AN ADVOCATE for doctors working in regional and rural areas is a strong supporter of Beechworth’s Surgery’s campaign to find doctors for the town.
Sydney-based Dr John Houston visiting Beechworth for the last decade bought a house in town and is a helping hand as a locum at the surgery when he spends around five months in the town every year.
Dr Houston also avails himself to be on call at Beechworth Health Service.
“Beechworth is a beautiful town and countryside with great cafes, restaurants and vineyards,” he said.
Dr Houston said new doctors contemplating a move to Beechworth would join a high-quality practice with excellent doctors.
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The medical practitioner said he worked with Royal Flying Doctor Service in Broken Hill and has also run a general practice with 20 doctors.
“Doctors working in the country practice gives them broader skills and young doctors are supported by both senior doctors in the practice and teaching hospitals in the region not far away,” he said.
“One of the challenges is young people don’t want to be GPs as they don’t see it as a rewarding choice and want to be specialists.
“Having a life-work balance can be a fabulous one as a GP.”
Dr Houston said a country lifestyle abounds with opportunities such as not sitting in traffic, with most prospective newcomers likely to be in a position to walk to work or be close by and spend more time with their children.
“Kids can ride bikes to the park and school and with mountain bike trails it encourages kids to be active,” he said.
“There are great choices with schools locally and within the area too.
“When I worked in Broken Hill parents had to send their kids to boarding schools."
Beechworth Surgery’s co-owner John McColl said the ongoing campaign finishes at the end of May this year.
Mr McColl said the campaign was visually prominent with posters around town and catching people’s attention with enquiries.
“We’re still pursuing any opportunities and looking at a mid-year intake for GP registrars,” he said.
“We’re hopeful we will receive one GP registrar out of that allocation from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) who handle registrars and training.”
Beechworth Surgery in December last year embarked on a six-month drive to recruit doctors with a ‘Find Doctors $1000 Reward’ initiative to engage the community to help.
The surgery is one of hundreds of medical practices around the region, state and nation impacted for some years by the shortage of general practitioners in rural and remote areas.
For further campaign details visit www.beechworthsurgery.com.au/find-doctors-for-beechworth/.
