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The Royal Flying Doctor Service X Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine Joint Media Release

Doctors, registrars and medical students recently swapped the classroom for a working rural property near Menindee, taking part in a hands-on training day designed to build the skills and connections that underpin a strong rural and remote health workforce. 

The Royal Flying Doctor Service South Eastern Section (RFDSSE) and Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) brought together clinicians and students from RFDS, ACRRM, the Far West Local Health District and University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) for the inaugural Menindee Flying Doctor Skills Day, last week.
 
Held on a working property outside Menindee, the immersive training day put participants through practical emergency scenarios reflecting some of the realities of delivering healthcare in remote, resource-limited environments. Menindee provides a realistic rural setting where clinicians can test their skills outside a traditional clinical environment. 

RFDSSE’s Clinical Director of Primary Care Dr Nici Williams said building a sustainable rural health workforce requires giving clinicians meaningful opportunities to develop their skills in the communities and environments where they may ultimately practise. 
 
“Working in rural and remote medicine requires clinicians to think differently. You may have fewer resources immediately available to you, greater distances to navigate and a very different clinical environment to a metropolitan hospital." 

“Days like this give participants an opportunity to practise those skills in a realistic rural setting, with experienced clinicians around them to share their knowledge and support their learning. Just as importantly, we want people considering a career in rural medicine to experience what makes it so rewarding.” 
 

ACRRM spokesperson Dr Rod Martin said practical, locally delivered training and professional connections were important to supporting doctors to choose and sustain careers in rural and remote medicine. 

“Rural generalists need a broad set of skills and the confidence to apply them when circumstances are challenging, and additional support may be some distance away."  

“Bringing learners, supervisors and experienced rural clinicians together in an environment like Menindee creates exactly the kind of shared learning and mentorship that helps build that capability." 
 
 “This is also about showing doctors that rural and remote practice offers a challenging, diverse and enormously rewarding career, and ensuring they have the training and professional support to pursue it,” Dr Martin said. 

The Menindee Flying Doctor Skills Day builds on the partnership between ACRRM and RFDSSE to expand training pathways and experiences in rural and remote NSW. 
 
Participant and RFDSSE GP Dr Lindsay Petterson reinforced the importance of realistic training for both her clinical confidence and skills.   
 

Dr Petterson said, “A highlight for today was practicing some confronting scenarios in a real-life environment on a remote property. We got to use skills that you may only need to use a few times in your life, but if you’ve not been able to practice them before, it can be quite overwhelming. It makes all the difference to be able to practice them with the team, in a safe environment.” 

Last year, the organisations partnered to launch NSW’s first Remote Medicine Advanced Skills Training post delivered outside a hospital setting, providing registrars with supervised experience across Western and Far West NSW.


RFDSSE’s Dr Williams said initiatives across the rural training pathway were ultimately about encouraging more clinicians to build careers in the communities that need them. 

“There isn’t one single solution to strengthening the rural health workforce. It means giving people opportunities to experience rural medicine, develop their skills, find mentors and see a future for themselves in rural and remote practice."

“If someone drives back to Broken Hill at the end of this day more confident in their clinical skills, better connected to their rural colleagues and more excited about a future in rural medicine, that’s a great outcome.”