Well, I have just arrived in Yagoona St Maryborough, where I will be staying with doctor Bill Gunn on medical placement with the John Flynn mentoring program. Through this program we are able to literally ‘Learn how to be a rural doctor - from a rural doctor.’
I feel that I am still so naive about all the challenges that I will be faced with over the coming years of medicine, and so this will be a great opportunity to test the water and to find what I really enjoy doing. I do see myself happily becoming a rural GP, with a focus on children (a paediatric GP would be perfect!)
One of the first things that I noticed about the life of a rural doctor is that people love talking to you, but they don't necessarily want to have to see you very often (which is the inherent nature of being a doctor anywhere I suppose). For example, just from going from Hervey Bay airport to the local shopping centre, and then to Dr Gunn’s house in Yagoona St, we bumped into six people who knew Dr Gunn. For me, this was amazing to see that so many people had a connection with him.
Dr Gunn lives on an eight hectare property with a tennis court, multiple mango trees, a lychee tree, a few date palms, a coffee bean tree, some lime trees and lots of bushland, which he uses for walking and motorbike tracks. Dr Gunn is super passionate about healthy food and exercise, so we have heaps to talk about!!! We just played our first (of many, with a bit of luck) match of tennis. He taught me how to serve properly, and how to give a nice back hand. The tennis court is made of sand, which makes the ball bounce quite low and randomly, but this just adds to the fun. I went on a nice run up the street (which he told me was exactly 800 metres, and then I went on a walk around his garden and discovered a few old bee hives. He no longer keeps bees, but it is awesome to see so many other interests that Doctor Gunn has, outside the field of medicine. Having him as a mentor is going to be awesome, because he is helping me understand how to be a really well balanced adult.
We are now heading off to church (A Weslyean church, a denomination that I have not yet been to yet) which is quite exciting. I read a really good sign on one of the churches on the way here - it said ‘may your troubles last as long as your new years resolutions’. Quite an appropriate saying, but very humorous indeed!!
I am super keen to put a face to many of the illnesses and diseases that we study at uni, but don’t always get a chance to see in real life. That is why I am so excited about tomorrow, when I get my first taste of the practise!
