Victor Harbor Rural Generalist Dr Tyson Whitelaw has been selected to attend a national leadership conference for early-career rural doctors, to be held on Wadjemup (Rottnest Island) WA this October.
The Emerging Leaders Conference, hosted by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), brings together a select group of Rural Generalists from across the country to strengthen their leadership skills and share ideas to improve rural, remote, and First Nations healthcare.
Tyson, who works across Victor Medical Centre and South Coast District Hospital as a Rural Generalist anaesthetist, says he is proud to be chosen.
“I’m passionate about building better healthcare systems in rural Australia, and I see leadership as something that can be learned, shared, and constantly improved,” he says.
“My experience—whether on the footy field, in the hospital, or as a mentor—has taught me that real leadership is about service, ownership, and lifting others up.”
Tyson has held a range of leadership roles both in and outside of medicine and recently joined ACRRM as a medical educator to help guide the next generation of Rural Generalists.
ACRRM President Dr Rod Martin says the College is proud to support doctors like Tyson.
“Tyson’s leadership is already making a difference in his community,” Dr Martin says. “His involvement in this program will further strengthen his contribution to Rural Generalist medicine.”
The two-and-a-half-day conference will take place from 19 - 21 October, in the lead-up to the nation’s largest Rural Medicine Australia conference, hosted by ACRRM and the Rural Doctors Association of Australia in Boorloo (Perth).