GP podcast brought to life with in-person health training

It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that Dr David Lam decided to create the GP Lyf Hacks podcast and video series.
 
Named the RACGP’s National GP of the Year in 2019, the rural doctor is passionate about both rural health and education, and the podcast was his way of helping to ensure that healthcare workers outside of Australia’s major cities didn’t miss out on important evidence-based health information during a particularly isolating time.
 
Since then, the podcast has grown in popularity, and in 2024 GP Lyf Hacks was awarded a Qantas Region Grant to create four health forums for healthcare workers in South Australia, expanding his offering beyond the ears of listeners to in-person training.
 
Earlier this month, Dr Lam, together with his sister fellow GP Dr Esther Lam, delivered the inaugural GP Lyf Hacks Health Forum in South Australia’s Port Lincoln, Streaky Bay and Kangaroo Island.
 
The training delivered was bespoke, designed specifically for the region it was delivered in, with the aim to improve healthcare workers’ confidence and the quality of healthcare being delivered, while also ensuring safety in regional communities.
 
The training also endeavoured to acknowledge both how rewarding, but also challenging, being on the front line of keeping people safe in resource-poor rural communities can be.
 
Dr Lam, who is Director of the Flinders University South Australian Regional Training Hub, understands this firsthand having worked as a GP and anaesthetist in rural South Australia and Far North Queensland for almost 10 years now.
 
‘It’s been a privilege to come back and bring GP Lyf Hacks health education to rural towns like Port Lincoln, where I learnt how to be a rural doctor, and Streaky Bay where I’ve worked alongside some very resilient small teams to keep people safe,’ he said.
 
‘Sometimes there would be just three of us, myself and two excellent nurses, keeping someone’s loved one alive, 700 kilometres away from the nearest intensive care or paediatric unit.
 
‘Anything can come through the door at any time – someone having a heart attack or stroke, or kids with life-threatening infections or asthma attacks.
 
‘All the textbooks will tell you to press that big red alarm button for a code blue when there is a life-threatening crisis and everyone in the hospital comes running. But what if you’re it – just you and two other frontline workers?
 
‘That’s what our GP Lyf Hacks content is about – how to keep people safe in resource-poor environments.’
 
Dr Kay Ajao, whose career as a rural GP and obstetrician spans two decades, was among the attendees at the forum in Port Lincoln and said it was an ‘inspiring’ experience.
 
‘Health education is very important for rural communities – it’s number one – [and] allows you to best support people on a continuous basis,’ he said.
 
‘The best part of my job is the variety of what you can do as a country doctor, it’s unlimited. You have the ability to do a lot of things for people and see all the positive changes in someone’s life as a result of the treatment.
 
‘But not having as much support in terms of personnel or resources makes the job tough compared to in capital cities.’
 
The brother–sister team have a deep understanding of this through their own work experience, but also through the legacy of their grandfather, Dr Teck Choon Lam. A rural doctor himself, he worked for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and was appointed Regional Medical Director of the Australian High Commission in South-East Asia.

The sibling doctors Dr David and Esther Lam are passionate about improving healthcare in rural and remote South Australia, here with and rural generalist registrar forum participants in Kangaroo Island. (Image supplied)
 
While the disparity between the availability of health services in major cities compared to rural towns is no secret, Dr Lam says it is ‘mind blowing’ to see just how much it varies even between country towns.
 
‘The most recent State of Australia’s Regions Report shows us that rural Australians suffer an increased burden of disease and injury in every state and territory, resulting in shorter lifespans,’ he said.
 
‘GP Lyf Hacks is my sister and I doing our part to make sure all Australians get the same high standard of healthcare no matter what postcode they live in or how far away they are from a capital city.
 
‘We were absolutely stoked when we found out that [we] had been awarded the grant and have enjoyed partnering with Qantas to maximise our impact on rural Australia.
 
‘More knowledge means more confidence, and then better quality of care and safety.’
 
In addition to the face-to-face health forums, the grant will also fund the production of more free podcasts and educational videos that Dr Lam says will be available online to healthcare workers across Australia.
 
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