RACGP Mount Isa visit spruiks remote GP work

The RACGP has taken a trip to Mount Isa in regional Queensland for the Are you remotely interested…? conference, a biennial event dedicated to health equity in rural and remote regions.
 
RACGP Rural Chair Associate Professor Michael Clements and Queensland GP and rural medical educator Dr Cindi Jackson presented at the three-day conference, held on Kalkatunga Country.
 
In their presentation, Associate Professor Clements and Dr Jackson explored initiatives and policy levers that generate interest in registrars becoming rural GPs and rural generalists, to ensure all communities, no matter how remote, have access to general practice care.
 
The pair discussed a multi-pronged strategy to attract registrars, including one-on-one case management of registrars, practice capacity setting, local specific registrar incentives, meaningful rural stakeholder engagement, rural webinars, registrar excursions and regional promotions.
 
The event also included a ‘speed dating’ program to match registrars with practices, Associate Professor Clements told newsGP.
 
‘We’ve got a number of towns that hadn’t had GP registrars in years that have now got them because of these targeted approaches,’ he said.
 
While at Mount Isa, Associate Professor Clements and Dr Jackson also visited local practices and attended a prevocational education session at North West Hospital and Health Service.
 
They also took time out for a chat with ABC North West Queensland to share some good news about the state of the GP workforce in rural and remote Queensland.
 
‘It’s been so difficult with so many shortages for so long now that we were able to share that we’ve had a significant increase in the number of trainees that are interested in training in general practice in the state, and around the country,’ Associate Professor said.
 
‘We were able to talk about the green shoots in some of those hard-to-fill places that have been filled now.’
 
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