RACGP Faculty Council nominations closing soon

Nominations for the RACGP Faculty elections are due to close soon, with interested members only having until 4.00 pm (AEST) on Monday 29 August to put their name forward.
 
This year, RACGP Rural has three electorates open for nomination in regional parts of Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT, and Victoria.
 
Professor Lizzi Shires is the Tasmania representative on the RACGP Rural Council. She told newsGP representing the faculty and her rural community on the Council has many rewards.
 
‘It is fabulous to work with like-minded people across Australia, to learn more about the issues that we all deal with in rural practice and the approach that different states have,’ Professor Shires said.
 
‘I enjoy being able to advocate for rural opportunities at a state and national level. We are able to comment and review state and national policies, and give feedback and make changes depending on the impact on rural communities.’
 
After completing her general practice training and working in a rural practice in the UK, Professor Shires has since worked as a rural GP on the north-west coast of Tasmania for 18 years and is also the
 
As the issue of rural workforce shortages across Australia deepens, her role at the Rural Clinical School is working to help address the issue in her state, by developing rural pathways into medicine that provide education and training for students to then drive more recruitment into rural areas.
 
The Rural Clinical School enables senior medical students to spend one or two years on the north-west coast and work closely with the health service and local practices to provide postgraduate training locally.
 
‘My passion has been for education and training of our future rural doctors,’ Professor Shires said.
 
‘To create the next generation of rural doctors we need to start in rural schools and support young people in rural areas to get into medicine.
 
‘We need to provide medical courses that can support rural students and health services that can provide postgraduate training opportunities.’

Tasmania representative on the RACGP Rural Council and UTAS Rural Clinical School Director, Professor Lizzi Shires.

These objectives align with her role on the RACGP Rural Council, which Professor Shires said involves key advocacy work for rural communities, medical students and postgraduate education.
 
‘We also [aim to] advocate for better working conditions for rural doctors,’ she said.
 
She is grateful for the experience being a rural GP has so far provided.
 
‘I have always loved working in a small community and being part of the cradle-to-grave care that we provide,’ Professor Shires said.
 
‘People are living with more complex illnesses. I enjoy the scope we get in rural practice to support and advocate for our patients so that they can live their best lives in the community.
 
‘I brought my five children up on the coast and this gave them untold opportunities and friendships that they are still enjoying as … adults living and working locally, interstate and internationally.’
 
Nominations for the RACGP Faculty elections are open until 29 August, with elected councillors announced 22 September and Faculty Chairs announced 14 October. More information is available on the RACGP website.
 
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