Country comes to the city for Rural GPs Conference

The Rural GPs Conference is one of the most venerable events in the rural health calendar. This year’s conference, which took place last week in Sydney, drew together 180 practitioners, with plenty of time for networking, alongside a packed program of topical lectures and workshops.

This year, in a significant act of recognition for the work of the rural GP community and RDN members, RDN’s Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of NSW, held a welcome reception for around 100 guests at Government House on Wednesday ahead of the Conference, offering her opening remarks in Gadigal language in acknowledgment of the historic setting, before speaking of her admiration and support for the efforts of rural doctors.

Morning one of the Conference program on Friday brought an address by Rural Health Commissioner, Professor Jenny May AM, who surveyed recent national developments and priorities in her remarks. The RDA NSW Annual Politicians Forum followed, with ALP Member for Bega, Dr Michael Holland and Independent Member for Wagga Wagga, Dr Joe McGirr representing Macquarie Street.

“For almost four decades, this conference has brought together the people who form the backbone of rural healthcare: GPs, rural generalists, visiting medical officers and the teams who support them,” Dr Holland told his social media followers.

“Their dedication, skill and community leadership are second to none. We spoke about the challenges facing rural primary care – workforce shortages, increasing demand and inequities in access – but also some real progress being made” said Dr Holland, who is Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health.

The program then presented a series of lectures tailored to rural practice, including lectures on motor neuron disease, menopause, men’s health, DVA, venomous bites and stings, as well as workshops on mental health, acupuncture, leadership, and rural grand rounds. Appropriately for the commemorative spirit of November, Dr Alex Hoyle, Dr Charles Betts and Marc Mathews presented on “A Veteran's Journey Home”.

Saturday morning’s lecture by NSW Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerry Chant AM PSM giving an overview of ADHD reforms and the expanding GP scope of ADHD management was well attended, confirming the interest in these significant reforms.

Co-located with the Rural Medical Student Inspiration Conference, and featuring an expo hall of sponsor stalls providing a rich array of information for rural practitioners, the conference drew enthusiasm once more from both seasoned and first-time attendees.

“I enjoy the Rural GPs Conference because you get to meet like-minded people and discuss cases - and you feel you’re not the only one alone in the world out in the rural community,” said regular attendee Dr Di Coote, who has served the community of Warialda as a GP for more than 35 years.

First-timer Dr Patricia Overvliet of Wagga Wagga, agreed. “Every session and every workshop that I went to was completely relevant to my practice,” she said. “Even the venom one, which I found very quirky, was just really very good!”

Hosted by RDN and the Rural Doctors' Association of NSW, with the support of NSW Health, the the event was fully accredited with RACGP and ACRRM for CPD and PDP and included a supervised Children’s Program and partner activities, along with the Rural GPs Conference Dinner at which this year’s Rural Medical Service Award recipients were announced.

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