The array of opportunities for young doctors couldn’t be more diverse than in Broome.
There’s little wonder that Rural Health West has enlisted the services of Broome GP trainee Dr Fintan Andrews as one of its ambassadors for the past two years. When he says he loves the work and lifestyle in the Kimberley town, it’s no public relations exercise.
“Broome is a really nice place to live and to work. This is my third year in the town.
This time around, I’ve been here for 13 months. Previously I did a year of Rural Clinical School and half of my internship here,” he said.
While the outdoors lifestyle is compelling – Fintan speaks enthusiastically about crabbing, fishing and cycling, which will see him do the Gibb River Road Mountain Bike Challenge for the second time in May – the work in all its diversity and complexity excites him.
Being part of a community
“Last year I did my first two terms of GP training at Broome Doctors Practice and I saw and did just about everything.
Every patient has a story and discovering them was one of the things I most enjoyed about the work.
You get to know the patients really well and you also get a deeper understanding of how the community works because you’re the person they come to.”
Fintan has extended his GP training through RACGP’s FARGP program for a Fellowship of Advanced Rural General Practice, which has him back in the hospital environment in 2016.
“Basically it’s training to make me more country specific. I’m doing half time in ED and the rest in obstetrics. Technically I’m training to become a GP Obstetrician.”
“So while I really enjoyed the autonomy of care in general practice – so much so I’m sure to go back to it – I am enjoying working with a lot of doctors in the hospital environment.”
“There’s a big contrast between the advantaged and disadvantaged in Broome. There’s a large homeless population and the obstetrics can been challenging with a lot of high-risk pregnancies which take a fair bit of extra care. We have a population group that is quite at risk. The same can be said of ED presentations as well. It’s not a traditional ED here because of the limited private-care resources in town, so the ED sees a lot of GP presentations as well.”
Young docs eye Broome
While the challenges of the clinical work are ongoing in the Kimberley, Fintan reports that workforce issues are responding to a number of programs instigated by the likes of WAGPET, universities through RCS and Rural Health West.
“At the hospital I work with a number of doctors who did RCS here and are now practising in Broome. It has had a really big impact on getting doctors into the country.”
While WAGPET’s pitched battle to retain the Prevocational General Practice Placements (PGPPP) program failed last year, community residencies, even in their new form, continue to be a crucial part of workforce solutions in rural and remote centres and presenting an economic boost to the towns.
Fintan can’t speak highly enough of the benefits he has gained from his experiences in Broome.
Culture of teaching and learning
“For work and life experiences, Broome has almost everything. There are great opportunities in such a different work environment. Over the past three years, I’ve seen the numbers of junior doctors increase and under Dr Casey Parker and Dr Nick Gilbert, the hospital has established a really good culture of teaching and evidence-based learning.”
“That process and quality of staff and doctors here means Broome hospital has a really good standard of medical care with mostly locally trained graduates.”
The future is still a work in progress for Fintan, who, along with wife, Broome Hospital doc Dr Jonika Mosedale, still has some interesting medical hills to climb with his work towards becoming a GP O&G. 2016 is study year with fellowship exams inAugust and October and a Diploma of Child Health in the offing.
Wherever he lands, Fintan believes his time in Broome has made him a better, well-rounded doctor.
ED Dr Casey Parker has an interesting teaching and sharing blog, BroomeDocs.com