Feature
Grassroots GP campaign enticing a tree change
Struggling to meet the needs of the community, the Goondiwindi Medical Centre has launched its own, creative campaign to attract doctors to the bush.
The Goondiwindi Medical Centre's advocacy video.
The Goondiwindi Medical Centre is taking matters into its own hands.
Faced with the same rural GP shortage as so many other practices across Australia, the clinic has come up with a homegrown advocacy campaign to attract more doctors to the regional town.
Armed with a script and a camera, the practice team shot its own recruitment video, offering a glimpse into just what life can look like for those outside the big cities.
‘We are a community that understands you have a life outside of medicine,’ the video says.
‘Where the practice owners live locally, work alongside you, and want to hear your ideas.
‘Where family and flexibility are as important to us as they are to you.’
Goondiwindi Medical Centre GP and practice partner, Dr Sarah Gleeson told newsGP she hopes the video will be shared far and wide in a bid to attract GPs outside the major cities.
‘We just need GPs who are passionate about primary care because that is where the true shortage is, and where the real difference can be made in rural and regional Australia,’ she said.
‘Experienced GPs working in MM1 and MM2 areas tell us that they are worried about their skill set and capability to work in smaller towns. The reality is that if you currently work in general practice, then you’re exactly who we’re looking for’
‘Of course, there are a few differences working in regional Australia, and we come up against logistical challenges from time to time, but the vast majority of our general practice work is like metro.
‘Importantly, for this position, there are no expectations of managing emergencies by yourself, we have rural generalists in the practice and at the hospital which is 600 metres up the road.’
Goondiwindi is a town of just 6500 people sitting on the border of Queensland and New South Wales and just under four hours’ drive from Brisbane.
And when the medical centre was finding it hard to recruit enough GPs, it wanted to take a positive approach to making change.
But that sense of positivity comes amid growing concerns of doctor maldistribution and several practices already having to close their doors due to staff shortages.
In the clinic’s home state of Queensland, this year alone, practice owners have
told newsGP that they are ‘on their knees’ and crying out for help.
GPs have cited a long list of reasons for this, but the inability to recruit doctors alongside the skyrocketing cost of running a practice are near ever-present factors.
Dr Gleeson shares those concerns.
She said if doctors do not make their way to regional and rural areas, she knows the gap between health outcomes for rural and metro communities will continue to widen.
‘We created this campaign because our community needs more GPs,’ Dr Gleeson said.
‘We’re very passionate about this because we know that if individuals thrive, then our whole community can thrive, and this is our end goal.’
In making its new video, the clinic wants to spread a message that becoming a rural GP does not always require specialist knowledge of a rural lifestyle, procedural skills or previous experience working rurally.
Walking along colourful streets, sitting on the back porch, in the paddocks, and on the farm, the video states it simply needs ‘GPs just like you’.
Dr Gleeson said for any GP considering a career outside of MM1 and MM2, now is the time to give it a go.
‘We were given the opportunity to showcase our town at the 2024 RDAQ Conference “Bush Tours” segment, but we realised we also needed to speak to people who didn’t attend to this conference,’ she said.
‘I think many people forget that GPs working in primary care in regional and rural areas also have access to a number of generous
financial incentives.’
‘For people considering a move, just come out and have a look – pick up the phone or come out for a little drive because it’s a great place to live and work.
‘We’re trying hard to dispel the myths, whilst also showing people the wonderful parts about living and working in rural and regional Australia. It’s all about community and a sense of connection, that sense of belonging to something bigger than a job.’
More information can be found on the Goondiwindi Medical Centre
website.
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