training and practising medicine in regional Australia.  Find your nearest Regional Training Hub here.

    27 min

  4. 04/30/2025

    Starting Out as a Rural Generalist

    What makes a medical student or intern want to become a rural generalist? And what does that journey look like? A rural generalist is a doctor who provides healthcare to regional, rural or remote communities. They are trained in primary care, emergency medicine and an advanced skill to meet the health needs of their rural community. This is in one of a number of disciplines, with the most common being obstetrics, palliative care, emergency medicine or anaesthetics. Rural generalists are a vital piece of Australia's healthcare system, bridging healthcare gaps in areas where there aren’t those other medical specialists. In this episode, we ask three doctors who are early on in their rural generalist career, what their role is like, from the good days to the more challenging ones: Dr Casey O’Connor - PGY6 doctor at Latrobe Regional Hospital, working in palliative care. She is part of the  Royal Australian College of General Practitioners training program. Dr Rachel Sultana -  PGY2 doctor at the West Gippsland Health Group in the paediatric ward. She is on the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine training pathway. Dr Will Hardy -  PGY2 doctor at Bairnsdale Regional Health Service. He is on the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine training pathway. For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Victoria, head to the Monash Rural Health website. The North West Victoria and Gippsland Regional Training Hubs have commissioned this podcast to help medical students and junior doctors learn more about training and practising medicine in regional Australia.  Find your nearest Regional Training Hub here.

    39 min

  5. 04/23/2025

    Dealing with Exam Stress as a Medical Student

    Medicine is consistently rated as one of the most popular courses to study at university. However it is also ranked as one of the hardest. Students probably feel this the most at exam time. In this episode we speak to Brie Allman, a final year medicine student at Monash University, to reflect back on her degree and how she coped with exam nerves. Brie grew up in northern NSW and is planning a long career in rural health. As she finishes her placements through Monash Rural Health in Gippsland, she admits her first year as a medical student was very difficult. She says she often felt overwhelmed and failed to look after herself properly. Since her first year, she has learned helpful strategies to make sure she keeps a balanced lifestyle, while also maximising study time. Brie is also being mentored as part of the Dr JuMP Medical Mentoring program, which supports medical students, junior doctors and registrars in regional Victoria and Southern New South Wales.  For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Victoria, head to the Monash Rural Health website. The North West Victoria and Gippsland Regional Training Hubs have commissioned this podcast to help medical students and junior doctors learn more about training and practising medicine in regional Australia.  Find your nearest Regional Training Hub here.

    23 min

  6. 04/16/2025

    Parenting and Being a Doctor

    Is there a “right time” to have kids, when you have a career in medicine?  Perhaps that’s not the right question. Instead, in this episode, two rural doctors speak about the “right way” to think about making decisions about family and career. Guests: Dr Holly Atkinson- General Physician and Director of General Medicine at  West Gippsland Healthcare Group in Warragul. She’s a medical oncologist and palliative care specialist. Dr Alex Tai- Infectious Diseases Physician at West Gippsland Hospital and at Latrobe Regional Health in Traralgon. He also works at the Gippsland Region Public Health Unit.  Both Holly and Alex discuss how they manage the busy-ness of being parents, with the demands of being a doctor.  Holly is the mother of twin 7 year-old girls and she also has a 5 year old son. She recounts how she would walk the hospital wards with babies in a carrier, when she first returned to work. Holly also speaks about what having children at different stages of your career could look like from a work perspective; including the trainee years. Alex is the father of two primary-school aged boys and also cares for his wife, who has chronic fatigue syndrome. He discusses how he overcame feeling uneasy about asking for support from family and friends and how changing the type of medical work he does has given him greater flexibility. Ultimately, it is possible to have children and a great career in medicine. This episode offers some practical and philosophical advice on how to make it work. — For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Victoria, head to the Monash Rural Health website.

    29 min

  7. 04/09/2025

    Taking the stress out of writing death certificates and reporting to the coroner

    Many rural doctors feel uneasy about the medico-legal aspect of their job when they’re an intern. But while it is natural to feel uneasy, there is plenty of support available from senior doctors, nurses and administration staff. While the media often focuses on ‘suspicious’ deaths, relating to homicide, that only makes up less than 2% of all the casework that’s carried out by forensic doctors. Indeed ‘suspiciousness’ is not even a criteria for reporting. So what is? In this episode hear from: Dr David Ranson - Adjunct Professor in the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University. Dr Mau Wee - Head of Service at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. Medico-legal, is not about blame, rather it’s about understanding how the death occurred and whether any systems need improving. This episode features advice on how to seek out help if you are writing your first death certificate and how to ‘keep it simple’ when filling one out. Understanding when to report to the coroner is also discussed, along with what happens if you are required to prepare documentation for a coronial inquest. — For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Victoria, head to the Monash Rural Health website. The North West Victoria and Gippsland Regional Training Hubs have commissioned this podcast to help medical students and junior doctors learn more about training and practising medicine in regional Australia.  Find your nearest Regional Training Hub here.

    27 min

  8. 04/02/2025

    Life as a rural GP... and how to make the most of your placements

    Being a rural GP, means being a key part of the community. It also provides you with great flexibility to balance the life you have outside of medicine. In this episode, we have two contrasting stories; from Dr Tom Kefford, who became a GP to return to his hometown, to Dr Kingsley Rajasingham, a GP who moved to Gippsland 30 years ago, not knowing anyone.  They discuss the benefits and challenges of being a rural GP.  For instance, how do you balance getting involved in the community, while keeping a professional distance? They also share their advice on how medical students and doctors in training can get the most out of their placements. Guests: Dr. Tom Kefford -  GP in Warragul, VIC and Medical Educator with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Dr. Kingsley Rajasingham - GP principal at Central Gippsland Family Practice in Moe, VIC.  — For more information about the study and training opportunities across regional Victoria, head to the Monash Rural Health website. The North West Victoria and Gippsland Regional Training Hubs have commissioned this podcast to help medical students and junior doctors learn more about training and practising medicine in regional Australia.  Find your nearest Regional Training Hub here.

    31 min
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About

Choosing a career pathway in medicine is a tough decision. With so many specialty options to choose from, the possibilities often seem endless and it can be hard to decide what medicine to practice and where. This series of conversations with doctors at all stages of their career across regional Victoria paints a picture of what training and practicing rural medicine is like, and the lifestyle that accompanies it. If you are interested in a medical career, beginning, part way through or finishing up your training, or just looking for career inspiration, this is the podcast for you!

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