Queensland receives rural workforce boost

In partnership with the RACGP and Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), James Cook University (JCU) will support 102 new general practice registrars embarking on specialty training across regional, rural and remote Queensland communities.
 
The group of registrars have chosen to take training pathways to become rural generalists through jointly run programs by the colleges and JCU, in a move that is expected to strengthen the rural GP workforce.
 
RACGP Vice President and Rural Chair, and JCU Honorary Associate Professor Michael Clements, welcomed the news, reiterating that those who train in rural and regional communities are more likely to stay and work.
 
‘Most GPs and medical students grow up in cities, so haven’t experienced living and working in a rural community,’ he said.
 
‘Ensuring that opportunity is open to GPs in training is a really valuable step towards ensuring communities in north Queensland have access to general practice.’
 
Formal recognition of rural generalism as its own general practice speciality is underway, with the Medical Board of Australia currently assessing a joint application by the RACGP and ACRRM. The RACGP says this will help build a strong workforce and encourage rural-focused research.
 
New registrars on the program are this week participating in a two-day orientation workshop across Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, Rockhampton and Hervey Bay.
 
They will then move to their chosen communities to train with local services to deliver primary care, including within hospitals, health service facilities and Aboriginal community controlled health organisations.
 
When the transition to college-led training officially commenced in February 2023, JCU General Practice and Rural Medicine entered into a collaborative partnership with the RACGP and ACRRM to continue with the delivery of general practice and Rural Generalist Fellowship training.
 
More than 900 general practice registrars have Fellowed across northern Queensland since JCU’s involvement began in 2016, including Dr Baylie Fletcher, who graduated from JCU in 2020 and works in Far North Queensland.
 
Now a general practice registrar at Tully Medical Centre while undertaking her training with the RACGP, she has a longstanding interest in rural medicine and is another example of a rural graduate staying on to work locally after completing training.
 
‘It’s rewarding as a doctor, but it’s also important for the community because many patients ask,

“How long are you here for?” or “You’re not going anywhere?”,’ Dr Fletcher said.
 
‘They are excited to hear that I am staying on, which is very heartwarming.’
 
Dr Fletcher said providing continuity of care and being part of her patients’ journey is another rewarding side to general practice, and something she experienced as a patient.
 
‘You treat expectant mums, then you see them with their newborns; that’s continuity of care,’ she said.
 
‘I had that growing up in Port Douglas – seeing our family GP from the age of seven – so it’s exciting to think that I’ll potentially be that type of doctor for these young patients as they grow up.
 
‘We recently received our training schedule, and it was great to see extensive and varied education sessions and I am looking forward to meeting other new registrars from around the region and hearing their experiences.
 
‘It makes it feel official, that I am really working towards becoming a GP.’
 
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